Instagram wants to become an instant messaging service, and it hopes that videos and photos will become a key part of mobile messaging. Today the Facebook subsidiary introduced Instagram Direct, a tool that enables users to send messages, photos and …
Devices
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Becoming part of Microsoft apparently will not stop Nokia from creating an Android smartphone. Codenamed Normandy, perhaps to symbolize a turning point, Nokia’s Android smartphone is reportedly slated for release next year. The lower end of the smartphone market is …
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The U.S. House of Representatives has passed bill called the Innovation Act by an overwhelming majority. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, would force patent holders to detail their products. This would create a significant roadblock for so-called …
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AT&T launches mHealth device Carriers often think of the M2M market in terms of network traffic, but AT&T is taking a different approach with its EverThere mobile device for seniors and others at risk of falling. The company is selling …
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Apple and China Mobile may finally have a deal to offer the iPhone to the carrier’s 700 million-plus subscribers, but most of those people are unlikely to be able to use the iPhone as an LTE device anytime soon. According …
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Amazon says that its own Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX 7 were the best sellers on its website during the weekend that included Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The news comes on the heels of another report showing …
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Motorola’s website suffered a meltdown on “Cyber Monday” as demand for the device maker’s Moto X smartphone outstripped the capabilities of its host. Motorola had planned on offering up unlocked versions of its Moto X halo device to one and …
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BlackBerry CEO John Chen has been on the job for almost a month now, and he is making good on his promise to focus on the software side of the business. Last week the company said that its popular BlackBerry …
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Now that mobile device users are becoming accustomed to ubiquitous Wi-Fi connectivity, the next step may be wireless charging stations. An Israeli startup called Wi-Charge is creating a wireless charging “hotspot” and envisions it installed in airports and coffee shops …
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Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility are both offering high-end smartphones for free with two-year contracts. The deals are in place for Cyber Monday but may last longer. Threatened by competitors offering low-cost, or even no-cost wireless service, the largest carriers …
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Tablets are set to outsell both PCs and notebooks next year. Market research firm Canalys is predicting that 285 million tablets will ship next year, more than the 192 million notebooks that the firm is projecting, and far ahead of …
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Verizon breaks new ground, ZTE enters the smartwatch race, and HTC goes for the gold (again.) Verizon breaks new ground Verizon’s Ellipsis tablet represents several “firsts” for the mobile device market. It is the first carrier-branded tablet to hit the …
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Apple is getting another slice of the $1.05 billion that a jury awarded it last year in its patent trial against Samsung. Judge Lucy Koh cut that amount to $600 million earlier this year, and now a new jury has …
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Google and Apple are investing in RF technology to support multiple carrier bands on one device, meaning that users will be able to take their smartphones and tablets from one service provider to another without swapping SIM cards or voiding …
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Apple has reportedly purchased Israel’s PrimeSense for $345 million, a move which would give Appe access to the company’s tiny 3D sensors that can be embedded in mobile devices. PrimeSense makes a sensor called Capri that can be embedded into …
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FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants to crowdsource information about how mobile devices and technologies are performing on wireless networks around the country. The agency has released a speed test app in the Google Play store and is encouraging Android smartphone …
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The first smartphone to be made in America has not set any sales so far, and Google’s Motorola is hoping that will change as the Moto X rolls out to more carriers. AT&T was the first to get the customizable …
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Motorola has officially launched its Moto G smartphone, with the goal of bringing high-end Android devices to new segments of the global market. The Moto G is not an LTE phone, but it does pack a quad-core processor, a high-end …
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Motorola is set to launch a new smartphone tomorrow. The Moto G is expected to be a lower-priced companion to the Moto X, which has failed to gain much traction in the market so far. The G of course stands …
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Apple may finally be caving in to pressure from competing smartphones with larger screens … or perhaps curving in is the more appropriate phrase here. Bloomberg reports that curved glass will be part of the next generation iPhone, and that …
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4K video is the next evolution of digital video, and it’s the first flavor of ultra-HD video to hit the market. It offers 2160 by 3840 pixel resolution, or 8 megapixels per frame. That’s four times as many pixels per …
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BlackBerry canceled its plan to go private and instead will carry on with a new CEO, John Chen, former CEO of Sybase. Chen says he wants BlackBerry to focus on software going forward, particularly the BlackBerry Messenger app. As for …
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Quality One Wireless has completed its acquisition of the assets of wireless device distributor PCD, saying the purchase price was north of $125 million. Quality One Wireless had previously submitted a “stalking horse” bid of $105 million, and PCD filed …
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Incoming BlackBerry CEO John Chen says the company is not really in the smartphone business. “We’re not really in phones, but we’re in phones for software, for services,” Chen told the Associated Press. Chen said he sees value in the …
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Traditional mobile devices are quickly making way for new form factors looking to take advantage of advancements in various mobile components and a growing acceptance of new ideas from consumers. This can be seen with Google’s Glass device and the …