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I'm as much a fan of zombie and vampire flicks as any other self-respecting tech blogger or tween, but lately, gadget torture shorts have become one of my favorite genres for video.

We've seen phones and tablets run over by cars, dropped from great heights, and dipped in hot lava for our enjoyment (and normally to sell us some sort of case or accessory in the process), so it only seems natural that the next step be the tech equivalent of an MMA cage match.

Gadget warranty outfit SquareTrade is happy to oblige with this video that pits the iPhone 4S against the Samsung Galaxy S III to see which can best handle the typical abuse dealt out to many smartphones by drops, kids, and drive-offs.… Read more

Given all the attention that the Samsung Galaxy S III is garnering today, it's easy to overlook some of the finer points.

One detail that has been lost in the shuffle could have long-lasting implications for Android. It's not the 2GB RAM, although that does sound wonderful, and it's not the dual-core processor. Nope, it's not the universal launch date either. Instead, what's really significant is the singular design and branding for the Galaxy S III across all of the five U.S. carriers scheduled to carry it. Here's why.… Read more

Samsung Electronics' latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III, will arrive at Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA on June 21.

At Sprint, the highly anticipated smartphone will cost $199.99 for the 16GB version, and $249.99 for the 32GB version. AT&T will sell also sell a 16GB version for $199.99 but will pair it with a 16GB micro SD card for $238.99. T-Mobile also confirmed it would arrive on the same day, but didn't provide pricing information.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T said it would take pre-orders on June 6, but Verizon only … Read more

Samsung is playing for keeps. The consumer electronics giant has just announced sales of its Samsung Galaxy S III flagship Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone for five U.S. carriers starting in June.

Sprint will start selling the Galaxy S III June 21 -- $199.99 for 16GB of storage, $249.99 for 32GB. T-Mobile will also receive its version on the 21st, but isn't yet releasing pricing. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular will all receive variations of the Galaxy S III this month. Verizon begins June 6 preorders for the white or "pebble blue" handset, which will be available in "the coming weeks" for the same price as Sprint.

For is part, AT&T will offer just the 16GB model, for $199.99, though AT&T will be the only carrier to offer the handset in red, in addition to the blue and white. Meanwhile, U.S. Cellular, the surprise carrier in the bunch, will release pricing information when the phone goes on sale June 12.… Read more

The Samsung's Galaxy S III's vast 4.8-inch screen sits atop a quad-core processor and Sony camera, among other goodies exposed in detail via a chipworks teardown.

Before we dive into the specs, let's be clear. For a phone, it's big. Big enough to be brushing up against 5-inch mini tablets.

"I'd say it does verge on being unnecessarily large, but thankfully it isn't as ludicrously big as the Samsung Galaxy Note with its 5.3-inch screen," said CNET"s Jessica Dolcourt in her review of the phone.

And note this … Read more

Like every year, PC gaming will likely get lost amid the retail and console-focused hullabaloo out of Los Angeles next week. Nintendo will tout its crazy new console/handheld hybrid; Microsoft has the Xbox-as-entertainment center and a new Halo and Gears of War to flog; and Sony will be talking about, you know, Sony stuff (and maybe the acquisition of a cloud gaming service).

Huge, PC-specific game announcements rarely happen at E3, but here are some of the current PC-specific topics bubbling under the surface.

Minecraft on the Xbox 360Mojang Software's Minecraft debuted on Xbox Live on May 9 … Read more

More than 50 million Samsung Galaxy S smartphones have been sold since the original phone debuted in 2010, according to the Korean handset maker.

Plugging its achievement in a news release today (English translation), Samsung said that 24 million units of the first Galaxy S phone have hit the sales market since June 2010, followed by 28 million Galaxy S II phones over the past year.

Samsung uses the term "sales." But it's important to note that the company is actually referring to shipments since the numbers point to how many units have been shipped to retail … Read more

CNET Executive Editor Molly Wood has an ax to grind, but the focus of her ire isn't crystal clear.

Last week, she ordered the global version of the Samsung Galaxy S III, in white, from Amazon.com's only Galaxy S III vendor, a consumer electronics reseller called BluTekUSA.

In choosing the Galaxy S III in white, Molly deliberately steered clear of the blue version, whose shipping hiccup apparently hangs on its "pebble blue" paint job.

All was going dandy -- Molly even received a shipping confirmation for an estimated June 6-8 delivery -- until the distributor, … Read more

commentary Let's face it: the iPhone just isn't cool anymore.

It's sad, but true that there's a reverse correlation between availability and coolness. The harder it is to obtain something, the more highly coveted it is.

Apple's decision to offer the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 to prepaid wireless provider Cricket may have tipped the scales away from the cool end. With Cricket in the fold, the iPhone is virtually everywhere (T-Mobile, sadly, is still left outside looking in), hitting a critical mass of availability. The iPhone has gone from a gadget of the tech … Read more