BARCELONA — Opera Software on Sunday launched a beta version of Max, its Android app designed to cut data usage by compressing video, photos, and text. The Norwegian browser company launched a closed beta of the app in December in the United States. Now the open beta will be open to anyone in the US …

Eye-scanning firm EyeVerify is adding its eye-vein technology to AirWatch’s Secure Content Locker — a business-centric app that keeps your work documents secure from prying eyes. Unveiling its latest tie-up at mobile mega-show Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, EyeVerify says that businesses who use AirWatch’s technology can enable the biometric security from the AirWatch console, saving users the hassle of …

In the Interesting Timing Dept., WhatsApp — the messaging app acquired this week by Facebook for the eye-popping sum of $19 billion — is in the midst of an outage, after also reportedly experiencing a short run of downtime Friday night. The service became unavailable to a large number of users starting at about 11 a.m. PT Saturday, after a …

Related stories: How to get the most out of Google search Use Google Translate offline by downloading language packs Add a pop-up dictionary to Android Having an online dictionary with you at all times is a terrific convenience. Google’s “define” search feature is probably one of the quickest and most convenient ways to look up a word, but it’s only …

BARCELONA, Spain — Mobile World Congress doesn’t start until Monday — but for many, the show’s already on. The massive conference, devoted mostly to mobile phones and the mobile networks that support them, attracts thousands of people to this Mediterranean city in Catalonia, Spain’s northwest province and an area that’s been spared some of the country’s recent economic woes. To …

BARCELONA, Spain — Samsung’s first move with Tizen may not be big, but it could prove to be pretty savvy. The Korean electronics giant has been working on Tizen-based smartphones for months, but the first global product to use the open-source Linux operating system won’t be a phone. Rather, Samsung on Monday will unveil a new version of its Gear …

Images appearing to show two new Samsung Galaxy gadgets have appeared online, ahead of the company’s big “Unpacked” event scheduled for Monday. Not much detail can be discerned from the image above, which comes courtesy of serial leakster @evleaks, on Twitter. The product names given in this also-tweeted (lower-resolution) image are interesting though. While a follow-up to the Galaxy Gear …

Here’s a bargain for you — the Google Nexus 5 has dropped to just £240 SIM free at Carphone Warehouse. That’s £60 cheaper than at Google Play, and matches the phenomenal low launch price of the Nexus 5’s predecessor, the Nexus 4. That’s a great price for a very good handset. You can choose from the black, white, or red …

Keen not to be left behind in the digital assistant stakes, Microsoft has its own robot butler up its sleeve. It’s called Cortana, and it’ll replace Bing as the default search option on Windows Phone 8 devices, sources have told The Verge. Cortana is named after an AI character in the Halo series of games. It’s said to have a …

With Samsung’s long-anticipated ‘Unpacked’ event due on 24 Febraury, we’re almost certainly just a few weeks away from getting a glimpse at the Galaxy S5. But Samsung’s current dominion over the mobile world wouldn’t exist without the Galaxy S3 — the device that turned Samsung from imitator to innovator. Hit play to learn more. Ready for more Adventures? Watch: The surprising story of …

All Windows 8.1 users will soon be able to tap into Nokia’s free mapping and navigation app. Currently limited to Nokia’s Lumia 2520 tablet, Here Maps for Windows 8.1 will land in Microsoft’s online Windows Store over the coming days, Nokia said on Friday. Starting its new journey in North America and Europe, the app will be free to download …

Jolla, the Finnish phone company founded by Nokia refugees, is ready to roll out the full, “commercially ready” 1.0 version of its Sailfish software. The attractive OS can run Android apps and you’ll soon be able to try it out on your Android phone by downloading a launcher that mimics the Sailfish interface. Sailfish started life as MeeGo, once the …

The download speeds of 4G LTE networks dropped in the US over the last year, according to measurements from network monitoring app OpenSignal. In the February 2014 report, the United States ranked 15th of 16 countries for download speeds, losing ground as the average data rate dropped to 6.5Mbps from 9.6 megabits per second in the February 2013 report. Of …

Sprint is offering a new Wi-Fi calling and messaging service that it says will help improve network coverage for its subscribers, the company announced Friday. For now, the service, which allows users to make voice calls, as well as, send and receive text messages via a Wi-Fi network when these customers are not in range of Sprint’s cellular network, will …

It’s been a bit of a tumultuous last 12 months for Huawei, being on the receiving end of plenty of unsavory accusations by the US government. But, the company isn’t giving up on the mobile space, and has boldly promised to “amaze the world again” in the MWC teaser video you can watch below. In it, we’re told to expect …