Smartphones

Play Google's Chrome Racer game across multiple screens

Did you see the multidevice game demo during the Google I/O keynote? If you missed it, running Chrome on several devices, Google was able to show a game taking advantage of every screen on the desk. By drawing a race track across all of the devices, various colored cars were able to race around the track, from screen to screen, device to device.

Thankfully, Google isn't keeping the game, called Racer, to itself. You can use Chrome on your Android or iOS device to play the game with friends and family members right now.

Before you begin playing … Read more

Findables case turns your entire smartphone into a business card

QR codes haven't exactly set the world on fire, yet most people know what they are, and most phones can scan them, either out of the box or with a third-party app.

The Findables Case takes that idea to heart by emblazoning a unique QR code on each hard-plastic shell, the idea being to use that code to share information about yourself or help recover your lost phone.

In other words, your case can now take the place of your business card, while at the same time offering good Samaritans a means of contacting you (that doesn't involve poring through your address book).

When someone scans the code, they'll see one of three profiles (chosen by you via a companion app or the Findables Web site): Business, Social, or Lost.… Read more

Google unveils own Samsung Galaxy S4 variant

At today's Google I/O developers' conference in San Francisco, Google announced that it would release its own variant of the previously unveiled Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone.

For the most part, the device will remain largely the same. It will feature 4G LTE and 16GB of storage space.

However, the handset will offer a skinless Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Nexus experience, it will come with its bootloader already unlocked, and users will receive system updates as they come in.

This unlocked GS4 version will be available starting June 26 and will work on AT&T and T-Mobile … Read more

Google: Android activations to total 900 million this year

Google expects users to activate about 900 million Android devices this year, more than doubling the number activated in 2012, an executive said Wednesday.

Sundar Pichai, head of Google's Android and Chrome operations, said at the company's developers conference that users activated 400 million Android devices in 2012 and 100 million in 2011.

"The momentum has been breathtaking since then," Pichai said.

And Hugo Barra, vice president of product management, said Google Play has just passed 48 billion app installations, with 2.5 billion installations in the last month alone.

Google is hosting Google I/O, … Read more

Samsung grabs 95 percent of Android smartphone profits

Samsung took home almost all of the profits generated in the Android smartphone world last quarter, according to a report today from Strategy Analytics.

For the first quarter, global Android smartphone profits totaled $5.3 billion. Samsung captured a hefty 95 percent, or $5.1 billion, of that amount. Strategy Analytics senior analyst Woody Oh pinned Samsung's success on an "efficient supply chain, sleek products, and crisp marketing."

Second place LG Electronics snagged 2.5 percent of Android's global earnings and is far behind Samsung in the volume of its smartphone devices. Samsung could even use … Read more

T-Mobile: No iPhone discount lasts forever

Nothing lasts forever, especially iPhone discounts.

T-Mobile on Monday boosted the upfront cost of the iPhone by $50 to $149.99 for the 16GB version, which T-Mobile Financial Chief Braxton Carter said Wednesday was the company's plan the entire time. However, T-Mobile didn't say at launch that the lower price was temporary. And the increase -- which brings the total cost for the phone to $629.99 after two years of $20 a month payments -- comes only a month after the iPhone became available at T-Mobile.

"When we look at the overall landscape, there's no … Read more

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