bionic

Wireless subscribers looking for the fastest data network available have been waiting with bated breath for Verizon Wireless's first 4G smartphone. And now the HTC Thunderbolt is here. But one reader wants to know if he should wait for what might be an even snappier 4G phone on Verizon.

In this week's Ask Maggie column, I answer the age-old question of whether to buy now or wait. I also help another reader determine if he should compromise luxury phones for more affordable service fees. And I discuss whether I think we'll all be buying stuff with our … Read more

As we get ready for CTIA 2011 next week, it's worth revisiting some Android devices announced two months ago at CES to see where they are today. While most of the phones and tablets have started trickling out to their respective carriers, some have yet to receive a launch date.

The most prolific Android announcement was the Motorola Xoom, which went on to win CNET's Best of CES award. Loved by critics, particularly because it offered features missing from the iPad, it would no doubt be a runaway hit, right? Not quite.

Unfortunately the sticker price was slightly higher … Read more

If you read CNET's coverage of CES, you'd know I'm pretty excited for the company's new Atrix 4G and Droid Bionic. So I was even more interested today when Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha announced potential release dates for the dual-core Android handsets.

Jha dropped the news during the Q&A session that followed the company's fourth-quarter 2010 earnings call this afternoon. During the session, Jha said that Motorola expects to ship the Atrix 4G and Xoom tablet next month, with the Droid Bionic and LTE Xoom tablet following in the second quarter of … Read more

Though it battled a crowded field, Motorola emerged from CES 2011 as the clear winner in wireless. Its Xoom tablet won CNET's Best of CES award; it introduced the dual-core Droid Bionic and Atrix 4G; and its laptop dock was the most innovative smartphone accessory we've seen in a long time. You had only to visit the company's massive booth on the show floor to feel the buzz that Moto created. I tried stopping by a couple of times, but I could barely get past the crowds straining for a glimpse of the new devices.

Call me a fanboy if you must, but Moto deserved that attention. When you see as many cell phones as I do over the course of a year, only a handful really stand out from the crowd. The remaining models aren't necessarily bad, but they can be so much alike that they just start to blend together. Moto, however, offered features and power in Las Vegas that I hadn't seen before. And that's always a welcome thing for a gadget reviewer.

It's complicated Ever since I started at CNET in 2003, I've regarded the company the way a parent might look upon a bright, hard-working, but sometimes wayward child. Like a long-suffering father, I've beamed with pride as the company succeeded, shook my head in dismay as it grew complacent (remember how long it pushed the Razr?), and tore my hair out in frustration as it made terrible mistakes. And like clockwork, Moto always redeemed itself just as I was about to kick the delinquent kid out of the house. … Read more

After taking a few days to decompress and wrap my head around the Android news from CES 2011, I started to notice a couple of trends with the new devices. Not only are these phones getting substantially faster with bigger screens, but they are growing thinner and lighter at the same time.

As expected, the next Android phones are going to be much faster than today's handsets. We have dual-core smartphones like LG's Optimus 2X and the Motorola Atrix 4G on the horizon, and companies such as Samsung are pushing out single-core processor handsets with impressive 1.2GHz speeds.

And when you factor in 1GB memory capacities, you have two ingredients for 2011's "superphone." Well, at least for the first half of the year. At the rate things are moving, it's pretty difficult to forecast beyond six months.

Displays With screen size, big is in. What started with HTC's Evo 4G continues this year in force. In fact, it appears that the minimum display size for touch-screen phones now hovers around 4 inches or higher. Not only does a quick look show that some of the key handsets announced at CES have screens of 4.3 inches or larger, but Samsung's Infuse 4G is headed for AT&T with a 4.5-inch screen. Anything larger and we'll be into Dell Streak and tablet territory.

It's really funny considering that last summer, plenty of people balked at the Evo because it was considered too big. Was the success of the Sprint phone a driving factor in the new designs, or are handset makers simply moving the needle whether we like it or not? … Read more

It's all about the network: Verizon's new 4G LTE broadband infrastructure was the cornerstone of Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg's keynote address on Thursday morning at the 2011 CES trade show in Las Vegas, where he hailed the possibilities of the "creative revolution" stemming from the increasingly hyperconnected world we live in.

"Wireless data is now more than doubling every year," Seidenberg said. "Smartphones are growing at almost 90 percent a year, and a whole new computing platform for mobile broadband has emerged."

This power of the network was key to all … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Motorola kicked off the Verizon 4G extravaganza that was promised this week when it introduced the Droid Bionic, one of the first few phones to run on Verizon's 4G LTE network. If that wasn't enough to have the tech enthusiasts drooling, it even boasts a dual-core processor, with each core running at 1GHz for a total of 2GHz. And from what little we saw of it, we have to say we're impressed.

The 4.3-inch qHD display, for example, was quite stunning from our brief moments with it. It's bright, crisp, and the viewing angle … Read more

Amanda Boxtel hasn't walked since a skiing accident left her paralyzed nearly two decades ago.

In the video below, she stands and walks for the first time in 18 years using eLegs, a 45-pound wearable robotic exoskeleton aimed at getting paraplegics out of their wheelchairs and onto their feet. It's an amazing sight.

"To take my first step in the eLegs was just astounding," Boxtel says with tears in her eyes, "because I bent my knee for the first time in 18 years and I placed my heel on the ground. And then I transferred … Read more