News and Updates about Smartphones

The mobile industry is shifting in a way that could change how we think about phone service forever. We used to walk into carrier stores or dial customer support to set up plans. Now apps can activate mobile service on the spot, no carrier visit required. Carrier billing and e-wallets will be worth $60 billion globally in 2025, and superapps are multifunctional platforms that integrate messaging, payments, e-commerce and more. Put those together and you get a new ecosystem where your next phone...

When Bethlehem High School in Upstate New York banned students' cellphones and started offering analog entertainment, it sparked a culture change you could notice even with your eyes closed. "Our cafeteria is loud again," social studies teacher David Rounds observed. Then it got interesting. Students did not just accept these bans, they adapted in ways few predicted. Young people are turning to legacy technology such as MP3 players and cassette players to fill the digital void. A simple policy...

Apple and Samsung have entered an absolutely fascinating phase of their ongoing rivalry, where traditional performance expectations are being turned upside down. For years, iPhone users could confidently claim single-core superiority, while Samsung fought back with more RAM and feature-packed specs. Now the latest benchmark results are telling a different story that is reshaping the entire smartphone performance landscape. Wild, right?

When your smartphone screen feels more like looking at printed paper than a glowing display, you know something revolutionary is happening. The TCL NXTPAPER 60 Ultra represents the first smartphone equipped with the latest version of NXTPAPER technology, and early reviews suggest it just might be a favorite smartphone display of all time. With NXTPAPER 4.0 featuring a redesigned substrate and nano-matrix lithography application to enhance brightness and color accuracy, this is not just another...

Here's what really matters after nearly a year with the iPhone 16: it's aged remarkably well. While tech reviewers were busy debating specs at launch, real users found something more important, this phone just keeps delivering, day after day, month after month. The iPhone 16 is not just holding up. It is proving that Apple built something genuinely lasting this time around.

If you've been holding off on upgrading your iPhone, the iPhone 17 Pro lineup might just change your mind. It could be Apple's biggest performance leap in years. About time, right?

When you think about YouTube's biggest star jumping into mobile services, it might sound like another celebrity cash grab. But MrBeast reportedly plans to launch a phone company next year, and this isn't your typical influencer side hustle. With Beast Industries valued at over $5 billion and Feastables generating millions monthly, Jimmy Donaldson is betting big on diversification into tech. The mobile industry is already experiencing an unprecedented celebrity invasion, but MrBeast's entry...

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir

You've probably heard the buzz about satellite messengers lately—especially with Apple adding emergency SOS features to iPhones. But here's the thing: satellite messaging has become our go-to means of staying connected in areas without cell service, and these devices now pack in way more functionality than just emergency calls. We're talking location sharing, GPS navigation, weather reporting, and more. The real question isn't whether this tech is cool (it definitely is), but whether you...

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir

Reviewed by Corey Noles

When you fire up your Kindle and see that familiar screen, there's one feature that transforms the entire reading experience from good to absolutely game-changing: Libby integration. Libby connects you with your library's digital collection, turning your e-reader into a gateway to thousands of free books. What makes this combination so powerful? Libby enables sending borrowed books directly to Kobo or Kindle devices, creating a seamless bridge between your local library and your personal...

Reviewed by Corey Noles

When your phone suddenly displays "SOS" instead of your carrier's name, it's more than just an inconvenience—it's a complete communication breakdown. Verizon customers across the United States experienced exactly this scenario when a software issue triggered a massive outage, leaving more than 23,000 customers without cellular service on what should have been an ordinary day. The outage affected calls, texts, and mobile data, sparking frustration on social media platforms and tracking websites.

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir

Reviewed by Corey Noles

The iPhone isn't just outpacing the competition—it's practically carrying the entire smartphone industry on its back. While other major brands struggle with flat or declining sales, Apple's latest iPhone models are driving unexpected growth in a market that many analysts had written off as saturated. Let's break down what's really happening behind these surprising numbers and what it means for the future of mobile technology.

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir

Reviewed by Corey Noles

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir

The next time you can't find your college friend at a crowded concert, you probably won't text them. Instead, you'll open Find My, spot their little avatar moving near the merch table, and walk straight over. Welcome to 2024, where this behavior isn't just convenient—it's completely normal.

Picture this: You walk into a phone store looking for the latest Sony Xperia, only to find empty shelves where they used to be. That's increasingly becoming reality across major markets, and it's raising a question that would've seemed impossible just a few years ago — are we witnessing the twilight of Sony's smartphone ambitions?

Having tracked telecom policy changes for over five years, I've seen how regulatory shifts can reshape entire markets—but Verizon's latest move hits different. The carrier is pushing to ditch the 60-day phone unlocking rule at precisely the moment when T-Mobile's satellite service via Starlink could change how we think about connectivity. While Verizon claims it's fighting fraud, the real casualty might be your ability to tap into the most significant advancement in mobile coverage since 4G.

The swiping just got a lot more serious. Tinder is expanding its identity verification tech to the US, bringing along facial recognition that's supposedly safer, smarter, and more foolproof than ever. But as always with biometric data, there's more happening under the hood than a simple selfie check.

You lose cell service in the middle of the day, and twenty minutes later, your bank account is empty. Welcome to SIM swapping—the nightmare scenario that's plagued millions and cost victims over $25 million in 2024 alone. The good news? AT&T just rolled out a feature that could slam the door on these attacks before they start. ZDNet reports that Wireless Account Lock is now live for both postpaid and prepaid customers, joining T-Mobile and Verizon in offering SIM protection tools.

A crucial part of the system that keeps your iPhone, iPad, Android device, and computer secure just lost US government funding — and the ripple effects could soon reach your gadget's next update.

The Unicode Consortium is already hard at work on the next batch of emoji, but don't get too excited just yet. It may be a while before you see these new characters, which include an apple core, orca, and hairy creature, on your devices.

There's never been a better time for streaming videos on your phone. With so many options available (including a potential mobile-only Netflix tier) and so many new smartphones having large screens, there's a good chance you know someone who mainly use their phone for videos. And if you looking for a gift for them, there are some great options.

With smartphone cameras and software getting better and better every year, more and more users are getting passionate about photography. So when you're shopping for a gift to get someone, if they have a smartphone, chances are they'll more than appreciate some tools and accessories for taking better photos with their pocket friend — and we've got some gear ideas they'll love.

With MP3 players all but dead, phones are now the dominant portable music devices. While smartphones have gotten better at this task over the years, they do have some glaring limitations when it comes to music. On the bright side, we can use these limitations to help find the perfect gifts for the audiophiles in our lives.

Smartphone gaming continues to improve with ever sharper displays and raw processing power to deliver console-quality graphics right in the palm of your hands. Nonetheless, you still stand to improve the gaming experience on any phone by adding the right accessories to the mix.

With the new Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra release, the first thing you may be wondering is how its battery life compares to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, Apple's biggest model from 2021. We've rounded up some of the most popular Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max battery tests from across the internet to bring you answers.

A new Sony patent shows the company doubling down on mobile gaming, and it could mean more advanced controller features for your iPhone or Android phone, similar to those in PlayStation's DualSense and DualShock controllers.

If you're in the market for a new smartphone, there are some pretty fantastic options for $400 or less. Both Apple and Google have unveiled budget smartphones with high-end specs in 2020, so you no longer have to suffer from subpar quality to save a few bucks. Low prices no longer mean cheap phones.

After the iPhone X eclipsed the $1,000 mark, phone prices skyrocketed. Android OEMs like Samsung started putting out phones in the same price bracket that were crammed with expensive parts. To appease the folks that didn't want to drop over a grand on even the nicest phones, a new segment was created with devices that are still in the flagship tier, but not top-of-the-line.