Handset

In another desperate bid to get rid of its handsets, Amazon has cut the price of its Fire Phone to $200 for an unlocked device (it still comes with a free year of Prime).

Bloomberg: Samsung’s Planning a Three-Sided Wraparound Display Phone

If your phone is lacking one thing, it’s a display that covers multiple sides of its boring little rectangular frame. At least, that’s according to Samsung, because Bloomberg is reporting that the company has plans to produce a phone with a curved OLED screen which wraps around three of its sides. The idea is similar…

Mozilla Doesn’t Plan to Launch the Firefox Phone in the US

Bad news if you’ve had your heart set on a Mozilla phone ever since they announced the Firefox handsets: the company has admitted that it has no plans to launch the device in the US. https://gizmodo.com/meet-the-zte-open-the-first-official-firefox-os-phone-5986525 Speaking to CNET, Mozilla exec Mitchell Baker explained that the decision to ignore the US is so that it…

A Galaxy S4 Active Mini Might Be on Its Way

This phone here appears to be yet another miniature version of a popular full size model, with official filings revealing something we suspect might end up being known as the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Mini. Could do with a smaller name, too. The phone popped up in regulatory filings on Chinese site Tenaa, which describes…

Xperia Z1F Confirmed: Sony’s Flagship Shrunk Down to Mini Proportions

We’ve had the regular sized one, we’ve got its oversized cousin, and now Sony’s Xperia Z1 is getting a little brother to boss around, in the shape of the Sony Xperia Z1F. And it ain’t half bad! Though the screen resolution and size takes a hit, dropping to 4.3-inches and a 720p resolution, the rest…

China Telecom Leak Seems to Reveal New iPhones

On Thursday afternoon, a verified China Telecom account on the Weibo microblog posted an advert for advance orders of the iPhone 5S and 5C—the phones we expect Apple to announce next week. https://gizmodo.com/the-new-iphone-s-are-officially-coming-sept-10th-1245187290 While the post was swiftly withdrawn, a journalist at the Wall Street Journal spotted—and screen grabbed—the web page. It’s not clear if…

The Mini+ Is HTC’s Solution to Carrying a Big Phone

Phones are getting bigger; some are even too big for pockets. So what’s the answer to your too-big-to-use-as-a-phone issues? A mini Bluetooth phone that connects to your real phone, of course. Or at least that’s what HTC thinks. Meet the HTC Mini+. Yeah, that just happened. How on Earth we’ve got to the point where…

This Is the First Phone With a 4K Video Camera

This is Acer’s new giganta-smartphone, the Liquid S2, and it’s sitting on a fairly impressive secret: it’s the world’s first phone to pack a 4K-capable video camera. Shout “overkill” or “progress”, whichever you prefer, but either way it’s an impressive feat squeezing such a sensor into the body of a phone. Not that this is…

These Dumb Insurance Claims For Lost Cell Phones are Hilarious

We’ve all misplaced our cell phone and spent what seems like hours searching for it—but some people take losing handsets to a whole new level. Chances are, you’ve never lost a phone as impressively as the people that feature in these stories. A UK-based mobile phone insurance company has released a list of its most…

HP: We’re Going to Make Another Smartphone

Despite a shaky track record, it seems HP is keen to stay involved with the smartphone market—with one of its execs insisting that it’s planning to release a handset. At some point. When asked by The Indian Express about whether a future HP phone was on the cards, the company’s Senior Director of Consumer PCs…

The HTC One Will Be Delayed and May Not Arrive Until April

HTC has announced that there are some delays holding up production of its new flagship phone, the One. The company claims it will attempt to fulfil pre-orders by the end of the month, but the device may not appear in stores until some time in April. https://gizmodo.com/htc-one-hands-on-exactly-how-youre-supposed-to-build-a-5985326 There’s been no reason given for the delays,…

Does This Mystery Motorola Reveal Google’s Influence?

A mysterious new phone, which purports to be a Motorola-made Android, has surfaced—and it appears to shun the usual Moto design aesthetic in favor of something a little more Google-inspired. The guys at Tinhte got their hands on the phone. It’s worth pointing out that its specs don’t seem to be targeting the very high…

Report: Nokia Will Launch a Full-On PureView Windows Phone This Year

Rumors are emerging which suggest Nokia is planning to launch a “true PureView Windows Phone”—codenamed EOS—some time later this year. The Verge claims that the new handset will use a sensor similar to the crazy-ass, 41-megapixel Nokia 808 that delivered on camera specs but not on phone features. At the launch of the 808 Nokia…

The New Padfone Lets It All Hang Out

The Asus Padfone took 12 months to arrive on the market after it was first announced. Now, for multi-tasking device lovers everywhere, there’s a new version of the smartphone powered tablet—and it seems to want to show off its insides. https://gizmodo.com/the-asus-padfone-is-as-confused-as-its-name-suggests-5888516 The first iteration of the Padfone had a little door to hide the phone…

Do Phones Need to Come With Chargers These Days?

UK carrier O2 is taking a pretty bold step: an as-yet-unannounced new HTC handset that it’s selling will come without a charger in the box. O2 claims it’s an attempt to be more environmentally friendly, but maybe it’s just the future. Gone are the days of dedicated, all-in-one chargers. These days all you really need…

This Aston Martin Android Isn’t Up to 007′s Specifications

Bond might be saddled with a Sony, thanks to Sony Pictures producing 007′s recent outings, but he should be glad he’s not stuck with this polished turd-of-a-phone. Meet the Aston Martin Aspire, an Android phone that no one should ever buy for $1,300 – it’s no Vertu that’s for sure. It comes in five colours,…

Future Supercomputers Will Be Powered By Your Phone

Cluster computing—the concept of stringing together devices to act as a single processing unit—isn’t a new idea. But soon your phone could be acting as a node in just such a device, helping to crack tough computational problems. New Scientist reports that researchers from the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany have been stringing together…

What’s More Important: Phone or Provider?

As part of the Apple-Samsung legal dispute, Apple has revealed a survey which it undertook in January 2011 before the iPhone appeared on Verizon. It revealed that 48 percent of people would choose Android over iPhone if it allowed them to stay with their carrier. Now, that number may or may not be accurate, but…

Bloomberg: Facebook Launching HTC-Built Phone With Custom OS in 2013

These days, you’re never more than a few months away from a Facebook phone rumor. Now, despite the fact it could prove to be an awful idea, Bloomberg is reporting that Facebook is working closely with HTC (again) to launch a Facebook phone by 2013. https://gizmodo.com/nyt-facebook-is-working-on-its-own-smartphone-again-5913717 Strictly speaking, Facebook has already built and launched a…

Mobile Gigabit Wi-Fi Will Make Your Internet Three Times Faster

After teasing people at CES in January, Broadcom has finally announced the arrival of its new gigabit-speed Wi-Fi chips for mobile phones—and they’re going to make your internet connection at least three times faster. https://gizmodo.com/the-first-gigabit-speed-wi-fi-cards-will-make-streaming-5873386 The BCM 4335 chipset, announced by Broadcom today, is home to the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard, which uses an 80 MHz…