In a bid to increase sales of its flagship handset this Christmas, HTC has kicked off a special promotion in the U.S., offering buyers the option of purchasing an unlocked 32GB HTC One smartphone for $0 down followed by 24 monthly interest-free payments of $25. In two years, buyers qualifying for the offer would only pay for the cost of the handset, whose listed price is $599. However, depending on credit checks, not all applicants will be able to take advantage of the interest-free financing offer and some buyers may end up getting different financing terms, based on their creditworthiness. More →
LG’s second banana phone will be more than just a banana phone. We have already discussed why the first round of smartphones that utilize flexible displays isn’t terribly impressive, but LG’s second phone with a flexible panel will reportedly be a completely different story. According to a report from ZDNet Korea, LG is currently developing a sequel to its G Flex smartphone that won’t just sport a slight curve, the entire device will be bendable. The report states that LG’s upcoming flexible phone will bend up to 90 degrees without breaking, and it will represent an important step on the road to smartphones that are completely foldable. LG’s bendable G Flex sequel will debut sometime in 2014 ahead of any similar offering Samsung might be working on, according to the report.
What goes up must come down and on Wall Street, billions are made and lost betting on which direction companies are headed. Apple is the most valuable technology company in America by a huge margin so needless to say, it gets plenty of attention on the Street. At some point, be it sometime in the next few years or sometime in the next few decades, Apple will no longer be on top. It is inevitable. The question countless industry watchers try to answer, of course, is when. More →
The early returns on smartphones with curved displays such as the Samsung Galaxy Round and the LG G Flex have been pretty underwhelming so far. But as AndroidCentral reports, LG doesn’t see flexible displays as a mere gimmick and is predicting that they will take up a sizable chunk of the market by the end of the decade. Speaking during a press gathering in San Francisco this week, LG executive Ramchan Woo estimated that 40% of smartphones in 2020 will ship with some sort of curved or flexible display as more consumers will be drawn toward wearable devices that fit naturally on their bodies. More →
Spotify is apparently interested in expanding its mobile music services by offering users free (ad-supported) on-demand access to streaming music. The company’s current offer lets users stream unlimited music on their smartphones and tablets from a catalog of over 20 million tracks for $10 per month, or stream Pandora-like radio with ads for free. According to The Wall Street Journal, Spotify has inked deals with Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group for an enhancement to its ad-based services that will allow on-demand music streaming. More →
AT&T made waves on Thursday morning with the announcement of its new Mobile Share Value plans, offering a large segment of its customers cheaper data plans just in time for the holidays. Perhaps unsurprisingly, T-Mobile was chomping at the bit to issue a response. CNET received an email from T-Mobile marketing executive Andrew Sherrard in which Sherrard said that AT&T’s new Mobile Share plans are confusing, expensive and miss the mark. More →
Google earmarked around $500 million to market the Moto X and it’s still barely made a dent in the American smartphone market. The latest numbers from comScore show that Motorola’s American smartphone market share ticked up only slightly from 6.9% in July 2013 to 7% in October 2013 even though the company in that time launched several new smartphones including its flagship Moto X. That Google could put so much money into pushing a product and still only nudge the needle forward has to be disappointing, especially since it’s been trying to find a counterweight to keep Samsung’s domination of the Android market in check. More →
Details are still hazy at best, but Samsung might be preparing to ship a new Windows Phone. A listing for an unannounced Samsung smartphone with model number SM-W750V has appeared on Indian tech company Zauba’s website. According to the listing, the phone will feature a 5-inch display, and as SamMobile has deduced based on its 33,245 rupee ($540 USD) price, it will likely contain high-end specs comparable to Samsung’s other flagship phones. Samsung hasn’t been shy about the fact that it is exploring its options in terms of smartphone operating systems, particularly with the upcoming launch of Tizen. Releasing a Windows Phone would allow Samsung to spread its reach even further, and with Microsoft looming over the Windows Phone business, this could be good timing on Samsung’s part.
The Galaxy S4 was Samsung’s big flagship phone for 2013 and the company made sure it got plenty of bang for its buck. Within the span of just a few months, Samsung launched eight different versions of the Galaxy S4. And we’re not just talking about different storage options here, we talking about eight different model numbers. Now, as details continue to trickle out about next year’s Galaxy S5, it’s looking like Samsung may adopt a similar strategy — referred to by some as “gadget spamming” — and launch several different versions of its Galaxy S5-branded handset. More →
The shine is already wearing off of Apple’s new Touch ID technology for some iPhone 5s owners. Apple unveiled its latest flagship iPhone this past September and along with it, a new embedded fingerprint scanner brought about by the company’s 2012 acquisition of mobile security firm AuthenTec for $356 million. Dubbed Touch ID, the new technology places a sapphire glass-covered fingerprint scanner in the home button of Apple’s iPhone 5s and allows users to unlock the device or authenticate App Store purchases with just the touch of a finger. The new tech is among a few main selling points for the iPhone 5s, but a new report suggests some users are already having trouble with it after less than three months on the market. More →
In BGR’s full review of the Nexus 5, we called the camera one of the weakest points on Google’s latest smartphone. We found during our tests that photo quality in good lighting is impressive, but we said low-light photos are terrible and the Nexus 5′s camera software is simply awful. While the camera isn’t the worst thing about the Nexus 5, it is certainly close. But don’t take our word for it — the photography experts at DP Review recently put the Nexus 5′s camera through an exhaustive review process that picks apart every conceivable aspect of the camera hardware, software and resulting photos. We won’t post any big spoilers but suffice it to say the brief comments we made in our Nexus 5 review were a pretty accurate assessment. Nexus 5 users will be happy to learn, however, that Google’s Android 4.4.1 update is rolling out over the next few days to hopefully address some issues. DP Review’s full eight-page Nexus 5 camera review is linked below in our source section.
In our review of the Nexus 5, we found that one of the best Android phones on the market marred by an oddly inconsistent camera. The software was buggy, low-light quality was miserable, and the flash was nothing to call home about. The Verge reports that the first update to Android’s KitKat OS, 4.4.1, aims to fix many of the issues that have plagued the Nexus 5 camera. With the new update, Google has improved autofocus, exposure, white balance, speed, and contrast. It looks to be a major leap over the subpar results currently being delivered by the Nexus 5, although The Verge admits that there are still some very basic features missing, such as a single button or screen press for focusing and shooting. Either way, it’s a step in the right direction to make the best Android phone of the season even better. The update is expected to start rolling out over the next few days.
