SAN FRANCISCO–In the world of rugged phones, you’d be hard-pressed to find a handset more indestructible than a Sonim model. Indeed, when we reviewed the Sonim XP3 Quest last year, it kept on ticking even after we submerged it in water, dropped it onto a concrete floor from 14.5 feet, and tried to drive a …

Ever since tearing through the 15 new Angry Birds levels released last week (which took all of about 20 minutes), I’ve been in a bit of a funk. I mean, let’s face it, once you’ve finished the game, there’s little appeal in flinging the same birds at the same pigs. And new levels are too few and far between. Where’s …

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Mesmerize (U.S Cellular) 1:55 SAN FRANCISCO–With the arrival of the Samsung Mesmerize at U.S. Cellular, the Galaxy S series has landed at each of the major wireless carriers in the United States. Indeed, it’s been quite a ride since the original Galaxy S device had its debut earlier this year in Las Vegas. We’ve seen …

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Intercept 1:34 SAN FRANCISCO–As long as we were in the neighborhood of Samsung’s booth at CTIA Fall 2010, we took an opportunity to get a hands-on look at the Samsung Intercept for Virgin Mobile USA. This is a prepaid option that is already available in Target stores, and which will start appearing at other retail …

Android continues to gobble up more smartphone customers, according to the new stats from market researcher ComScore. Looking at the three months ending August, Android’s market share rose to 19.6 percent in the U.S.–a gain of 6.6 points from the prior three months. Though Google’s smartphone platform is still third among the top five, it was the only one to …

My daily trawl for the latest smartphone news is being plagued with a recurring theme, an annoying headline that rattles around my RSS feeds like the tiresome reappearance of a spectre in a nightmare: “Why Nokia should switch to Android”. Not only do I think this would do more harm than good for the beleaguered global smartphone leader, but it …

SAN FRANCISCO — The Motorola Flipside is one of three Android handsets that Motorola announced for AT&T this Tuesday. We had a chance to take a look at it, and it’s overall a decent and simple Android smartphone. We like the slide-out QWERTY keyboard–it is roomy and the keys have a nice raised texture–and the 3.1-inch high-res HVGA display. The …

Now playing: Watch this: Motorola Flipout (AT&T) 1:04 Even though we heard about the Motorola Flipout earlier this year, we didn’t know if it would be coming to the U.S. until this Tuesday when Motorola announced it would be available from AT&T. The square phone reminds us a lot of the Nokia Twist, especially because it swivels open to reveal …

If you were questioning how much influence the iPad has in our education system, Discovery Education may be part of the answer. The company announced today a new optimized version of its platform, specifically for the iPad. Discovery Education provides curriculum-based digital content to more than half of U.S. schools. The company said the launch of its iPad platform supports …

Tabletmania is getting out of hand in the run-up to Christmas — now Dixons has entered the fray with two Android slates. The technology retailer is loading the Advent Vega and the Advent Amico with Android 2.1 to take on the Apple iPad. The Advent Amico is the budget model, costing just £130. It boasts a 7-inch touchscreen — the …