When iOS 4.2 changed the functionality of the iPad side switch from a rotation lock to a mute toggle, many iPad owners were displeased. Instead of flicking a simple switch, they had to swipe the screen to the right and then select the screen orientation lock on the screen. This is the same method as …

During a recent interview with TechCrunch, Android’s head honcho Andy Rubin let slip that the name of the next release of the mobile platform will be Ice Cream Sandwich. Once rumored as Ice Cream, Ice Cream Sandwich will follow OS 3.0, or Honeycomb, which landed on its first device, the Motorola Xoom, last week at CES. Availablity is uncertain, but …

Residents of Bay City, Mich., might be better off with AT&T than Verizon, at least when it comes to 3G coverage. Screenshot by Rick Broida Want to know how Verizon’s network coverage compares with AT&T’s for a particular location? Wondering if Sprint or T-Mobile might be better than either one? Maybe you just need to find out which direction to …

Android users who have found themselves fighting the language barrier have probably heard of Google Translate, a free translation app for Android. Although it’s not the most feature-packed translator for Android, it offers a simple way to translate basic words and phrases among dozens of languages. It also includes spoken translations and romanization of non-Roman scripts. Although sentences may come …

Like many of you, I’ve watched the rumors of a PlayStation Phone spread across the Internet over the last few weeks. After a so-so 2010 for Sony Ericsson, this is exactly the type of device that could cement Sony Ericsson as a top Android contender. That is, if they get it right. Ask any Android enthusiast about last year’s Xperia …

Now playing: Watch this: Dialed In #157: Hello, Verizon iPhone 4 42:21 We had a pretty mighty haul of cell phone and smartphone news, what with a killer CES barely in our rearview mirror and Verizon’s “big reveal” yesterday of the iPhone 4 coming to its network. In fact, we should congratulate ourselves on a job well done for surviving …

A U.K. consumers group known as Which? is criticizing T-Mobile’s decision to reduce its “fair-use” limit for smartphone data usage, asserting that the move may break the operator’s own terms and conditions. In a blog post today, the group said T-Mobile is selling smartphones built for video streaming and downloading, but then telling its customers they should not use the …

Though it introduced the HTC Evo Shift 4G and BlackBerry PlayBook at CES 2011, Sprint had a relatively quiet presence at the show compared to the other carriers. However, it looks like the carrier has something up its sleeve. We just received an invitation from Sprint for a February 7 event in New York City starting at 6 p.m., ET. …

T-Mobile has changed its tune quicker than a trumpet player with his flies caught in a meat slicer, saying in a statement that it won’t be cutting the fair-use limit from 3GB to 500MB, but only for existing customers. A wave of derision washed over the Internet after the company previously published a clumsily written missive telling customers, “if you want …

Rarely do we feel phone envy for the US, where its freakish CDMA network and its citizens’ love of belt holsters has led to the evolution of an alternate universe of hideous flip phones and BlackBerry wannabes. But last week’s CES gadget-fest unleashed some crave-worthy phones that have made us feel a twinge of jealousy. Most of them take advantage …