Android

Screens test: HTC One vs. Samsung Galaxy S4

The two hottest flagship Android smartphones right now, the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4, both earned CNET's Editors' Choice Awards for their stellar designs, massive feature sets, and overall appeal.

So which one has the better screen?

In the tradition of our original screens tests last year, we set out to answer that very question. We used a combination of objective measurements courtesy of the same expensive test gear we use to evaluate and calibrate HDTVs, and subjective observations courtesy of our priceless, expert eyes.

As we found previously, each screen has particular strengths and weaknesses, but to our minds the Samsung Galaxy S4 has the better screen. Its victory over the One, however, was by no means a slam dunk.

Overall color accuracy between the two is nearly a wash by the numbers, and the One has a decided advantage in brightness -- making it the better choice if you spend a lot of time outdoors under a bright sky. But the deeper black levels and insane contrast of the GS4, along with the versatility afforded by its many settings, helped put it over the top.

… Read more

Samsung Galaxy S3 rockets to Boost, Virgin Mobile June 12

Samsung's supercharged Galaxy S4 may be sucking in all the headlines, but for Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile, both Sprint's prepaid carriers, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is more than enough Android phone for its customers.

Starting June 12, Boost and Virgin will begin selling Samsung's high-end GS3 smartphone for $399.99 (it initially sold for upwards of $600 off-contract). That makes the Galaxy S3 the most premium product in Boost Mobile's roster. Thanks to the carriers' Sprint ownership, the handset rides Sprint's 4G LTE network in its 88 markets (and growing).

The Galaxy S3 may … Read more

How to bring back the trash button in Gmail for Android

The new Gmail has undergone a huge refresh. The Web version now has a tabbed inbox to support categories and the mobile apps have an updated interface as well. If you've updated to the new Android app, you may have noticed that there's no longer a trash button in the toolbar when viewing a message. The new toolbar only has buttons for archive, mark, and move. If you flip the screen orientation to landscape, you'll also see an additional button for labels.

If you prefer to delete certain messages, rather than archiving everything, you can still use … Read more

BlackBerry: Messenger won't reach iOS, Android on June 27

Updated at 10 a.m. PT with a headline change noting that BlackBerry is disputing T-Mobile's initial claim.

It looks like iOS and Android won't be able to download BlackBerry Messenger come June 27 after all.

Earlier on Thursday, T-Mobile U.K. tweeted that BBM would indeed be available for iOS and Android come June 27, even serving up an image of a BBM conversation running on a Samsung Android phone. However, that tweet has since been taken down, calling into question the accuracy of the information.

And a BlackBerry representative told CNET: "That date is completely … Read more

LG Optimus F7 pops up on U.S. Cellular for $99

U.S. Cellular announced on Thursday that it was adding the LG Optimus F7 to its smartphone lineup, selling the more-than-midrange Android smartphone with a $99 price tag -- with a new, two-year service agreement, of course.

Powered by Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the handset boasts a 4.7-inch 720p LCD IPS display, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and 8GB internal storage (4.1GB of which is user-accessible). Additionally, the phone features an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video capture, plus a 1.3-megapixel shooter right above the screen.

Users will also appreciate the LED … Read more

AMD will consider Android but doesn't commit -- yet

Advanced Micro Devices will consider Android, but that's about all at this point.

Like Intel, the No. 2 PC processor maker has made its money selling chips that power Windows systems. Unlike Intel, however, AMD is not making any commitment to Android yet.

There's "no schedule for Android/Chrome support announced [and] no specific processors mentioned for support," an AMD spokesperson told CNET Wednesday.

But he added that "we have consistently said AMD is committed to applying our [intellectual property] anywhere where it makes sense for our business and our customers."

That's about … Read more

Intel 'Silvermont' chip demo makes old Atom look lame

Here's some good advice. Wait for Intel's upcoming Silvermont chip.

In a demo Wednesday at Computex, Intel seemed to instantly -- and thoroughly -- obsolete the existing Atom, known as "Clover Trail," in a head-to-head "bake off," as the Intel demo guy put it.

The "current best-in-class Intel Atom-based tablet" (Clover Trail) was pitted against a tablet with the upcoming (and completely redesigned) quad-core Silvermont Atom (aka, "Bay Trail") packing a new "video encoder and decoder."

The benchmark, TouchXPRT, tests "performance of everyday [tasks] such as photo … Read more

Android keyboard now stands alone

It may not be a Swype or a SwiftKey killer yet, but the Google Keyboard is now available as a downloadable app.

A post Wednesday on Google+ touted the Google Play Store debut of the app, which offers "Gesture Typing" so that you can drag your finger from one letter to the next to spell words.

Google Keyboard offers some interesting competition for other swipe-to-write keyboards. Most notably, it's free where most of its competitors are not. It also has next-word suggestions, auto-complete, voice recognition, and support for 26 languages, although the keyboard itself is English-only for … Read more

Smartphone ownership reaches critical mass in the U.S.

While debate rages over whether Android devices, iPhones, BlackBerrys, or Windows Phones are better, there's no question that people increasingly prefer smartphones to feature phones.

And the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project just released the numbers to back that up.

In the U.S., 56 percent of adults are now smartphone owners, according to a study published Wednesday by Pew. This is the first time since Pew began tracking the numbers that the majority of the population owns a smartphone.

Currently 91 percent of people in the U.S. own a cell phone and 35 … Read more