pcs

The Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G runs a less-than-admirable OS version

At just $100, the Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G has a number of things going for it. It delivers a consistent 4G LTE experience, it has an attractive, compact build, and it's ideal for customers looking for a simple, no-contract smartphone.

Unfortunately, one huge oversight with the device is that it runs on the Android 2.3 operating system. In the smartphone world, this is ages old (after all, there have been two updates since then). And the fact that MetroPCS carries plenty of other devices with Android 4.0 for about the same price, if not cheaper, doesn't … Read more

Justice Dept sought review of T-Mobile-MetroPCS deal in November

Correction, 2:55 p.m. and 6:55 PT: CNET incorrectly stated that the Justice Department had sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission today and implied there was additional concern about the national security implications of that deal. There have been no additional concerns raised, and the review is part of a standard process when a foreign company is involved in a merger.

The U.S. Department of Justice had previously asked the Federal Communications Commission to defer its review of the T-Mobile and MetroPCS merger in late November.

In a letter dated Nov. 26, 2012, attorney adviser … Read more

The strange resurrection of Net neutrality

WASHINGTON, D.C.--At this week's State of the Net conference, an annual event of the bipartisan Congressional Internet Caucus, members of Congress, staffers, and technology policy junkies gathered once again to explore the government's Internet-related priorities for the new year.

A few themes emerged, including possible legislation over cybersecurity, a rewrite of the 1996 Communications Act, reforming federal electronic-surveillance laws, and the continuing threat of both national governments and the United Nations trying to wrest control of Internet governance from engineering-driven groups.

The general consensus, however, was that for at least the next several months, the fiscal … Read more

Intel's quarterly results again show how dismal PCs are right now

The computer market sure isn't something to cheer about right now, and Intel's most recent quarterly results and forecast aren't much different.

While the company's fourth-quarter per-share earnings and gross margins topped analysts' expectations, Intel's financial results across the board still came in below the year-earlier numbers. And the Santa Clara, Calif., company, which provides processors for the majority of the world's PCs and servers, also projected first-quarter and 2013 results that were a little weaker than anticipated.

As if that wasn't enough, Intel also disclosed it's going to spend a pretty … Read more

AT&T eyes international expansion for growth

AT&T is interested in buying a European carrier for growth, according to the Wall Street Journal.

With the U.S. market about to get more competitive, AT&T is looking at markets in Europe where it can upgrade technology and roll out new services and pricing strategies, the Wall Street Journal said, citing unnamed sources. It reported that AT&T is studying potential acquisitions, and could strike a deal by the end of the year. In particular, AT&T is looking at the U.K., Germany, and the Netherlands.

While the U.S. carriers have … Read more

FCC, stakeholders align on communications policy -- for now

LAS VEGAS--Peace appears to be breaking out between mobile Internet users and regulators.

During the three-day Innovation Policy Summit here at CES, members of Congress, FCC commissioners, industry representatives, and consumer groups found little to disagree on, whether the topic was incentive auctions for more broadband spectrum, retiring legacy copper networks in favor of native IP, sharing government spectrum in the 5 GHz band for high-speed Wi-Fi, or the continuing threat of international efforts to turn Internet governance over to repressive national governments so they can destroy it.

Some minor skirmishes broke out, of course, but the conversation this week … Read more

MetroPCS debuts new 4G LTE plans starting at $40

Prepaid carrier MetroPCS is rolling out a new line of wireless plans that it's dubbing "simpler" 4G LTE plans. All three plans offer unlimited data and are available on several of the smartphones MetroPCS offers.

The cheapest plan is $40 per month and includes unlimited data with the first 500MB of data running at 4G LTE speeds. The next unlimited data plan is $50 per month and the first 2.5GB of data runs on 4G LTE. And the final $60 per month plan offers complete unlimited data at 4G LTE speeds. All three plans include unlimited … Read more

HP tops Lenovo in lackluster PC market

HP is still the top dog in computer sales around the world, at least according to IDC. But those sales continue to plummet.

Released today, IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker pegged fourth-quarter global PC shipments at 89.8 million units, down 6.4 percent from the same quarter in 2011.

The drop was actually worse than IDC's forecast of 4.4 percent and marked the first time the industry saw a year-on-year decline during the holiday season. For 2012 as a whole, PC shipments were down by 3.2 percent.

Windows 8 officially launched at the end of … Read more

PCs of the near future: Intel lays out next-gen plans

LAS VEGAS--PCs on your coffee table, playing Monopoly. Super-thin ultrabooks. Voice and gestural computing. Intel showed these and more at their CES 2013 press conference. But does it add up to a firm control on the future of computing?

Fourth-gen Intel Core processors aren't on their way immediately, but at this year's CES Intel was ready to demonstrate how its "Haswell" code-named chips will make Windows 8 devices of tomorrow even thinner and smaller than now ... if you're in need of that. Fourth-gen Intel processors will require touch and have mandatory Intel Wireless Display, a … Read more