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Today, T-Mobile unveiled its no-contract, entry-level Android device tailored to first-time smartphone users. Manufactured by ZTE, the T-Mobile Concord will sport a 2-megapixel camera, ship natively with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and will be equipped with a 3.5-inch touch-screen display.

Interested users can get their hands on it now at Wal-Mart, for $99.98, along with a Wal-Mart Family Mobile no annual contract plan. Starting August 26, the Concord will be sold at Target for $99.99, with a Monthly4G plan. Unfortunately, the Concord is not a 4G-enabled device.

Jeff: The 3DS needs all the help it can get, so a new Mario Bros. game has worked in the past, why not again now? The problem with that mentality is that after a while, even the great Mario isn't invulnerable to becoming stale. And in the case of New Super Mario Bros. 2, I'm afraid it has finally happened.

Now before you gather up the pitchforks and start heading my way, you'll be happy to hear that I still think the game is fun to play. If you own a 3DS odds are you haven't bought a game in a while, so this will most likely find its way into your portable system. That said, you may fall into the same deja-vu trance that I did while playing and begin muttering, "Haven't I done this before?"… Read more

Back in February during MWC 2012, we first caught a glimpse of LG's line of midrange Android handsets. The L7 boasted the best specs of the L-style family (it has a 1GHz processor, 4.3-inch display, and 5-megapixel camera), while the L5 followed close behind.

Recently, CNET UK reviewed the most entry-level member of the series, the LG Optimus L3. It has a 3.2-inch screen with 240x320-pixel resolution, and unlike its bigger brothers, runs on the outdated Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS. In addition, it has a 800MHz CPU and a disappointing 3-megapixel camera.

Though it isn't … Read more

Virgin Mobile USA has added another Android smartphone to its lineup, today unveiling the PCD Chaser. Priced at just $79.99 without a contract, the handset has plenty of hardware for folks ready to make the jump from a feature phone to a smartphone.

Powered by Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, the Chaser has a 3.2-inch display, a 3-megapixel camera, and an 800MHz processor. There's also 512MB RAM and the same amount of ROM. In addition, the 3G smartphone features a 2GB microSD card (but it supports up to 32GB), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. It has a 1,450mAh battery and comes with an assortment of preloaded applications, such as Virgin Mobile Live, Virgin Mobile ID Packs, Facebook, and Twitter.… Read more

Just when you thought that T-Mobile couldn't possibly confuse us more with its myTouch family of smartphones, here come reboots of the myTouch and myTouch Q, this time made by Huawei rather than by LG.

The two new Android 2.3 Gingerbread handsets feature 4G, a 4.0 WVGA touch screen, a 1.4GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, and a front-facing camera.

You'll also find Swype's virtual keyboard on baord and T-Mobile's signature Genius button. Add a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and you have yourself a myTouch Q rather than the myTouch.

This time … Read more

It can be hard to keep your software up to date, even programs that check for updates themselves. HQ's AutoUP is a free utility that scans your system to identify your installed and update-capable programs and then searches online for the latest updates. AutoUP can also download and save updates, too. You can set it to run when Windows starts as a one-stop check for all your software. It also accesses and checks Windows Update, too. Handy color-coding tells you at a glance which updates are available and if any are beta versions.

AutoUP's dialog-size interface is colorful … Read more

Google remains the top Internet search engine, though it sometimes seems like an afterthought next to Google's more ambitious efforts, such as driving your car for you. But if you Google "Google," the top hits still refer to the online giant's bread and butter, searching for information. And Google hasn't exactly been ignoring the search side of the business while it's branched out into, well, pretty much everything else. Google's Personal Blocklist addresses one of the biggest shortcomings of Google's search engine, or any search engine, for that matter; the tendency to … Read more

Need quick access to a currency converter? Then maybe XE Currency Converter from Kurisu is the app for you. The free software is a Google Chrome add-on that accesses currency conversion information directly from XE.com.

XE Currency Converter, once installed, is very easy to use. Access is through Chrome's Productivity Tool Kit. The app has a very simple and very understandable interface. Just put in the amount and the currencies you want to use, click on the Convert button, and that's it, instant real-time currency conversion. Really a whole lot faster than going through the XE Web … Read more

Android 4.x "Ice Cream Sandwich" is making gains, though Gingerbread still takes the lion's share, according to a snapshot of data provided to Android developers.

Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) had about a 2.9 percent share and Honeycomb had more than a 3 percent share, according to Android Developers, which describes the data as "the relative number of active devices running a given version of the Android platform."

ICS started appearing in devices only toward the end of last year.

The Web site says the data can help developers "understand the landscape of … Read more