phones

Best Buy trims $50 off iPhone

Holiday shoppers looking for an iPhone 5 or 4S can save some cash courtesy of a new sale at Best Buy.

The retailer is currently discounting all the various flavors of the iPhone by $50.

That means the 16GB iPhone 5 is selling for $149.99, the 32GB for $249.99, and the 64GB for $349.99. The 16GB iPhone 4S can be had for $49.99. Both the black and white versions are up for grabs.

All of them naturally require the standard two-year contract with Verizon Wireless, AT&T, or Sprint.

A few of the variants can … Read more

Put media and apps on your iOS gadget with CopyTrans Manager

If you own an iPad, iPhone, or iPod, you don't have many options for downloading. You can stick with the closed garden of iTunes or jailbreak your phone and risk bricking it. CopyTrans Manager gives you a safer solution to put songs, movies and even third-party apps on your gadget. It gives you a more user-friendly way to have all your favorite stuff on your mobile gadget.

Though the clean interface won't blow you away, it makes it easy to find the syncing options. Since CopyTrans Manager usually finds your gadget automatically, you can start moving and downloading … Read more

Thief steals iPhone from quadriplegic

Some thieves like to believe they have scruples. They even talk of honor among themselves.

Some, though, see an iPhone and just can't help themselves. Earlier this year, footage emerged of a man stealing an iPhone from a baby in a store. Yet even that pales with a theft that occurred in a Staten Island apartment building lobby.

William Washington, 38, is a quadriplegic. He has cerebral palsy. The only way he communicates is through an iPhone that he keeps on the tray of his wheelchair. He uses a special pointer attached to a headband in order to tap … Read more

Android fanboys rage at Microsoft's Droid Rage hype

Microsoft has been bestially competitive of late.

It has gnashed its teeth, thrust out its limbs, and accused most of its rivals of being little more than mice.

It has called Google "Scroogle" and called IE haters sad.

And it has sent its cohorts out into the world to prove that iPhones and their Android counterparts are nothing but slugs.

But all this fit hissing sometimes has side effects.

One of Microsoft's latest aggressive stances was to use its Windows Phone Twitter account to ask whether people were suffering from DroidRage.

Should you be unaware of this … Read more

Hot new games for iOS

The stars lined up just right this week (read: gift-giving season is here!) to have a number of awesome game sequels and new releases launch all at once. Frankly, there are so many new games that there is no better time than the present to check out what the App Store has to offer.

Rick Broida already wrote about Grand Theft Auto: Vice City earlier today, but there are plenty more that would make nice additions to your iOS gaming collection.

This week's collection of apps is a group of excellent games released over the course of this week. … Read more

Some iPhone 5 buyers no longer face shipping delays online

Seventy-seven days after putting the iPhone 5 on sale, there's no longer a wait to buy one from Apple in some countries.

Today the company began showing online iPhone 5 shoppers a notice that the gadget was "in stock" in a handful of its online stores, including the U.S. and Canada. That's versus the previous estimate of two to four business days, notes MacRumors.

It's the shortest estimated wait time for the phone, which launched in the U.S. and eight other countries on September 21. Quickly after the device went on sale, wait … Read more

Buying a Galaxy S3 this weekend? Check out Radio Shack's BOGO deal

If you've finally decided to pull the trigger on a Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone, you might want to wait until Sunday -- then head to your local Radio Shack.

Starting that day, you'll be able to get a free second phone (among other goodies) when you buy a Galaxy S3 for $99.99 (with contract, natch) from any of three major carriers. Here's the rundown of the 'Shack's BOGO deals:

AT&T: Buy a Galaxy S3, get a Galaxy S2 Skyrocket for free.

Sprint: Buy a Galaxy S3, get a Galaxy S2 (that link is … Read more

NTT DoCoMo loses 40K subscribers to iPhone 5

NTT DoCoMo lost 40,800 subscribers in November, acknowledging that it's due to customer flight to the iPhone 5, according to Japan's Nikkei business daily.

For Japan's largest mobile-phone carrier, it was the first monthly drop in over five years.

NTT DoCoMo made no bones about blaming its shrinking subscriber base on customers opting for the iPhone 5 at rival carriers.

The company does not offer the iPhone, while rivals Softbank and KDDI do. Both of those carriers posted subscriber gains in November, with KDDI showing net gains of 228,800 customers and Softbank adding 301,900, … Read more

On T-Mobile killing the subsidy: It's about time

T-Mobile USA wants to shake up the status quo in the wireless industry to spur its turnaround. At the same time, it could change the way consumers think about how they pay for their services.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere yesterday said the carrier would eliminate subsidies next year, moving completely to its "Value" plans. In doing so, it will be the first nationwide carrier to shed the age-old (and typically more lucrative) practice of signing customers to long-term contracts in exchange for subsidies.

Under this model, consumers either pay full price for the smartphone, or pay in monthly … Read more