smartphone

Time Warner offers free Wi-Fi and charging stations to NYC

More help has arrived for mobile device owners in New York without power or Internet access as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Courtesy of Time Warner Cable, multiple vehicles outfitted with Wi-Fi access points and charging stations headed into areas of New York City as of yesterday. Anyone able to find their way to one of the vehicles could charge their smartphone, tablet, or laptop, and tap into a 4G Wi-Fi connection to get online.

The vehicles will make other stops in Time Warner's service area today. Affected New Yorkers able to access Twitter can see which areas are … Read more

Microsoft 'testing' its own smartphone with suppliers -- WSJ

Microsoft and component suppliers in Asia are in the initial stages of testing a smartphone design, according to a report Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.

A source cited in the report says the phone has a screen size of between four and five inches.

Top smartphones from Samsung, Apple, HTC, and Motorola all have screen sizes in that range.

But officials at component suppliers added that they're not sure if the Microsoft phone would go into mass production, according to the report. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

If Microsoft does follow through and pushes … Read more

Apple patent application involves theft-alarm for phones

Imagine if an iPhone had the equivalent of a car alarm. Would a loud, annoying alarm sound when a thief ran off with the device? Or would the alarm ring out when a stranger just tried to look at the phone?

These are questions Apple explores in a patent application filed today. Titled "Acceleration-based theft detection system for portable electronic devices," the application involves a smartphone deciphering what kinds of movement take place during a phone robbery.… Read more

Android beats iOS 5-to-1 in Q3 smartphone market share

Android commanded the worldwide smartphone market share in the third quarter, new data from research firm IDC has revealed.

With a whopping 75 percent of market share and more than 181 million smartphones shipped, Android's operating system is apparently just fine with most phone users. In a distant second place, Apple's iOS grabbed fewer than 15 percent of the world's market share.

"Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in 2008," IDC Mobile Phones Research Manager Ramon Llamas said in a statement. "In every … Read more

T-Mobile confirms no Wi-Fi calling for Nexus 4

CNET has confirmed that the LG Nexus 4 for by T-Mobile will not come with Wi-Fi calling capabilities. The change was first reported earlier today by the tech blog TmoNews.

As one of the more popular features in select T-Mobile Android smartphones, it allows users to make calls via their Wi-Fi connection instead of using the carrier's towers and cellular network. Not only could this lead to potentially stronger signal in homes, but also it doesn't count against allotted monthly minutes.

Why there is no Wi-Fi calling in the new LG smartphone is fairly easy to explain. The … Read more

Boxee set to battle Apple TV, Roku

While CNET's New York office waits for power to come back after the storm, we're bringing you the Update show from our San Francisco office. Thursday's top tech stories include:

- Boxee TV arrives at Walmart for $99 and offers perks for early adopters, including three months of free service and a discounted DVR subscription afterward.

- AT&T and T-Mobile have activated a new service that blocks smartphone thieves from using a stolen phone on GSM networks.

- AT&T launched the AT&T Locker app that offers 5GB of free cloud storage … Read more

Motorola Electrify M bring more LTE to U.S. Cellular

U.S. Cellular today announced its next 4G LTE smartphone, the Android-based Motorola Electrify M. It will join the lineup in the coming days.

Powered by 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the handset goes on sale on the carrier's Web site on November 8 and in retail stores the following day. It's the third handset in the carrier's Electrify line after the original Electrify and the Electrify 2.

Pricing will vary depend on whether the buyer is in a 4G LTE market. Live inside the 4G footprint and your cost is $99.99 after a $100 mail-in … Read more

Tech breakthrough may double smartphone life

Smartphone batteries may soon last twice as long -- if an MIT spinoff's power amplifier technology lives up to its promise.

The power amplifier is one of the most power-hungry pieces of hardware in a phone. It converts electricity into radio signals and consumes power in two basic modes: standby and output signal for sending out digital data. Such a chip wastes more than 65 percent of its energy, according to a report in the MIT Technology Review, and the only way to make it more efficient is by reducing the power used in standby. … Read more

Sprint to offer LG Mach Nov. 11, preorders for Optimus G start

Sprint announced today that it will begin selling its sliding keyboard phone, the LG Mach, starting on November 11 for $99.99 after a two-year carrier agreement.

We first saw the dual-core Mach last month during MobileCon in San Diego. In addition to its 4-inch WVGA touch screen, it has a 1.2GHz CPU, a 1,700mAh battery, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.

The handset also runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and sports a five-row QWERTY keyboard that includes navigational arrows and an entire row for numbers.

Furthermore, the carrier announced that preorders for the LG Optimus G, … Read more

Sprint to sell its first LTE tablet

If you're a Sprint customer but aren't interested in a new iPad Mini, perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is more your speed. The carrier just confirmed that it will sell the larger Android slate, its first to offer 4G LTE data, starting on November 11 for $549.99. … Read more