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Verizon is doing two things: ballooning its collection of superpremium smartphones, and shrinking its feature phone and flip phone offerings. That leaves the carrier channeling budget-keepers toward middle-of-the-road smartphones, like the Samsung Illusion.

For $79.99, you get Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and a 1GHz single-core processor, plus all of Google's services and Verizon's V Cast apps. It's a decent smartphone, thanks to hardware that can mostly hold up and software that's by now standard. The Illusion is pure utility; just don't expect to be wowed.

Watch the review, see the photos, and read all the pros and cons in the full Samsung Illusion review.… Read more

Software does more stuff automatically than ever before, and few users have the time (or energy) to check every folder for changes. Watch 4 Folder from LeeLu Soft is a free tool that monitors your folders and files for changes and other activity. It can track up to 15 different events, execute programs and batch files, and generate live alerts. It's portable freeware that runs from any directory without having to be installed.

Watch 4 Folder's user interface is the size of a typical Windows dialog box, with two tabs, Settings and Live Log. The Settings page is … Read more

Owners of certain LG Optimus smartphones can look forward to a bite of Ice Cream Sandwich in the near future.

The mobile phone maker confirmed via its Facebook page today that it will be deploying the latest version of Android to select Optimus phones. Included in the upgrade will be the Optimus 2X, the Optimus Black, the Optimus 3D, and the Optimus LTE, all of which hit the market this past year.

LG is also examining Ice Cream Sandwich to see which of its other smartphones can run the new OS in an effort to upgrade as many users as … Read more

With all these high-priced, superpremium smartphones exploding onto the holiday shopping scene, it's nice to see that Sprint hasn't forgotten about the budget-conscious.

Running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the candy bar Sprint Express has a portrait QWERTY keyboard and costs $19.99. It has a 2.6-inch touch screen, 3.2-megapixel camera with flash, hot-spot capability for up to five devices, and Sprint ID, which is software that can load various profiles with thematic apps, wallpaper, and so forth.

The Express is similar to the free Samsung Replenish, but the former runs Android 2.2 Froyo instead of the Express' Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. The Express is available beginning today.… Read more

Samsung still isn't releasing information about the pricing or availability of the forthcoming Samsung DoubleTime, but the company did bring the phone to our CNET offices in New York for some glamor shots.

What makes this Android 2.2 Froyo handset distinct is its double-screen design. Instead of sliding out a keyboard for this text-centric phone, you flip it open like a book to read the screen on the inside. A razor-thin phone this will not be.

Check out all the specs and the 360 view in this Samsung Doubletime photo gallery.… Read more

I nearly did a double take when lifting AT&T's HTC Vivid out of its cardboard box. It's one of the first HTC phones in a long time whose form looked cheap to my eyes.

Shiny black plastic all around with just a thin metal plate on the battery cover, the handset lacks the thoughtful build quality typical of most HTC phones, and very unlike recent phones like the HTC Rhyme, the Evo Design 4G, the Amaze 4G, and so on.

Now, perhaps this isn't exactly fair. After all, I argued with myself, doesn't substance … Read more

To absolutely nobody's surprise (twice), HTC today announced the HTC Rezound for Verizon, the first U.S. smartphone to use HTC-owned Beats Audio.

Originally known as the Vigor, the Rezound is HTC's stateside answer to Europe and Asia's HTC Sensation XL with Beats Audio, which CNET got a chance to see in early October at CTIA.

The Rezound, which features the same integration with the Beats headphones as the Sensation XL, will run on Verizon's ultrafast 4G LTE network. In addition, it's packing a 4.3-inch 720p HD display, which should make mincemeat out of … Read more

Most Android smartphones sold for $100 or less are basic hardware shells that do an adequate job, but won't blow you away with their features. Not so the HTC Evo Design 4G. Sprint's fifth member of the Evo family is a slightly smaller (but hardly tiny) handset that's beautifully designed and imbued with a robust set of features, including 4G speeds and a decent front-facing camera.

The good: The HTC Evo Design 4G has an understated black-on-black design, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and two cameras, and is a world phone. It comes with 8GB of memory preinstalled.

The bad: The stubborn back cover is hard to remove and the speakerphone could be better. A dedicated hardware shutter button wouldn't go amiss.

The bottom line: The HTC Evo Design 4G gives you a lot of smartphone for the money--fast 4G speeds, a good camera, a strong processor, and a sophisticated design. It's an excellent choice for Sprint customers, except those who are specifically looking for a dual-core phone.

Watch the video, see the pictures, and read about all the pros and cons of Sprint's HTC Evo Design 4G.… Read more

Boost Mobile is showing Android lots of love these days, most of them for candy bar form factors. This week's announcement of the ZTE Warp is a perfect example. Luckily, Boost has one "Gingerbread man" QWERTY for Android fans who like a good keyboard: the Samsung Transform Ultra.… Read more