AT&T is aligning its upgrade policy with its 24 month contract terms: No more early upgrades for fully subsidized hardware. The move pushes out AT&T’s subsidy costs by several months and follows a new $0.61 monthly administrative fee. Read more »
AT&T estimates that it will close the quarter with half a million new contract customers. The big improvement on last quarter is probably due to new promotions and some key smartphone wins. Read more »
New Texas Instruments chipsets won’t help your device run longer on a single charge, but they will allow for 30 percent faster recharging. And the Li-Ion battery in your mobile device will last longer over the device lifetime. Read more »
ARM’s future is tied to more devices with computing and connectivity trying to share data on a variety of networks. Call it the internet of things or just the obvious direction we’re heading as society. Read more »
If you thought the Z10 and Q10 comprised the entire 2013 BlackBerry phone lineup, you thought wrong. Multiple reports — including one hands on — say the A10 will be more of a flagship device when it arrives on Sprint in November. Read more »
Just because it’s not a smartphone doesn’t mean it’s dumb. Norway’s Opera is bringing increasingly advanced functionality to its most low-end Mini browser, with version 4.5 boasting a privacy mode and download manager. Read more »
Is there still a fragmenation issue with Android? Not so much based on the lastest figures from Google. Thank phone upgrades in conjunction with the smart Android strategy shown off at Google I/O. Read more »
MetroPCS will start selling smartphones and SIM cards that connect to T-Mobile’s GSM and HSPA networks starting June 12, according to a PhoneArena report. T-Mobile is wasting no time converting Metro’s CDMA customer base. Read more »
After mostly missing out on the mobile market that started in 2007, Intel has been playing catch up. This year could be the turning point with Atom chips in smartphones and tablets, such as the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Read more »
The world of mobile is getting faster and faster, and that means more LTE everywhere. It also means less talking, more Facebook and, of course, more video. The bottom line — we are only just getting started. Some data points from Ericsson’s mobility report. Read more »
After numerous leaks, Samsung revealed the specs of its new S 4 mini early, and it’s exactly what we expected: a smaller — though not tiny — version of the full-fledged Galaxy with more modest hardware. Read more »
University of Illinois researchers have created an app and a sensor-filled cradle that turn an iPhone into a mobile spectrophotometer. The combination of that mobile lab data and metadata such as location might prove very valuable. Read more »
After months of slowing smartphone sales and reduced profits, some HTC employees aren’t waiting for the company’s turnaround. Is it possible that HTC is planning to focus more on Asia over the U.S.? Read more »
Roughly half a dozen new mobile operating systems will come to market over the next 6 to 12 months. Many of these look to be more sophisticated than the older ones controlled by Apple and Google, for whom serious competition could be just around the corner. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
A recent survey found that 76 percent of respondents store their digital photos on multiple devices using multiple services.That means ample opportunity exists for companies offering solutions that tackle this “dispersed photo problem.” This report analyzes the aforementioned survey’s results, and also measures 18 different vendors against what respondents value most when it comes to photo-organizing solutions. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
From phones that can take pictures underwater to handsets with larger screens in a small phone body, the quality of design in current Android flagships is at an all-time high. Read more »
Given the documented ability of mobile apps, search, and social networking to lift sales, it makes forehead-smacking sense for retailers to shift their focus away from sales lost to showrooming into harnessing the shopper’s in-store wireless experience for themselves and their brands. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Canonical Founder Mark Shuttleworth has really big, plans to put Ubuntu on your smartphone, on your tablet and (via OpenStack). What he doesn’t offer is details on revenue. Read more »
AT&T might be trying to one-up Sprint’s current $100 promotion in the form of a smartphone trade-in program. With it, AT&T will take any relatively new smartphone and offer customers at least a $100 instant credit. Read more »
Saturated markets and a slumping global economy shrank sales of mobile phones in 2012. But demand for smartphones will help restore growth moving forward, as shipments of smartphones worldwide will surpass those of feature phones in 2013. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Smartphone shipments eclipsed those of feature phones for the first time ever, says IDC. Who’s the current smartphone king, based on the numbers? Samsung is, with a strategy that started in 2010. Read more »
Heavy bicycle commuters and weekend riders alike have a new way to charge their mobile devices. The Siva Cycle Atom attaches to the rear wheel of a bike and generates a regulated current to power a phone or rechargeable USB battery pack. Read more »
“Social customer service” refers to those services that provide customer support via social media channels. Providing such services is no longer merely a niche or specialty sideline. Challengers, or disruptors who were early with the new technology, are working to expand and integrate their offerings into enterprise systems and processes. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
This edition of the GigaOM Research podcast discusses mobility’s impact on the shopping experience, for both the retailer and the consumer. Read more »
After selling low-cost tablets for a half-dozen years, French company Archos is shrinking down its mobile device expertise into a trio of Google Android smartphones ranging in price from $99 to $249 without a contract. Read more »
The FBI has amassed terabytes of data from sources near the terrorist attack that occured during the Boston Marathon. This raises a question about the role crowdsourcing could play in solving some crimes while protecting citizens’ privacy. Read more »
BlackBerry 10 doesn’t seem to be a hit with surveyed consumers and handset return rates are reportedly high. Can software improvements turn the tide or does BlackBerry simply have a marketing problem? Read more »
With the new Galaxy Mega 5.8 and 6.3 smartphones, Samsung continues its quest to offer a phone for every sized hand. In fact, it’s mimicking the Android market itself with an array of choices; a clever strategy. Read more »
The trend of larger screens on flagship Android phones shows no signs of stopping. At some point, however, one has to wonder how big “too big” is. At this rate, could Android smartphones outgrow their user base as one-handed phone use disappears? Read more »
Intel and ZTE announced a strategic collaboration last month and already have a new product. The ZTE Geek smartphone uses Intel’s latest Atom chip promising more speeds and better battery life. With a foothold in China, Intel isn’t out of the mobile game yet. Read more »
The mobile platform wars escalated once again in the first quarter of 2012 as BlackBerry finally took the wraps off its much-anticipated new operating system. Meanwhile Android continued to build on its dominance both worldwide and in the U.S., cementing a two-horse race with Apple. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Launchers are nothing new to Android, having been around for a few years now. That’s why I’m not surprised a Facebook Home style launcher is already available in the Google Play store. Read more »
Cloud computing is finally starting to add value to business, as those in charge of cloud within enterprises are moving from talking to doing. That much was very evident in the first quarter of 2013. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Podcast directories are a dime a dozen, but Podcast Gallery is a new one that’s well worth a look. The web service integrates with Dropbox and Google Drive to save podcasts, plus you can use any browser to view or listen to episodes. Read more »
Its a unicorn. No it’s a phone. Actually it is Facebook Home, for now; Apple’s China Syndrome is making it think different; The Bit coin boom (& bust); Chrome & WebKit go to war and did Vdio really kill the Rdio star? Read more »
Samsung may have a lead in the worldwide smartphone market, but Apple’s dominance is growing in the U.S. Read more »
With the continued miniaturization of technology, the rise of flexible software frameworks, and the growing interest in technologies such as biomonitoring and location-based services, the smart watch is fast becoming technology’s next big thing. We asked GigaOM readers to weigh in on the future of the device. Here are the results. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
In October, I suggested that more than half of all Android devices would run Android 4.0 or better within four to six months. My time was just about up, but it happened as planned. That’s good for developers and for end users. Read more »
Now that we have 1080p smartphones, its likely that screen sizes will get even bigger because of the high pixel densities. Samsung may continue leading that charge with a 5.8- and 6.3-inch smartphone says SamMobile’s sources. Read more »
An AT&T promotional video for the new HTC One smartphone shows an exclusive: Only AT&T will carry the 64 GB model of the phone. That may be good for AT&T, but it’s bad for consumers and for HTC. Read more »
