Smartphones

Sprint buys Handmark, OneLouder to boost ad service

Sprint Nextel has acquired Handmark and its unit OneLouder Apps to boost its Pinsight Media+ advertising service, the wireless carrier said Monday.

The deal for the mobile app developer and advertising company immediately gives Sprint an experienced advertising team, an ad platform, and top-rated mobile apps that serve millions of customers each day. Handmark and OneLouder will continue to operate under their current brand names and will remain in their current Kansas City location, Sprint said. OneLouder President Evan Conway will lead the company. Handmark founder and CEO Augie Grasis will join a new advisory board to provide direction to … Read more

LG to demo bendable, unbreakable smartphone screen

LG Display is preparing to demonstrate a new, flexible smartphone panel that promises to be unbreakable.

The new screen is set to pop up at the Society for Information Display's annual exhibition, Display Week 2013. The event, which showcases display products, is taking place this week in Vancouver, Canada.

The OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology used in the LG screen is apparently thinner, lighter, and more flexible than conventional LCD displays.… Read more

Jolla smartphone lets fly with Sailfish OS

The first phone running Sailfish, the open-source operating system from the people who tried to get MeeGo going, is the Jolla, it'll cost you 399 euros ($512), and it's coming by the end of the year.

Jolla -- pronounced "yo-la," not "joller" or "holler" -- is the name of the phone and the Finnish company that makes it. It has a 4.5-inch screen, a dual-core chip, 16GB of storage expandable via microSD, 4G, an 8-megapixel camera and a battery you can replace yourself.

Verizon Galaxy S4 may be shipping early

Verizon looks to be pushing harder to get Samsung's new Galaxy S4 into the hands of customers.

Some Verizon customers have begun to report receiving notifications from the carrier that their new Android superphones have shipped earlier than expected.

While I've yet to see video footage, I can only assume that many happy dances have followed receipt of these emails. … Read more

Teen dies trying to hold onto iPad during theft, police say

It's a natural instinct to resist if someone tries to steal something out of your hand.

In Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon, that instinct might have cost a 15-year-old boy his life.

As the Las Vegas Sun reports, Marcos Vincente Arenas was walking down the street, holding an iPad. … Read more

How to upload documents, e-books to Google Play Books

Mixed in with all of the announcements and releases from Google I/O earlier this week, the Google Play Books service received an important update. Google Play Books users can now upload personal PDFs and e-books they currently own to the service.

To upload a document to the service, you can visit Play.Google.com and click on the My Books section heading, or you can go to the My Books section directly by using this link.

You will see a new "Uploads" option on the left-hand side; when you click on it you'll be prompted to … Read more

Making sense of Google's high Galaxy S4 price tag

On Tuesday, when Google's Vice President of Android Product Management Hugo Barra told a crowd of nearly 6,000 attendees that the online giant would be releasing its own variant of the critically-acclaimed Samsung Galaxy S4, many broke out in applause.

Not only would the top-tier device sport all the same desirable specs the GS4 was already known for (like the quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor and Android 4.2 OS), it would also give Android purists/TouchWiz haters, an unsullied Nexus software experience.

Yes, there was clapping all around (and even a "woot!" or two) until Barra … Read more

Forced to live with BB10, and kind of liking it

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Irony may be funny to the gods of Olympus, but it's a cruel lesson for us mortals. I found this out the hard way at BlackBerry Live 2013. Within minutes of arriving at my hotel I managed to misplace my lovely HTC One test unit. As a result, my backup BlackBerry Z10 was suddenly promoted to first-string smartphone duty. … Read more

How to turn your Galaxy S4 into a universal remote

Years before smartphones were a thing, Nokia was one of the first manufacturers to add IR blasters to its dumbphones. The use case was pretty limited, though, as the cool factor typically ended after the fun of turning TVs off at Circuit City died off.

But IR is getting its second wind in a new wave of smartphones packing the technology, namely, the S4. This time around, the use case is much more tangible, posing a real threat to the traditional TV remote. Powered by WatchOn (and Peel), the S4 is more than just a substitute clicker -- it's … Read more

Set a reminder with Google Now

At Google I/O, the company announced some small updates to its Google Now service. One of those updates added the ability for Android users to create location- and time-based reminders.

There are a few different methods for adding a reminder to Google Now. You can use your voice or enter it manually.

To create a reminder by voice, launch Google Now and say "Google" or tap on the mic icon. Once you hear the beep to alert you that Now is listening, start the command with "Remind Me" and add in what you're afraid … Read more