smartphones - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Apple and Samsung patent war returns Friday

  Samsung Electronics faces the possibility of U.S. import bans on some of its smartphones in two separate cases brought by Apple, with major steps happening Friday.

• Canonical lowers cost of Ubuntu smartphone in bid to reach crowdfunding goal

  Canonical has lowered the price of its Ubuntu smartphone to US$695 from $775 in a bid to reach its lofty $32 million crowdfunding goal in the next two weeks.

• Appeals court kicks back USITC decision in Apple case against Motorola

  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has given Apple new life in its patent claims against Google-owned Motorola Mobility.

• London mayor joins NY, SF in battle against smartphone thefts

  London Mayor Boris Johnson has signed on to a smartphone anti-theft initiative recently launched by top law enforcement officials in New York and San Francisco. He is the first official outside of the U.S. to join the effort pushing for major smartphone makers to include technology that would render a smartphone useless if it's lost or stolen.

• Developers can now sell Web apps in Amazon's Appstore

  Developers can now submit Web apps and offer them alongside native Android-based programs on Amazon's Appstore.

• VirnetX adds newly granted patent to lawsuit against Apple

  Patent company VirnetX is adding a patent it was recently granted to its ongoing patent infringement lawsuit against Apple in a federal court in Texas.

• LinkedIn app now available on Nokia's Asha touchphones

  A tailored LinkedIn application is now available for the Nokia Asha 501 as well as a number of other Asha devices, as Nokia works to expand the social capabilities of the phone range.

• Is your enterprise iPhone app user-friendly?

  Mobile enterprise apps running on iPhones, Androids and other smartphones must be "user-friendly." But what does that really mean? A mobile app expert gives a concrete definition.

• Police to use Vodafone mobiles in million-dollar deal

  Mobile devices supplied by Vodafone to 6500 police are expected to keep officers on the front line for more of their working hours.

• BYOD to Change the Face of IT in 2013

  The influx of younger workers and BYOD programs in 2013 will continue to shake up IT departments, according to new research reports. Should CIOs shift to a device-neutral service model?

• 10 things to know about RIM's new CEO

  BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) has appointed a brand new chief executive officer and president, Thorsten Heins. The move follows months of pressure from RIM shareholders and others to oust former RIM co-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

• A different revolt of the users

  Don't look now, but many company employees are turning off their company-issued laptops and BlackBerrys. They prefer to use their personal devices-sleek, mobile and intuitive-rather than the company-sanctioned technologies perceived as outdated and hard to use.

• The future of BlackBerry

  In September, not long before Research In Motion's (RIM) fourth annual BlackBerry Developer Conference - and just a month or so after the company's former BlackBerry development chief stepped down - RIM named a brand new VP of Developer Relations: Alec Saunders.

• IBM opens up smartphone, tablet support for its workers

  IBM has embraced -- nearly -- the growing "bring your own device" trend of allowing employees to buy and use their own smartphones and tablets for work tasks, said IBM's CTO for mobility, Bill Bodin.

• Inside the iPhone 4S: Is It a Work of Art?

  "When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You'll know it's there, so you're going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through." -Steve Jobs The geeks at <a href="http://www.ifixit.com/">iFixit</a>, a Web site that provides free repair manuals and advice forums, are usually one of the first to tear apart a new gadget. It didn't take them long to take apart the iPhone 4S and peek at the internal design that few people ever see.