mobile

HTC One sells on T-Mobile for $99 down

Starting April 19, T-Mobile will unlock the door to online sales for the HTC One, the phone maker's most impressive handset on the market.

Starting April 24, you'll be able to also buy it in stores.

As a newly minted no-contract carrier, T-Mobile can't sell the smartphone for $200, but it will give you a break with a down payment of $99 and a $20-per-month charge for the next two years. The cost works out to $580 for the feature-laden handset. You can also pay the full price up front.

HTC's One features a stunning design … Read more

Norton Mobile Security Lite for Android 2.5.0.378 Review

With the emergence of malware for smartphones, using a protection program is quickly becoming a necessity. Norton Mobile Security Lite for Android is a good option with several useful features for phone security.

The Lite version of the program comes free of charge, but payment of $14.99 for a one-year subscription unlocks additional features such as backup, call blocking, and web protection. Installation of the Lite version was seamless and completed quickly. Technical support was available from the developer for problems as well as updates. Upon startup, the user must accept a licensing agreement and can either sign in … Read more

Apple iWatch rumor roundup

Not satisfied with just smartphones, MP3 players, and computers anymore, the rumor mill has now tacked on "smartwatch" to the list of potential hot items that Apple will develop and manufacture. Dubbed "the iWatch," chatter about Apple producing this sort of wearable tech is timely, considering that smartwatches seem to be on the mind of a number of other companies as well.

From bendable glass to an OLED screen, we gather all the dish on Apple's iWatch. Please note that we'll continue to update this roundup periodically and feel free to let us know … Read more

Twitter #Music off to a glitchy start

CNET Update is not a Belieber:

Twitter #Music launched, but it hasn't quite found the beat. Bridget Carey explains the new music-discovery tool and its bugs -- and how to avoid embarrassing judgements about your music taste.

Also in this tech rundown:

- Facebook's latest changes include icons in status updates and Open Graph on mobile.

- Google bans early Glass owners from selling or loaning out units. If that happens, Google will deactivate the Glass unit. Harsh.

- Adding to previous reports, an image of a plastic iPhone has been posted online.

- In a survey of … Read more

Archos throws hat into Android smartphone ring

Archos announced today that it will release its first family of Google smartphones in Europe by the end of May. Each handset will feature dual SIMs, a pure Android OS experience, and cloud storage capabilities.

Its most entry-level device is called the 35 Carbon. For $99.99, it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, has a 1,300mAh battery, and is powered by a 1GHz processor.

It includes 512GB of RAM, 4GB of ROM, and a microSD card slot that takes cards of up to 32GB. Its 3.5-inch IPS display has a 320x480-pixel resolution, and its rear-facing camera … Read more

Facebook launches new tools for mobile, including Open Graph

Facebook on Thursday announced three new products, including Open Graph for mobile, to boost its presence in the fast-growing smartphone and tablet markets.

The company said in a blog post and at its mobile developer conference in New York that along with making it easier to implement Open Graph on mobile, Facebook also is improving Facebook Login and is releasing a new SDK 3.5 for iOS.

In addition, Facebook also announced a new partner program to help developers integrate Facebook on a variety of mobile platforms. Some early partners include C# SDK for Windows 8 by Microsoft, Corona SDK … Read more

Image leaks of lower-cost iPhone with plastic case

A plastic, cheaper iPhone might be a reality, after all.

After rumors surfaced recently suggesting Apple would launch a thicker, cheaper, plastic iPhone, an image seeming to be just that device has hit the Web. Earlier today, mobile case maker Tactus shared a photo of what it claims is the rear, plastic casing on Apple's next iPhone.

It's not clear how Tactus might have received the casing or whether it's real, but it follows a rumor in February from Japanese Apple-news site Macotakara, which claimed that a cheaper, plastic iPhone was on the way to store shelves.… Read more

BeerHunt app wants you to have fun and free beer

If you ever thought you should be rewarded for drinking lots of beer, here's your chance. A new iOS app turns drinking into a game, giving you points, and ultimately physical rewards, for guzzling down microbrews.

BeerHunt, an app created by incubator The Monkey Inferno, launched today at the Demo Mobile conference in San Francisco. The creators described it as a kind of Foursquare for beers. You get points every time you log a beer into your beer profile depending on what type of beer it is. More points if it's a rare beer, a beer from a … Read more

Eye Tribe for Android tracks eyes, makes fingers obsolete

Today, during the Demo Mobile conference in San Francisco, The Eye Tribe, maker of eye-tracking software for Android, announced that in June it will release a developers' kit for games and apps.

In its press release, The Eye Tribe claims to make the "world's first eye control software" for Android devices.

The software makes it possible to scroll down Web pages, play games, and unlock your home screen, using nothing but your eyes.

While devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 are said to have eye-tracking software already, that handset's Smart Pause feature only recognizes whether your … Read more