Of all the major Android players looking to raise their own profiles and give Samsung a run for its money – a group made up of a select few like LG and HTC – I think Sony has the most potential. Now clearly, the company has yet to adequately rise to the challenge, but look at what it's working with: fantastic brand recognition – especially when it comes to portable electronics, a huge base of gamers (and potential smartphone users) under its belt, and boatloads of media at its disposal. I could spend all day talking about where Sony's steered itself wrong over the years and failed to ...

...because, of all tech companies out there, they perfectly understand the meaning of "il fine giustifica i mezzi" ("the end justifies the means", Il Principe by Niccolò Machiavelli). They utilize it like it was their guidebook, their Bible. No, this is not a deep philosophical piece, it is a clear reflection of reality, filtered through my views and personality; unwrought thoughts, delivered to you naked, as they were born. If you can't handle them, move away, now! Samsung wants to be first. Samsung needs to be first. Samsung has to be first! Samsung does anything to get/stay there. No ...

Sometimes, I worry we're getting too cynical when it comes to smartphones. Just look at the Samsung Galaxy S 4, a powerful, popular, feature-packed Android that's sure to set sales records. Despite all the glitz, we ultimately found the heavily-hyped handset to be just a little lacking. Maybe more than any particular area where it came up short, the whole thing just seemed somewhat uninspired. Right now, I'm finding those same sort of feelings beginning to influence my opinion of the so-called Motorola X phone – a smartphone that's yet to even be officially confirmed, let alone launch. ...

Depending on your perspective, the HTC One is either the biggest Android success story of 2013, or the most overhyped piece of mobile tech since the iPhone. Debate continues to rage between the two camps across our various comment sections, and fanboys being what they are, a resolution seems unlikely anytime soon. One thing is clear, though: a timely HTC One update is critical to the company's success. For our part, we consider the One to be a real home run, both for HTC and for the Android world in general - a fact that will come as no surprise to veteran listeners of the Pocketnow Weekly ...

There is a zone, somewhere between the initial review frenzy surrounding a brand-new smartphone and our After The Buzz re-review, where a followup is called for. A check-in period. A built-in hold to allow the reviewers to catch their breath while they pass the mic to the buyers for their impressions on a brand-new device. Not just any buyers, either, but that special class of customer that tells a critical part of any device's story: the early-adopters. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 started shipping last month. It's been available on all four U.S. national carriers for about a week now, giving ...

Smartphones, phablets, tablets. We all remember the days when smartphones had 2.3-inch screens; it all happened back in the day where QVGA was a big thing. Fast forward just five or six years and we're seeing 5-6-inch phones that have Full HD resolution. As phones got bigger and bigger, an interesting thing happened to tablets: they got smaller and smaller, starting from 10-9-inches as the preferred form factor for many today became the 7-inch tablet. With less than an inch or so between the smallest tablet and the largest phone, will the line disappear and will these two, otherwise ...

We all know how important batteries are in our modern electronics. They're also becoming an increasingly vital part of our vehicles. For people in both camps, the latest news from Toyota is disheartening: Li-Ion batteries have a "memory effect". Ni-Cad Batteries When the traditional, land-line telephone evolved from a corded beast into a clunky -- but wireless -- beast, there was much cause for celebration. The battery technology of the day was Ni-Cad (Nickel Cadmium). Batteries based on this technology were used in everything from cordless phones to satellites orbiting the planet. There ...

In an attempt to enter relevancy again, T-Mobile is undoubtedly using the underdog card to its advantage. But it's possible that some see that as an open invitation to have their way with the carrier. At CES, T-Mobile announced a new partnership with the MLB and announced its aggressive rollout of its new LTE network. In late March, T-Mobile held an event in New York City to unveil it's new UnCarrier marketing push, a move away from the ominous two-year agreement – or a subsidized contract – in its typical connotation. It was, effectively, a smack to the back of the head of the larger, ...