San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman criticized carriers for rejecting their proposal to install a “kill switch” in smartphones to deter theft, a move they called “highly disturbing.” Related stories When Does My Phone Unlock? And How Can I Get My Carrier to Do It? Best Internet Providers …

Less than a month after the Federal Aviation Administration approved the use of portable electronic devices on airplanes from takeoff to landing, Southwest Airlines is looking to maximize passengers’ wireless mileage. The airline announced Wednesday that its passengers will have the option of connecting to the aircraft’s wireless Internet service from the time they board the aircraft to the time …

Qualcomm has announced an updated processor and long-term evolution (LTE) modem within its Snapdragon 800 family, with the new chip headed to smartphones, tablets and Ultra HD TVs. (Credit: Qualcomm) The Snapdragon 805 is Qualcomm’s most powerful, highest-performing system on chip so far. It packs a quad-core, 2.5GHz Krait 450 CPU and an Adreno 420 GPU that has 40 per …

The makers of Coin — a device that can be programmed to act as a credit, debit, gift, and rewards card rolled into one — were not expecting their .84mm-thin device to become a Silicon Valley sensation. Sure, their promotional video and Web site were well-produced, but the team of seven set its crowdfunding goal at a modest $50,000. The …

Factory workers in southern China are protesting Nokia’s recent deal to sell off its Devices business to Microsoft, according to a new report. Workers who build Nokia products in China gathered Wednesday outside their factory to protest, saying that the contracts they were forced to sign after Nokia announced plans to sell off the Devices unit worsen employment terms, according …

The Galaxy Gear smart watch is looking popular, as Samsung has reportedly boasted of its wrist-occupying device hitting the 800,000 sales mark. Reuters quotes the South Korean tech giant as saying the Gear is, “The most-sold wearable watch available in the marketplace.” The Gear would have hit the impressive sales figure in around two months, having gone on sale alongside …

Nexus 4 owners should keep an eye out for Android 4.4 KitKat. The latest flavor of Android has started to roll out to the Nexus 4 phone via over-the-air updates, according to blog site Android Central. Several users said they received the 238MB update Tuesday night. Related stories As Worries Grow Around Russian Cyberattacks, Update Your Operating Systems Google tightens …

Before there was iTunes, there was Winamp: a compact media player developed by Nullsoft. (Credit: Winamp) Winamp was first released in 1997 and set itself apart from the crowd with a skinnable interface, as well as its infamous Winamp catchcry every time the software booted up: “it really whips the llama’s ass”. With support for a multitude of formats from …

My advice to speaker shoppers who prioritize sound quality is go for a good set of big speakers. They conjure the sound of music more realistically than tiny ones. I know all too well that most folks settle for something smaller, and usually it’s a case of the smaller, the better. That’s why designers are always trying to get bigger …

LG’s smart TVs are sending information on what channels you watch and the names of media files you stream over your network — even if you turn the setting off. That’s according to a UK blogger called Doctor Beet, who details his efforts to track his TV’s snooping in a blog post published yesterday. Having noticed ads pop up on …

I love my smartphone as much as any modern 21st-century kid. But there’s something about whipping out a flip phone and then snapping it closed that is very gratifying and nostalgic. And while many phone manufacturers pump out high-tech handsets every season, it’s nice to see that once in a while, a simple clamshell device still makes it through the …

Microsoft’s buyout of Nokia’s cell phone branch will benefit everyone, the two companies’ CEOs say. The direct reach into Microsoft’s deep pockets will give Nokia phones the financial backing they need to make an even firmer marketing push. What’s more, integrated hardware and software teams spell faster releases. Making Nokia’s celebrated design aesthetic the vanguard of a new hardware-focused Microsoft …

Is it a phone? Is it a tablet? It’s actually something in between, but one thing that is certain about the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is that it’s a powerhouse of mobile tech packed with cool features and tricks. Some of these will be instantly familiar to Android afiliados, while others are exclusive to Samsung’s TouchWiz user-interface. We’ve compiled ten …

It may sound obvious, but it’s important to keep phones out of reach from opportunistic thieves. Josh Miller/CNET At one point or another, every cell phone owner has experienced the onset of panic and despair that hits your gut the moment you realize your phone is missing. This has happened to me more times than I care to admit, and …

Verizon might be first out of the gate with its Android 4.4 update, but that doesn’t mean Motorola is planning to pump the brakes any time soon. On the contrary, the hardware maker has quietly expanded its database to show no fewer than a dozen smartphones expecting the KitKat treatment. Related stories KitKat promises Android for all (hands-on) When will …