Smartphones

Glass soon, Fiber for all: My Google I/O fantasy

In our Google I/O poll, we looked at what Google could possibly announce this week to measure up to the high bar set by last year's skydiving introduction of Google Glass, along with the Nexus 7, Android Jelly Bean, and the apparently ill-fated Nexus Q.

Most of you were interested in seeing some really cool new Nexus hardware from Google this week. It's a sentiment I share, but I also have a fantasy that we'll see something relatively unexpected and bleeding edge that will top even last year's Glass debut. I've come up with four imagined Google I/O announcements that I think are highly unlikely, but within the realm of possibility, and would have the whole world buzzing for weeks to come.

Just to be clear: I have no evidence any of these things will happen this week. In fact, I'm pretty positive three of them won't come true anytime soon. It's just my (admittedly demanding) wish list for Santa Brin and his elves in Mountain View. Let's hope they're listening.… Read more

Verizon pricing for shared plan won't change, CFO says

Verizon Wireless may be looking at new phone pricing options, but that won't affect service plan pricing, Verizon's financial chief said Tuesday.

Fran Shammo, speaking at the J.P. Morgan tech conference, said the company has looked at T-Mobile's new phone and service plan options "a number of times," but Verizon won't change the service pricing on its "Share Everything" plans.

"We may give users more options to buy phones, but it won't affect the service pricing," he said.

T-Mobile earlier this year killed its contract plans and subsidies … Read more

BlackBerry Q10 lands at Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint this summer

Keyboard fans looking for their BlackBerry Q10 this summer will have their pick of three carriers: Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

Verizon will kick off Q10 sales with a preorder in the coming weeks, and will sell the Q10 in June.

T-Mobile has also committed to a June time frame, adding that business customers can get the smartphone for a wholesale price of $119.99 "with qualifying plans." T-Mobile's regular customers will be able to pick up the device for $99.99 down, topped by $20 a month for the next two years. That's a total of $… Read more

BlackBerry Messenger expands to Android, iOS

ORLANDO, Fla. -- More news rolled out of BlackBerry Live 2013 today, including the company's plans to offer BlackBerry Messenger to Android and iOS devices.

The BBM platform will hit these products by summer, but best of all, the service will be offered as a free download. The BlackBerry CEO sounded very excited about the move, a first for the service. He said, "It's a statement of confidence. We are confident time is right for BBM to be independent."

Those are bold words indeed and certainly a great tactic to lure users back to BBM. The … Read more

Dish to sell $2.5B in debt to fund Sprint bid

Dish Network plans to sell about $2.5 billion in debt to help fund its proposed takeover of Sprint Nextel, the company said Tuesday.

The proceeds from the offering will be placed in escrow and will then be released to finance part of the funds needed for the $25.5 billion Sprint acquisition. If the proposed merger falls through or doesn't take place before a certain date, Dish plans to redeem the notes.

Dish and Japanese carrier SoftBank have been battling for Sprint for the past couple months. SoftBank in October offered to pay shareholders $12.1 billion and … Read more

Apple wants you to scratch and claw your iPad

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Apple nearly three dozen patents, including one that covers how a device responds to acoustic signals such as scratching and tapping.

Patent No. 8,441,790, or "Electronic Device Housing as Acoustic Input Device," focuses on tech that would allow a device to detect and react to sound resulting from an impact with the housing, such as dragging a finger along the surface of the device. The sensors send information to a microprocessor, which can distinguish between different types of input as well as interpret what each input … Read more

BB 10.1 and Skype come to BlackBerry Z10

ORLANDO, Fla.--At BlackBerry Live 2013, the phone maker announced that it would roll out BB10.1 software to its Z10 handset. The upgrade will also include access to the Skype video chat application.

BlackBerry also handed out the Z10 device to attendees here at the BlackBerry Live show so many folks no doubt will be able to enjoy the fresh infusion of software. Stay tuned as he get hands on with our upgraded Z10.

Nokia's Lumia push to get 'much more aggressive'

Nokia has vowed to get more aggressive when it comes to promoting its Lumia phones, promising advertising that will take direct aim at the company's biggest rivals.

"I think what you're going to be seeing," Nokia's global head of smart phone marketing, Vesa Jutila, told CNET, "not only from Nokia but also from our key partner Microsoft, is that we're going to be much more aggressively going head-to-head with competition."

The Finnish firm, which is struggling to make a dent in Apple and Samsung's hammerlock share of the mobile market, recently … Read more

Nokia's Lumia 925 is a big T-Mobile win

Nokia' new thin, lustrous metal Nokia Lumia 925 is all that many of the company's fans have ever wanted in the so-far polycarbonate Lumia line.

Compared with the hulking plastic Lumia 920, the 925 is rake-thin and feather-light -- 0.33 inches thick compared to the 920's 6.5-ounce bulk, and 4.9 ounces to the 920's 6.7-ounce tip-of-the-scale. If the Lumia 920 is a suit, then the Lumia 925 wants to be a tux.

If you're T-Mobile, carrying the dramatically slimmer and flashier metal handset is a big win for your new no-contract business. … Read more

The Nokia Lumia 925 sports a metal design, but shares many specs with its predecessor

The Nokia Lumia 925 is the second flagship phone Nokia has added to its Lumia lineup in a week. While the Lumia 925 shares many key specs with the Lumia 928 -- screen size, processor, and camera resolution -- it sports a metal design and, crucially, will be available outside of the U.S.

It's due to go on sale in the U.K., Europe, and China starting in June, with an estimated price of 470 euros before taxes -- expect that number to vary wildly once local taxes are applied.

Following its global debut, the 925 will alight … Read more