Apple and Samsung are battling over patents. James Martin/CNET SAN JOSE, Calif. — Samsung’s future relied on beating Apple in the mobile market, the company’s top executive said in a 2012 memo revealed in a court here Monday. During cross-examination of Dale Sohn, the former CEO of Samsung’s US mobile business, Apple attorney Bill Lee …

Josh Miller/CNET Microsoft on Monday released a preview of Windows Phone 8.1 , which delivers a handful of new features to the company’s smartphone operating system. In addition to home screen wallpapers, an extra live tiles column, and a notification center, the update includes Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant. Here’s how and when you can get Windows Phone 8.1 on your …

Forthcoming Nokia phones are named after Superman and James Bond movies. CNET Nokia is playing name games for future phones. A new leak has revealed pop culture codenames for forthcoming devices referencing Superman, James Bond, and Filipino soap operas. Prolific rumourmonger @evleaks claims that devices under development at Nokia are internally known by the monikers Ara, Leo, Moonraker, Onyx, Peridot, …

Now playing: Watch this: Cortana takes on Google Now, Siri 4:19 The iPhone has Siri. Android has Google Now. And Windows Phone now has Cortana. Not everyone likes speaking commands into their phone, but for those who do, Microsoft’s new Cortana voice assistant for Windows Phone 8.1 is exactly the viable competitor to Apple’s Siri and Google Now that the …

While the Xperia Z1 Ultra is Sony’s flagship big-screen phone, the T2 Ultra aims to hit a more affordable price point. The Xperia T2 Ultra range. (Credit: Sony) The 6-inch phone features a 1.4GHz quad core processor, but doesn’t have the dust- and water-resistance of the Z1 Ultra, as well as making do with the lower 720p screen resolution. It …

The ZenFone 4 is the cheapest handset launched today in Jakarta with a $95 price tag without contract. Josh Miller/CNET JAKARTA, Indonesia — Originally announced at CES earlier this year, the Asus ZenFone series of Intel-powered handsets will finally make its way to the hands of consumers in Southeast Asia as early as May. Having already launched earlier in Taiwan …

CNET While Google’s Glass wearable is still proving a polarizing frontier in personal computing — making headlines this past weekend when a reporter had it ripped off his face and smashed on the ground — the company is quietly chipping away at its long list of features it would like to pack into the face-worn headset ahead of a eventual …

Apple’s iPhone 5S. Josh Lowensohn/CNET Would Apple actually increase the price of its flagship phone? Apple reportedly has been negotiating with mobile carriers about raising the price they will pay for the expected iPhone 6 by $100, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said in an investors note released Monday. The carriers have naturally nixed the idea so far. But Misek thinks …

CNET Update thought we were over this 3D-phone phase: Now playing: Watch this: T-Mobile rallies for the end of overage fees 2:54 In this episode of Update, learn about T-Mobile’s end of overage fees and the petition it created targeting other carriers. The carrier also is throwing in free 1GB of monthly data for tablets. T-Mobile has made several bold …

CNET Google originally didn’t plan to support touch screens for its mobile operating system, Android — and then along came the Apple iPhone. Revealed last week as part of the latest legal battle between Apple and Samsung, a document called “Android Project Software Functional Requirements” described the concept for Android before the iPhone was unveiled. Android early on was based …