Dialed In

Boost Mobile announced today that it will begin offering the 4.7-inch, LG Optimus F7 on June 27 for $299.99.

The device will be equipped with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, Android Jelly Bean, and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera.

We first caught wind of this smartphone back in February, when LG debuted the handset at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

In addition, U.S. Cellular started offering the Optimus F7 earlier this month for $99.99 with a two-year carrier agreement.

Other features include 1080p full HD video-recording capabilities, 4G LTE, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, … Read more

The official DroidLanding Twitter account has reactivated itself and is broadcasting beacons again.

After sitting dormant for the better part of two years, @DroidLanding is teasing followers with transmissions and videos.

This account has been used to help drum up interest in previous Droid models as they neared launch. While one might assume that a new Droid-branded smartphone is in order, there is nothing in the rumor mill to suggest that will be the case.

As to what exactly will happen should become clear in short order; a YouTube video tells us "combat begins in June." Reading the … Read more

Samsung is set to unveil its latest addition to its Ativ range and talk more about its new Galaxy S4 phones on Thursday, and we'll be there to bring you all the latest news.

The press conference is taking place in London's Earls' Court and starts at 7 p.m. U.K. time, which translates to 2 p.m. ET or 11 a.m. PT. We will open up the live blog 15 minutes beforehand to set the scene. I will be there with Luke Westaway, Andrew Hoyle and Marc Ganley, with up-to-the-second news, pictures and video from … Read more

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 will destroy your mobile processor. Not literally, of course. I'm strictly referring to its ability to render real-time graphics so fast as to make your current mobile processor -- on your phone or tablet -- embarrassingly pokey in comparison.

At a benchmarking event in San Francisco, Qualcomm allowed me and others in attendance to run a benchmarks on a reference Mobile Development Platform (MDP) tablet housing its latest Snapdragon 800 system-on-chip (SoC). The results speak for themselves; however, I should warn that these are only benchmark results (3DMark and GFXBench, specifically) and don't necessarily … Read more

Those eyeing Virgin Mobile's prepaid phones now have another Android 4.1 smartphone to choose from. Starting Tuesday, the Jelly Bean-filled Samsung Galaxy Ring debuts with decidedly entry-level features that are aimed for the budget-minded.

Let's start with the 4-inch display, backed by a 5-megapixel camera with HD video recording, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The Swype keyboard comes preinstalled, and ID packs can customize your phone by adding a themed profile. The more compact Galaxy Ring keeps gaming interesting with a 1.4GHz quad-core processor and a $179.99 up-front price.

Speed demons, however, will balk … Read more

It's been a long time coming, but AT&T customers can now expect to get their hands on the BlackBerry Q10 on June 21. The physical keyboard-toting gadget will cost the industry standard price of $199.99.

With an expertly designed typing surface that's based on BlackBerry's legendary Bold line of handsets, the Q10 features keys that are billed as 30 percent larger. In my experience with the device, I can certainly vouch that punching out messages on the keyboard is both fast and accurate.

That said, to make way for the bigger key layout you … Read more

The claws are out in the Dish Network-Sprint Nextel tussle for Clearwire.

Dish slammed Sprint's lawsuit on Tuesday, calling it a "transparent attempt to divert attention from its failure to deal fairly with Clearwire's shareholders."

Sprint on Monday filed a lawsuit to block Dish's attempt to acquire Clearwire, arguing that Dish fooled shareholders into thinking such a deal would work.

Dish's comments are just the latest in a see-saw battle over Clearwire, which has suddenly become an extremely valuable asset because of the radio airwaves, known as wireless spectrum, it owns.

Sprint had initially … Read more

BlackBerry has issued a security advisory notice to those who have bought its flagship Z10 touchscreen smartphone -- the first BlackBerry 10 device to launch following the company's bid for revival, back in February.

The advisory, which was issued last week, notes a bug that relates to BlackBerry Protect, its security and backup utility, rather than the phone's operating system itself. 

According to the advisory, an escalation of privilege vulnerability exists in the software of some Z10 phones that could allow a malicious app to "take advantage" of weak permissions in the in-built … Read more

LG is hard at work on a new smartphone that will allow for always-on voice commands, a new report claims.

The handset, which will launch in 2014, will allow users to speak commands without needing to touch the screen first, Gotta Be Mobile is reporting on Tuesday, citing three people who claim to have knowledge of LG's plans.The technology will also allow for a broader range of commands than those available now.

Although Gotta Be Mobile cites LG's plans, it's highly likely that it won't be alone in launching a device next year that features … Read more