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Smartphones

Five savvy ways to maximize your Galaxy S4's battery life

With a bigger battery and more efficient processor than its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S4 promises to at least survive a typical day. But as Jessica Dolcourt mentions, its slightly larger screen and abundance of features demand that added capacity.

Though the S4 (and most other phones) will almost always need a nightly charge, you'll certainly encounter days when you'll do just a little extra streaming, forget your charger at home, or find yourself staring at 15 percent with a long night ahead.

To get the most out of your battery, follow these best practices.

1. Disable superfluous … Read more

The complete guide to using Android with a Mac

For some reason it's a common belief that Android devices and Macs just don't get along. This misconception may have been true back in Android's infancy, but nowadays there's a long list of methods, apps, and services that let you use your Android device with your Mac. It's impossible to cover every app and service available, but I'm going to share the best of the bunch.

Most of the services listed below rely on the cloud to make the process of moving data between devices painless, while other methods require the tried and true … Read more

Yahoo experimenting with Google Glass, CEO Mayer says

NEW YORK--Yahoo is experimenting with Google Glass, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer said Tuesday.

Google's Internet-connected eyewear has generated a lot of buzz, but it's still too early to know if it will take off. So far, the glasses come with few apps and limited functionality, but many developers are working on creating software for Glass, spurred in part by some big Silicon Valley investors looking to back startups making Glass apps.

Mayer said Tuesday at a Wired business conference in New York that Yahoo has gotten its hands on some developer versions of Google Glass, and employees … Read more

Nine tips to help you manage the BlackBerry Hub

The BlackBerry Hub holds a lot of information and provides a unique way of managing all of your communication needs from a central place. But, with so much information being presented to you at all times, you're bound to want to tailor it to meet your needs. Below you'll find some great tips aimed to help you make the Hub work for you, instead of you working for the Hub.

View messages as a conversation

One way to help eliminate clutter from your Hub is to organize e-mail messages into a conversation view. Doing so will group related … Read more

Qualcomm walks fine line between privacy, connected devices

NEW YORK--Qualcomm is walking a fine line between enabling the "Internet of Things" and protecting users' privacy, the chipmaker's chief executive said Tuesday.

Paul Jacobs, speaking at the Wired Business Conference in New York, said that nearly everything people interact with will be connected to the Internet in the future, but that also means companies have to figure out a way to make such technology less intrusive.

For example, department stores or restaurants can detect when someone is walking by and send them coupons, but not all people may want to receive those offers. So Qualcomm and … Read more

Sapphire phone screens not as strong as you think, says Corning

On the surface, smartphones screens made of sapphire sound superb -- they're naturally strong, extremely scratch resistant, can withstand flexing, and transmit light very well. That's the widely accepted story, at least.

Disputing this view is Corning, maker of the Gorilla Glass material that covers a majority of smartphone screens.

Corning, whose aeronautics branch has worked with lab-grown sapphire since the 1970s, says it tested the strength of sapphire claims -- a potential cover glass alternative -- in-house.

Corning's conclusion: that sapphire, the world's second-hardest material after diamond, just can't take the lumps that a … Read more

Get useless bloatware off your Galaxy S4

Like pre-installed programs on a Windows PC, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is full of "bloatware," unnecessary apps and services from Samsung or your carrier that offer no value and often attempt to duplicate what Google (or third-party) apps have already mastered. (AT&T Navigator, anyone?)

The greatest insult is that you actually can't uninstall these apps without rooting -- they'll stay in your app drawer and task manager even if you don't use them. The best solution is to disable them, which will effectively remove them from your app drawer and prevent these apps … Read more

Sony selling Xperia Z in U.S.

If you've been wondering when Sony's latest flagship Android handset would hit American shores, speculate no longer. The global and unlocked device is now for sale at Sony's U.S. Web site for $629.99.

Keep in mind that the Xperia Z is not to be confused with the Xperia ZL. While both smartphones boast huge 5-inch full HD screens, have fabulous cameras, run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, along with a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, plus 2GB of RAM, the Xperia Z sports premium design and materials.

Unlike the ZL's plastic chassis, the Xperia … Read more

Ex-Palm chief joins Qualcomm's board

Qualcomm has added a former mobile chief to its board, naming Jonathan Rubinstein as a new director.

Rubinstein brings more than 30 years of experience in the mobile, computing, and consumer electronics industries, the chipmaker said, most notably as CEO of Palm. Rubinstein joined the company as executive chairman in 2007 and took over the role of CEO from June 2009 until it was bought by Hewlett-Packard in 2010.

Rubinstein then continued at HP, most recently leading product innovation for the personal systems group after the company largely wound down Palm's operations. Earlier in his career, Rubinstein ran Apple'… Read more