smartphones

Samsung's supercharged Galaxy S4 may be sucking in all the headlines, but for Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile, both Sprint's prepaid carriers, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is more than enough Android phone for its customers.

Starting June 12, Boost and Virgin will begin selling Samsung's high-end GS3 smartphone for $399.99 (it initially sold for upwards of $600 off-contract). That makes the Galaxy S3 the most premium product in Boost Mobile's roster. Thanks to the carriers' Sprint ownership, the handset rides Sprint's 4G LTE network in its 88 markets (and growing).

The Galaxy S3 may … Read more

LG will want to sell the Optimus F3 it announced on Thursday to everyone, but the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean smartphone comes with some features specifically meant for blind and hearing-impaired users.

Most notably, the phone automatically integrates Google TalkBack, a text-to-speech accessibility app that you would ordinarily have to download and activate to use.

Students can also download the Accessible Education ID pack using Sprint ID. It contains Web apps that center heavily on math and target students who struggle to read print.

For hearing-impaired users, the Optimus F3 color-codes a spectrum of LED colors and pulse patterns … Read more

U.S. Cellular announced on Thursday that it was adding the LG Optimus F7 to its smartphone lineup, selling the more-than-midrange Android smartphone with a $99 price tag -- with a new, two-year service agreement, of course.

Powered by Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the handset boasts a 4.7-inch 720p LCD IPS display, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and 8GB internal storage (4.1GB of which is user-accessible). Additionally, the phone features an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video capture, plus a 1.3-megapixel shooter right above the screen.

Users will also appreciate the LED … Read more

Samsung has launched a firmware update for the wildly popular Galaxy S4 that should quell some unrest for those who own the 16GB version.

Once the firmware is installed, users will have the ability to offload their app installs to the SD card. That's especially important for 16GB device owners who were upset to find that they had just 9.15GB of usable space on the device's storage. Moving apps to the SD card can save some of the needed space. Samsung has also found a way to squeeze another 0.08GB of space on the device's … Read more

While debate rages over whether Android devices, iPhones, BlackBerrys, or Windows Phones are better, there's no question that people increasingly prefer smartphones to feature phones.

And the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project just released the numbers to back that up.

In the U.S., 56 percent of adults are now smartphone owners, according to a study published Wednesday by Pew. This is the first time since Pew began tracking the numbers that the majority of the population owns a smartphone.

Currently 91 percent of people in the U.S. own a cell phone and 35 … Read more

With violent street thefts of smartphones and other mobile gear continuing to be a problem, top law enforcement officials from New York and San Francisco will meet with Apple, Google, and other manufacturers next week to discuss possible tech solutions, such as a "kill switch" that would render stolen devices worthless.

"With 1.6 million Americans falling victim to smartphone theft in 2012, this has become a national epidemic," San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said in a press release Wednesday. "Unlike other types of crimes, smartphone theft can be eradicated with a simple technological … Read more

HTC's popular One smartphone might be getting squished a bit.

Estonia-based site Forte.delfi.ee posted several pictures on Wednesday of what it claims is the long-rumored HTC One Mini. The device, it says (and the pictures corroborate), has the same basic design as the larger HTC One, but comes with a slightly smaller 720p HD screen measuring 4.3 inches. The standard HTC One comes with a 4.7-inch display.

According to Engadget, which was first to report on Forte's find, the smaller device has a 720p display, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. A … Read more

Word has it that Sprint is looking to debut its own high-end large-screened Android 4.1 smartphone, according to Engadget.

Sources familiar with the matter have given Engadget a host of photos and specs on the alleged ZTE-made device -- supposedly named "Vital." In addition to running on Android's Jelly Bean, the phone is said to have a 5-inch HD display, 13-megapixel rear camera, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of internal storage, and a 2,500mAh battery. Apparently, the device will run on Sprint's 4G LTE network.

Though more stylish than what you usually get from manufacturer ZTE, the Engage LT is a $179.99 device that doesn't have much going for it. Other than a rather skinless Android 4.0 experience and Cricket's music service, Muve Music, the handset is slow, both in terms of data and processing speeds, and it doesn't justify its nearly $200 price tag.

In addition, Cricket offers better Ice Cream Sandwich handsets, in terms of performance and specs, around the same price range. (Oddly enough, even its predecessor, the ZTE Engage has more powerful specs than this phone … Read more