Electronics, Mobile | featured news

With many wireless carriers feeling threatened by the growing prominence of Apple and Google, those companies’ success could provide the foundation of Research in Motion’s recovery.

A quarter of smartphone users rely mainly on their phones for internet access, according to a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, that also found that more than one-third of all American adults have taken the smartphone plunge. In the center’s first stand-alone examination of smartphone use, it found that 33 percent of users said their phones were smartphones and 39 percent said their phones operate a smartphone platform such as iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone or Palm.

In the past year, mobile payment systems have picked up steam and are now becoming mainstream. Could our wallets be replaced one day soon by our smartphones?

Adding more weight to speculations that Apple is launching two iPhones this fall, 9to5 Mac reported that the company is planning a low-end iPhone to compete with the ever-growing Android market.

Verizon Wireless plans to scrap its unlimited data plan for new smartphone subscribers beginning Thursday and replace it with monthly packages that range from $30 to $80.

Hulu Plus brings movies and television shows the small screen of Android smartphones, but only six models are compatible for now. Sony Ericsson is leveraging HDTV technology for it's new Android phones while the iPhone appears to be chipping away at Android's popularity in the U.S.

Research in Motion announced last week that cost cutting efforts will include layoffs following a sluggish start to the year and continued new product delays. Shares sold off sharply as investors bailed on lowered guidance and delayed new Blackberry launch.

Apple Inc plans to launch a new iPhone with a faster chip for data processing and a more advanced camera in September, Bloomberg said in a report late Tuesday.

An out-of-left-field post from Boy Genius Report is threatening to shake up the consensus about what’s next for the iPhone. Citing anonymous “reliable” sources, the report says that the next iPhone will hit in August with a “radical new case design.” BGR has a fairly solid — but not flawless — record when it comes to leaks from Apple.

Nokia’s new all-screen N9 phone, the product of its ill-fated collaboration with Intel on the open sourced Meego operating system, is here.