smartphone

Sometimes I get bored with the same old holiday song and dance.

If you do too, you can create your own theme, techy-style, with a unique Web page that turns your smartphone, tablet, or PlayStation Vita into an on-the-fly holiday music loop maker. German design firm deepblue came up with the site, which blends HTML5 and the powerful WebSocket protocol to offer a unique live mobile-to-browser experience that many of you probably have not experienced before. … Read more

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will begin rolling onto Verizon's Samsung Galaxy S3 as soon as tomorrow, Verizon announced today on its blog.

The update will occur in phases, so you may have to exercise some patience before you see your OS version start its over-the-air transformation to Android 4.1.

Specific to Verizon, the Jelly Bean update will make the handset global-ready, so customers can add an international roaming plan to use the phone overseas in GSM areas. Verizon is a CDMA network.

Android 4.1 also brings support for Verizon's Isis wallet, a mobile payment collaboration … Read more

Cloud computing is one of the main trends to keep an eye on in 2013, according to a new report from Ericsson.

The electronics firm's "Ten Hot Consumer Trends 2013" report (PDF) suggests that not only is cloud computing becoming increasingly important in our daily lives, but young people's use of the Internet will drive new businesses and products in the coming year.

The most important technological trend is cloud computing. More than 50 percent of tablet users and 40 percent of smartphone users in the U.S., Japan, Australia, and Sweden subscribe to these kinds … Read more

The holiday season may be in full swing, but that hasn't stopped AT&T from keeping busy. The carrier announced today that it has expanded its 4G LTE data network to seven additional metropolitan areas.

Ma Bell's most advanced cellular network now covers Reno, Nevada; Richmond, Virginia; Allentown-Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Hattiesburg and Starkvillle, Mississippi; Moscow, Idaho; and Pullman, Washington. That's not a bad day's work. Still, while AT&T says it now blankets 3,000 cities more than its arch-rival Verizon with 4G, an area that includes over 160 million people. That claims AT&… Read more

Whether people call a taxi or hail one can be a contentious matter in New York City -- because of rules set up between yellow cabs and for-hire vehicles. So, it's no surprise that a smartphone app that lets users beckon yellow cabs has been a topic of hot debate with the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.

The commission announced Wednesday that it will vote on whether to allow such apps in a pilot program, according to the New York Times. The vote is scheduled for Thursday. Update December 13 at 10:04 a.m. PT: On … Read more

Not as many people in developing countries have access to the Internet as those in more developed areas of the world, but when they do get on the Web, they are more likely to join a social-networking site, according to a Pew Research Center report released today.

The report -- which looked at the state of social media globally based a survey of 21 nations -- found the majority of Internet users in Mexico, Brazil, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Russia, and India use social media.

"Once people in these countries are online, they generally become involved in social networks … Read more

For some people, touching a touch screen is difficult, if not impossible.

According to Georgia Tech, more than 200,000 kids in the U.S. public school system have some sort of orthopedic disability that hinders them from experiencing the vast information that awaits them on a tablet or smartphone. Children with neurological disorders -- such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida -- can also have difficulty using touch-screen devices due to motor skill impairments.

The need to counteract this limitation inspired Ayanna Howard, a Georgia Tech engineering professor, and graduate student Hae Won Park to create Access4Kids, a prototype assistive device that could level the playing field.… Read more

Event info posted on CES' press page details a January 8 unveiling of the ZTE Grand S.

We already knew that the Chinese company would announce a high-end smartphone during the January trade show, but more specs reveal that it'll be a thin, 5-inch handset with an FHD screen.

Judging by the event summary, the device may also sport a stylish look, too.

It noted that the phone will be made out of ceramic, feature a "traditional Chinese style," and is perfect for the "fashionable set."

Though ZTE is remaining mum about further details, a … Read more

RIM's rumored BlackBerry 10 L series device, code-named London, has just come into sharper focus thanks to new images posted by Vietnamese site Tinh Te and reported by CIO.com. … Read more