In addition to the Kyocera Milano, Sprint announced the upcoming availability of the Kyocera Brio. The Brio is a basic, no-frills cell phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, 2.2-inch QVGA display, and 1.3-megapixel camera. With the keyboard, the phone does support Sprint’s Mobile Email and Mobile Email Work services, as well as access to popular …

Every single children’s book for the iPad, from “Alice in Wonderland” to “Yertle the Turtle,” has one thing in common: it’s not about your kid. JibJab Jr. Books changes all that, putting your child’s face and name front and center in a personalized, animated iPad storybook. It’s really cool–but also oddly flawed. You’ve heard of JibJab, right? The service was …

commentary As the Department of Justice and now Sprint file suit to block AT&T’s pending merger with T-Mobile USA, federal judges will begin looking closely at the deal and its potential impacts on the exploding mobile services market. Let’s hope that the kind of evidence-based, rational analysis of the courtroom does a better job separating fact from fiction than the …

Apple’s legal fracas with Samsung has reached Japan, with the iPhone maker asking a Japanese court to ban a slew of Samsung gadgets. The lawsuit was filed in the Tokyo District Court, and requests that Samsung’s Galaxy S, Galaxy S2 and the Galaxy Tab 7.7 be banned from sale in Japan, according to Reuters, which cites “sources close to the …

Compared with the past few weeks, this seems like a relatively slow news week, but there’s still plenty going on in the mobile world. The AT&T and T-Mobile saga continues with a new lawsuit from Sprint, and a court date between the Department of Justice and AT&T. HTC is fighting back and suing Apple (anyone else need a chart to …

A support page has been found on Samsung’s UK website for the upcoming Nexus Prime, strongly suggesting that Samsung is preparing for its release in this country. The almost-empty page, likely a dummy or placeholder, bears the name GT-I9250. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the emergence of this support page comes only a day after the discovery of the …

What’s a mega British wireless telco like Vodafone, with no brand presence in the U.S., doing opening a research and development center in the heart of Silicon Valley? Quite simply following the talent. Vodafone lifted the lid today on its R&D center, which it will use as an incubation center for helping local startups quickly develop, test, and bring products …

T-Mobile USA may look to split itself into pieces for multiple buyers if its deal with AT&T falls through. That’s according to Mizuho Securities analyst Michael Nelson, who said in a research note issued today that companies such as MetroPCS, Leap Wireless, and U.S. Cellular have significant interest in picking up new markets. T-Mobile could also break itself up into …

Back in July, AT&T revealed that, like Verizon, it, too, would offer the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, and now, the release of the gaming smartphone is near. The carrier announced this morning that the Xperia Play 4G would be available starting September 18 for $49.99 with a two-year contract, which is both affordable and smart, considering the smartphone’s been out …

Android is expected to surpass Apple in application downloads for the first time, according to research firm Ovum. CNET / Jaymar Cabebe Android could notch 8.1 billion app downloads this year, compared with 6 billion for Apple’s iOS devices. That marks an explosion of growth for both platforms; Apple had 2.7 billion downloads and Android recorded 1.4 billion last year. …