samsung

T-Mobile kills off the wireless contract

T-Mobile continues to rev up the changes it's got in store for customers.

The wireless carrier today seems to have finally done away entirely with contracts for wireless customers. This follows earlier moves that had allowed options including either a traditional two-year contract or no contract at all.

The shift is part of a broader transformation that CEO John Legere hinted at during his Consumer Electronics Show press conference in January, changes that are intended to make the carrier more competitive in the industry. As a distant fourth-place carrier among the national players, the company has been willing to … Read more

Samsung: Sorry about that sexist show

"Well, yes, maybe we do lack a little taste. Maybe. OK, if you really insist. But doesn't everyone like jokes about drunken women? Doesn't everyone like a booth babe or two, swimsuit or no swimsuit? No? Oh. Really?"

This might have been the inner monologue in certain areas of Samsung's vast collective cranium, after again falling foul of accusations of, well, giving a bad show.

You might not yet have forgotten (and my colleague Molly Wood certainly hasn't) Samsung's touchingly misguided attempt to launch the very fine Galaxy S4 on a New York … Read more

Hulk-strong screens, IR blasters, NFC-everything: Your future phone (Smartphones Unlocked)

Here's the smartphone of your short-term future: it has a 5-inch, 1080p HD screen, an 8-core application processor, and a 13-megapixel camera that does crazy things like simultaneously record through both front and rear lenses. You can use it to change your TV channel, tap it to play songs on your car, and control it without ever touching the screen.

The smartphone of your near future takes your pulse, synchronizes to your scale, and tumbles from your hands without a scratch. Oh yeah, and did I mention that it'll last two days on a single charge?

New production … Read more

Low Latency No. 56: We're watching you

Low Latency is a weekly comic on CNET's Crave blog written by CNET editor and podcast host Jeff Bakalar and illustrated by Blake Stevenson. Be sure to check Crave every Friday at 8 a.m. PT for new panels! Want more? Here's every Low Latency comic so far.… Read more

BlackBerry CEO: Samsung security will never be 'top-notch'

Samsung Electronics will never be able to offer "top-notch platinum" security because of the inherent open nature of Android, according to BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins.

Because Android is open source, it is the most susceptible to attacks such as malware, Heins said yesterday in an interview with CNET in New York City. In comparison, he added, BlackBerry 10 was designed from the ground up to be a secure platform.

"You don't know how many keys you've given to the main door of your house because it's open software," he said about Android. "… Read more

Samsung eyes sale of e-ink company to Amazon -- report

Samsung is said to be in talks with Amazon to sell an e-ink technology company it acquired a couple of years ago.

The two tech giants are currently holding discussions for Samsung to sell Liquavista, a firm it acquired in 2011, to Amazon, Bloomberg is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the discussions. An exact price hasn't been determined yet, but Liquavista is expected to go for less than $100 million.

Samsung acquired Liquavista in January 2011 after the company, which develops e-ink technology for e-readers, made a splash at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show with … Read more

The Galaxy S4 gets more screen time

Last week at this time, the Galaxy S4 had just made its debut at Samsung's wacky unveiling in New York. We've explored the new flagship smartphone in almost every detail, but our friends Luke Westaway and Andrew Hoyle at CNET UK channeled their creative sides with these awesome videos that take a closer look at the Galaxy S4 while building on the First look video of our own Jessica Dolcourt.

The first clip focuses on the Galaxy S4's unique software (one area where the handset promises to stand out), the second compares the Galaxy 4 to its … Read more

Survey declares Apple brand 'less inspiring'

One shouldn't rely on the same sources of inspiration every day.

Sometimes, even the finest of one's muses just doesn't amuse. Sometimes, even the greatest of one's heroes gets drunk and bangs his head on the pedestal as he falls.

However, one brave enterprise wished to measure the brands that inspire real human beings the most.

It is called Added Value. It has just released its list of the most inspiring. Perhaps the information that might cause the most perspiring in certain parts of the West Coast is that apparently Apple's brand has become less … Read more

Samsung poised to double lead over phone rivals, IHS says

Thought Samsung's smartphone market share was high before? Just wait until the Galaxy S4 is released, IHS said today.

The technology research firm expects Samsung to more than double its percentage point lead over rivals from 2012 to 2013. Samsung held 29 percent of the cell phone market in 2012, while Nokia ranked No. 2 with 24 percent. IHS didn't specify what percent of the market Samsung should control this year but said its lead over its nearest rival should rise to 11 percent (from the 5 percentage point lead in 2012).

That's a pretty bullish estimate … Read more

Apple iWatch, beware. Samsung plans to clock you

Now that Samsung has said it's working on a high-tech watch, one that presumably will pack smartphone features, 2013 could shape up as the year of smartwatch wars, with longtime foes Apple and Samsung leading the battle.

The motivation, Wall Street analysts argue, is that the biggies need another act as growth of smartphones sales are already slowing. Could smartwatches become that act? It might sound like a long shot; many people already are abandoning watches and relying on their phones instead. And in an age of ever-expanding phone screens, a device for the wrist comes with obvious limitations. … Read more