s3

It was only about nine months ago that Samsung introduced its flagship Galaxy S3 to the world.

There's no question the device set a new standard for the high-end Android smartphone. It has also been one of Samsung's hottest selling smartphones. And now it looks like Samsung is about to do it again with the Galaxy S4, set for introduction March 14.

So what is a smartphone shopper to do? In this edition of Ask Maggie, I explain why, even if you still want to get the Samsung S3, it's still better to wait for the launch … Read more

Android has pulled ahead of Apple's iOS in U.S. smartphone sales, according to data out today from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

During the three months ending with January, Android scored 49.9 percent of all U.S. smartphone sales, a 6.4 percent gain from the same period last year. Over the same time, iOS took second place with a 45.9 percent cut of smartphone sales, a drop of 4.7 percent from a year ago.

Microsoft's Windows Phone eked out its own slice of growth, taking home 3.2 percent of U.S. smartphone sales.

The … Read more

The iPhone 5 surpassed Samsung's Galaxy S3 last quarter as the hottest-selling smartphone worldwide, according to a Strategy Analytics report out today.

For the final quarter of 2012, Apple shipped 27.4 million iPhone 5 units globally, winning a market share of 12.6 percent. In contrast, Samsung shipped 15.4 million Galaxy S3 phones for a 7.1 percent slice of the market. Samsung actually saw its S3 shipments and market share both drop from the third quarter's numbers.

Strategy Analytics senior analyst Neil Shah attributed the success of the iPhone 5 to a "rich touchscreen … Read more

Have you noticed that your new smartphone charges up quicker than your old one? You might want to thank Qualcomm and the Quick Charge 1.0 technology, which Qualcomm today announced is in more than 70 Snapdragon-based smartphones and tablets.

The rapid-charging technology can charge your phone up to 40 percent faster than previous generations, Qualcomm claims.

Where other models might take up to 4 hours to charge, a Quick Charge could accomplish the job in under 3 hours. As of today, there are more than 70 devices with support for Quick Charge 1.0, with more on the way.… Read more

When the Galaxy S3 came to Verizon last June, those who wanted to use it globally were promised that feature would come after launch. It did, in January, six months later. But customers remain frustrated that their supposedly global-ready phones can't do data outside the U.S.

The issue is that despite the upgrade in January allowing Verizon Galaxy S3s to accept SIM cards from non-U.S. carriers, there's no way to establish a data connection on those phones through non-U.S. carriers.

In technical talk, you can't create the needed APN (Access Point Name). As one … Read more

The Samsung Galaxy S3 (and Note 2) has a neat feature when docked to a Samsung multimedia dock; it can automatically display the desk home screen. The desk home screen is a useful display with a clock, calendar, local weather and multimedia shortcuts. It's a nice companion display when you're charging your S3 at your desk. However, you don't necessarily need a dock to use the desk home screen.

If you're using a third-party smartphone stand with a separate charger, you can still make use of the desk home screen.

To use the desk home screen, … Read more

BlackBerrys haven't always had the top cameras in the industry, but with the BlackBerry Z10's 8-megapixel camera, things are turning around.

In my tests so far, the Z10's shooter largely succeeds. Over the course of my testing period, I got some really nice outdoor shots, plus some crisp indoor photos of everything from food labels to receipts. Of course, not every indoor picture or portrait turned out great, but I found the images usable overall (check out my Z10 review for even more photos).

So let's see how it compares with two other high-quality smartphone cameras, … Read more

Although wireless charging is creeping into the market (and already evolving), the technology is still absent in some of the most popular phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Initially, Samsung did mention a wireless charging kit that would be released following the launch of its flagship phone. But promises, promises -- Samsung's aftermarket kit never came to fruition.

Alas, the Internet has moved on, tech blogs are abuzz with rumors of wireless charging coming for the much-anticipated Galaxy S4.

Well, if you have an S3, and you're tired of waiting for the unicorn charging kit, there is a … Read more

Apple was the top mobile phone maker in the U.S. for the first time ever last quarter, Strategy Analytics said today.

Following the iPhone 5's debut last September, Apple shipped an estimated 17.7 million phones in the U.S. in the fourth quarter to score a market share of 34 percent. Those numbers were a healthy rise from the same quarter in 2011 when Apple shipped 12.8 million phones and captured a 25 percent share.

The stats looked at all mobile phones, not just smartphones. Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston attributed Apple's rise to … Read more