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/BlackBerry-expected-to-ship-14-million-devices-this-year_id44276Analysts haven't been too bullish on BlackBerry recently with one downgrading the rating on its stock to "underperform". But, it's not all bad news for BlackBerry, because a new report is saying that the company's projections for device shipments this year are on the rise, and BlackBerry is now expecting to ship 14 million devices in 2013...]]>NewsWed, 19 Jun 2013 13:56:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/BlackBerry-expected-to-ship-14-million-devices-this-year_id44276/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Ubuntus-Carrier-Advisory-Group-gets-8-new-members_id44225When we talked to Canonical's Pat McGowan last month there wasn't anything he could say about carriers that the company was working with to bring Ubuntu Touch to the market, but today there was quite a big announcement on that front. Eight big name carriers from around the world have joined Ubuntu's Carrier Advisory Group...]]>NewsTue, 18 Jun 2013 16:46:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Ubuntus-Carrier-Advisory-Group-gets-8-new-members_id44225/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-One-is-3rd-best-selling-phone-in-the-U.S.-and-it-hasnt-hit-Verizon-yet_id44212There has been a lot of talk about the HTC One sales, mostly due to the state of HTC. There have been a number of high profile employees leaving the company, the HTC One had production delays, and founder/CEO Peter Chou has even gone so far as to say he would step down if the HTC One is a failure. Well, it looks like that won't be necessary, because the HTC One is apparently the 3rd best selling phone in the U.S...]]>NewsTue, 18 Jun 2013 09:22:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-One-is-3rd-best-selling-phone-in-the-U.S.-and-it-hasnt-hit-Verizon-yet_id44212/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Intel-CTO-confirms-smartwatch-trial_id44203Intel CTO Justin Rattner, speaking at Bloomberg's Next Big Thing Summit, said that the silicon slinger is working on a number of new "experimental devices" with one of them being a smartwatch; rumors last year had Intel working with Apple on a smartwatch. It is unknown whether the device being tested by Intel now has anything to do with the so-called Apple iWatch...]]>NewsTue, 18 Jun 2013 08:00:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Intel-CTO-confirms-smartwatch-trial_id44203/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Transparent-solar-films-add-20-to-your-phones-battery-life-on-the-cheap_id44132Instead of the complex and expensive projects from the likes of MIT and UCLA that are trying to weave miniature solar cells into the touchscreens themselves, or other projects that harvest the light leaking from OLEDs, SunPartner is just combining traditional with transparent solar cells...]]>NewsMon, 17 Jun 2013 01:58:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Transparent-solar-films-add-20-to-your-phones-battery-life-on-the-cheap_id44132/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/WSJ-NSA-does-not-gather-cellphone-location-records-despite-authorization-to-do-so_id44126In what is quickly becoming a pesky topic that just won't go away, no less than the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday night that even though the NSA is legally authorized to collect information that can pinpoint the location of cellphone callers, it refuses to do so; T-Mobile is majority owned by a foreign company, Deutsche Telekom, which appears to preclude it from directly providing information...]]>NewsSun, 16 Jun 2013 23:09:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/WSJ-NSA-does-not-gather-cellphone-location-records-despite-authorization-to-do-so_id44126/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/How-tweet-it-is-Tweet-added-to-Oxford-English-Dictionary_id44122The Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, John Simpson, announced that "tweet" has been added to the dictionary as both a verb and a noun; normally, a word has to be around for ten years before it is considered for inclusion in the OED. Simpson, though, said that use of the word to denote a message sent via Twitter "seems to be catching on"...]]>NewsSun, 16 Jun 2013 21:16:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/How-tweet-it-is-Tweet-added-to-Oxford-English-Dictionary_id44122/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/The-NSA-can-listen-to-your-calls-without-a-warrant_id44120Before Congress could make comments against the NSA, the agency told lawmakers in a secret meeting that interpretation of federal surveillance law allows the NSA to listen to domestic and international callsl; we're not just talking about metadata here, but both sides of a full conversation. This most likely includes your texts and emails...]]>NewsSun, 16 Jun 2013 20:09:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-NSA-can-listen-to-your-calls-without-a-warrant_id44120/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-launching-Project-Loon--balloons-that-provide-Wi-Fi-connectivity-for-rural-areas_id44113Google has launched 30 test balloons in New Zealand to examine the feasibility of providing internet...]]>NewsSun, 16 Jun 2013 18:12:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-launching-Project-Loon--balloons-that-provide-Wi-Fi-connectivity-for-rural-areas_id44113/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-said-to-be-adding-500000-new-iTunes-accounts-every-day-revenue-still-impressive_id44090Apple loves to bring its iTunes statistics out to parties, because they are often quite impressive. At WWDC, Apple announced that iTunes had 575 million users, and that the App Store had paid out $10 billion to developers, with $1.5 billion of that coming in just the last year. Now, Asymco is saying that iTunes is adding about 500,000 new accounts every day...]]>NewsSat, 15 Jun 2013 11:45:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-said-to-be-adding-500000-new-iTunes-accounts-every-day-revenue-still-impressive_id44090/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/WhatsApp-processes-record-27-billion-messages-in-one-day_id44000Yep, you read that right: WhatsApp has processed a record 27 billion messages in one day. That's an incredibly impressive number, and it also happens to be a record for the company. WhatsApp has been the go-to cross-platform messaging service recently, and has really been gaining more and more steam with users who are leaving BlackBerry, but still have friends on the platform, because it is one of the few options that still supports older BB versions...]]>NewsWed, 12 Jun 2013 23:30:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/WhatsApp-processes-record-27-billion-messages-in-one-day_id44000/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Study-finds-hands-free-texting-while-driving-is-unsafe_id43991According to a study conducted by AAA, hands-free texting is actually more distracting than talking on...]]>NewsWed, 12 Jun 2013 18:07:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Study-finds-hands-free-texting-while-driving-is-unsafe_id43991/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Will-ants-eat-the-inside-of-your-smartphone_id43955Traveling to the southern United States from South America, Rasberry crazy ants are forcing out the population of native ants, but more importantly, they are destroying electronic gadgets including smartphones; measuring less than 1/8th of an inch, these little guys like to eat electrical components and their size allows them to slip right into a handset or a tablet...]]>NewsTue, 11 Jun 2013 20:50:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Will-ants-eat-the-inside-of-your-smartphone_id43955/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Poll-Most-Americans-ok-with-PRISM-phone-tracking_id43947If the recent leak about the NSA's PRISM phone record tracking program had taken place in another era, Americans would be calling for the impeachment of every elected official involved; during the Watergate era, when we had a paranoid President in office, and U.S. citizens were wary of every pronouncement that came out of Washington D.C., this story would have had more of an edge to it...]]>NewsTue, 11 Jun 2013 09:59:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Poll-Most-Americans-ok-with-PRISM-phone-tracking_id43947/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/How-smartphones-and-tablets-affect-your-sleep_id43857Are you a smartphone owner and having trouble catching those ZZZZZs at night? You might have to blame the lack of sleep on your handset; according to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, exposure to the light from a tablet could drop the body's melatonin levels by 23%. For those who ironically slept through high school, melatonin is a naturally occurring substance in the human body...]]>NewsSun, 09 Jun 2013 16:57:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/How-smartphones-and-tablets-affect-your-sleep_id43857/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Corning-hints-germaphobic-low-reflectance-Gorilla-Glass-is-in-the-labs_id43740If Corning has found a way to make its tough glass with even lower reflectivity, we'd say that a new era of outdoor visibility might be upon us when this thing is released to market, as it is one of the main complaints about mobile screens in general...]]>NewsThu, 06 Jun 2013 04:49:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Corning-hints-germaphobic-low-reflectance-Gorilla-Glass-is-in-the-labs_id43740/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/No-shocker-more-than-50-of-U.S.-adults-own-a-smartphone_id43713According to the latest Pew Report, 56% of U.S. adults are now the owner of a smartphone; even a majority of those in the 18 to 24 year old demographic, many of whom are working for minimum wage, sport a shiny new smartphone. Keep in mind the wording of today's pronouncement. In the past, we've noted that more than 50% of U.S. cellphone owners were using a smartphone...]]>NewsWed, 05 Jun 2013 12:02:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/No-shocker-more-than-50-of-U.S.-adults-own-a-smartphone_id43713/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Texting-and-driving-in-New-York-will-now-cost-you-5-points-up-from-3_id43567New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was happy to announce on Friday that those caught driving and texting would receive a penalty of five points on their driving record, up from the current three points; that would make LOLing with your BFF potentially more costly to your bank account than getting caught driving 20 miles over the posted speed limit...]]>NewsFri, 31 May 2013 19:01:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Texting-and-driving-in-New-York-will-now-cost-you-5-points-up-from-3_id43567/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-iPhone-to-be-sold-in-Iran_id43543Iranians may soon get their first look at the Apple iPhone as the U.S. on Friday eased restrictions on the exporting of communication equipment, including mobile phones. to Iran; the relaxing of the ban is being done in an effort to promote the political freedom of Iranians as Tehran tries to silence its citizens. The U.S.had tightened the ban in an effort to get Iran to stop developing nuclear weapons...]]>NewsFri, 31 May 2013 02:08:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-iPhone-to-be-sold-in-Iran_id43543/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Galaxy-S-III-spontaneous-combustion-battery-swells-melts-casing-while-charged_id43434We've reported such cases where allegedly a cell phone battery just catches on fire, and now we have the next in line - a Samsung Galaxy S III, whose owner claims that the handset went ablaze while being charged on the bed next to him at night. Not a pleasant experience by any means, and the owner took to the usual ranting place, Reddit, uploading some pictures of the incident you can see below. Here's his recap of the story...]]>NewsTue, 28 May 2013 05:40:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Galaxy-S-III-spontaneous-combustion-battery-swells-melts-casing-while-charged_id43434/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Do-companies-really-save-money-with-BYOD-plans_id43429BYOD, or Bring You're Own Device, is the program that some companies have put in place that allows employees to bring their own personally owned smartphones to work instead of relying on company distributed models; the idea is that employees will be more productive with smartphones that they are familiar with instead of being forced by their employer to use an unfamiliar OS...]]>NewsTue, 28 May 2013 02:56:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Do-companies-really-save-money-with-BYOD-plans_id43429/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphone-shipments-to-overtake-shipments-of-featurephones-globally-in-2013_id43396Research firm DisplaySearch sees global shipments of smartphones overtaking the number of basic and featurephones being transported in 2013; global smartphone shipments should reach 937 million units, compared to 889 million basic and featurephones to be shipped this year. From 2011 to 2016, smartphone shipments will increase at a 26% compounded annual growth rate to reach 1.45 billion units...]]>NewsMon, 27 May 2013 04:45:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphone-shipments-to-overtake-shipments-of-featurephones-globally-in-2013_id43396/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Infographic-gives-us-all-the-stats-youd-ever-want-to-see-about-smartphones_id43375A new infographic from Glow New Media reveals some interesting stats such as the 1.4 billion smartphones that will be sold globally this year on a planet with a total population of 7 billion; according to the infographic, mobile internet use rises 66% each year. That explains why the carriers are complaining about clogged pipes...]]>NewsSat, 25 May 2013 14:33:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Infographic-gives-us-all-the-stats-youd-ever-want-to-see-about-smartphones_id43375/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Student-develops-a-capacitor-that-could-charge-a-cell-phone-in-30-seconds_id4322918 year old Eesha Khare of Saratoga, California won the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award, earning...]]>NewsMon, 20 May 2013 19:47:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Student-develops-a-capacitor-that-could-charge-a-cell-phone-in-30-seconds_id43229/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Man-steals-smartphone-gets-hit-by-bus-suffers-only-minor-injuries-and-is-arrested_id43224It is perhaps karma of the highest order as a thief tries to make a quick grab-n-go but gets thwarted in his get-away...]]>NewsMon, 20 May 2013 17:11:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Man-steals-smartphone-gets-hit-by-bus-suffers-only-minor-injuries-and-is-arrested_id43224/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/This-girly-Android-smartphone-comes-with-liquid-cooling-racing-stripes_id43213Liquid cooling is what hardcore PC overclockers use to keep their high-performance machines from failing due to excessive heat. It is a cooling method used in cars, power plants, industrial equipment and... now smartphones. Well, just one smartphone in particular – the NEC Medias X, which is one of the handsets that NTT DoCoMo announced last week...]]>NewsMon, 20 May 2013 07:55:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/This-girly-Android-smartphone-comes-with-liquid-cooling-racing-stripes_id43213/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Credit-Suisse-is-bullish-on-wearable-tech_id43206Thanks to the progress made by Google Glass, which has gone from an eye-opening concept video in April of 2012 to a product that will ring up revenues later this year, and talk of a smartwatch that almost every big tech name is developing, wearable technology promises to be a killer category; according to Credit Suisse analysts, wearable technology will go from a $3 billion to $5 billion industry today to a mind-blowing $50 billion industry in just 3 to 5 years...]]>NewsMon, 20 May 2013 03:27:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Credit-Suisse-is-bullish-on-wearable-tech_id43206/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Hangouts-has-some-fun-Easter-eggs_id43167We all know that Google loves Easter eggs. The company puts them in many of its products, and the newly released Google+ Hangouts is no exception. There are actually six different Easter eggs for Hangouts users, but unfortunately, they aren't available on mobile, only in either the Chrome app or inside Google+ itself...]]>NewsFri, 17 May 2013 21:53:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Hangouts-has-some-fun-Easter-eggs_id43167/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Downloads-vs-installs-how-Apple-and-Google-count-app-numbers_id43135Yesterday was a big day of news. Moreso for Google than Apple, but Apple did get in one interesting piece of information. Just a few hours after Google had announced that the Google Play Store had reached 48 billion app downloads, Apple announced that its iTunes App Store had reached the 50 billion app marker. At the time, we noted that it was unclear how each company counts app installs, so we weren't totally sure how to compare the numbers, but now we have that answer...]]>NewsThu, 16 May 2013 17:23:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Downloads-vs-installs-how-Apple-and-Google-count-app-numbers_id43135/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Apples-App-Store-hits-50-billion-downloads_id43093You knew that Apple would be swooping in to steal some of the spotlight from Google today, and the news just dropped. Whereas Google announced earlier today that the Google Play Store has reached 48 billion downloads, Apple has just announced that the iTunes App Store has hit 50 billion downloads. Although, given the headstart that Apple had in mobile, we wonder which number is really more impressive...]]>NewsWed, 15 May 2013 17:34:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apples-App-Store-hits-50-billion-downloads_id43093/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-combines-Gmail-Drive-and-G-Photos-storage-into-a-single-15GB-per-user_id42965Google has been shifting around how it deals with the various storage options it has for a while now. Gmail has always been kept separate, and when Google Docs made the transition to Drive, and Picasa was folded into Google+, those two blobs of storage found themselves combined for users. Now, Google has decided it is better to just make everything into a single 15GB per user for all of those services...]]>NewsMon, 13 May 2013 12:54:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-combines-Gmail-Drive-and-G-Photos-storage-into-a-single-15GB-per-user_id42965/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphone-buyers-prefer-an-ever-larger-screen---4.5-takes-over-4.3-as-the-sweet-spot_id42949Given the trends this year (cough, Galaxy Mega line, cough), and the onlsaught of 5" flagships, SA might be updating their preferrable screen size survey to 4.7" in the next report. We doubt that the trend will continue much further, though, unless Samsung finally stops dragging its feet with the foldable and rollable YOUM display phones...]]>NewsMon, 13 May 2013 06:00:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphone-buyers-prefer-an-ever-larger-screen---4.5-takes-over-4.3-as-the-sweet-spot_id42949/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Texting-while-driving-now-the-leading-cause-of-teen-death-in-the-U.S._id42906Drunk driving has been replaced and texting while driving is now the leading cause of teen death in the U.S. as a study conducted by the Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York shows that more than 3,000 teens die each year as a result of sending SMS messages while operating a vehicle; that figures compares to the 2,700 tens that are killed each year as a result of drunk driving, a figure reported Thursday by CBS News...]]>NewsSat, 11 May 2013 15:11:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Texting-while-driving-now-the-leading-cause-of-teen-death-in-the-U.S._id42906/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphone-thefts-in-San-Francisco-mapped-out_id42891Smartphone thefts have been making the news lately. These devices are expensive and because they...]]>NewsFri, 10 May 2013 19:45:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphone-thefts-in-San-Francisco-mapped-out_id42891/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Survey-30-of-Airline-passengers-are-forgetting-to-turn-off-their-phones-or-tablets-before-takeoff_id42855A new survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association finds that 30% of airline passengers are forgetting to turn off a device, most often a smartphone, before an airplane takes off; 21% of those surveyed will put their device in airplane mode, turning off the internal radios on the unit, instead of shutting them off completely...]]>NewsFri, 10 May 2013 03:29:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Survey-30-of-Airline-passengers-are-forgetting-to-turn-off-their-phones-or-tablets-before-takeoff_id42855/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/NVIDIA-beats-Q1-expectations-with-77.9-million-in-profit_id42842After seeing the quarterly numbers from companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung, the numbers reported by NVIDIA look like a drop in the bucket. But, NVIDIA has beaten expectations for its Q1 earnings with $77.9 million in profit, causing the company's stocks to climb in after-hours trading...]]>NewsThu, 09 May 2013 21:54:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/NVIDIA-beats-Q1-expectations-with-77.9-million-in-profit_id42842/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/YouTube-paid-subscriptions-now-live-starting-at-99-cents-per-month_id42834We knew it was in the works and today marks launch day for YouTube's paid subscription pilot program. Users were worried that their favorite YouTube channels would be switching to the paid model, but from the looks of the pilot channels, there isn't too much worry about that. Instead, the paid subscription channels are dominated by names you wouldn't expect to see (legally) on YouTube, like Sesame Street...]]>NewsThu, 09 May 2013 15:10:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/YouTube-paid-subscriptions-now-live-starting-at-99-cents-per-month_id42834/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/San-Francisco-abandons-bid-for-cell-phone-warning-stickers_id42791Ever since cell phones first started making their way into the hands of consumers, there have been recurring fears that the radiation from our mobile devices could have adverse effects on our health. Studies on the topic haven't found evidence strong enough to support the fear, but people tend to think that it's better to be safe than sorry. That seemed to be the idea behind a push by San Francisco lawmakers to get retailers to warn customers of the risks...]]>NewsWed, 08 May 2013 16:39:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/San-Francisco-abandons-bid-for-cell-phone-warning-stickers_id42791/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/University-of-California-wants-to-give-1-million-people-a-physical-by-smartphone_id42661With it becoming more and more possible to get solid readings on the health profile of an individual by using a smartphone and sending data in real time to a health professional who could be thousands of miles away, the University of California in San Francisco is looking to sign up 1 million people to a study to determine if using mobile technology can help prevent cardiovascular disease...]]>NewsSun, 05 May 2013 17:26:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/University-of-California-wants-to-give-1-million-people-a-physical-by-smartphone_id42661/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Images-from-space-taken-by-NASAs-Android-smartphone-powered-satellites_id42636NASA’s PhoneSat project officially ended about a week ago, with the three Android smartphone powered...]]>NewsSat, 04 May 2013 12:20:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Images-from-space-taken-by-NASAs-Android-smartphone-powered-satellites_id42636/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Law-enforcement-officials-blame-carriers-and-OEMs-for-rising-number-of-cellphone-thefts_id42568Despite a new nationwide database that tracks the unique identifier on every smartphone that is stolen, the number of cellphone related thefts continues to rise and some law enforcement officials are blaming the carriers and the phone manufacturers for not trying to come up with a solution, noting that both make profits from victims who need to repurchase a stolen phone...]]>NewsThu, 02 May 2013 11:56:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Law-enforcement-officials-blame-carriers-and-OEMs-for-rising-number-of-cellphone-thefts_id42568/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/MorePhone-is-a-flexible-smartphone-that-curls-up-when-it-receives-a-call_id42505Imagination is only limited by what can physically be accomplished at any one time, and a group of...]]>NewsTue, 30 Apr 2013 17:12:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/MorePhone-is-a-flexible-smartphone-that-curls-up-when-it-receives-a-call_id42505/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Study-says-that-chat-apps-are-more-popular-than-SMS_id42464This day seemed inevitable. SMS has always been something of a troubled technology. It rose in popularity and became ubiquitous, but it was often saddled with exorbitant costs from carriers (especially for international SMS) and other limiting factors (for example, SMS is not unified in Japan, so users on different carriers either pay extremely high costs, or just communicate with e-mail.) Now that mobile carriers are more and more becoming simple data providers, chat services have overtaken SMS according to a new study...]]>NewsMon, 29 Apr 2013 18:42:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Study-says-that-chat-apps-are-more-popular-than-SMS_id42464/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Global-phone-shipments-dip-1-in-first-quarter-2013-Samsung-on-top-with-29-of-the-market_id42373The latest numbers from Strategy Analytics are in and it shows that global mobile phone shipments dipped 1% in the latest quarter to 373 million units with Korean based Samsung on top with a 29% share of the market; tighter controls on carrier upgrades of 3G phones and slower shipments of 2G featurephones are being blamed for the decline...]]>NewsThu, 25 Apr 2013 23:58:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Global-phone-shipments-dip-1-in-first-quarter-2013-Samsung-on-top-with-29-of-the-market_id42373/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Meeting-Tim-Cook-for-a-cup-of-coffee-will-cost-you-north-of-180-000_id42341Tim Cook is one of those people who many have heard about, yet few are ever going to have the chance of meeting in person. Yet if you're filthy rich and don't mind setting aside a six-digit figure, then you can totally hang out with the man for an hour or so. Here's how it works: there's a page over at Charity Buzz where you can place a bid on a 30- to 60-minute meeting with Tim Cook at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. The winning bidder will have the unique opportunity to...]]>NewsThu, 25 Apr 2013 07:20:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Meeting-Tim-Cook-for-a-cup-of-coffee-will-cost-you-north-of-180-000_id42341/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/MetroPCS-reports-first-quarter-results-operating-income-rises-10-over-last-year_id42321The nation's fifth largest carrier, MetroPCS, released its first quarter earnings on Wednesday just hours after reporting that its stockholders had voted to approve a merger with T-Mobile; the company reported that its operating earnings rose 10% over last year's figure and MetroPCS reported the lowest quarterly churn in company history...]]>NewsWed, 24 Apr 2013 21:58:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/MetroPCS-reports-first-quarter-results-operating-income-rises-10-over-last-year_id42321/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Big-data-from-smartphones-and-smartwatches-named-some-of-2013s-top-10-breakthrough-tech_id42256With a smartphone in every pocket and Pebble finally arriving to its first backers, big data from smartphones and smartwatches made it into the top 10 breakthrough technology...]]>NewsTue, 23 Apr 2013 08:42:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Big-data-from-smartphones-and-smartwatches-named-some-of-2013s-top-10-breakthrough-tech_id42256/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/This-basic-phone-costs-only-12-made-in-China_id42251Quick, what's the most affordable phone you can think of? Loyal readers might remember the Nokia 105, which is already on sale in several countries for a price of about $15. This dirt-cheap cell phone, however, goes even lower – down to $12 apiece, to be more specific, with a charger, protective sleeve, and a data cable included in the set...]]>NewsTue, 23 Apr 2013 07:51:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/This-basic-phone-costs-only-12-made-in-China_id42251/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Texting-with-your-voice-while-driving-as-dangerous-as-the-old-fashioned-way-study-shows_id42235They placed 43 participants driving on a controlled track, and measured their reaction times during traditional and voice-controlled testing, benchmarked to just driving without any distractions. It turns out that "in each case, drivers took about twice as long to react as they did when they weren't texting," said Christine Yager, who headed the study...]]>NewsTue, 23 Apr 2013 04:41:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Texting-with-your-voice-while-driving-as-dangerous-as-the-old-fashioned-way-study-shows_id42235/commentsPhone Arenahttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Study-links-cellphone-usage-and-ADHD-in-Children_id42211It might not be a great idea to let your kids play around with a cell phone at a young age, according to a study conducted by the Department of Medicine at Dankook University College of Medicine in Korea which is testing to see if Radio Frequency Electro-Magnetic fields can affect young, developing brains after repeated exposure...]]>NewsMon, 22 Apr 2013 10:15:00 -0500http://www.phonearena.com/news/Study-links-cellphone-usage-and-ADHD-in-Children_id42211/commentsPhone Arena