Smartphones

Group says it found child workers at Samsung supplier factory

Update, December 15 at 9:10 a.m.: Samsung posted an announcement Saturday, saying the workers in question were of legal age. See the note at the bottom of this story.

A labor rights group said it has uncovered evidence that a Samsung supplier employs underage workers, among other abuses.

China Labor Watch today said that an HTNS Shenzhen Co. factory that assembles Samsung cell phones employed at least three girls under the age of 16. The group noted that the discovery came just two weeks after Samsung said it didn't find any child workers while auditing this factory … Read more

Use Kies to back up and restore your Samsung mobile device

Samsung's Kies desktop software can sync your Samsung smartphone or tablet to your computer. If you haven't used Kies before, then you may not know that it can also back up the data on your Samsung device. With a Google account, a lot of your data already syncs with Google's servers, but Kies can also back up Samsung-specific apps, like S Planner and S Memo, which come on the Galaxy S3. Additionally, Kies can back up your contacts, call log, SMS/MMS messages, and media files. Here's how:

Back up

Step 1: After installing Kies (Windows | … Read more

Upload a photo to a specific Facebook album on Android, iOS

You can now upload a photo to a specific Facebook album using the iOS and Android apps. There have been various methods in the past to get a photo into a preferred album, but the process is now streamlined.

iOS users will have the ability to add a photo, or photos, to an existing album or create a new album during the upload process. Android users will only be able to upload photos to an existing album. Before uploading a photo, however, Android users can create an album by visiting the Photos tab from the menu and tapping on the … Read more

25 Windows Phone 8 tips

Thanks to Windows Phone 8's strict design rules, all devices running Microsoft's latest phone software operate in virtually the same way. Unlike with Android, manufacturers don't have much freedom to heavily customize Microsoft's OS with their own software. This means most tricks you use on your Lumia 920 will also work on Windows Phone mobiles, such as the HTC 8X, the Lumia 820 and the Samsung Ativ S.

Here's our roundup of the top 25 tips and tricks that will benefit you no matter which second-generation Microsoft phone you own.

1. Kid's cornerTo keep … Read more

Automatically dial extensions for Android contacts

A lot of companies have an automated service that answers their incoming phone calls. However, it's a bit of a pain when you're trying to dial a company and have to wait to enter the extension number each time for the department or person you're trying to reach. This is especially true when you don't remember the extension and you have to check out the contact information to find it.

Luckily Android dialer apps allow you to program the extension into the contact information. There are two different styles you can use: pause or wait. Read … Read more

Sony, Watchdata tag-team to hook more mobiles into NFC tech

Sony and Watchdata have teamed up in the latest effort to further the use of contactless payments.

The consumer electronics giant has signed an agreement with Singapore-based smart card company Watchdata to integrate near field communication (NFC) and Sony's FeliCa technology into Watchdata's SIMpass solutions next year.

As part of the agreement, Sony and Watchdata will "provide NFC functions to a wider range of mobile phone handsets," expanding the ongoing trend of NFC payments made via a mobile device.

Sony's FeliCa technology, widely used in Asia, is a secure contactless payment service. FeliCa technology is … Read more

Analyst: iPad, iPhone, Apple to feel squeeze in 2013

Apple faces a few challenges that could take a bite out of iPhone and iPad sales next year, at least in the opinion of one analyst.

In an investors note out today, UBS analyst Steven Milunovich slashed his iPhone sales estimates for the March, June, and September 2013 quarters by 5 million units each quarter. Sales estimates for the iPad were cut by 2 million per quarter for the same three periods.

The analyst now expects Apple to sell 41 million iPhones in the March quarter, 36 million in the June quarter, and 33 million in the September quarter. iPad … Read more

Friday Poll: What's the best tech product of 2012?

There can be only one. The Samsung Galaxy S3 lopped the heads off of all comers to claim the top spot in CNET's roundup of the best tech products of 2012.

CNET editors placed the contenders in an imaginary fight cage and let them battle it out like so many boxing robots. Only five devices were still standing at the end. The iPhone 5 was left holding the tossed-off bridal bouquet while the Samsung Galaxy S3 hopped into a limo for its honeymoon with the "best tech product of 2012" designation.… Read more

Crave giveaway: Sprint LG Optimus G smartphone

Congrats to Oliver M. of Anaheim, Calif., for winning a copy of Symantec's Norton 360 Multi-Device security suite in last week's giveaway. Now, for this week's prize... Is your smartphone starting to look (and act) a bit shabby? You're in luck! We're offering up a free LG Optimus G from Sprint (please note: you'll be responsible for your own voice and data plan; Sprint includes an unlimited data plan among its choices).

CNET reviewers love this quad-core Android smartphone, calling it "undoubtedly the best phone LG has ever offered." In particular, they're fond of the phone's zippy Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, attractively bright 4.7-inch display, and 13-megapixel camera. The device is also 4G LTE-enabled. … Read more

Make a jingle on a smartphone, play it on a computer instantly

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