Articles about Smartphone

Goldilocks knocks on Apple's door looking for the right mobile device. She first picks up iPad Air, which with 9.7-inch screen is too big. Then she tries 4-inch iPhone 5s, but it's too small. Finally she grabs iPad mini, thinking the 7.9-inch display is just right. But unlike the fairy tale, Goldilocks is disappointed. She drops the tablet, goes next door to Samsung's house, and takes the Galaxy Note 3, which at 5.7 inches -- and with stylus -- is just right.

There's a gaping hole in Apple's product line -- and one CEO Tim Cook better quickly fix. Through it sales leak to competitors, but into a category where Apple doesn't compete. Tech-Thoughts analyst Sameer Singh observes about first calendar quarter global handsets: "As of now, we can assume that ~20 percent of all smartphones shipped have screen sizes large enough to become acceptable substitutes for tablet computing tasks".

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Anyone who regularly reads my handset reviews will know how important the Motorola Moto G has been. Since last November it has overshadowed every phone aiming at the £150 price range, and quite a lot priced a fair bit higher. Now Motorola wants the Moto E to achieve the same kind of dominance -- this time at the entry-level end of the phone market. The Moto E can be yours for £89 SIM-free.

By modern standards this is a small handset -- its screen is only 4.3-inches. It is amazing how much the landscape has changed over the last few years, so that a 4.3-inch phone seems small and 5-inch feels like the optimum size.

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After Microsoft finally unveiled the highly-anticipated Windows Phone 8.1 in early-April, Nokia announced three new smartphones running the new version of the tiled operating system. Two of them, the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635, are affordable offerings meant to conquer the entry-level market, while the Lumia 930 is much more expensive, competing against other flagships like the Apple iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S5.

Of the three, the Lumia 930 interests me the most as a Lumia 920 owner looking to upgrade to a new, up-to-date Windows Phone. Unlike the Lumia 630, which went on sale last week, it will hit store shelves later down the road, starting in June. But, in Europe the flagship is already available to pre-order.

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There's a new Android phone on the block called YotaPhone. It shows off a really innovative, really smart concept: It has two screens. On one side is what we will call an ordinary smartphone screen -- you know, full color, touch-sensitive. On the other side is an E-ink screen of the type usually found in eBook readers.

I was a big fan of this idea when I first heard about it, and I am still a big fan of the idea now that I've been playing with the YotaPhone for a while.

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You may remember the OnePlus One as one of the most hyped smartphones of the year thus far. That is for two big reasons: first, it ships with top-of-the-line specifications and, second, the One manages to do that at a price lower than what Google asks for its impressive Nexus 5. (The fact that it looks quite nice does not hurt either.)

On top of that, OnePlus has also employed a clever trick to drum up people's interest in its first smartphone before the official launch. The One will follow a different path to availability, as the company will only allow those who have received an invite to buy it. After all, the exclusive launch adds to the appeal, does it not?

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If you believe the rumors -- and I rarely do, unsubstantiated -- Google+ and Nexus are over. Gossipers claim the social network will lose identity and prominence, while the Nexus 6 smartphone is no more than dust in the wind. Who is writing the script here? George R. R. Martin? Because the Google killing-spree has a "Game of Thrones" (aka Song of Ice and Fire) feel to it -- you don't know which product will be killed next. For sure, the death count is mighty since Larry Page's return as CEO three years ago.

But Google will make a huge mistake if it backs off Plus, or worse, puts Nexus to the sword. These assets' value is immeasurable. Enthusiasts are any company's best marketers, and these products command large and vocal fan bases. Enthusiasts are crucial to Google gaining and maintaining brand charm, particularly as government overlords answer competitor complaints: "Antitrust! Antitrust!" Fans aren't just good marketers, they are foot soldiers rallying against invaders, like European or U.S. trustbusters.

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Public sector workers in the UK will soon be able to use Samsung handsets after the UK government gave the greenlight to devices running Samsung KNOX. The Communications and Electronics Security Group (CESG) tested the KNOX platform and the government has now published End User Devices (EUD) Security Guidance for Samsung KNOX on certain handsets and tablets. It's not clear whether this paves the way for a new wave of BYOD for government workers, but it is certainly a possibility.

Samsung is pleased with the announcement, and Injong Rhee, Senior Vice President of KNOX Business, IT and Mobile Communications Division, says "Samsung devices with KNOX are already extensively deployed globally across the private sector but now with this significant recognition, government agencies across the UK will be able to adopt Samsung KNOX enabled Galaxy smartphones and tablets setting the scene for other governments to follow".

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Microsoft may have announced Windows Phone 8.1 early last month, but the first smartphone running the latest tiled operating system only just went on sale. The entry-level Nokia Lumia 630 is now available in Asian markets, with Europe to follow next week.

The first Windows Phone 8.1 device to hit store shelves costs around €119 before any taxes and mobile operator subsidies are applied. Expect to shell out €10 more (€129) for the dual-SIM version. For the money you get a decently-specified smartphone, with a 4.5-inch display.

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Not too long ago, a 4.5-inch display was considered to be on the large side for a smartphone. Manufacturers which dared to go past it were few and far between. Yet here we are today, in a time when that screen size only appears to be associated with small versions of flagships, like HTC's new One mini 2 which is the younger brother of the One (M8). (I wonder what the guys and gals from HTC were thinking right before they decided on the name One mini 2.)

The One mini 2 comes with similar features as its bigger brother, like the Sense 6 user interface, the BoomSound audio and BlinkFeed. It has nothing to be embarrassed about, at least as far as specs go, as HTC uses decent components that should ensure it does not feel underwhelming in daily usage.

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It is hardly a secret that LG is working on the successor of its G2 flagship, as the South Korean maker has officially announced that the upcoming G3 Android smartphone will be unveiled at a press event later this month. It says so in the description of one of its YouTube videos, a teaser of, you guessed it, the G3, as well as on its Facebook page (and, most likely, every other social media page LG has).

We do not need to speculate on the name (G3, obviously), the day of its presentation (May 27) or even the hour (18:00 GMT, 1 pm EST, 10 am PST). But, not to reveal all its cards before the big night, LG is (for now, at least) still keeping the actual smartphone under wraps. Go figure. We can, however, get a pretty good idea on how the G3 looks and what it offers, as the teaser does reveal plenty of details.

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Today's Moto E announcement demonstrates exactly what Lenovo sees in Motorola and illuminates one major reason why purchasing the cellular device company makes so much sense. The affordable phone, at $129 unlocked, targets people who have yet to buy smartphones, but own so-called dumb ones. They make up a huge market, much of it in Lenovo's backyard and largely ignored by Apple.

Smartphones accounted for 62.7 percent of mobile handset shipments during first quarter, up from 50.7 percent a year earlier, according to IDC. But as sales shift to smartphones they also slow in many mature markets, such as the United States where the install base nips 50 percent. Looking ahead, the higher-hanging sales will be the lowest-cost phones, where unlocked matters in many emerging markets, particularly Asia.

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Mobile workforces and a changing threat landscape means that corporate data is more at risk than ever before.

A study last year by research specialist Forrester shows that 32 percent of all data breaches were due to the loss or theft of corporate laptops. In addition between June 2012 and June 2013, business travelers lost over 10,000 laptops, smartphones, tablets and other personal electronic devices in seven of the world's largest airports.

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Did you know the average person spends 23 full days a year using their mobile phone? That is around ninety minutes every day. Smartphones have become lifelines for many. What if you were to drop your phone in a toilet and lose everything on it? This nightmare will occur for nearly 100,000 cell phone users in the US every day who will damage their phone just by dropping it in water.

An American inventor has created a cost effective solution. DryBox Rescue is a machine designed to completely dry your phone of all moisture in 30 minutes even 2-3 days after getting it wet. I spoke to David Naumann, Partner/Managing Partner at DryBox to find out more about how it works, and what’s next for the company.

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I have long gotten used to the idea that the battery life of a smartphone will never match that of an old phone, so it is not high on my priorities list when I decide which smartphone I should buy next. Considering the advantages, this trade-off is something I can live with. Granted, our preferences may differ, but other traits like design, responsiveness, or camera are of a greater importance to me, and other people I know as well.

So I find it strange when an IDC survey, namely ConsumerScape 360, finds that battery life is the main reason why people buy a certain Android, iOS or Windows Phone smartphone, more so than operating system, screen size, brand or camera resolution. To quote my colleague Wayne Williams, "That seems very unlikely. No one shops for a phone because of battery life. No one".

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On November 13 2013, Motorola showed the world that it was possible to make a powerful smartphone that runs the latest version of Android and sell it for under $200 without a contract. Unsurprisingly, Motorola had a huge hit on its hands with the Moto G (top selling phone in Brazil and Mexico).

Six months later, Motorola is showing once again that it is very serious about capturing an even bigger share of the budget smartphone market by announcing a 4G version of the Moto G (selling for GBP 149 in the UK in the coming weeks) and, more importantly, introducing an even more inexpensive smartphone, the Moto E.

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