Phones - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• How it works: Iris scanning improves smartphone security

  Samsung and other vendors are beginning to incorporate iris scanning into their mobile devices. We examine how this security technology works, its advantages and its drawbacks.

• What smartphones will be like in 2012

  Since the advent of the first modern smartphone--arguably the original Apple iPhone in 2007--the power of these mobile computing devices that also happen to make phone calls has advanced by leaps and bounds.

• Apple iOS: Why it's the most secure OS, period

  In June 2007, Apple released the iPhone, and the device quickly took off to become a major brand in the smartphone market. Yet when the iPhone shipped, security on the mobile operating system was nearly nonexistent. Missing from the initial iOS (then called iPhone OS) were many of the security features that modern-day desktop software has as a matter of course, such as data-execution protection (DEP) and address-space layout randomization (ASLR). Apple's cachet lured security researchers to test the platform, and in less than a month, a trio had released details on the first vulnerability: an exploitable flaw in the mobile Safari browser.

• 5 features iOS needs, in order to sway me from Android

  With Apple preparing to talk about the future of iOS at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and the rumor mill churning, it's time for an old tradition: the iPhone feature wish list.

• HTC ThunderBolt 4G smartphone: Hefty but fast

  Even by the new standards of cell phone advertising, the run-up to the HTC ThunderBolt -- Verizon's first 4G LTE smartphone -- was elaborate and expensive. Gatefold ads in mass-market magazines and high-profile TV spots on the Oscars, NASCAR and college basketball all proclaimed that there was a new 4G phone coming from Verizon, but not much else. Inquiries made of HTC and Verizon were met with official shrugs. The company spent many millions of dollars advertising a phone and didn't tell anyone when it would be on the shelves.

• Amazon's Android app store: Steve Jobs doesn't get it

  Roll out the welcome wagon, Android fans: It looks like you'll soon have a new place to shop.

• Tablet cameras: iPad 2 vs. Xoom vs. Galaxy Tab

  Odds are, if you ask anyone waiting in line for an iPad 2, they'll list plenty of reasons why they're lusting after Apple's latest camera(s)-equipped tablet.

• Motorola Xoom: To buy or not to buy?

  To buy or not to buy? That's the question right now as the Motorola Xoom, Google's first Android Honeycomb tablet, gets ready to make its grand debut.

• The top 5 smartphones of MWC 2011

  As Mobile World Congress 2011 draws to a close, it's time to take stock of the plethora of smartphones and tablet PCs we saw for the first time. Tomorrow, we'll bring you the best tablet PCs of MWC 2011, but here, in no particular order, are smartphones that stood out at MWC 2011. Sadly, they didn't include a Facebook phone or an iPhone nano - but when and if such things exist, you'll read it here first.

• Windows Phone 7: What Microsoft needs next

  The last week has brought nothing but good news for Microsoft and Windows Phone 7. Between Nokia's hardware commitment, Angry Birds on the way and Microsoft's own announcement of a roadmap for vital features such as multitasking, Windows Phone 7 seems to be catching a second wind in 2011.

• LG Optimus 3D is Slick, But 3D is Gimmicky: Hands On

  One of the most buzzed about phones here at Mobile World Congress is LG's Optimus 3D, the first phone to use 3D display technology. Like the Optimus Black and the Optimus 2X, which we saw at Mobile World Congress, the Optimus 3D is powered by a dual-core processor and a 4.3-inch display. So how does 3D look on a mobile phone? Well, I'm honestly not all that impressed.

• Samsung Galaxy S II: Hands-On

  Mobile World Congress hasn't even started, but the next generation of super phones are already being unveiled. Samsung showed off its latest, the Galaxy S II, at its flashy Unpacked event in Barcelona. The Galaxy S II sports a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, a dual-core processor, and a whole new user interface.

• Google Android 3.0 and Motorola Xoom: Hands-on

  Today I got my first hands-on time with the Motorola Xoom tablet, running Android 3.0.

• iPad 2 and iPhone 5: What's coming?

  Kyle Wiens and his team at iFixit, a Web site that provides free repair manuals and advice forums, are some of the smartest Apple geeks around. They've taken apart countless iPhones, Macs and iPads to see what makes them tick-and, of course, to find out how to repair them.

• Android 3.0 tablet: Five key features

  Tablet application developers can rejoice now that Google has released its software development kit for Android 3.0, the new edition of the platform designed specifically for tablets.