mobile

With one small feature, iOS 7 might introduce the biggest change in iOS gaming since the App Store.

There's something I've wished for on both the iPhone and iPad for years: a true, universal, dedicated game controller. iOS 7 has granted my wish: indeed, one of the small but very significant additions to the next mobile OS announced at WWDC allows for third-party controllers. It's funny this happened to be announced during E3, because it just might be the trigger to change the mobile gaming industry.

Why it's big Third-party accessory-makers have tried making game controllers … Read more

WhatsApp, the mobile service that has established itself as a free alternative to texting, has reached new heights.

The company announced on its Twitter page on Wednesday that in the previous 24-hour period, it had set a new one-day record of handling 27 billion messages. According to the company, its users sent over 10 billion messages during the period, and received 17 billion messages.

WhatsApp has been growing by leaps and bounds. On December 31, the company hit a new record for itself of handling 18 billion messages in a day.

Samsung's Galaxy Camera will be updated at its June 20 event, CEO JK Shin has confirmed.

Speaking to Korea Times in an interview published Wednesday, the chief executive said his company will launch a follow-up to its original Galaxy Camera at a June 20 event in London. As with its predecessor, the Galaxy Camera 2 will run Android and feature a mirrorless design.

Mirrorless point-and-shoot cameras are becoming more popular. They allow users to swap out lenses. Samsung currently sells mirrorless cameras under the NX branding, but those devices aren't running Android.

Samsung's June 20 event is … Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Nintendo isn't fazed by disappointing sales of its Wii U system, and expects a sharp rebound for the holidays.

"We know the power of great software driving hardware," Scott Moffitt, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo of America, said in an interview with CNET on Wednesday. "We have powerhouse titles that will drive hardware sales this holiday season."

Moffitt is referring to Tuesday's unveiling of several new Wii U games, including Super Mario 3D World, two Zelda games in Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds and an HD … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO -- After eight years as director of engineering for iPhone, iPod, and iPad accessories at Apple, Jesse Dorogusker could have gone just about anywhere he wanted for his next gig.

He chose Square, the mobile payments company that, among other things, gives away its signature credit card reader for free.

By Dorogusker's own admission, that's a "terrible hardware business" model. So what inspired someone with a solid gold resume to leave a company that makes billions on hardware for a place that gives away his work for nothing?

For Dorogusker, it was the opportunity … Read more

The rumored HTC One Mini takes another step closer to reality. An image reported to be the fabled, micronized handset has bubbled up into view courtesy of gadget blog Engadget.

If the photo is legit, then the One Mini's hardware will indeed match all the hearsay and speculation. The device is said to be a shrunken-down version of HTC's flagship device, which, unlike the HTC One, features a 4.3-inch LCD screen and a thinner and shorter frame. The phone will likely sport the same gorgeous unibody aluminum chassis as the HTC One.

Other speculation points to a … Read more

Who won E3 so far? Was it the Xbox One? Or, was it the PS4 that kicked its butt? Did Sony dominate, totally smack down Microsoft, and run away with Best in Show?

All I know, from a distance, is this: boy, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 look a lot alike.

The picture above is from a classic "Star Trek" episode featuring two different alien races that fought bitterly but were more alike than they dared to admit. Sound familiar?

The moment the PS4 was unveiled, in its boxy glory, you couldn't help but be reminded … Read more

Android vendors shouldn't expect to make many friends with Apple's current customers.

In a study released Tuesday by gadget-comparison company Retrevo, 81 percent of current iPhone owners will buy another Apple handset when their contracts are up and they have to purchase another device. Another 14 percent of current iPhone owners identify themselves as "undecided." Just 4 percent say that they plan to switch to Android.

It's a different story on the Android side. Just under two-thirds of current Android owners -- 63 percent -- say that they'd stick with a handset running Google'… Read more

If smartphone users have problems with your site, here's some incentive to fix them: Google said Tuesday it plans to punish problematic sites with lower placement in search results.

"To improve the search experience for smartphone users and address their pain points, we plan to roll out several ranking changes in the near future that address sites that are misconfigured for smartphone users," said Yoshikiyo Kato, a mobile search team programmer, and Pierre Far, a Webmaster trends analyst, in a blog post.

The pair gave some examples of common problems:

• Redirecting visitors trying to use assorted PC-optimized … Read more