Samsung is expected to announce an update to its super-sized Galaxy Note, with the sequel sporting a larger display, a faster processor and the latest version of the Android OS. The original Galaxy Note with stylus.(Credit: CNET) According to Korean site MK Business News, the Galaxy Note 2 will be announced at the IFA electronics …

Ex-Nokia employees have banded together to form a new start-up company, with plans to release a smartphone based on the Nokia-developed MeeGo operating system. (Credit: Nokia) Former MeeGo engineer Marc Dillon will serve as the chief operating officer of the company, which is called Jolla, leading a team of “directors and core professionals from Nokia’s MeeGo N9 organisation”, according to …

High-flying skydive stunts! Steering-wheel voice commands! Predictive search that knows your life! That was June for us, one big sneak peek of the mobile platform future, a flurry of OS features and software specs that Apple, Google, Microsoft, and RIM lobbed at us from San Francisco area events all in the same month. It was so busy around here, we …

A group of former Nokia employees has formed a company with the goal of bringing to market a smartphone powered by software discarded by their former employer. The Finnish startup Jolla plans to base its handsets on the defunct Meego operating system, which was developed in partnership with Intel but was essentially left for dead when Nokia opted to drop …

The harried Galaxy Nexus smartphone is again available for purchase in the Google Play store. iPhone, left, Google phone, right. On June 29, a judge in a lower court granted Apple’s request for a pretrial injunction against U.S. sales of the Samsung-made, Android-running smartphone while the court determines whether the device infringes the patents Apple claims it does. Samsung appealed, …

To: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Re: Those reports of your plans to build an Amazon smartphone As alluring and potentially lucrative as the smartphone business may seem, it isn’t worth the headache and distractions it will bring to Amazon. Look, I get it. Amazon is riding high with profits that still impress Wall Street, a dominant presence online, and healthy …

Samsung Electronics and HTC illustrate the disparity between the haves and have-nots in the smartphone world. Samsung earlier today said that for the second quarter it expects to post a record 6.5 trillion won ($5.7 billion) to 6.9 trillion won in profit and 46 trillion won ($40 billion) to 48 trillion won in revenue, both up significantly over the year-earlier …

It’s time yet again to update your scorecard on the Galaxy Nexus ban. A federal appeals court ruled today that the preliminary injunction set by a lower court against sales of the device in the U.S. is being temporarily lifted. But keep your pencil sharp — according to All Things Digital, Apple has till Thursday to submit an argument as …

If you somehow managed to avoid buying Angry Birds Seasons over the past 20 months, your patience has paid off. Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Seasons HD (for iPad) are the iTunes free apps of the week. They’re normally priced at 99 cents and $1.99, respectively. Apple’s “week” began yesterday (Thursday), so you’ve got roughly six days to take …

I often write about action games in my collections, and it’s no secret I’m a fan of the racing-game genre as well. But another genre I like to play while on my commute is mind-twisting puzzle games. A new game was released a few days ago that has jumped to the top of the charts at iTunes App Store and …

Samsung has high hopes for its Galaxy S3, boastfully tipping its quad-core smart phone to sell 19 million units by the autumn. Samsung made the crystal-ball estimate as it announced more whopping profit — the South Korean company believes it will have made $5.9bn profit in the three months April-June, or about £3.8bn in British coin. That’s a 79 per …

After the success of the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, Amazon is considering making a phone. The online bookseller-turned-everything-seller is reportedly working on a Kindle Fire 2 and could knock up its own smart phone too. But what would it be like — and would it ever come here? Bloomberg reports those slippery “people with knowledge of the matter” have revealed scant …

This week I stepped back into the land of reviewing to test the Samsung Chrono 2 for U.S. Cellular. And, wow, what a trip it was. With its basic calling features and retro design, the Chrono 2 took me back to a cell phone era that greeted me when I first joined CNET almost nine years ago. Before Android and …

Verizon Wireless’ new family share plan has gotten lots of knickers in knots. But is the new plan really as bad as some people fear it is for consumers? Last week, Verizon’s new family share plans went into effect for the carrier’s new customers. The plans give subscribers unlimited voice and text messaging and allow people to share buckets of …

The rumored Samsung Galaxy Note successor is now expected to debut in late August at the annual IFA conference, according to MK Business News. Citing unnamed sources close to the publication, the next phone/tablet hybrid will reportedly run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and feature a larger display. Whispers of a bigger, faster Galaxy Note surfaced a few weeks with rumors …