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FAA to loosen rules on in-flight electronic devices, says WSJ

Airline passengers may be able to use their favorite electronic gadgets from takeoff to landing if new FAA guidelines come to pass.

The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to ease the restrictions on the use of certain devices at lower altitudes, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Citing "industry officials and draft recommendations prepared by a high-level advisory panel to FAA," the Journal reported on Friday that passengers would be spared from having to turn off all electronic devices, though cell phones may or may not remain on the banned list.

The FAA's current guidelines prohibit the … Read more

Image of HTC One Mini leaks

The rumored HTC One Mini takes another step closer to reality. An image reported to be the fabled, micronized handset has bubbled up into view courtesy of gadget blog Engadget.

If the photo is legit, then the One Mini's hardware will indeed match all the hearsay and speculation. The device is said to be a shrunken-down version of HTC's flagship device, which, unlike the HTC One, features a 4.3-inch LCD screen and a thinner and shorter frame. The phone will likely sport the same gorgeous unibody aluminum chassis as the HTC One.

Other speculation points to a … Read more

Smartphone shipments to surpass feature phones this year

Smartphone shipments will finally outshine those of feature phones this year, says research firm IDC.

Smartphones are expected to carve off a 52.2 percent slice of all mobile phones shipped in 2013, leaving feature phones with a 47.8 percent share, IDC said Tuesday. Smartphone shipments are projected to hit 958.8 million this year, a 32.7 percent jump from the 722.5 million units shipped in 2012.

The gap between shipments of smartphones and feature phones will continue to expand, IDC said, as demand for mobile data increases in both developed and developing countries. Emerging markets will … 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

New Android app checks 4G coverage

LAS VEGAS -- Tapping into high-speed 4G networks is a real treat, but sometimes a signal is hard to find. Mosaik's new CellMaps Mobile Coverage app for Android is here to help.

Announced today at CTIA 2013, the application lets U.S. Android phone owners see 4G footprints for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon in real time. Users can also drill down to see cellular network services in their neck of the woods or scan the overall 4G picture nationally.

Even more exciting is the application's ability to filter 4G coverage in granular details such as … Read more

Forced to live with BB10, and kind of liking it

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Irony may be funny to the gods of Olympus, but it's a cruel lesson for us mortals. I found this out the hard way at BlackBerry Live 2013. Within minutes of arriving at my hotel I managed to misplace my lovely HTC One test unit. As a result, my backup BlackBerry Z10 was suddenly promoted to first-string smartphone duty. … Read more