Cell phones

NFC technology has been poised to reach critical mass, at least in the U.S., for years now. Touted to bestow upon smartphones a wide range of magical solutions, proponents of NFC (near field communication) have said it will enable everything from using your phone as a digital wallet, serving as a secure and convenient method of identification, to even unlocking your home's front door.

And if the technology's big presence at MWC 2013 was any indication, it seems the long wait for the wonderful world of NFC might actually be nearing an end. Yes, almost all of … Read more

Rumor Has It is back, and just in time for one of the hottest product releases this year.

On Thursday, Samsung is hosting an event at Radio City Music Hall in New York, where it is expected to unveil the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4.

Of course you can't have a huge product announcement without miles and miles of rumors surrounding it, and that's where we come in.

Special guest co-host Casey Newton helps me weigh in on all the rumors: will it come in different colors? Will it include eye-tracking software? Will it be unbreakable? We won'… Read more

Sprint quietly revealed its second ultra-tough Sonim handset with the XP Strike IS. Available for $599.99 after users sign a two-year contract (without an agreement, the price jumps to $1,099.99), the feature phone sports a hefty 1,960mAh battery and 2-inch QVGA screen.

Though Sonim devices are indeed tough -- this one can reportedly survive a 6.5-foot fall on concrete and a dunk under 6.5 feet of water for 30 minutes -- they are bulky, and the Strike IS is no different.

For example, its battery physically bulges in the back, and the phone tips … Read more

Apparently there's a reason Sprint passed up the BlackBerry Z10. Along with holding out for the BB10-powered Q10, the carrier may have plans for a new touch-screen handset from BlackBerry.

If sources close to All Things Digital are accurate, then Sprint has its eye on an additional all-screen phone other than the Z10, which BlackBerry may have up its sleeve. … Read more

The upcoming HTC One may be top billing, but AT&T hasn't completely forgotten about the One X. The carrier announced today that HTC One X users on its network can now upgrade to Android Jelly Bean.

This is an update a long time coming since the HTC One X+ already runs a fresh helping of Google's mobile operating system. To be clear, the version of this software is Android 4.1 and not the most recent 4.2 Jelly Bean variant you'll find on LG's Nexus 4. Still, a new infusion of code is … Read more

Following closely on the heels of a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 security vulnerability, another Samsung user has found that the bug affects other models.

Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 flaw, the bug allows for full access to the Samsung Galaxy S3. The method is similar in that it requires a fleet-fingered user to hop through a number of screens.

As discovered by Sean McMillian, the smartphone can be manipulated by tapping through the emergency call, emergency contacts, home screen, and then the power button twice. McMillian admits that the bug isn't consistent -- sometimes, he said, it works … Read more

How long do you spend looking at your phone? More than three weeks a year, according to new figures that indicate how amazing it is you haven't permanently cricked your neck.

Mobile-phone insurance Web site MobileInsurance.co.uk asked 2,314 phone owners how much time they spent each day sending texts, making calls, using apps and games, or doing anything else on their phones. The average answer is 90 minutes per day spent poking and prodding their blower.

That's 32,850 minutes a year, or 22.8 days. Over the course of the average person's life, that's 1,414 days -- 3.9 years -- spent squinting at a little piece of glass and plastic.

Read more of "You spend 23 days a year on your phone, say new figures" at Crave UK. … Read more

One week from today, Samsung is taking over New York's Radio City Music Hall to "unpack" its next Galaxy device. The invitation doesn't get more specific, but the wireless buzz, along with the size and prominence of the venue (even without the Rockettes), suggests that Samsung will unveil the long-awaited Galaxy S4 smartphone.

So for the second year in a row, Sammy is staging quite a coup and ripping a well-written page from Apple's playbook. Like it did with the Galaxy S3, it brushed off … Read more

Today marks exactly one year since Google rebranded the Android Market into the Google Play store and the company is observing the occasion with limited-time deals and freebies.

Deals this week include $5 books and 99-cent movie rentals as well as select magazines for only $1 each. What's more, a number of television shows are being offered at no cost, including "Breaking Bad," "Community," and "Justified."

A handful of Android games also have gotten in on the birthday love, offering free, exclusive in-game features. Disney's Gnome Village, for instance, features an Android-exclusive … Read more