Smartphones

A Giant iPhone Will Look Stunning

If you shut your eyes and listen closely, you’ll hear the clop-clop of the inevitable: an iPhone that keeps getting bigger and bigger. And as much as we generally hate phablets, if an iPhone Plus looked like this, we’d melt. Gizmodo reader Martin Hajek put together these gorgeous renders for Nowhereelese.fr, which imagine the iPhone…

Supposed Galaxy S4 Spec List Suggests Eight-Core Processor

Someone who claims to be in possession of a Galaxy S4 prototype decided it would be fun to benchmark it, giving us a look at how the phone might, possibly, perform and what might be inside Samsung’s next Android flagship. The Antutu benchmark test reports that the S4 is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 5410…

Women In India Use Smartphones To Map Perverts In Real Time

Let’s be real here, most of the time smartphones get used for a lot of nothing. But in India women are using their smartphones to protect themselves by tracking local incidents of harassment and violence. Safety websites and apps have been increasingly popular since a woman was fatally attacked in New Delhi last December. The…

Satirical short film turns smartphone addiction into body horror

Yale loves his smartphone for the same reason he loves sex: it makes him feel connected and provides him with constant validation. But in Todd Strauss-Schulson‘s NSFW short film Valibation, Yale gets a little closer to his smartphone than he would like—and he’s going to have to re-learn how to be alone.

Our Favorite Tablets, Subwoofers, Backpacks, and More

February is the cruelest month. An unconventional sentiment, maybe, but by now we’ve lost that New Year’s vigor, spring is still just out of arm’s reach, and our only escape is the dumping ground of post-awards-season Hollywood. But that’s ok! Because February also brought some major upheavals to our Best Gadgets roster. So turn away…

LG Spirit 4G Review: The Best, Cheap Pre-Paid Phone We’ve Ever Used

Metro PCS isn’t exactly known for its selection of cutting-edge devices. Yes, it has the Galaxy S III now, but they charge 500 bucks for it. Pardon us for generalizing, but we’re going to posit that people on Metro PCS are looking to save money. That’s where the LG Spirit 4G find its sweet-spot. What…

An E-Ink Android Would Only Need Charging Once a Week

At first thought, an e-ink smartphone sounds like a terrible idea. Ugh, all that lag. But think about the light weight, low cost, and insane battery life, and you can see why eInk, the company behind the screen in Nooks and Kindles, is pushing its new prototype phone hard. Laptop took a look at this…

Hardware Comes Last

Google’s Chromebook Pixel is aspirational in nearly every way. It’s designed within an inch of its life, a physical specimen worthy of Rodin. Its lines are sharp, its display is crisp. And nearly every review has had the same takeaway: It’s amazing. Don’t buy it. It’s enough to give you whiplash, or at least a…

Sergey Brin Thinks Your Smartphone Is for Girls

Hey, sweetheart, nice iPhone. Nice Android, too. It matches your Hello Kitty mug and bra. In fact, it’s downright “emasculating,” according to Google co-founder and Professional Computer Face Sergey Brin. So, stop throwing your manliness away. It takes a lot for an asinine comment at TED to surface above the asinine sea-froth that is TED…

We’re This Much Closer to Replacing Our Wallets With Phones

It sounds boring, but one of the most important frontiers in technology right now is how mobile can make paying for stuff easier. And while this year’s Mobile World Congress might have been a little lacking in four-star hardware, there were some serious steps taken towards replacing your wallet with your smartphone. Here are the…

Samsung Wallet Is Apple’s Passbook, on Android

Samsung has just announced its new Wallet mobile payment app at the Mobile World Congress and… and it looks a hell of a lot like Apple’s Passbook. By now you know the drill: the app lets users store things like event tickets, boarding passes, membership cards, and coupons in one central location on their phone.…

Meet the Symbiote: The Ironclad, Adaptable Future of Antivirus Protection

Ang Cui has a lot of power. With enough time he can take control of pretty much any networked device. He could watch you through your iSight or track the Netflix on your smart TV. But he has bigger fish to fry, so your Catfish marathons are safe for now. From him, at least. A…

The Problem With Apps Is Smartphones

We love our music apps, and the smartphones that made it commonplace to carry around advanced, diverse music functionality, rather than relying on a “dumb” iPod or waiting until you get back to your computer to try the cool stuff. However, phones are getting in the way of apps. Case in point: You’re listening to…

Good day for commitment-phobes—Virgin and Boost have both added LTE handsets to their pre-paid lineup.

Asus Fonepad: The 7-Inch Phone That You Never Ever Asked For

This is Asus’s Fonepad. Not to be confused with the Padfone. It’s a 7-inch tablet that also makes calls. https://gizmodo.com/the-asus-padfone-has-finally-come-of-age-5986665 It runs on Jelly Bean and has a 1280 by 800 pixel display. It’s the same size and same resolution as Google’s Nexus 7 tablet. It also doesn’t have a back facing camera, because Asus…

Samsung Confirms the Galaxy IV’s Coming March 14th

There have been rumors that Samsung’s new flagship Galaxy phone was not one for Mobile World Congress, but would instead have its own gala on March 14th. We’d heard reports earlier today confirming the date, but now Samsung has made it social media official. Get ready. https://gizmodo.com/report-the-galaxy-s-iv-is-definitely-being-announced-o-5985135 At Mobile World Congress, Samsung Electronics’ mobile division…

Smartphone DSLR Mount Makes Your Phone and Camera an Unstoppable Duo

Smartphones are slowly taking over the point and shoot camera market, but they’re far from replacing DSLRs at this point. However, that doesn’t mean the two still can’t play nice together. The Look Lock lets your smartphone complement your DSLR, even if one is gunning for the other’s job. Let’s face it, operating a large…

Nokia Lumia 720 Hands On: Cheap Phones Can Have Good Cameras Too

In most ways, the Lumia 720 is exactly what you’d expect. It’s a budget phone made like a Lumia. The surprise, though, is that the camera is actually pretty damn good—which is a miracle compared to what you find on most cheap phones. It’s comfortable to hold, like most Lumias, and has the same rounded…

LG’s 5.5-Inch Optimus Pro Has a 1080p IPS Screen (Hands On)

PPI might not matter much, but LG’s new Optimus Pro, which we’ve seen in Korean form, has a 1080p screen, and it’s pretty damn gorgeous. https://gizmodo.com/rumor-lgs-new-optimus-g-pro-will-have-a-5-inch-1080p-s-5977045 It has a 1.7GHz processor, 3,140mAh replaceable battery, and a 13MP rear camera. As for the display, it’s wonderful, but isn’t quite as bright as you’d like. I popped…

Huawei Claims It Has the World’s Fastest 4G Phone—But Who Really Cares?

Huawei could add a waffle-maker to its Ascend P2, and I doubt even that would be enough to pull people over to its side of the phone stores. Unlike the Ascend D2 unveiled at CES, there’s no 3,000mAh battery lurking here (you’ll have to “make do” with a 2420 one), but there’s a CAT 4LTE…