The Samsung Galaxy S II has already taken off in global markets, becoming Samsung’s fastest-selling phone with sales of 3 million units in 55 days, according to a Samsung press release issued July 3. CNET certainly appreciated the dual-core, 4G-capable Android handset enough to give the unlocked version a coveted Editors’ Choice Award ahead of …

We don’t know what we did before Google Maps, and it has just got even better. Google Maps 5.7 for Android adds offline maps, so you can still find your way even when you haven’t got a phone signal. The experimental feature means you can download your chosen section of map onto your phone. Then you can search the map, …

The Federal Communications Commission registered its Net neutrality rules with the Office of Management and Budget yesterday, which is the next step in making the new regulations official. The rules, which were adopted in December, will now be available for comment for the next 30 days. At the end of the comment period and assuming that the OMB issues its …

The HP Pre 3 is expected to be one of the summer’s biggest smartphone releases, but it looks like the WebOS-based smartphone won’t be coming to at least one of the major U.S. carriers. According to This is My Next, Sprint will not offer the Pre 3 and there’s even some doubt over Sprint and HP’s future together. The source …

Apparently, the Verizon Wireless iPhone hasn’t been as disappointing as initially feared. Verizon MobileBeat, citing a study by Localytics, reported yesterday that Verizon’s version of Apple’s blockbuster phone made up 32 percent of all U.S. iPhone 4s, an impressive stat given that it began selling midway through the first quarter. That would run counter to the growing belief that the …

Two dimensions? Disgusting. As of tomorrow, we’ll care only about phones that can offer glorious 3D visuals, such as the LG Optimus 3D. It will be available from the Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy in a mere 24 hours or so. You’ll be able to pick up the Optimus 3D, which displays 3D images without the need for dorky glasses, for …

Pantech and AT&T just announced the Pantech Pursuit II, a successor to the Pantech Pursuit messaging phone that launched a year ago. It has a similar rounded design to its predecessor, plus what looks to be a similar 2.8-inch QVGA touch-screen display. However, it has a vertical sliding keyboard instead of a horizontal one. Other features of this BREW phone …

Leap Wireless apparently has a hit on its hands with its fledgling Muve Music service. The Samsung Suede comes with access to the Muve Music service Josh Miller/CNET The company, which sells prepaid wireless service under the Cricket brand, said its music download service has surpassed 100,000 customers and 100 million song downloads after five months. Muve’s milestone is a …

TiPb Less than 24 hours after jailbreakme.com went live with an online jailbreak solution for iPad 2 and iPhone 4 users, more than 1 million iOS devices had been jailbroken. Apple, however, has stated that it will close the exploit with its next iOS update. While the news of surpassing the 1 million downloads mark in less than a day …

The Motorola Droid 3 made its debut today with very little fanfare–despite previous hubbub of rumors and leaks–and is available now online from Verizon Wireless for $199.99 with a two-year contract ($459.99 off contract) and in stores by July 14. Much like the original Droid and Droid 2, the Droid 3 features a slide-out, five-row QWERTY keyboard but boasts a …

Media analyst Nielsen has revealed new figures this week showing that games are the applications used most by smartphone owners in the US, followed by weather apps and social networking. (Credit: Nielsen) This latest research polled smartphone users over 30 days to discover which kinds of apps they used, and which apps they were likely to pay for when browsing …

Verizon Wireless didn’t make many friends earlier this week when it confirmed that staring today, it will end unlimited data plans in favor of tiered options based on data usage. Though current customers will be grandfathered in with unlimited data, the change may be more than a little confusing for new subscribers eager to trade up to their first smartphones. …

The best things in life are free. You know: love, sunsets, the second pizza you get you when you buy the first pizza. And apps. Definitely apps. If you’re an iPhone, iPod, or iPad user, you can find a smattering of freebies by rooting around the App Store. But those are just the tip of a huge iceberg (free-berg?). With …

Apple’s Cupertino HQ today echoes with the sound of chest-bumping and bro-fisting — the Apple App Store has hit the 15 billion downloads mark. The Store now contains more than 425,000 apps, and over 100,000 of those are native iPad apps. There are now more than 200 million iOS devices in use around the world. That works out an average …

Remember when smartphones were enormously, clunky bricks with sausagelike antennas and “high-end” 1.3-megapixel cameras? You could e-mail, get lost in file systems for hours, and clip them to fancy leatherette belt holsters. Relive the good old days of smartphone tech with our gallery of sexy pre-2007 smartphones–and see how far we’ve come since then. If you feel so inclined, we’ll …