One of our biggest pet peeves – one we've talked about time and time again – is that smartphone OEMs have had this well-nigh unshakable belief that smaller phones had to be underpowered, and next-gen chips only belong in their handsets. We're still a long way from undoing this trend, but there's been some recent progress – look only to the 4.3-inch 720p displays we've been hearing about on HTC gear. Today, our attention's on Acer, after hearing some company execs talking about an upcoming model. The company's smartphone head ST Liew explained, "a lot of people have started abandoning ...

Just yesterday, we were talking about the possibility of Google releasing a follow-up to last summer's Nexus 7 in the near future. We've heard a little about possible specs, and just got some news about potential price points. Today, we get some of the strongest evidence yet for new hardware, upon the paperwork for a new ASUS tablet hitting the FCC. OK, but ASUS makes plenty of tablets, right? Granted, but check out the info box below, where this model K009 is clearly marked as a Nexus model. The hardware run-down that follows sure seems to match a lot of the rumors we've heard about a new ...

Have you tried out Google's new All Access streaming radio yet? Some of the early adopters playing around with the service had noticed that it sure seemed to be pulling down a lot of data – fine for those of us on unlimited or high-tier plans, but not great news for someone looking to keep their monthly use down. While Google did offer users some control over the amount of bandwidth consumed, there was only one option, letting you force the highest-quality possible. What it didn't have was any way to specify a preference for lower-bandwidth options, so unless you were keeping an eye on ...

Google's Nexus 7 is fast coming up on its one year birthday. As such, it's practically ancient in the smartphone/tablet world, and there's been a flurry of interest lately in talking about a possible sequel. Specifically, much of that has been looking to the ideas of upgrades in display resolution and to the tablet's SoC. The latest rumors to arrive don't touch on specs, but instead try to suss out just when the tablet might launch, and what we could hope to pay. Digitimes is once again turning to its supply chain sources for today's news, which paint the picture of a Google beginning to ...

So far, if you've wanted a Samsung Galaxy S 4, that's meant the choice between a phone running an Exynos 5 Octa and a Snapdragon 600. That Exynos chip may still be the top dog in Samsung's SoC family, but the 600 is about to give way to the Snapdragon 800 this summer. Rather than letting that new chip only power brand new phones, we're wondering if Samsung could be planning to release new GS4 models with Snapdragon 800s at their core, after seeing a few phones with that chip get their DLNA certifications. Three SHV-E330 variants – the SHV-E330L, K, and S – show up in DLNA paperwork ...

We just wrapped-up talking about the upcoming phablets from HTC and Sony, looking at what effect their launches might have on the Galaxy Note lineup. With neither device yet official, that meant relying on a lot of rumors and leaks. Already, though, we're starting to close in on a formal launch for at least one of these guys, with what sure looks like the Xperia ZU showing up on a new invitation Sony's been distributing. Sony promises a "big surprise" for July 4, and the combination of that tall, slim device profile and the impossible-to-ignore presence of a stylus (writing that we should ...

June is well upon us, and as those of us in the northern hemisphere get ready to start easing our way into summer, that's going to mean beating the heat anyway we can. If your plans include trips to the ocean, lake, or pool, you might want to think about keeping your smartphone safe from all that water. To that end, waterproof phones are more popular than ever this year, and carriers are starting to get excited about selling them. We just saw a video from AT&T that sure seemed to suggest it could reveal its plans for the Galaxy S 4 Active tomorrow, and now T-Mobile has a similar clip ...

We only got finished telling you about the latest rumors concerning the HTC One Mini's launch schedule, when a whole bunch of new One Mini info has crossed our desk, delivering a new photo of the handset and touching back on a number of the phone's supposed specs. After Bloomberg was hesitant to refer to the One Mini as such, we began to have reservations about the phone's name. Well, Engadget's source seems far more confident, and clearly identifies this as the once-M4, now-One-Mini. As for its specs, this source wasn't able to confirm some key aspects like the 4.3-inch display's ...