We've been talking about Microsoft's plans for the next big Windows Phone 8 update, GDR2, for months now. Some of the picture of how the update would arrive has been clear: for instance, we know that Nokia models will start getting their "Amber" updates next month, and that's going to be tied-in to the release of GDR2. But with how inconsistent Windows Phone update distribution has become, that's hardly confirmation that other OEMs would be working on the same schedule. While still incomplete, we can now put together a slightly more encompassing picture of update availability, thanks to ...

Sometimes you just have to schedule a podcast a few hours before a major news event, and as a result you've got to scramble to come up with some valid-sounding speculation about just how useful a Facebook Phone could really be. It's not like we haven't tossed this notion around before, but doing it on the air, off-the-cuff, imbues our lives with a certain energy, a certain je ne sais quoi, if you will. Or even if you won't. Whatever; we have a good time riffing. You'll listen and like it! Ahem. All that, plus some chat on just how big a copycat LG's Optimus G Pro is - and how well it does ...

Rarely has the "lull" between trade shows given us so much to talk about. We kicked off the week with an exciting announcement welcoming two new members to the Pocketnow team, and since then we've barely been able to keep news, editorials, and videos on the front page long enough to read them. This feed is on fire. From ever-strengthening rumors about the HTC M7 and Samsung Galaxy S IV, to interviews with newcomers like Jolla, to new looks at old friends with BlackBerry 10, to modding and jailbreaking today's top smartphones, we've gotten a lot done since the last episode of the Weekly, ...

Most new-device launches go the same way: usually the press gets review units before they’re widely available, and we get to use them for a few days -or a week if we’re lucky- as we work on our review. Then press day arrives. The embargo on media coverage lifts, and everyone posts their reviews and videos at the same time. It’s a huge frenzy, commenters go nuts, and it’s a giant explosion of frantic opinion-sharing activity. For about … a day. And then it all goes away. Sure, there’s follow-up coverage as people find bugs and hidden features, but after that initial blast, not ...

I recently introduced my mother, a self-professed luddite, to the social photo-sharing app Instagram. It was a magical experience. In less than fifteen minutes, my mother was using faux HDR to bring out the midtones in her photos, slapping some frames on them, and sharing them across her just-created Instagram friends list (populated with many more Facebook-sourced names than either of us expected). None of the recent controversy surrounding Instagram's new terms of service mattered to my mom in this new world of photo-sharing, her first encounter with such a single-purpose social app. Its ...

Another holiday season's come and (almost) gone, and if you're among the lucky ones, the receding tides of commercialism have left you with a bounty of gadgetry under your Christmas tree, Hanukkah bush, or other homespun symbol of holiday joy. The holiday season is a crucial one for all platforms, but this year we've had our eye trained especially closely on Windows Phone. At this time in 2011, the Microsoft device stable didn't offer much in the way of eye-catching goodies, with the then-unannounced Lumia 900 still months away from release. Would-be buyers of Windows Phone devices were ...

On the eve of the Mayan Apocalypse, three men gather to talk strategy, survival ... and smartphones. This week on the Pocketnow Weekly, we discuss what device we'd like at our side for the end of the world, before going for a quick dip in the nostalgia pool with a chat about running new Android software on old devices. After that, we knock around some Samsung Galaxy-family speculation, then dive headlong into a rundown of the merits and drawbacks of the new Samsung ATIV S, before touching on the tablet-smartphone interaction issue. Finally, we wrap it all up with some tablet speculation ...

When it comes to comparing smartphones, synthetic benchmarks may be well and good for what they are, but there's still something reassuring about seeing handsets being put to the test with some real-world tasks. When we're dealing with phones running different platforms, one of the most convenient ways to do that sort of comparison is by looking at how devices measure up with their web browsing. That's just what the guys over at GadgetMasters recently did, putting a RIM Dev Alpha B handset running BlackBerry 10 up against some of its competition, and the results are pretty impressive. ...