News

Cheap smartphones will go mainstream by 2017, study says

Affordable smartphones will make up the majority of sales by 2017 as consumer gravitate toward entry-level devices, according to a study from research firm Informa.

Informa said that 52 percent of smartphones will be priced below $150, underscoring demand for the devices from the emerging markets.

That marks a dramatic shift in the smartphone market now, which is dominated by super-smartphones priced at $200 or higher. The Galaxy S III and iPhone 5 start at $200, but devices such as the Droid Razr Maxx HD retail for $300, and the iPhone 5 quickly escalates when adding in more storage space. … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S4 will be a no-show at CES

Don't hold your breath for Samsung to unveil the Galaxy S4 any time soon.

The successor to Samsung's blockbuster Galaxy S3 smartphone won't be showing up at the Consumer Electronics Show next month, CNET has learned.

At the tech confab, Samsung is planning to introduce a number of electronic products, heavily focused on televisions, according to people familiar with the company's plans. Those announcements, however, do not include any major mobile news, and Samsung plans to showcase its mobile products at a separate media event after CES.

Speculation about the Galaxy S4's arrival surfaced yesterday … Read more

Google offloads Motorola's China, Brazil factories

Google's Motorola Mobility unit has signed a deal to sell its Chinese manufacturing operations to Flextronics, which has agreed to run its Brazil facility as well.

Under the deal, announced yesterday, employees and assets will transfer to Flextronics once the deal closes, expected in the first half of 2013. The deal also calls for a manufacturing and services agreement for Android and other mobile devices between the two companies. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

The deal allows Motorola to run more efficiently under Google, which has continued to absorb the unit's losses since taking over the business earlier … Read more

Cats beware, dogs can drive

Dogs work as shepherds, lead the blind, and conduct search-and-rescue missions. And now it looks like they could be grabbing chauffeur jobs as well.

To prove the value of the abandoned mutts it takes in, New Zealand's SPCA taught three of them to drive a car. The site drivingdogs.co.nz redirects to a Facebook page showing the dogs behind the wheel, and explaining how they were trained. It also suggests adopting these smart companions.

The car, a Mini Cooper Countryman, has been modified for hand, or paw, control. The brake and accelerator are up high, just off the steering wheel. The shifter and steering wheel have been padded to make it easier for the dogs to control the vehicle. … Read more

Police Down Under rescue Apple map users

Monday's CNET Update shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque:

It's no secret that Apple's Maps are bad. But using the app could be hazardous to your health. Australian police had to rescue several people who were stranded in the wilderness after being directed 70 kilometers off-course by Apple's directions on iOS 6. Police have urged residents to use other mapping apps in the meantime.

Today's tech news roundup also looks into the continued drama between Twitter and Instagram. You'll no longer see a photo automatically load inside of a tweet -- you have … Read more

Pantech preps 1080p smartphone for CES, rumors say

Competing with HTC's Droid DNA, Pantech could introduce a 5-inch 1080p HD smartphone at CES 2013 in January, according to a rumor that surfaced today.

Details of an unannounced Pantech handset called the Vega IM-A860 for now have spilled online, apparently via a Wi-Fi Alliance certificate. The document suggests that the Vega will carry a 1,920x1,080-pixel full HD screen, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with an Adreno 320 GPU, and support for 4G LTE.

CNET reached out to Pantech, however, the handset maker declined to comment for this story.

If history is an indicator, Pantech could … Read more

Valve co-founder says Steam Box is a go

Way back in March, the Internet sort of exploded when it became apparent that Valve really was working on its own gaming hardware package.

Now, Gabe Newell himself has told Kotaku that Valve will create its own hardware and software solution that is designed to compete directly with next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft.

Kotaku interviewed Newell at the Video Game Awards in Culver City, Calif., over the weekend. Newell said that the consumer response to Big Picture had been better than expected, and that the next step was to get Steam Linux into alpha and ensure that Big Picture … Read more

Samsung outs more details on Galaxy S3 Premium Suite upgrade

Samsung last week unveiled the first group of new features coming to its Galaxy S3. Now, it has unveiled the second group.

The company earlier today updated its blog with more new features coming to the Galaxy S3 through its Premium Suite upgrade. The handset's camera features are getting a lot of attention in the new update. The Premium Suite upgrade adds a low-light-shot feature, ensuring better picture-taking in dark environments. A Best Face feature allows users to take five pictures consecutively and then choose which to keep. Samsung has also added a camera feature that tells users how … Read more

BlackBerry 10 won't be PlayBook redux. Here's why

Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 is no PlayBook, and that's a good thing.

There's concern that RIM's next-generation smartphone operating system may fall flat on its launch, an expectation driven largely by the example of the company's critically lambasted tablet. AllThingsD, citing an analyst from Wedge Partners, says the same issues that hamstrung PlayBook sales will hurt BlackBerry 10's prospects as well.

The comparison is an easy one to make, but I don't buy it.

Of course, RIM and BlackBerry 10 face more than their fair share of challenges, and it remains to … Read more

Huawei opens shop in Nokia's backyard in Europe expansion

Nokia is getting a new neighbor.

Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei said today it wants to expand into Europe, and plans to build a smartphone center in Helsinki, Finland, just minutes away from Nokia's own headquarters in Espoo -- facilities that Nokia just sold off as it seeks to right its financial ship.

Huawei said in a statement e-mailed to CNET it plans to invest 70 million euros ($90.3 million) in the facility over the next five years, and will double its work force in Europe to 14,000 over the next three to five years.

Huawei's … Read more