smart phones

Smartphones--can you give them as a gift? And if so, which one should you give as a gift? Go with the Droid Razr or wait for the Galaxy Nexus? Or learn to love Siri and all her quirks? We're here to help--live.

CNET smartphones expert Jessica Dolcourt joins the CNET Holiday Help Desk Monday Dec. 12 at at noon Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern at CNET Live.

Monday's show is our fourth help desk of the season, here to answer your holiday tech-shopping questions. Not only will Jessica help you pick a smartphone, we'll also have Claudia … Read more

Most of us live with some amount of cable clutter--it's a fact of contemporary life. There are numerous cable minders, and many desktop monitors have them built in. Still, it's nice to see an elegant solution, especially one that doubles as a tablet or smartphone stand.

Cable.Gone's shape and materials set it apart from other cable minders. It's a slanted, rubberized plastic tube with open ends and a couple of holes in the middle. Cables can run from one end to the other or from either end to the middle. Running cables through Cable.Gone is an easy way to consolidate cables, save desk space, and reduce visual clutter.

Cable.Gone's cross-section is hexagonal, with one side lower than the other so the top surface is slanted. The slant is useful for propping up tablets and smartphones at an angle that makes them easier to see and type on. The bottom surface has a slot that makes it easy to insert cables. The tube is made of a rigid plastic with a rubberized outer surface, which helps hold tablets and smartphones in place.… Read more

The morning of October 4, I had my credit card in hand, ready to buy an iPhone 5 and wave good-bye to Android forever.

Sadly, the iPhone 4S isn't quite what I'd hoped for: it's too expensive for the high-capacity models I'd prefer, I want a bigger screen, there's no 4G, and I'd hoped for integrated turn-by-turn directions. The 4S has left an opening for Android to reassert itself and win my continued loyalty...but it's a tiny opening, indeed. This is Android's last chance, and here's why.

Fragmentation (still) I'… Read more

HTC has a press event scheduled for October 6 in London where a "surprise headliner" is promised. Though a focus on HTC's Beats Audio could mean that the special guest is an actual musician, HTC may just be playing coy about a coming new phone as well.

One device rumored to take the stage is the Runnymede, a Beats Audio-equipped phone with a 4.7-inch display. Mirroring HTC's Windows Phone-powered Titan, additional specifications are expected to include a single-core 1.5GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and 16GB internal storage.

According to a trusted source to Pocketnow, … Read more

Huawei announced its next Android endeavor yesterday, unveiling the Gingerbread-powered Honor and putting it on track for a fourth-quarter release.

Ask an average Android user to name one item they'd like to improve on their handset and you'll likely hear battery performance. That's why Huawei is really hoping to impress by adidng a 1900 mAh battery with a promised three days of juice. While it's not the highest-capacity battery we've seen yet (Atrix 4G has 1930 mAh), it still manages to keep the phone relatively light (140g) and thin at only 10.9 mm.

Other specifications include a single-core 1.4GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera, 512MB RAM, and 4GB internal storage. Falling right in the middle of the pack of today's new Android releases, the Honor will likely make a lower cost alternative to handsets from competitors such as Samsung or HTC. Additional noteworthy details for the 3G smartphone include a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, a microSD expansion slot, and support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and FM radio. … Read more

The hardware specifications for the rumored Droid Razr surfaced over the weekend at This is My Next, painting the image of a slightly evolved Droid Bionic.

The seemingly reliable details include a 4.3-inch display, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, and 4G LTE support. Although the processor's manufacturer has not been identified, it's definitely a step up from the Droid Bionic. What's more, the Super AMOLED Plus display certainly is a departure from the PenTile matrix found in other recent Motorola smartphones.

According to This is My Next's source, the handset had a code name of Spyder, but the name "Droid Razr" is referenced in the handet's "About" screen. What's more, the tipster indicates that the phone features an "HD" front-facing camera, though its resolution was not immediately known.

Comparing these new images to one that first surfaced in August, it's highly like that this is the same phone once also known as the Droid HD. Indeed, the other details match up pretty closely with each other so I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this phone has multiple names. … Read more

LG has introduced the latest member of its Optimus family today with the Optimus Q2.

Expected to debut in the coming week, the Android 2.3 Gingerbread phone features midrange to high-end specifications that should bolster LG's smartphone reputation. Details include a sliding QWERTY keyboard, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera on the rear, and a front-facing VGA camera.

Digging deeper, the 4-inch display features IPS technology (700 nits) and should provide an incredibly bright picture. At only (12.4mm), the Optimus Q2 is one of the thinnest and lightest sliding QWERTY handsets ever released.

The LG … Read more

After churning out a steady stream of midrange and entry-level Android handsets, LG may be setting its sights on the high end. According to details found on a Korean tech site (translated), an LG LU6200 is expected to arrive later this year with specifications that rival some of the smartphones coming out of Samsung or HTC.

Details for the LG handset are said to include a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, a 4.5-inch 720p HD display, and an 8-megapixel camera. Sounding remarkably similar to the upcoming HTC Vigor, the phone also supports 4G LTE and comes with a front-facing 1.… Read more

Ask any cell phone geek to name Motorola's most famous phone over the last 10 years and you're bound to hear either the Droid or Razr.

Both handsets were important in the company's history and each helped to revitalize Motorola in the ensuing years. And this week, new evidence has emerged that suggests that Moto could be combining these two iconic brands into one device.

According to EXIF data found online, the 3-megapixel image seen on the right could be from a device known as the Droid Razr. Considering how easy it is to fake EXIF data, we should consider this strictly rumor for now.

Yet, Pocketnow, which initially discovered this image, surmises that this most likely is legit and that the photo was taken at a lower resolution than it is capable of producing.

The first whispers of an ultrathin Droid first surfaced in May when Pocketnow uncovered some unannounced products being shown on a refreshed Motorola Web site. One particular model shown on the page (see below) was accompanied by the name Motorola Slimline and the caption that "Thin is Still In."

I'd love to hear your take on a proposed Droid Razr; Does this appeal to you at all? What features would you like to see in such a device? … Read more