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Alcatel One Touch Star brings Jelly Bean on a budget (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--A Star is born: the Alcatel One Touch Star is a new budget Android phone that brings you Jelly Bean without busting your wallet.

The Star is cute enough, with a slight sheen to the back. The case comes in white, black, or pink. The build quality feels solid and not at all rickety, but plastic does look and feel cheap.

For a budget phone, I was instantly struck by how bright and vibrant the 4-inch AMOLED screen is. Games and apps look colorful and run smoothly thanks to the 1GHz dual-core processor.

It's an Android phone, so … Read more

Asus at MWC 2013: Join us Monday (live blog)

BARCELONA, Spain--Given what else it has had to deal with recently, Spain probably wouldn't be all that shocked if a UFO did indeed land atop Gaudi's famous Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain. But rest assured, would-be tourists, that was just a teaser in a brief video Asus released over the Internet in the run-up to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Asus' Mobile World Congress press conference

The video ends with an invitation to "join Asus to embrace the metallic miracle" on February 25 at Mobile World Congress. Another tease: the company's Mobile World … Read more

Camera shootout: HTC One vs. iPhone 5

Our friends at CNET Asia got their very lucky hands on an HTC One for a brief test drive with the device's promising new camera. Indeed, it's worthy test since the shooter is one of One's most interesting features.

Though the One's camera has a 4-megapixel resolution, that's not the whole story by any measure. As Brian Bennett wrote in his First Take earlier this week, the camera features an updated ImageSense system, new ImageChip 2 hardware, and a revamped light sensor. HTC says that UltraPixel Sensor will be able to create more detailed pixels. … Read more

Huawei's MWC 2013 news: Join us Sunday (live blog)

BARCELONA, Spain--On Sunday, we'll find out how well Huawei is doing meeting its ambition to become a top-tier smartphone manufacturer.

That's when the up-and-coming company plans to debut a brand-new phone at a Mobile World Congress press conference. CNET will be there to provide all the details about that phone -- you can expect a premium Android model -- and likely other news as well.

CNET UK's Luke Westaway, photographer Sarah Tew, and I will supply news updates, photos, and commentary from the event. It starts at 6 a.m. PT, which is 3 p.m. local … Read more

Sprint: Ultra rugged Kyocera Torque arrives March 8

Sprint today announced that the rugged and waterproof Kyocera Torque will arrive on March 8. Priced at $99 with a two-year service agreement, the Torque is the first "Ultra rugged" 4G LTE handset with Sprint Direct Connect push-to-talk service.

Previously introduced back in January, the Kyocera smartphone features a 4-inch IPS display and dual-core processor. Whereas the typical rugged smartphone is hampered by older versions of the platform, the Torque runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This is good news for anyone who has grown accustomed to the Holo theme of Android and its added feature set. … Read more

Mobile World Congress: The year's best smartphone party

As I write this, CNET writers from three countries are traveling to Barcelona, Spain, to bring you the best of the annual Mobile World Congress trade show.

If you're a smartphone fan, you probably know that Mobile World Congress (MWC) is a big deal. And if you don't know about it but still love gadgets and technology, there are very good reasons why you should care. I'll explain.

Full Mobile World Congress coverage from CNET

To put it simply, MWC is the most important wireless trade show of the year. It's bigger than CES (where, no … Read more

LG announces Optimus F5, F7 ahead of Mobile World Congress

LG today announced a pair of Optimus F series smartphones on the eve of Mobile World Congress. The two will bridge the gap between the entry-level Optimus L and high-end Optimus G series of phones. Both will run the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and will feature 4G LTE connectivity.

The Optimus F5 features a 4.3-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and 8GB internal storage. Juiced by a 2,150mAh battery, the smartphone includes a 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and microSD expansion slot.

The bigger and more powerful Optimus … Read more

CNET's Twitter team for Mobile World Congress 2013

CNET editors from around the globe are headed to Barcelona to bring you everything under the Catalan sun from Mobile World Congress 2013. Some of the top mobile companies in the world are gathering to reveal the future of smartphones, and we'll be there to bring you all the latest.

Here are the accounts to follow for all the best at MWC.

CNET - The best of everything at MWC. Jason Jenkins, Editor, CNET UK Molly Wood, Executive Editor Roger Cheng, Executive Editor, CNET News Stephen Shankland, Senior Writer, … Read more

ZTE, Nvidia team up to launch Tegra 4 handsets in China

The Chinese phone manufacturer, ZTE, has teamed up with Nvidia to launch a line of quad-core smartphones slated for midyear or earlier. These handsets will feature the Tegra 4 chipset, which was unveiled last month during CES 2013.

Based on ARM Cortex-A15 architecture, Tegra 4 is expected to be much faster and more powerful than its predecessor, which was based on ARM Cortex-A9.

Tegra 4 also features six times as many graphics cores (bringing the total to 72) than its predecessor.

Along with building these quad-core devices, ZTE announced that it plans on making one phone that will also feature … Read more

Orange Stylistic S01 is a Fujitsu phone for seniors

Using a smartphone can be tough for seniors, so Fujitsu and Orange have teamed up to make the Stylistic S01, an Android smartphone that respects its elders.

Sold by the France Telecom-Orange network, the 4-inch, water- and dust-resistant S01 is Fujitsu's first major smartphone to go on sale outside Japan. It's loaded with features designed to make things easier for older users borrowed from the Fujitsu Raku-Raku series of phones, on sale to seniors in Japan for more than a decade.

The touch screen is as easy to use as a keypad with physical buttons, using a "… Read more