http://www.phonearena.com/ PhoneArena.com - Cell Phone Reviews, News, Specs and Info. en-us Copyright 2001-2006 PhoneArena. All rights reserved. phonearena@phonearena.com http://www.phonearena.com/img/logo-en.gif http://www.phonearena.com/ 107 80 http://www.phonearena.com/news/Its-not-stealing-when-Apple-does-it-because-it-wasnt-stealing-when-Google-did-it-either_id44030Every time there are new features announced for iOS, there is an uproar around the web about Apple "stealing" features. I have talked before about why I think this is a silly argument, but I wanted to put up a refresher on the idea, because the claims simply won't die out. Here's the simple reason: it's not stealing when Apple does it, because it wasn't stealing when Google did it either...]]>NewsThu, 13 Jun 2013 16:17:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Its-not-stealing-when-Apple-does-it-because-it-wasnt-stealing-when-Google-did-it-either_id44030/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/We-are-living-in-a-land-of-Galaxies_id43995Yesterday’s announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom marked at least the fifth iteration of...]]>NewsWed, 12 Jun 2013 21:35:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/We-are-living-in-a-land-of-Galaxies_id43995/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/DISH-is-losing-precious-time-by-focusing-on-Clearwire-and-Sprint_id43961For gadget geeks, this veritable love quadrangle between DISH, Sprint, Clearwire and SoftBank may not...]]>NewsWed, 12 Jun 2013 00:44:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/DISH-is-losing-precious-time-by-focusing-on-Clearwire-and-Sprint_id43961/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/2013-WWDC-keynote-review-Apple-gets-mean-and-desperate_id43902Apple has had a long history of making backhand digs at Android, and showing plenty of numbers and statistics (of varying degrees of honesty) that show how Apple is the leader in the mobile ecosystem. The numbers have had to change with the rise of Android, but Apple had tended to still not mention Android by name, until today. At the WWDC keynote, Apple started with an attack on Android and didn't let up throughout the rest of the event...]]>NewsMon, 10 Jun 2013 21:24:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/2013-WWDC-keynote-review-Apple-gets-mean-and-desperate_id43902/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/iOS-7-kneejerk-review-adopting-the-best-of-the-competition-and-thats-okay_id43904Let's get one thing out of the way right off the bat: we absolutely love the look of iOS 7. It may just be that iOS finally looks markedly different from how it has been for the past 5 years, it may be that Apple has finally left behind the hideous skeuomorphism techniques, or it may just be that it reminds us of a mashup between Windows Phone and Google Now. Whatever the reason, we think Apple has done a solid great job of adopting the best of the competition to make something decidedly Apple...]]>NewsMon, 10 Jun 2013 16:15:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/iOS-7-kneejerk-review-adopting-the-best-of-the-competition-and-thats-okay_id43904/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/10-new-features-wed-like-to-see-in-iOS-7_id42022iOS is a wonderful platform, we all know that. However, even the unprecedented level of polish cannot prevent Apple's mobile operating system from looking somewhat stale...]]>NewsMon, 10 Jun 2013 01:39:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/10-new-features-wed-like-to-see-in-iOS-7_id42022/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/It-is-not-just-the-data-that-matters-in-this-NSA-surveillance-mess_id43827Several days ago, we broached the issue of Google and trust in the consumer arena, and how people...]]>NewsSat, 08 Jun 2013 04:57:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/It-is-not-just-the-data-that-matters-in-this-NSA-surveillance-mess_id43827/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Edition-expansion-Sony-Xperia-Z-may-be-next-who-else-needs-in_id43712Last year, one of the more persistent rumors in the Android world was that Google had plans to greatly expand the Nexus line of devices, and might have planned to release as many as five new Nexus devices last year. Obviously the timing of the rumor was off, but it looks like that rumor wasn't completely inaccurate, and is coming around in a surprising way. Google has already announced two Google Edition models of flagship devices, and rumor has it that Sony may be the next up to join the program. So, who else needs to get in on this movement?...]]>NewsWed, 05 Jun 2013 12:30:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Edition-expansion-Sony-Xperia-Z-may-be-next-who-else-needs-in_id43712/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Current-state-of-Windows-Phone-Whats-the-hold-up_id43480Something is dreadfully wrong, terribly wrong in the Windows Phone camp! If you’ve somehow stumbled across one of my social networking accounts, whether it’s Twitter or Google+, you’re probably well aware about some of the devices I personally use. Being a reviewer and all, it’s...]]>NewsMon, 03 Jun 2013 13:58:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Current-state-of-Windows-Phone-Whats-the-hold-up_id43480/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Can-someone-explain-why-people-dont-trust-Google_id43569Yesterday, Android chief Sundar Pichai laid out his reasoning as to why people should trust Google with their data, and that spurred on an extremely entertaining discussion in the comment thread about Google and the privacy concerns around the company. The trouble is that throughout the debate, we never got a compelling argument as to why people don't trust Google...]]>NewsFri, 31 May 2013 23:11:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Can-someone-explain-why-people-dont-trust-Google_id43569/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/In-depth-interview-Ubuntu-Touch-aims-to-learn-from-Androids-mistakes_id43447Last week, we sat down with Canonical’s Director of Engineering, Pat McGowan, to learn everything we could about Ubuntu Touch, including how it started, where the product is now, and what to expect in the future. We learned quite a lot, and throughout our chat there was a theme that kept popping up both directly and indirectly - while Canonical is working to build a mobile platform that is both completely new and completely Ubuntu, it is clear that the team has kept an eye on Android and aims to learn from Google’s mistakes...]]>NewsThu, 30 May 2013 09:03:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/In-depth-interview-Ubuntu-Touch-aims-to-learn-from-Androids-mistakes_id43447/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/No-new-Nexus-from-LG-Google-Edition-Galaxy-S4-HTC-rumors-is-Google-going-to-drop-the-Nexus-line_id43456The news and rumors about Nexus devices and Android software have been running at a rampant rate...]]>NewsWed, 29 May 2013 01:46:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/No-new-Nexus-from-LG-Google-Edition-Galaxy-S4-HTC-rumors-is-Google-going-to-drop-the-Nexus-line_id43456/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Stock-Android-Samsung-Galaxy-S4-is-almost-like-a-Nexus-experience-but-not-exactly_id43111We are not big fans of the vague word that is ‘fragmentation’ around here, especially when it is applied only to Android. Matter of fact is fragmentation…]]>NewsThu, 16 May 2013 02:51:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Stock-Android-Samsung-Galaxy-S4-is-almost-like-a-Nexus-experience-but-not-exactly_id43111/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/It-is-time-for-manufacturers-to-provide-more-detail-about-available-storage-on-devices_id42892With just about every computing device purchased nowadays, it is generally accepted actual usable...]]>NewsFri, 10 May 2013 18:00:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/It-is-time-for-manufacturers-to-provide-more-detail-about-available-storage-on-devices_id42892/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-S4-software-features-Ahead-of-the-game-or-gimmicky_id42709Being a successive device, it wasn’t totally surprising to see Samsung build upon its preexisting functions with its TouchWiz experience on the Galaxy S4. For starters, they totally revamped the camera experience, as it boasts an insane amount of neat tricks – even to the point of...]]>NewsWed, 08 May 2013 11:54:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-S4-software-features-Ahead-of-the-game-or-gimmicky_id42709/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Call-me-maybe-How-we-choose-to-contact-women-in-the-digital-age_id42732OK, so relationships may not be what a geek's best at, but we do know a thing or two about dating. For example, last week we met this girl on Facebook. She's so hot, and you know what? Since we have absolutely no problem at all when it comes to communicating our thoughts and feelings, we simply told her she's hot. With a PM, of course. All of a sudden, we were blocked and we never saw her again... Can you imagine the kind of people there are on Facebook? She blocked us just like that, for nothing...]]>NewsTue, 07 May 2013 09:50:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Call-me-maybe-How-we-choose-to-contact-women-in-the-digital-age_id42732/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Ingress-parties-scheduled-around-Google-IO-what-would-it-mean-if-the-game-goes-live-to-all_id42705After the initial launch buzz, we haven't heard much about Ingress. The game is still going strong (though we gave up on it, because the innate repetition of a MMORPG got boring for us), and it has millions of players around the globe; but, Ingress is still in closed beta. There are Ingress events planned around Google I/O, which is making us wonder if a wider release of the game is imminent; and if so, what does that mean for the game that exists right now?...]]>NewsTue, 07 May 2013 09:20:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Ingress-parties-scheduled-around-Google-IO-what-would-it-mean-if-the-game-goes-live-to-all_id42705/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Whats-the-hype-behind-phablets-Wont-a-smartphone-or-tablet-do_id42522Phablets are a cross between smartphones and tablets that usually check in somewhere between five inches and 6.9 inches. A lot of people think that these mobile devices are little more than fads that will quickly disappear. Others love their phablets. What features are driving the hype between these devices...]]>NewsWed, 01 May 2013 03:29:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Whats-the-hype-behind-phablets-Wont-a-smartphone-or-tablet-do_id42522/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Beyond-the-touchscreen-voice-gestures-Samsungs-mind-control_id42020Some say the touchscreen, as a direct contact method, is the last input paradigm mankind has reached on the quest for interaction with our gadgets, and, at least for the foreseable future, that seems to be true, barring the leaps and bound currently undergoing in voice and gesture navigation. Of course, we'd rather prefer an even more direct connection like mind control, but more on that later...]]>NewsThu, 18 Apr 2013 09:01:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Beyond-the-touchscreen-voice-gestures-Samsungs-mind-control_id42020/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Hands-on-impressions-of-Facebook-Home-after-24-hours-of-use_id41876The testing of Facebook Home had to be delayed a bit, because it took the good fellows over at XDA a day to hack the app to run on my Nexus 4, but the testing has been done. And, the results will likely surprise you (it certainly surprised me). First of all, you need to know a few things about the reviewer here, because that info is important to the review...]]>NewsSun, 14 Apr 2013 20:41:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Hands-on-impressions-of-Facebook-Home-after-24-hours-of-use_id41876/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Facebook-Home-is-not-a-threat-to-Android-or-Google-neither-is-Samsung-or-Amazon_id41856There is always a lot of talk around products that are supposedly "threats to Android" or "threats to Google", but we think that those arguments are looking at the puzzle the wrong way. Facebook Home is something wholly different and interesting, but it isn't a threat to Android. Samsung is by far the dominant handset maker in the Android ecosystem, but it isn't a threat to Google. Amazon completely forked Android and stripped out Google all together, but you know what? It isn't a threat to Google...]]>NewsSat, 13 Apr 2013 12:31:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Facebook-Home-is-not-a-threat-to-Android-or-Google-neither-is-Samsung-or-Amazon_id41856/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Even-if-you-dont-like-Facebook-you-have-to-like-what-Home-is-doing-especially-if-youre-Google_id41848We understand that there are plenty of you out there who don't like Facebook, and we want to make it clear right off the bat: your feelings about Facebook as a service have no bearing on the argument we're laying out here. Facebook Home launched today on a few Android devices. It had a bit of a rough start, and as we all expected, it's really made for the high-functioning Facebook junkie and not really anyone else. However, the idea behind Facebook is one that we should all pay attention to...]]>NewsFri, 12 Apr 2013 21:35:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Even-if-you-dont-like-Facebook-you-have-to-like-what-Home-is-doing-especially-if-youre-Google_id41848/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Facebook-Home-its-subtle-impact-and-what-it-means-to-Facebook_id41592Home is far reaching, but its near-term impact is far more subtle, we explore how Facebook did it right...]]>NewsSat, 06 Apr 2013 20:41:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Facebook-Home-its-subtle-impact-and-what-it-means-to-Facebook_id41592/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-applies-for-patent-on-removable-touchscreen-laptop-displays-or-How-long-until-we-see-an-iPadBook-Air_id41561Basically, there are two different ways that Apple works. Apple will either take a device market that has fallen into the doldrums, and inject it with hype and excitement (see: MP3 players, smartphones, tablets), or Apple will look at how other companies are succeeding and do something similar, but with the extra Apple "magic" (read: marketing). Yesterday, Apple applied for a patent for a removable touchscreen laptop that we don't really expect to become a device, but it does point towards an important question: How long until we see an iPadBook Air?...]]>NewsFri, 05 Apr 2013 11:22:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-applies-for-patent-on-removable-touchscreen-laptop-displays-or-How-long-until-we-see-an-iPadBook-Air_id41561/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/From-the-MySpace-phone-to-the-Facebook-phone_id41474Seven years ago, the tech landscape was incredibly different from what you see today. MySpace was the biggest thing on the web with 55 million users, and Facebook was just two years old, and hadn't even opened up membership to the general public yet. At this time in 2006, you still needed a university e-mail address or an invite to sign up for Facebook. Now, MySpace has been relaunched as a music social network, and Facebook has over 1 billion users. All of that, and we haven't even mentioned the sea change seen in the mobile world...]]>NewsWed, 03 Apr 2013 11:58:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/From-the-MySpace-phone-to-the-Facebook-phone_id41474/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Are-we-ready-for-a-Facebook-powered-smartphone--Do-we-even-want-one_id41363So now that everyone is talking about this semi-cryptic invitation Facebook sent out regarding a “new home for Android...]]>NewsSat, 30 Mar 2013 01:26:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Are-we-ready-for-a-Facebook-powered-smartphone--Do-we-even-want-one_id41363/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Facebook-moving-closer-to-a-Facebook-powered-Android-phone_id41344Yesterday, Facebook sent out invitations to an event on April 4th that contained the cryptic message, "Come see our new home on Android." The rumor mill quickly jumped to the idea that Facebook was working on another phone, but the reality may be even more pervasive. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Facebook wants to hijack new Android devices' homescreens with its News Feed...]]>NewsFri, 29 Mar 2013 11:28:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Facebook-moving-closer-to-a-Facebook-powered-Android-phone_id41344/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Is-the-new-T-Mobile-a-real-threat-or-just-marketing_id41255We finally saw the future of T-Mobile today. We had seen bits and pieces and we had known what to expect to a certain degree, but today we got all of the answers and saw the plans laid out. But, the real question remains whether or not the change to being the "UNcarrier" makes T-Mobile a real threat to the competition or if it's just another marketing plan...]]>NewsTue, 26 Mar 2013 21:24:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Is-the-new-T-Mobile-a-real-threat-or-just-marketing_id41255/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-has-sold-500k-Chromebooks-and-why-we-dont-want-to-see-Android-merge-with-Chrome-OS_id40994Last week, the head of Chrome at Google, Sundar Pichai, took over as the head of Android, when Andy Rubin stepped down. Android has been an extremely successful platform, as has the Chrome web browser, but not surprisingly Chrome OS has not been quite as popular. In fact, a new report says that Google has sold fewer than 500,000 Chromebooks so far...]]>NewsMon, 18 Mar 2013 18:29:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-has-sold-500k-Chromebooks-and-why-we-dont-want-to-see-Android-merge-with-Chrome-OS_id40994/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/The-future-of-Google-Reader-and-Google-News_id40937A few days ago, Google announced that as part of some spring cleaning, it would be “retiring” Google Reader on July 1st. Yesterday, we heard the rumor that Google would be adding a News section to the Play Store. These two stories don’t exactly have a direct connection, but they do both speak to the vision of the future Google has for news products...]]>NewsSat, 16 Mar 2013 11:27:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-future-of-Google-Reader-and-Google-News_id40937/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-S-4-hardware-was-expected-so-did-the-software-wow-us_id40858The Samsung Galaxy S 4 had absolutely nothing to really surprise us with on the hardware side when it was finally announced, because everything there was to know about the hardware was leaked before the event, all the way down to a complete teardown of the device less than an hour before Samsung's live event. So, we knew exactly what to expect on the hardware end, but as usual, the software was the star of the show, and so we want to talk about all of the new additions...]]>NewsThu, 14 Mar 2013 20:51:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-S-4-hardware-was-expected-so-did-the-software-wow-us_id40858/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-the-never-ending-search-for-the-next-big-thing_id40771Tomorrow at Samsung’s event in the Big Apple, all eyes are on the expected official announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S IV – well, we hope it’s what all the hoopla is all about! Throughout all channels on the interwebs, there’s a great deal of buzz swelling for this highly anticipated event, which very much mirrors...]]>NewsWed, 13 Mar 2013 21:13:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-the-never-ending-search-for-the-next-big-thing_id40771/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Verizon-delaying-HTC-One-release-for-testing-could-this-sink-HTC_id40795This definitely isn't the first time that Verizon has delayed a release of something Android related in order to perform "testing", and it probably won't be the last, but this time is a much more dire situation for those involved than a couple of months waiting for an Android software update. This time around, the delay could have a serious impact on HTC, and could be trouble for the company...]]>NewsWed, 13 Mar 2013 12:28:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Verizon-delaying-HTC-One-release-for-testing-could-this-sink-HTC_id40795/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Windows-8-Quietly-in-the-background-but-building-up-plenty-of-steam_id40275Although we’re still at the early stages with Windows 8’s roll out, we can expect to see in the near future several new tablets and convertibles that will rival price points that are deemed to be more affordable. Countless times already, manufacturers like HP, Acer, and Dell showed us that...]]>NewsThu, 07 Mar 2013 13:26:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Windows-8-Quietly-in-the-background-but-building-up-plenty-of-steam_id40275/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Glass-isnt-the-privacy-killer-the-media-wants-it-to-be_id40507You’ve likely seen the article run a number of times already, and they will just become more and more frequent as Google Glass gets closer and closer to release. The title of the article is always something designed to scare you, because “Google Glass is going to destroy privacy!” Well look, we’re not as reactionary and easily scared as some others, and we think that the target of the trouble is not Google Glass at all. It’s just a simple fear of the unknown; a fear of the new...]]>NewsTue, 05 Mar 2013 11:12:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Glass-isnt-the-privacy-killer-the-media-wants-it-to-be_id40507/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Is-there-a-place-for-a-tablet-in-the-life-of-a-smartphone-user_id40493We all love our smartphones and tablets, there's little doubt about that. There's just something about that personal touch interface that makes using them feel so good. To top things off, the sheer amount of stuff you can do with these gadgets is downright amazing and makes us love them even more. However, there's this question that keeps popping up inside our heads...]]>NewsTue, 05 Mar 2013 06:48:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Is-there-a-place-for-a-tablet-in-the-life-of-a-smartphone-user_id40493/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Galaxy-S-IV-and-the-smartphones-it-will-be-going-up-against_id40486Ever since the first Galaxy S, the series has been a tremendous success for Samsung, which has released a new S-branded handset once every year. And each year, the manufacturer has radically improved the smartphone to include tons of new features and enhancements. To a certain extent, the Galaxy S series has been ahead of the Android pack, both in terms of technology and user experience...]]>NewsTue, 05 Mar 2013 05:23:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Galaxy-S-IV-and-the-smartphones-it-will-be-going-up-against_id40486/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/A-change-of-tone-is-Nokia-the-next-turnaround-stock_id40355Nokia has been through some very tough times in 2012 catastrophically losing market share and quickly giving away its leading positions in smartphones. But after a nearly $3 billion loss and massive layoffs in 2012…]]>NewsFri, 01 Mar 2013 07:22:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/A-change-of-tone-is-Nokia-the-next-turnaround-stock_id40355/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Should-Android-developers-abandon-Gingerbread-and-only-support-Android-4.0_id39924The tide is turning. Android devices are continually being upgraded, and older handsets traded in for new. As such, Android 2.3 Gingerbread has finally fallen below 50% of the Android ecosystem; and, within the next few months, Android 2.x should also fall below 50%, while Android 4.0+ gains the majority of the ecosystem. So, we think it's fair to ask the question: should Android developers abandon Android 2.x and only support Android 4.0+?...]]>NewsSun, 24 Feb 2013 17:29:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Should-Android-developers-abandon-Gingerbread-and-only-support-Android-4.0_id39924/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Project-Glass-overview-why-it-could-change-telephony-bring-Google-Plus-up-and-Facebook-down_id40041With a deeply engraved social DNA, Glass could finally give Google Plus a much needed push, turn the market dynamics against Facebook, and change telephony along the way. Here is how…]]>NewsFri, 22 Feb 2013 07:40:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Project-Glass-overview-why-it-could-change-telephony-bring-Google-Plus-up-and-Facebook-down_id40041/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-is-going-hard-on-marketing-but-is-the-One-enough-to-make-HTC-relevant-again_id39963From everything we've seen and heard, the HTC One could very well be the new gold standard in the mobile world. Everything about the device is top quality, but as always, it's all in the execution that determines success. More specifically, it doesn't always matter if you have the best device if you can't market it properly and excite customers. So, we have to ask the question: is the One enough to make HTC relevant again?...]]>NewsTue, 19 Feb 2013 20:43:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-is-going-hard-on-marketing-but-is-the-One-enough-to-make-HTC-relevant-again_id39963/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Has-Google-proven-it-can-handle-its-own-retail-stores_id39848So, word just came out that Google may be working on opening its own chain of retail stores in major metropolitan centers by the holiday season this year. In theory, it sounds like an idea with amazing potential - centralized places where you can go and play with Nexus devices, Chromebooks, and the fabled Google Glass. The trouble is that Google's real-world history with retail makes us skeptical as to whether Google has proven it can handle its own retail stores...]]>NewsFri, 15 Feb 2013 21:39:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Has-Google-proven-it-can-handle-its-own-retail-stores_id39848/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/What-to-expect-with-the-Motorola-X-Phone-and-is-it-a-real-game-changer_id39751Earlier today, there was a report that the Motorola X Phone that is expected to be the flagship announcement at Google I/O this year would be a "game-changer", but as expected, there really wasn't any information on exactly how the X Phone would go about changing the game. So, we strapped on our thinking caps and tried to come up with some possibilities for what Motorola/Google could unveil that would really change the game...]]>NewsWed, 13 Feb 2013 16:42:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/What-to-expect-with-the-Motorola-X-Phone-and-is-it-a-real-game-changer_id39751/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Web-share-is-misused-when-used-to-show-market-share_id39421We've been thinking on this topic for a while now, and we've finally come to a conclusion: web share is the worst metric available to show market share. We've all seen the data, often from Chitika or other ad-tracking networks, which try to show the breakdown of the mobile market using web share rates and ad tracking statistics. Almost every time you see this sort of data, the numbers skew towards iOS, and almost always they are completely divorced from what we see with sales rates around the world...]]>NewsMon, 04 Feb 2013 11:17:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Web-share-is-misused-when-used-to-show-market-share_id39421/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/The-reason-you-probably-want-YouTube-subscriptions-even-if-you-dont-know-it_id39403A couple days ago, we heard the news that Google was looking into adding subscription plans to YouTube, and that such subscriptions could go into effect as soon as this spring, around April. Not surprisingly, quite a few of you were very resistant to the idea, and felt that when something starts out as free it should stay free (or ad-supported as it were). But, we've been thinking about it, and we think we know why you actually do want YouTube subscriptions, even if you don't know it yet...]]>NewsSat, 02 Feb 2013 17:50:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-reason-you-probably-want-YouTube-subscriptions-even-if-you-dont-know-it_id39403/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Verizon-and-HTC-show-the-true-meaning-of-disastrous-software-support---update-the-HTC-ThunderBolt-to-ICS_id39373Does anyone even remember the HTC ThunderBolt? We needed a few minutes to recall its appearance (and specs sheet), and when we finally had the complete image in our heads, we realized just how wrong all of this is...]]>NewsFri, 01 Feb 2013 05:44:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Verizon-and-HTC-show-the-true-meaning-of-disastrous-software-support---update-the-HTC-ThunderBolt-to-ICS_id39373/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Data-is-cheaper-to-transmit-so-why-is-Verizon-more-expensive_id39022To be fair, this isn't an issue specifically with Verizon, but Verizon does have the easiest numbers to parse right now. According to some research done by The New York Times' Brian X. Chen, the trouble starts with the feature that we had been hoping for since the tablet boom started a couple years ago: shared data plans. Those plans make it so while data is now cheaper for carriers to transmit, carriers like Verizon are also able to charge more for that data...]]>NewsWed, 23 Jan 2013 15:39:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Data-is-cheaper-to-transmit-so-why-is-Verizon-more-expensive_id39022/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/How-Google-Glass-will-change-mobile-and-how-it-could-fail_id38942How often do we hear jokes about how no one experiences life as it happens these days? People miss out on life because we’re all too busy filtering real-time experiences through the screen of a smartphone or tablet. Google may not have figured out the use case of Google Glass, but after seeing Sergey Brin on the subway, and digging through old Glass stories, it struck us as quite simple...]]>NewsMon, 21 Jan 2013 10:35:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/How-Google-Glass-will-change-mobile-and-how-it-could-fail_id38942/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-CEO-Larry-Page-on-Apples-thermonuclear-war-How-well-is-that-working_id38857Larry Page took over as CEO of Google in April of 2011, although insiders say that the job was always his, Eric Schmidt was simply "keeping the seat warm" until Page was ready. On the technology side of things, there wasn't much doubt the Page had the skills, but when dealing with the media, Page was a bit reserved at first. But, he's growing more confident, and in a a new interview with Wired, Page is ready to take swings at Facebook. He even commented on Apple's "thermonuclear war" with a confident and clear "How well is that working?"...]]>NewsThu, 17 Jan 2013 19:32:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-CEO-Larry-Page-on-Apples-thermonuclear-war-How-well-is-that-working_id38857/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/BlackBerry-10-Why-Im-genuinely-excited-for-it_id38790So why am I excited about BlackBerry 10? Well, for starters, I’m just enamored by how smooth the platform rolls along with various operations. At the center of it all, it seems as though the design language of the platform maintains its form from previous versions, but the...]]>NewsWed, 16 Jan 2013 14:50:00 -0600http://www.phonearena.com/news/BlackBerry-10-Why-Im-genuinely-excited-for-it_id38790/commentsPhone Arena