MOBILE.BLORGE

Samsung utterly dominant in Android

John Lister — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:17:20 +0000

One company alone made more than $5 billion profit from the Android system in the first three months of 2013. Surprisingly it’s not Google but rather Samsung that’s raking it in.

The figures come from Strategy Analytics, which has just published estimates for [..]

Nobody gives a buck for Facebook phone

John Lister — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:23:03 +0000

The wait for a Facebook phone seemed to take years. Now, just a few weeks after its debut, it seems you have to almost give it away.

AT&T has announced that the HTC First handset, which was, well, the first to feature the [..]

Multiple lenses make smartphone cameras more effective

John Lister — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:22:10 +0000

These days most smartphones have a good-quality lens in their camera. But two different in-development tools would make particularly creative use of multiple lenses.

The first is a plenoptic camera phone, which uses 16 tiny lenses instead of one main [..]

Indian firm launching Braille smartphone for blind people

John Lister — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:26:37 +0000

Plenty of smartphones and other mobile devices have text-to-speech tools to make them more useful for deaf people. Now an Indian firm is planning a 2014 release for a phone that uses Braille for blind people.

The handset [..]

The merger between T-Mobile and MetroPCS passes another hurdle

Susan Wilson — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:08:26 +0000

MetroPCS shareholders approved its merger with T-Mobile after Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company offered a sweeter loan deal. The merger of the fourth and fifth mobile phone [..]

Carriers rapped for Android update delays

John Lister — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:24:10 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission is set to investigate a formal complaint that wireless firms have failed to issue software updates for Android Handsets. The complaint, from the American Civil Liberties Union, says handsets that don’t get security fixes are effectively defective.

The argument centers [..]

Burner disposable numbers come to Android

Susan Wilson — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:31:35 +0000

Ever wanted a disposable phone number without the cost of purchasing a disposable phone? Burner offers you that option. You can now get “fake”phone numbers for your Android cell phone. [..]

A new survey says that Samsung Galaxy is easier to use than an iPhone

Susan Wilson — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:22:08 +0000

You did indeed read that headline correctly. A global “branding” company that specializes in “building world-class brands through elegantly simple, unexpectedly fresh [..]

T-Mobile offers iPhone trade-in deals

John Lister — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:21:50 +0000

T-Mobile is marking the launch of the iPhone on its network with a “free” upgrade to iPhone 4 and 4S users. Anyone trading in those handsets will save a $99 up-front fee and could get credit towards monthly bills.

The deal doesn’t quite equate to [..]

Facebook phone a reality — kinda

John Lister — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:09:06 +0000

Rumors that Facebook will produce its own smartphone handset look unlikely to ever come to pass. But an announcement today is as close as we’ve ever got.

Facebook will today confirm that it is offering a suite of applications for customized Android handsets. Rather [..]