alcatel

On the surface, the $249.99 Alcatel Authority looks like nice option on Cricket Wireless. The smartphone runs Android and connects to Google's vast ecosystem of software and services. The phone also is compatible with Cricket's Muve Music song-rental service, putting unlimited and portable tunes within the handset's reach. That said, newer options on the no-contract carrier have come along offering more for the same price. For example, the ZTE Engage has a fresher version of Android, while the LG Optimus Regard adds to this faster performance plus 4G data. All that makes the Authority add up … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Alcatel isn't exactly a household name but that hasn't stopped the phone maker from announcing a series of respectable devices at MWC 2013. The One Touch Snap features decidedly midrange components but likely won't affect your bank account greatly.

Under the hood you'll find a 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, a large 4.5-inch screen (960x540 pixels), 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of internal memory. All this drives the phone's Android 4.2 Jelly Bean software along at a steady clip. In fact the One Touch Snap demonstrated a decent amount of pep in … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Do you remember the Alcatel One Touch Scribe X from CES last month? Well, the Alcatel One Touch Scribe Easy is a lot like it, but less tailored in appearance and more midrange in specs.

The Scribe Easy's main premise is that's it an extremely affordable Android 4.1 device (4.2 at launch) that comes with a cool magnetic cover and a stylus you can use to transcribe handwriting into text in several custom apps.

For the roughly $130 U.S. full retail price, the specs are fine: a large, 5-inch, 800x480-pixel screen, a 1.2GHz … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--A Star is born: the Alcatel One Touch Star is a new budget Android phone that brings you Jelly Bean without busting your wallet.

The Star is cute enough, with a slight sheen to the back. The case comes in white, black, or pink. The build quality feels solid and not at all rickety, but plastic does look and feel cheap.

For a budget phone, I was instantly struck by how bright and vibrant the 4-inch AMOLED screen is. Games and apps look colorful and run smoothly thanks to the 1GHz dual-core processor.

It's an Android phone, so … Read more

Alcatel-Lucent announced today that Ben Verwaayen is resigning after serving four years as CEO of the Franco-American network equipment maker.

The imminent resignation of Verwaayen, who will stay on while the company's board searches for a replacement, was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.

"Alcatel-Lucent has been an enormous part of my life," Verwaayen said in a company statement. "It was therefore a difficult decision to not seek a further term, but it was clear to me that now is an appropriate moment for the Board to seek fresh leadership to take the company forward.&… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Similar to its cousin, the Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD, the Scribe X has a large, 5-inch screen with a full 1080p HD display (that's 1,920x1,080 pixels.)

The juiced-up model also features a 1.4GHz MediaTek quad-core processor, and a 12-megapixel camera with a 720p HD front-facing camera. It runs on stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a refreshing change from manufacturer's heavily customized OS layers.

Stay tuned for hands-on impressions of the One Touch Scribe X from CES.

LAS VEGAS--Alcatel isn't a brand that grabs a lot of U.S. headlines, but with the One Touch Scribe HD, it's keeping up with the Joneses all the same.

The Scribe HD comes with a 5-inch HD screen, stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and a quad-core processor. In fact, it's the first announced smartphone to use MediaTek's 1.2GHz quad-core chipset (MT6589).

For background, the Taiwan-based MediaTek just announced its MT6589 quad-core chipset in December, making it the newest entrant into the ever-growing smartphone core war.

The Scribe HD will also feature an 8-megapixel camera … Read more

LAS VEGAS--With the four smartphones in Alcatel's One Touch Pop series, the handset-maker is going after the entry level smartphone market in the Asia-Pacific regions and the Middle East and Africa. One of the phones, the M'Pop, is headed to the U.S.

Launched at CES, Alcatel's Pop quarter starts off with the One Touch M'Pop, which is expected to reach the U.S. with an undisclosed carrier. This Android 4.1 smartphone has a 4-inch WVGA screen, a 5-megapixel camera, and a VGA front-facing camera. Like (almost) all the Pop phones, the M'Pop houses … Read more

LAS VEGAS--I'll try not to cut myself on the Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra, which Alcatel claims is the thinnest smartphone yet.

In truth, I've seen none slimmer; the Idol Ultra measures a razor-thin 0.25-inch thick. For perspective, Samsung's slim Galaxy S3 measures 0.34-inch deep.

The Android smartphone features a 4.7-inch HD AMOLED display and comes with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. An 8-megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture rounds out the feature set, along with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

The Idol Ultra is bound for China this month.

Just to confuse … Read more