Android

“What the hell is a phablet?” There’s a good chance you’ve either heard this phrase or uttered it yourself. And for good reason: “phablet” may be one of the silliest words in the English language. But it appears this portmanteau of the words phone and tablet is here to stay. Scratch that: Samsung’s hot-selling Galaxy Note – the only significant product in the category – is here to stay. Is it the real deal, or just a flash in the pan? Read on, as we review the Samsung Galaxy Note II.  Read More

For the last couple of years, the “Facebook phone” has lived in a faraway land – along with the unicorn, the Yeti, and the Apple TV set. Though we’d still be skeptical of any reported Yeti sightings, your eyes won’t be deceiving you if you soon see the mythical Facebook phone.  Read More

The connected living room has been the next big thing for several years now. The fruition of that promise, though, has been mostly limited to set-top boxes, game consoles, and Smart TVs with confusing software. In other words, the "connected living room" looks about the same as it did two years ago. But that hasn’t stopped companies from pushing out new devices that try to shake things up. Read on, as we review one such device: the FAVI SmartStick.  Read More

Google may be axing Reader, but that isn’t stopping the search giant from opening new doors on the web and in the cloud. As an expansion of its Dropbox rival, Google Drive, the search giant has launched an Evernote rival: Google Keep.  Read More

The Ouya started as a project on Kickstarter to create an open-source, inexpensive, Android-based gaming console. In less than a year, it has graduated from crowdfunding pie in the sky to a whole new gaming ecosystem, and Ouya's founder, Julie Uhrman, now says she expects deals to be in place in the coming months that will also allow Ouya to function as a de facto set-top box.  Read More

When Samsung tipped its Unpacked event in New York City, there was no mystery surrounding what the company would announce. It’s no surprise, then, that the company stuck to the script and opened the curtain to its latest flagship, the Galaxy S4.  Read More

After having notched up over 10 million total app downloads on the iOS platform, Italy's IK Multimedia has announced its first move into Android territory with the iRig Recorder app. Essentially turning any Android mobile device into a quality audio-capture device for interviews, music performances, rehearsals, lectures, and the like via its built-in microphone, the free-to-install recording app comes with multiple signal processing effects and file sharing features.  Read More

Gone are the days when rugged phones had to be simple devices. After all, just because someone wants a phone that can be dropped in water or on concrete, doesn't mean they don't want one that can actually perform useful tasks. The new X3 smartphone from Runbo looks to be able to take a beating, but it comes with Android 4.0 installed, so it might actually be useful for checking email, browsing the web, and downloading apps.  Read More

If the Android fanbase has a singular hero figure, it’s Andy Rubin. Having spearheaded the platform in 2003 – long before Google was involved – his fingerprints have been all over Android from the start. Today, though, Rubin is stepping aside from Android, handing the reins to Senior Vice President of Chrome and Google Apps, Sundar Pichai.  Read More