Will the Motorola Moto X phone have the X factor? Judging from new leaked specs, it seems the hotly anticipated Moto X may not be as world-beating as we’d hoped. Why are we excited about the Moto X smart phone? Because since Google bought Motorola we’ve been hoping for a perfect marriage between Google software …

One of my favorite apps of 2012, Bad Robot Interactive’s Action Movie FX, just got even better. Available for iOS, the app lets you add Hollywood-style special effects to videos you’ve shot with your iPhone or iPad. What kinds of effects? Suppose you’re making a movie that involves blowing up a car (as all good movies should). Action Movie FX …

Telefonica is throwing cold water on a report that AT&T made an offer to acquire it. In a statement released Monday, the Spanish telecommunications giant said that “in relation to press rumors published today, Telefonica states that it has not received any approach, nor any indication of interest, neither verbal nor in written form, from any party.” Telefonica was responding …

A new phone model named Nokia RM-877 recently spied at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Web site suggests that AT&T could be among the first carriers to offer the rumored Nokia EOS smartphone. Related stories: Nokia readies major smartphone camera reveal July 11 Nokia to pack 41-mp camera into Windows Phone, report says Leaked Nokia EOS images fuel the rumor …

AT&T has been crowned the leading mobile network provider in a new study from PC Magazine. The news outlet on Monday posted the results of its mobile network research to determine which company — AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon — had the fastest speeds in the United States. PC Magazine, which analyzed results across 30 cities, found that AT&T had …

Neelie Kroes, the European Commission vice president in charge of the digital agenda, sketched out several steps toward the unified mobile-network market she believes is necessary to keep Europe’s economy from falling behind. In a speech Tuesday, she called for several steps to lower barriers that today make it hard for carriers to expand from one country to another and …

Now playing: Watch this: Unboxing the Galaxy Note 8 3:24 Related stories Samsung’s terrific Galaxy S4 (review) Which of the 5 Galaxy S4s is for you? The Note 8 gets in tune with nature (pictures) Starting Friday, LTE-hungry tablet buyers will be able to swoop in on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet from AT&T. With a new two-year service …

There’s a new, even faster version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 on its way — twice as fast, in fact. Samsung has confirmed a new version of the S4 that uses LTE-Advanced to connect to the Internet, grabbing data at nearly double the rate of today’s 4G LTE phones and networks. Sadly, in order for us to get the LTE-Advanced …

This is what iOS 7 will look like on Apple’s iPad with retina display, iPad 2 and iPad mini. Apple unveiled its new iOS mobile software last week, but hasn’t really shown off how it will look on the iPad tablet. iOS 7 will come to the iPad at the same time as it hits the iPhone later in the …

Sky has fired another broadband broadside in the war with BT. The satellite TV broadcaster is offering free broadband to anyone who subscribes to Sky Sports TV channels, even if you currently get your Internet from BT. New and existing Sky customers get a free year of Sky Broadband Unlimited, paying just the £14.50 line rental fee each month. Or …

Geoffrey Morrison Recently we took a poll where we asked “What’s stopping you from getting a plasma?” A majority of voters rebuked my premise, picking “I love my plasma.” The other responses were fairly evenly split among the choices. However, there was a surprisingly common reason given in the comments that baffled me, and it’s so bizarre it’s clearly worth …

Australian video-on-demand service Quickflix has used its existing relationship with HBO to score a distribution deal for the new True Blood season, which premiered on 16 June. (Screenshot by Nic Healey/CNET) The episodes will be both streamed and on demand, and will be available “only hours of airing in the US”, according to Quickflix. The Quickflix site says that the …

AT&T announced that it is rolling out wireless emergency alerts to all of its U.S. customers that have an iPhone 5 or 4S. This means that anytime there is a government-issued safety announcement, like when there’s natural or man-made disaster, a presidential alert, or an Amber alert for a missing child, a message will pop up on users iPhones explaining …

A team of researchers from Microsoft and Rice University have developed a solution to battery drain from camera use. (Credit: Sony) Most users are aware that constant use of a smartphone’s camera, or indeed the camera on any mobile device, is a sure-fire way to use up plenty of juice. In this paper (PDF), the researchers found that five different …

Now playing: Watch this: Smart TV 101: watching video 3:26 In our ongoing Smart TV 101 video series, we look at how smart TV is offering you more viewing choices than ever before. A smart TV not only opens up the free-to-air channels: you’ll also be able to access subscription TV, such as Foxtel; videos services, like Quickflix; catch-up TV; …