congress

AT&T Mobility CEO says he's open to Firefox OS

BARCELONA, Spain--AT&T has cracked open the door to Mozilla's recently unveiled Firefox mobile operating system.

"I think there is room for more" operating systems, said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility, in an interview with CNET.

When asked whether the industry could support multiple operating systems, de la Vega affirmed the sentiment: "absolutely."

Ultimately, it comes down to consumer demand, he said. If people are vocal about the desire for a Firefox phone and there's a likelihood of succeeding, AT&T will provide a device, de la … Read more

Countdown begins for Galaxy S4 reveal

Monday's CNET Update does it with stylus:

The mother of all mobile trade shows, Mobile World Congress, kicked off in Barcelona. Today's video roundup highlights the buzz over Samsung, WebOS and a new way to talk to your phone:

- Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S4 on March 14

- Visa's mobile payment program will be built into the Galaxy S4

- More on MasterCard's mobile payment plan, MasterPass

- First impressions of the Galaxy Note 8 tablet

- Samsung HomeSync to rival Apple TV

- WebOS lives in future LG smart TVs

- HP tries tablets again with the Slate 7 … Read more

Stacking up the tablets, large and small, of MWC 2013

Mobile World Congress is generally all about phones, but this year there are a fair number of tablets out and about. Feeling like you're losing track? Check out the roundup below, covering the biggest hits (HP Slate 7 and Samung Galaxy Note 8) and a few unknowns (ZTE, anyone?).

On Day 1 of Mobile World Congress, here's what mattered

The first official day of Mobile World Congress was riddled with exciting launches and delivered press conferences from some of the big guns of the smartphone world. Without Samsung and HTC to stand in their way, the likes of Asus, LG and ZTE threw down the Android gauntlet, and Nokia revealed the latest handsets in its ever-expanding range of Windows Phone 8 devices.

Despite the early hour, CNET staff were out in force with not a bleary eye in sight to cover Nokia's 8.30 a.m. press conference. A series of budget and midrange handsets were launched, chief … Read more

Samsung: No interest in Mozilla's Firefox OS

BARCELONA, Spain--Mozilla and a slew of allies debuted Firefox OS this week -- but one powerful potential partner is passing.

That company is Samsung, which like Apple is a dominant smartphone maker. A high-level Samsung executive said at the Mobile World Congress show here that Samsung isn't interested in Mozilla's browser-based operating system.

That shouldn't come as a surprise given the company's other mobile operating system choices. Samsung is the top dog in the Android market -- its new flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone will debut March 14 -- and the most obvious OS alternative is … Read more

Verizon lines up global 4G LTE roaming partners for 2014

BARCELONA, Spain--Verizon Wireless plans to have several international 4G LTE roaming partners lined up by 2014, CNET has learned.

Executives from the wireless carrier, which boasts the world's largest LTE network, are in town to discuss potential roaming agreements, according to a company representative.

The first roaming partnerships will be announced in 2014. At least one Canadian company will be in the first wave of carriers, the representative said.

The move will allow Verizon customers to go overseas and still get a consistent high-speed wireless connection. The company has roaming deals for voice and some data services in 220 … Read more

Nokia CEO: We are not a 'me-too' device-maker

BARCELONA, Spain--Sit Nokia CEO Stephen Elop down for a few moments, and one thing becomes immediately clear: Nokia is all about differentiating.

Ever since the beginning of the company's resurgence two years ago when it reshaped itself as a maker of Windows phones, Nokia has celebrated its difference, its European heritage, and even a level of quirkiness.

Today, Elop reinforced the message again and again as he addressed a small gathering of journalists at Mobile World Congress here.

Nokia Lumia designs are special, Elop says, since they're bold. The PureView imaging algorithms and camera stabilization springs are a … Read more

Galaxy S4 will incorporate Visa's mobile payment program

BARCELONA, Spain--Samsung's next flagship smartphone will play a key role in Visa's mobile payment ambitions.

The two companies unveiled a partnership today in which Samsung would incorporate Visa's PayWave mobile payment applet in its future devices, as well as use Visa to make it easier for customers to tie their Samsung phones to a financial institution and Visa account.

While not referenced specifically, the upcoming Galaxy S4 will be the flagship product for Visa's program, according to a person familiar with the partnership.

Samsung will be part of the Visa Ready Partner Program, which was announced … Read more

WebOS lives! LG to resurrect it for smart TVs

WebOS gets another shot at life thanks to LG Electronics.

LG is acquiring WebOS from Hewlett-Packard, with the intention to use the operating system not for its mobile phones, but in its smart televisions. With the deal, LG obtains the source code for WebOS, related documentation, engineering talent, and related WebOS Web sites. LG also gets HP licenses for use with its WebOS products, and patents HP obtained from Palm. The financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

The acquisition marks the end of a sad chapter of WebOS, an operating system that many saw promise in, but was … Read more