Uh-oh. Smartphones finally took a nosedive. In the fourth quarter of 2017, smartphone sales fell for the first time ever, according to Gartner. Handset makers sold nearly 408 million smartphones to customers in the quarter, down 5.6 percent from the same period a year ago, the research firm said Thursday. That marks the first annual …
Read More »
The Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules will be no more in two months: The agency has taken the final step in removing the regulations from its rule book. But that may not be the end of the story. Dozens of groups are expected to file lawsuits challenging the repeal, and Democrats in Congress will push to reverse the FCC’s …
Read More »
If you’re a resident of Atlanta, Dallas and Waco, Texas, get ready to strap in for 5G. AT&T on Tuesday said that it would connect the three cities to its mobile 5G network by the end of the year. The three cities are part of a dozen markets that are supposed to get 5G from AT&T this year. The announcement …
Read More »
If last year’s Mobile World Congress trade show was a Royal Rumble of phones, this year’s conference is more akin to WrestleMania — if Samsung is perennial winner Roman Reigns. The 2017 edition of MWC faced a giant hole when Samsung opted to launch its Galaxy S8 at a later, separate event at Carnegie Hall in New York. That vacuum …
Read More »
The US wireless market is more competitive than ever, which is great news for consumers who have lots of choices when it comes choosing a service provider. But one barrier still exists when trying to switch carriers: the locked smartphone. The end of wireless contracts marked a watershed trend for consumers because it finally opened the door for them to …
Read More »
The phone carrier Verizon is bringing some changes to its prepaid plans. Starting Tuesday, Feb. 20, customers interested in prepaid plans — or plans that don’t require users to sign an annual contract or go through a credit check — will see more pricing options and bundled features. For starters, there will be a cheaper pricing tier for single-line plans, …
Read More »
CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter! CNET Friends, you’ve got one more day to enter for your chance to win a Google Pixel 2 …
Read More »
Huawei has had carrier deals with AT&T and Verizon fall through in recent months, with rumblings that the US government encouraged the carriers to pass on the Chinese electronics giant. This was confirmed on Tuesday. FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that the FBI was “deeply concerned” about the risks posed by Huawei and ZTE, …
Read More »
Tim Armstrong, the CEO of Verizon’s digital-media unit Oath, suggested that Go90, Verizon’s free mobile video app, may be dismantled. The shows and programs in Go90 will be redistributed inside Oath’s different distribution outlets, like HuffPost and Yahoo Finance, Armstrong said, adding that Go90’s identity is morphing into that of a content engine and library more so than an standalone …
Read More »
It doesn’t seem that long ago that owning a mobile phone meant roping yourself into a two-year carrier contract, to the tune of at least $70 per month. Barf. These days, you can skip the contract and pay considerably less, especially if you choose an MVNO — a mobile virtual network operator. These carriers lease bandwidth from the Big Four …
Read More »
