Samsung

It seemed inevitable, and now it has happened: for the first time ever, feature phones have taken a backseat to smartphones in terms of quantities shipped.

In the first quarter of 2013, device makers shipped 216.2 million smartphones worldwide, a volume that accounted for 51.6 percent of total global shipments and that marked the first time smartphones have claimed more than half of all quarterly shipments, according to market researcher IDC.

The smartphone market grew 41.6 percent compared with the first quarter of 2012, but declined 5.1 percent from the shipment tally for the fourth quarter … Read more

There's a newcomer hanging around town. It has 5 spacious inches of screen space. It flaunts a 13-megapixel camera. You can't deny the allure of its 2,600mAh battery. All those specs may put it one up on its competitors, at least on paper. But just because the Samsung Galaxy S4 wants to be top dog, doesn't mean the other guys aren't going to put up a fight.

The lead contenders to challenge the Galaxy S4 for the smartphone throne are the iPhone 5, the HTC One, and the BlackBerry Z10. They all have their claims … Read more

Samsung Electronics posted a first-quarter profit Thursday that beat estimates on strong sales of handsets in emerging markets.

Net income rose to 7.15 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the three months ended March 31, an increase from the company's 5.05 trillion won ($4.55 billion) profit of a year earlier but a slight decline from the fourth-quarter's $6.6 billion net profit, the South Korean Electronics giant said in a statement.

Revenue rose to $47.4 billion, a 15 percent increase over the year-ago period but a 6 percent decline over the previous quarter. The … Read more

We put the S Translator app found on the new Samsung Galaxy S4 in action in the below video, and tested out two phrases in different languages. The first is, "Excuse me, where is the hospital?" and the second is, "Let's go to the mall."

Our verdict: It's not too bad, but you will need a data connection for this to work. Which means that if you're traveling, you will need to pay for a data roaming plan to make full use of this (or hope to get on free Wi-Fi networks).

In this scenario, it's probably better to use an offline-capable app such as Google Translate, which works just as well for the basic phrases we used and features an offline mode for when you need to travel overseas. … Read more

Using a tablet as an e-reader can save you money and lighten your load while on the go. Unfortunately, a lot of tablets aren't optimized for reading text for long periods of time (like e-books, RSS feeds, or just long Web posts) and may cause mild eyestrain. Luckily, the Galaxy Note 8 comes with a feature to help solve this issue: Reading Mode.

However, Reading Mode isn't turned on for all of your apps by tapping on the icon in the notification panel. Why doesn't this mode work in all apps by default? No idea, but fixing … Read more

The Samsung Galaxy S4 may have a 5-inch screen with a killer 1080p HD resolution, but that doesn't tell you as much about its display quality as you might think.

That's because, as any display guru (like CNET's David Katzmaier) will tell you, a screen's ultimate rating spans resolution and pixel density, sure, but also color reproduction and accuracy, total brightness, viewing angles, and reflectance.

The screen material technology also plays a huge role; when it comes to smartphones, LCD displays make up the lion's share of manufacturers' choice, with Samsung at the forefront of … Read more

Verizon Wireless is now allowing Android and Samsung fans, and those fleeing the iPhone, to get in line for the Galaxy S4.

Verizon's preorder page for the 16GB version of the GS4 went live Thursday morning, priced at $199.99 with a new two-year contract.

The actual pricing breakdown is a retail price of $649.99, discounted to $249.99 with the contract, and an additional $50.00 coming in the form of a "Mail-in rebate debit card." So, it looks like customers can expect to initially be charged $249.99 before having some of that money … Read more

The agreement to operate Samsung Experience shops within all U.S. Best Buy locations will last for the next three years. The companies then will evaluate whether to extend their pact or end it, executives from Samsung and Best Buy said.

So far, the few experience shops already open have received "a lot of positive customer feedback," Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly said Wednesday during a press event in New York.

"Both … Read more