"Hey, is that the new Galaxy?" No, it's a Android-powered Galaxy Nexus. "Yeah? I love Droids!" Those are from Verizon, and they're primarily made my Motorola, this one's on T-Mobile and made by Samsung. "Oh! So it is a Galaxy!" - #FACEPALM - ARGH! Face it, you're either on the frustrated side of that conversation, or you're the one doing the frustrating. But it's not your fault: Android-powered smartphones and tablets are suffering from an identity crisis. I love that Android is as successful as it is! We have 53.4% of the market share. I've got co-workers that have a Note II, a ...

Microsoft kick-starts the smack-talk machine, which blows up in its face just as Nokia sells its own headquarters. The Lumia 822 gives us an excuse to launch a brand-new review format, while a Nexus 4 trade lets us take a post-review look at Google's latest smartphone. The iPhone 5S breaks its cover -maybe- while the Nexus 10 gives everyone a reason to care about big Android tablets - again, maybe. Rumors of a new 1080p device from LG get the speculation bonfire going again, but a cool bucketful of Google Play-colored cold water got us back on track. And, of course, it wouldn't be a ...

I'm looking at a press release that flashed into my inbox this morning, a notice from AT&T that the company will soon be launching three new smartphones and a tablet. Surveying the list, it quickly becomes apparent that all of these newcomers have two things in common: they're all built by Samsung, and they all bear the word "Galaxy" in their names. That should come as a surprise to absolutely no one; Samsung has been using the celestial surname to denote its Android smartphone and tablet products for years. But as the South Korean OEM continues to flood the market with more and more ...

I’ve learned that there are two things about being a mobile-phone reviewer. The first thing: you get to handle awesome gadgetry days or weeks ahead of its official release date, and you’re not just allowed to use the heck out of it; you need to, in order to do your job. That’s the awesome thing. The other, less-awesome thing: you eventually have to give it all back. “Empty Nest” is a recurring column discussing what I miss -and what I don’t- about the devices I’ve had to return. ___ The HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE came to my door as all devices do: in the midst of a ...

Since the days of gray scale LCD screens on PDAs, the stylus has been the invaluable tool which allowed you to precisely navigate the small screen. With killer applications like the venerable PhatWare Calligrapher, which converts hand writing to text, you can use the stylus to mimic the analog world of pen and paper. Along, with integration of cell phone technology, the hope of a converged hand held device for your mobile life was starting to become a reality. As cellular data and push email where implemented, the world was starting to be at one's stylus tip. Microsoft along with Palm were ...

We've already seen the recent Bit9 study which unveiled popular Android smartphones being vulnerable to malware exploits and hacking attempts and now it's time for a North Carolina State University research to raise a couple of questions regarding pre-installed software. Researchers Michael Grace, Yajin Zhou, Zhi Wang, and Xuxian Jiang at NCSU analyzed popular smartphones: HTC Legend, HTC EVO 4G, HTC Wildfire S, Motorola Droid, Motorola Droid X, Samsung Epic 4G, Google Nexus One and Google Nexus S. The research found that while the model implementation of Android on Google's own handsets ...

Once in a while, we'll see a smartphone manufacturer come out with an unexpected update for an aging handset. While we harp on those companies for often taking so long to release updates in the first place, it's a great feeling when they finally arrive, breathing some new life into old hardware. Past a certain point, though, any sensible person gives up hope of ever seeing official updates released again. If you've been feeling that way about a first-gen Motorola Droid you've been holding onto, there may be a surprise in your future, as there are signs that Motorola's got something special ...

Motorola's Droid 3 turned up in a couple pics last month, with a new, larger screen. Details on the smartphone are still sparse, but there's some new evidence suggesting that a release could be nearer than we might have thought, as a supplier of OEM phone components has the whole Droid 3 screen assembly up for sale. According to Global Direct Parts, the Droid 3 will expand the 3.7-inch screen on previous Droids to a little-more-modern four inches, along with a bump to qHD resolution. This will also be the first of the basic Droid models to include a front-facing camera for video chats. ...