BARCELONA, Spain–While the HTC real stars of the evening are undoubtedly the HTC One family of Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones–the One X, One S, and One V–we did learn something new that will interest HTC Vivid owners on AT&T. The carrier issued a press release promising enhanced audio and compatibility with Beats Audio accessories …

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Galaxy Beam 1:05 BARCELONA, Spain–We’ve talked for years about pico projectors in smartphones, and now at last we get our first glimpse at a phone that’s making that detail front and center. Earlier this morning, Samsung uploaded images on Google+ of the smartphone it’s calling the Samsung Galaxy Beam. And later on the eve of …

BARCELONA, Spain–Samsung is back with another Wi-Fi-only device we like to refer to tongue-in-cheek as a Galaxy S phone without the phone. Indeed, the Galaxy S WiFi has most of the makings of a more entry-level Android smartphone, from the version 2.3 Gingerbread OS to the 4.2-inch WVGA screen (480×800-pixel resolution) and the 1GHz processor. There’s a 2-megapixel camera on …

As usual, Samsung was involved in a fair number of product announcements this past CES, but the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G‘s debut proved the most hush-hush. T-Mobile executives announced it at a small, exclusive event to a knot of journalists, in almost the same breath as the carrier’s mission statement to keep on fighting in the aftermath of the …

Now playing: Watch this: Dialed In Ep. 211: The Mobile World Congress lowdown 34:25 Do you hear that? It’s the sound of our quickening heartbeats as we wait for smartphone after smartphone to show its glossy black face at Mobile World Congress next month. Join us as we take you on a tour of the phones and tablets to expect, …

If there remained any doubt of the lasting mainstream appeal and marketing clout of the Samsung Galaxy S II Android Gingerbread smartphone, U.S. Cellular’s plan to take on the handset erases it all. The nation’s sixth-largest carrier will join T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint in offering a version of the phone that’s already sold more than 30 million units worldwide. Related …

ZTE’s Android efforts will continue with the ZTE Mimosa X, a mid-range Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone that we can expect to see in the second quarter of 2012…somewhere. ZTE hasn’t announced a market just yet, but this is a phone we should hear more about at Mobile World Congress next week. The Mimosa X will have a 4.3-inch …

Samsung is the latest electronics-maker to give its SD and microSD cards a thicker skin. Today Samsung announced that its newest two lines of products are waterproof, shockproof, and magnetproof. Beyond that, they’re “guaranteed to survive up to 24 hours in water, withstand the force of a 1.6 ton vehicle (3,200 pounds), and resist up to 10,000 gauss,” which is …

When the top-tier everything-smartphones cost between $200 and $300, I can’t blame you for dubiously eying a $50 phone. However, if your budget is top of mind, and Android is where your heart lies, then do yourself a favor and check out the Pantech Burst. Why? It has 4G LTE, a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, a (good) 5-megapixel camera, a …

I’m a writer, in the most literal sense of the word. I may use electronic inputs so often, my fingers ache at the end of a day spent swiping and typing, but when I bolt off to a meeting, it’s with note paper and trusty Bic in hand. I have a Google calendar, but rely on the to-do list at …