phone

Top waterproof iPhone 5 and iPhone 4/4S cases

Waterproof smartphone cases used to be bulky, ungainly contraptions, but they've been trimming down lately.

That said, building a truly waterproof case is not easy (a waterproof case is defined as one that can be fully submerged underwater for at least 30 minutes). Often there are tradeoffs in creating a waterproof design, the biggest of which usually involves access to the headphone jack on your phone. They also tend to be pricey, usually costing more than $50.

In boiling down the best of what's currently out there, I tried to provide a good mix of well-designed cases with … Read more

Want a free iPhone 5? Try Best Buy's limited trade-in program

Got an old iPhone lying around? For one day only, you can trade that for a free iPhone 5 at Best Buy.

Best Buy on Saturday will give customers a $150 trade-in credit for any working iPhone 4 or 4S, making the iPhone 5 free. The only out-of-pocket costs for the customer will be any applicable sales tax on the new phone and any applicable carrier activation fees.

Customers must be eligible for an upgrade and activate the iPhone 5 on a two-year contract with Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint to take advantage of the offer. The deal isn'… Read more

Crave giveaway: Rugged Incipio Atlas case for iPhone 5

Congrats to Thomas W. of Dayton, N.J., for winning a Boombotix Boombot Rex portable speaker in last week's giveaway. Got an iPhone 5 that you'd like to take camping or swimming? This week's prize is for you.

We're giving away a rugged waterproof Atlas case from Southern California device accessory maker Incipio. The adventure-ready case for iPhone 5 has been engineered with a hard-shell exterior and water-resistant enclosures while maintaining access to all ports, buttons, and controls. It meets U.S. military standards for drop protection and water and dust resistance and is waterproof up to 6.56 feet for an hour. … Read more

Eight things the Moto X needs

Motorola needs a smartphone hit badly, and it should have happened already. Its last innovative smartphone was the Droid Razr Maxx, way back in January 2012. While its battery lasted a phenomenal 15 hours, a number that newer handsets can't yet match, this is an inexplicable handset drought for the company. Motorola has a long and storied history of shaking up the market with earth-shattering products. That's why I know the company has what it takes to craft the Moto X, now officially due by October, into a hit. And with such stiff competition in the mobile space, … Read more

Are you suffering from smartphone fatigue? (Poll)

There are days when it's so challenging to be a technology writer, I can only imagine what it's like to be a technology consumer.

For example, and I'm just ballparking here, there are some 37,000 smartphones you can buy today. Whoops, hang on, just got a press release from HTC; make that 37,001. Oh, and here comes Android 4.3 -- wonder when I'll be able to load that on my S3. Hey, Best Buy took $50 off the iPhone last weekend. Must mean Apple's announcing a new model at next month's WWDC, … Read more

HTC One Nexus User Experience confirmed

HTC just made all the speculation about an stock Android Version of its HTC One smartphone official today. The company's blog announced that the HTC One with what it calls the Nexus User Experience will arrive on June 26 for $599.

CNET did previously confirm that HTC was indeed working on a version of the HTC One that will run pure Android. Now the shroud of mystery has been lifted. In fact, the coveted device was shown off today by Google's Sundar Pichai at the D11 technology conference.

Contrasting Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S4, which will also be … Read more

BlackBerry Q10 landing on Verizon June 6

Not to be outdone by T-Mobile, Verizon sets June 6 as the launch date for the BlackBerry Q10. Priced at $199.99, the long-anticipated device features a superbly crafted physical keyboard plus the latest BlackBerry 10 software.

Verizon is now taking preorders for the Q10 and expects to stock its store shelves with the phone by June 6. This development will no doubt come as welcome news for the BlackBerry faithful. Many in this camp are zealously addicted to typing on real keys and poo-poo messaging via touch screen.

And what a keyboard the BlackBerry Q10 sports. Based on the … Read more

Music discovery app Shazam launches for Windows Phone 8

Windows Phone 8 users can now add more music to their lives, courtesy of Shazam.

Officially unveiled Thursday in the Windows Phone store, the Shazam app works its musical magic by identifying the song currently being played in proximity to your phone. You can then buy the song through Microsoft's Xbox Music service or through Nokia Music if you're using a Nokia Lumia phone.

Shazam adds a social aspect as well. You can share and comment on your musical discoveries with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. You can also tag any song so that other people can … Read more

Apple screen could react to the force of your touch

Your future iPhone or iPad could offer an interactive touch screen that reacts to the pressure exerted by your touch.

Published Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, an Apple patent application called "Embedded force measurement" takes the concept of tapping on your touch screen at least one step further. Instead of just lightly tapping on your screen, you would actually press down on it to activate a command. The phone would measure the force of your tap and respond accordingly.

As one example, an on-screen icon could let you control the volume of your device. … Read more

Apple reportedly taps Pegatron to make new low-cost iPhone

Apple is reportedly reducing its dependence on electronics manufacturer Foxconn by throwing more business to Foxconn competitor and Apple partner Pegatron.

Pegatron, which already makes some iPhones and iPad Minis, has been chosen to be the primary assembler of a low-cost iPhone expected to be unveiled later this year, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Despite Apple's longtime business relationship with Foxconn, CEO Tim Cook wants to achieve greater balance in the company's supply chain by shifting more work to Pegatron, the Journal reported.

The shift is also reportedly due in part to Foxconn's production troubles … Read more