phones

Motorola X Phone rumors, benchmarks march on

Benchmarks for a smartphone called the Motorola XT1055 have emerged online this week, leading many to believe the device could be part of the fabled X Phone series.

The benchmark scores for the rumored handset show an Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system with a Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor.

Considering the model number and very preliminary specifications, we could be looking at one of the first X Phones from the Motorola and Google team.

As a frame of reference, Verizon's Motorola Droid Razr HD carries the XT926 model number, which is similar to the one found here. … Read more

Aiming for more retail deals, Square adds partnerships VP

For a mobile payments platform whose future success is tied to its ability to be accepted by as many retailers as possible, a company like Square has to have someone leading the charge toward such deals.

That's why Square -- the San Francisco startup founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey -- has just hired its first vice president of partnerships. It said today that it has tapped Alex Petrov, former PayPal vice president of retail marketing, for the job. Petrov also previously held the position of vice president of consumer brands at supermarket giant Safeway.

It will be Petrov'… Read more

Kindle iOS app enhanced for the blind and visually impaired

Amazon has enhanced its Kindle iOS app with new features of benefit to anyone but especially to those who are blind or visually impaired.

Released Wednesday, the latest version of the app supports Apple's VoiceOver technology, which reads aloud text that you've selected. More than 1.8 million books in the Kindle store are compatible with VoiceOver, according to Amazon. More than 900,000 of them are less than $4.99, while more than 1.5 million are less than $9.99.

You can turn on VoiceOver through the Accessibility options in the Settings menu on your iOS … Read more

Larger-screen iPhone to launch in 2014 -- analyst

Apple launched the larger-screen iPhone 5 last year, but the company isn't done upping smartphone display sizes, according to one analyst.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek wrote in a note to investors recently that he believes Apple's iPhone 6 will launch next year with a larger screen. According to the Canada-based Financial Post, which obtained a copy of the note, Misek didn't say exactly how big the screen size will be but said this year's launch -- the iPhone 5S -- will come with the same 4-inch display as its predecessor.

It would make sense that Apple … Read more

Is it time to ditch the iPhone for the Samsung Galaxy S4?

There is no question that Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones are giving Apple's iPhone a run for its money. In fact, some loyal iPhone fans, disappointed with the incremental updates in the iPhone 5, already are looking for something new.

Smartphone aficionados agree that when it comes to innovation, Samsung has surpassed Apple. The Samsung Galaxy S4 in particular is a real standout in the smartphone market. Its bigger screen, higher resolution camera, and lots of bells and whistles are likely to attract a lot of consumers who are fed up waiting for Apple to reset the standard … Read more

Tennis star tweets his love for Galaxy S4 -- from his iPhone

Occasionally we sprinkle advice around here. It's intended to be both gracious and helpful.

Today's homily is for those who are paid by cell phone manufacturers to use their phones.

The advice is this: Please, please remember to use their phones.

I mention this only because of the latest telephonic faux pas committed by the very fetching Spanish tennis player David Ferrer.

It's the Madrid Open this week, so he thought he'd inform his almost 370,000 Twitter followers that he was so very, very happy with his new Samsung Galaxy S4.

Perhaps his competitive adrenaline … Read more

Flexible smartphone curls up when it gets a call

The MorePhone is a very acrobatic smartphone. It's made with a flexible display and shape memory alloy wires. When a call comes in, it activates the wires and causes the whole phone to curl up. It's an unmistakeable visual cue that you've got someone on the line.

The curling smartphone was developed by researchers at Queen's University Human Media Lab in Canada. The thin electrophoretic display that makes the movement possible was manufactured by Plastic Logic, a company specializing in plastic electronics. The alloy wires can trigger the phone to curl up at all corners, or to curl back individual corners to indicate different events, like an incoming text message or e-mail.… Read more

Facebook beta testers wanted

Everyone has their two cents about new software releases, but this time your unsolicited advice is, well, being solicited. Today Microsoft has invited Windows Phone 8 users who also happen to be Facebook fans to test out its official Facebook beta for Windows Phone 8--prior to its release. The existing app can remain on your phone alongside the beta version.

The redesigned 7MB app now includes requested features such as support for high-resolution photos, post sharing, and Facebook Timeline, and it also moves away from the "Metro" style interface of the standard Facebook app for Windows Phone 7 and 8, … Read more

Should you wait for the mythical Motorola X Phone?

With the Samsung Galaxy S4 finally getting into the hands of some consumers, we must once again return to that persistent question that smartphone and gadget lovers never stop asking: what's next?

With word that Apple won't be releasing any new hardware until the fall and the HTC One and Galaxy S4 just released, the answer seems to be "not much" -- at least not for the next few months.

However, dancing on the far edges of the horizon in this summer's blockbuster smartphone void is a magical unicorn of a device whose legend grows stronger and more far-fetched with each passing day -- and with each hyperbolic comment loosed from Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt's lips. I am speaking, of course, of the mythical Motorola "X Phone."… Read more