Electronics, Cell Phone | featured news

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.

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.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion saw investors abandon the company in droves amid fresh concerns about its future.

A number of Android smartphone makers who have turned their hand to Android tablets to try cash in on the tablet PC category dominated by the iPad are said to giving up. Instead, their focus has switched back from tablets to the development of larger, high-end smartphones with 4- to 5-inch displays. According to Digitimes, only Samsung has made any significant inroads into the segment, claiming a 10% share.