smartphone

Verizon outguns AT&T in Q1 smartphones

In the battle between wireless giants over consumers, Verizon Wireless toppled rival AT&T in the first quarter.

Growth in the traditional contract subscriber business -- seen as the bread and butter of the wireless carriers -- has been slowing for over the last several quarters. But Verizon appears to be weathering the slowdown better than most.

It wasn't much of a contest. Verizon added a net 677,000 new contract customers, compared with 296,000 net new contract subscribers at AT&T.

"The difference between subscriber trends at AT&T and Verizon is pretty … Read more

First-ever Braille smartphone could hit stores this year

An interaction designer who makes sci-fi short films has spent the past three years developing what he says is the world's first Braille-enabled smartphone. He said that if testing goes well, the phones could hit stores by the end of this year.

Thanks in part to award money from Rolex, India-based designer Sumit Dagar has been collaborating with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad to develop a prototype. The smartphone employs a haptic touch screen that elevates and depresses the content it receives, thereby transforming the data into touchable patterns.

Yes, this phone is essentially a shapeshifter.… Read more

Verizon calls up entry-level Pantech Perception

Verizon announced on Tuesday the Pantech Perception, an entry-level Android with a wallet-friendly price tag.

The Pantech Perception is an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich handset with yesterday's top hardware. Specifications include a 4.8-inch HD (720p) Super AMOLED display, 16GB internal storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera.

In addition, the Perception also boasts "global ready" capabilities and 4G LTE connectivity. The hardware details dovetail with early rumors and suggest this is, in fact, a Verizon-branded take on the Pantech Discover.

In terms of software, the smartphone features a modified UI with … Read more

Firefox OS developer phones sold out

Firefox OS app developers hoping to snag one of the new Firefox OS phones seem to be out of luck.

The Keon and the Peak popped up for sale today courtesy of manufacturer/seller Geeksphone. But the two phones already appear on the company's Web site as "out of stock." The page for each phone simply says "this product is no longer in stock" with no further explanation.

A spokeswoman for Geeksphone told CNET at around 6:15 a.m. PT that the phones are currently out of stock due to great demand. But the … Read more

Nokia granted temporary ban on microphone sales for HTC One

The HTC One now faces a setback over its supply of microphones.

Nokia yesterday won an injunction from an Amsterdam District Court preventing sales of the current microphone for HTC's new flagship phone. Manufactured by STMicroelectronics NV for the HTC One, the microphone uses components allegedly invented by Nokia and made exclusively for Nokia phones, Reuters reported today.

Nokia said that it dissassembled an HTC One phone to find that the "dual membrane HDR" microphone, which can record high-quality audio, is the same type used on its own phones.

"HTC has no license or authorization from … Read more

AT&T confirms April 25 release for Galaxy S4 pre-orders

AT&T subscribers who pre-ordered the Samsung Galaxy S4 could have the hotly-anticipated smartphone in hand by Thursday.

When AT&T began taking orders for the Galaxy S4 last week, it promised delivery of Samsung's new flagship smartphone by the end of the month. Now, the mobile provider is rushing to get to the finish line ahead of its rival carriers.

A spokesperson for AT&T confirmed to CNET Monday that all customers who pre-ordered their 16 GB Galaxy S4 before 9 a.m. ET Monday could receive the smartphone as soon as April 25.

And, … Read more

Huawei debuts 5-inch A199 for China

Huawei has announced (translate) a midrange Android smartphone for China and emerging markets in the form of the 5-inch A199.

Powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Huawei A199 also features Huawei's custom Emotion 1.5 UI. On hardware, the handset falls in the mid-to-high end of the spectrum with its quad-core 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, and 8.0-megapixel rear camera.

Whereas most 5-inch smartphones tend to offer a 1080p HD display, the Huawei A199 comes with a still respectable 720p resolution screen. Additional hardware includes a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a 2,150mAh … Read more

Optimus G Pro to be center of LG's 'Share the Genius' event

Slowly but surely, LG is releasing more details about its "Share the Genius" event, that's scheduled for Wednesday, May 1 in New York City.

The event will take place at The Metropolitan Pavilion at 8 p.m. EST, and will feature the band Atlas Genius (hence, the "Share the Genius" event name).

Most importantly, however, is that the event will focus on the LG Optimus G Pro.

The handset debuted back in February, during MWC 2013. Its 5.5-inch full-HD IPS screen places it in "phablet" territory, and it's pitted as a … Read more

Six social network 'phones' we'll never see

At last, the Facebook phone has been unveiled, except it's not really a phone, it's more of a suite of apps with a launcher.

Social networks have been able to infiltrate most aspects of our lives so far without having to entangle themselves in the messy business of designing or making a hardware product, so why start now?… Read more

Nokia teaser hints at new QWERTY smartphone

Nokia appears to have a new smartphone in the works.

The company on Monday posted a brief writeup to its blog, saying that it has something in store for Wednesday at 7 a.m. GMT. Nokia didn't say exactly what will be announced, but it promised "something new, followed by a Q&A session with Neil Broadley from our Mobile Phones team." There will also be "a special guest."

As for what Nokia has planned? It appears to be a new smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard. The image included in the blog post shows … Read more