Gadgets, Smartphone | featured news

Taiwan's HTC expects its second-quarter revenue and operating margin to rise from the first quarter, as sales of the new HTC One smartphone pick up.

The next major update of iOS, Apple's phone and tablet operating system, is likely to showcase a massive design overhaul led by Apple design guru Jony Ive.

The Department of Defense is expected in coming weeks to grant two separate, security approvals for Samsung's Galaxy smartphones, along with iPhones and iPads running Apple's latest operating system.

Samsung is planning to launch a new eight-inch tablet and a new smartphone built to withstand harsh environments this summer and designed to appeal to business and government clients.

As the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone breaks cover around the world, a number of US writers have early reviews of the flagship Android phone from Samsung. While none of the reviews are glowing, it's clear that the South Korean manufacturer has not taken any risks with the handsets, making it a little bit bigger, the specs a little bit higher, the size and weight a little bit smaller, and so on.

Apple's China sales rose at a healthy clip in its latest quarter, but the numbers belied growing concerns as the bonanza in high-end smartphones started winding down.

Research In Motion is pinning its hopes partly on the debut this week of the BlackBerry Q10, its first keyboard-equipped model since the BlackBerry Bold was introduced in 2009.

A movement urging Verizon to get rid of wireless contracts appears to be gaining steam. A petition calling for the carrier to end contracts for smartphones and "create an affordable way for consumers to purchase their devices" had attracted more than 55,000 signatures by midday Tuesday on Change.org, the online petition platform.

Smartphones are powerful tools, and with the right apps and accessories, they can become even more so. A California-based tech company has launched a tool that turns a regular iPhone 4 or 4S into a powerful biometrics scanning tool. AOptix has unveiled its app and a wrap-around device for turning the smartphone into a portable iris, face, fingerprint and voice scanner.

Alibaba seeks to weaken Google's dominance of the Chinese smartphone market with subsidies and other support for its rival Amos operating system. The firm has set up a one billion yuan ($162m; £105m) programme to support app developers and is offering monthly payments to handset makers for every phone using its platform they sell.