If you’re burning to secure Samsung’s Galaxy Note, AT&T is now taking preorders for the hybrid slate for $300. Samsung was the only tech company with a splashy Super Bowl ad this year, and that’s sure to drive interest in the manufacturer’s hot product of the moment, which hits stores officially on February 19. Pimping …

Google’s fancy mobile payment app apparently will appear on an unlocked Galaxy Nexus running an AT&T SIM. Officially only the Sprint version of the Samsung Nexus S 4G, Google’s old Gingerbread flagship handset, can use Google Wallet software. According to Android blog Droid Life, however, the Google Wallet app popped up in the Market on an unlocked variant of the …

No doubt Droid Razr Maxx owners are still enjoying that new handset smell. That hasn’t stopped Motorola from gearing up fresh software for the long-lasting smartphone. Verizon’s support page explains that Big Red has an update in the works for the Droid Razr Maxx, along with its predecessor the Droid Razr. Looking at the details Verizon provided for the software, …

ZTE and Sprint hope their new $99 Optik tablet’s rock bottom price can lure buyers eyeing the Kindle Fire. Amazon certainly created a hit with its low-cost $199 Kindle Fire, which aggressively undercut the iPad 2’s steep $499 starting price. Now Chinese electronics maker ZTE has stepped up to try to burn the Fire at its own game. With a …

Many a gadget hunter has searched for the mythical beast known as the Asus Padfone, but new reports suggest it could officially arrive at Mobile World Congress next month. From the Motorola Atrix phones to the Samsung Galaxy Note, convertible or hybrid mobile computing products are a new trend to watch. Asus also made waves with the Transformer Prime, a …

For those who work or play in places delicate smartphones fear to tread, Kyocera’s new DuraPlus rugged handset is for you. Designed to meet the U.S. military’s brutal 810G survivability guidelines, Kyocera claims the candybar-style DuraPlus can withstand exposure to dust storms, shocks and vibrations, drenching rains, plus extreme swings of temperature. The phone is even billed to take a …

Now playing: Watch this: Ep. 208: The deal with Motorola’s Droid Razr Maxx 50:29 Looks like AT&T just can’t stop complaining about the FCC meddling in its business, but CNET mobile section editor Kent German just isn’t having it. We also discuss exactly how awesome we think the Motorola Droid Razr is, but is it a little too late for …

Samsung just made pricing for its Galaxy Note device official, saying the interesting tablet-smartphone hybrid will land on AT&T February 19 for $299.99. Now I’m sure many will get an immediate case sticker-shock after hearing the Galaxy Note’s steep starting price. Keep in mind though that many new handsets these days sport this modern $300 entry fee, a trend that …

Think your smartphone has a big battery? Sorry my friend, but if you don’t have the new Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, you’re sadly mistaken. Equipped with a massively energy-dense 3,300mAh battery, the Maxx played video for a jaw-dropping 19 hours and 47 minutes before calling it quits. That’s right, and to drive the point home we picked an epic flick …

A stunning Android phone that really does look like it arrived from the far future, Sony’s gorgeous Xperia S is likely to hit AT&T’s airwaves. New reports assert that the Xperia S is making its way through FCC approval with a quad-band GSM/UTMS/HSPA radio (850, 900, 1900, 2100MHz). As tech blog Engadget deduces, that sounds a whole lot like the …