Google is freeing itself from the shackles of hardware partners and taking matters into its own hands, making a handset known as the ‘X Phone’ according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. And once that’s done, an X Tablet will follow. The big G is putting Motorola (which it bought for $12.5 billion) …

We’ve seen a couple of leaks concerning Sony’s upcoming flagship handset, but now we’re getting word on a possible new name. It’s been codenamed the ‘Yuga’ in the past, but a source over at Android Community is claiming the finished smart phone will be called the Xperia Z, SlashGear reports. The source also backed up a fair few of the …

Google has given Android fans an early Christmas present. It’s let slip an unannounced dock for the Nexus 10 tablet in a season’s greetings video, Android Central reports. It’s a fleeting glance at the dock, with no details given. And it looks more like an incidental reveal than a grand unveiling, seeing as the dock isn’t by any stretch of …

Editors’ note: This post was updated December 21, 2012, with five new products, including cases from Aduro, Covert, Samsung, Sena, and Urban Armor Gear. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has quickly become one of the most popular Android smartphones, and like the iPhone, has spurred a cottage industry of cases and covers. In boiling down the best of what’s currently out …

Research in Motion’s stock, which has had an impressive run over the past few months, appears to have finally gotten tripped up. Related stories Best Password Manager to Use for 2022 Your Phone Screen Is Gross. Here’s How to Clean It Without Causing Damage Spending All Night With the First iPhone Kanye West’s Donda 2 Skips Spotify, 5G BlackBerry is …

The number of BlackBerry subscribers has fallen for the first time in history, suggesting that the once-popular platform may now be on the wane. Subscriber numbers fell from 80 million to 79 million in the three months leading up to 1 December, the BBC reports. That’s not a major drop, but it’s significant nonetheless, as until now BlackBerry-maker RIM had …

HTC is working on a pair of tablets running Microsoft’s Windows RT operating system, according to Bloomberg. HTC is mulling two tablets, a 12-inch version that is larger than most standard models, and a 7-inch version that is better able to compete with the likes of Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Apple iPad Mini, according to the report, which cited …

Why, that’s a mighty fine chunk of smart phone you have there. The HTC One X is one of the year’s classiest bits of mobile kit straight out of the box, but with some judicious tweaking of its Android OS it can be even better. Improved performance and battery life, custom interfaces and a tonne of new functionality are a …

At the risk of dating myself (again), I have extremely fond memories of playing the classic action game Karateka on my — wait for it — Apple IIe. That was 28 years ago, heaven help me. The game’s creator, Jordan Mechner, went on to develop the better-known Prince of Persia, but I remember being totally entranced by Karateka’s then-amazing graphics …

As expected, the European Union’s European Commission (EC) has filed a formal “statement of objections” against Samsung over its actions in cases against Apple. The EU’s competition-governing body today announced that, in its “preliminary view,” Samsung’s requests for injunctions against Apple products over their alleged use of wireless patents Samsung owns “amounts to an abuse of a dominant position prohibited …

Dish was recently given a thumbs up by the FCC to build its own LTE network, but the company is up against some stiff obstacles along the way. Last week, the Federal Communications Commission granted Dish’s request to allow it to use 40 MHz of spectrum in the 2 GHz band to create a 4G LTE network. At the time, …

An avid player of Electronic Arts’ “The Simpsons: Tapped Out” mobile game, David Lamb was disheartened when he logged into his account in October and found that all of the data from his game was gone. The iOS game, which is essentially “Farmville” with Springfield buildings and Simpsons characters, rewards players who spend huge amounts of time completing tasks and …

Nokia and Research In Motion have settled all of their patent disputes, but the BlackBerry maker appears to have landed on the wrong side of the deal. Nokia announced today that it has agreed to a deal with RIM that will end all patent infringement litigation between the companies. RIM has agreed to make a one-time payment to Nokia to …

The iPhone 5‘s latest software update is hurting the phone’s battery life, some customers are complaining. The irate owners say that since installing the recently-released iOS 6.0.2 software, their mobiles are chugging on power reserves like there’s no tomorrow. Apple Insider says it’s seen a handful of readers getting in touch to bemoan the effect of the update, while other …

Pedestal-style sound bars are the latest evolution in the simplification of home audio. Instead of placing a long sound bar in front of your TV, pedestal sound bars are designed to sit under your TV, for a cleaner look with considerably less clutter. It’s by far the easiest way to improve on the sound of your TV with the least …