Forced to live with BB10, and kind of liking it

ORLANDO, Fla -- Irony may be funny to the gods of Olympus, but it's a cruel lesson for us mortals. I found this out the hard way at BlackBerry Live 2013. Within minutes of arriving at my hotel I managed to misplace my lovely HTC One test unit. As a result, my backup BlackBerry Z10 was suddenly promoted to first-string smartphone duty. … Read more

Sprint grabs U.S. Cellular spectrum, customers for $480m

Sprint's network will soon receive a much-needed boost in some Midwestern cities like Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri.

The wireless carrier announced on Friday that it finished inking a deal with regional service provider U.S. Cellular, which is based in the Midwest.

As part of the $480 million agreement, Sprint will gain a total of 30MHz of PCS spectrum, which Sprint says will expand its network capacity in those areas, bringing better service to customers there.

In addition, around 420,000 U.S. Cellular customers will also transfer over to the Sprint family. Sprint and its prepaid arms, … Read more

Android to assimilate Bluetooth Smart technology

One of the many announcements flooding out of Google I/O that may have gotten lost in the shuffle is Android's expected support for Bluetooth Smart technology.

This may seem like an odd development, especially if you know that many Android devices already feature Bluetooth 4.0, the version in which Bluetooth Smart (that is, Bluetooth Low Energy) first appeared. What's new here, though, is that the fresh flavor of Android, expected to hit in the next few months, will natively integrate all of Bluetooth 4.0's fancy tricks, including BLE, or BT Smart. Previous Android iterations … Read more

BlackBerry flaunts BB10 Bentley at BlackBerry Live

ORLANDO, Fla. -- One of the most memorable moments from BlackBerry Live 2013 was when CEO Thorsten Heins jumped into a special Bentley luxury auto tricked out with BB10 software. That's why I decided to see what the fuss was all about personally.

Luckily BlackBerry was thoughtful enough to provide the premium car for display on the BlackBerry Live show floor. And yes, after spending a short time behind the wheel of this fine automobile, I can report it's a sweet ride. Specifically I'm speaking to the Bentley's smooth integration of phone features, though the vehicle'… Read more

BlackBerry Messenger expands to Android, iOS

ORLANDO, Fla. -- More news rolled out of BlackBerry Live 2013 today, including the company's plans to offer BlackBerry Messenger to Android and iOS devices.

The BBM platform will hit these products by summer, but best of all, the service will be offered as a free download. The BlackBerry CEO sounded very excited about the move, a first for the service. He said, "It's a statement of confidence. We are confident time is right for BBM to be independent."

Those are bold words indeed and certainly a great tactic to lure users back to BBM. The … Read more

BB 10.1 and Skype come to BlackBerry Z10

ORLANDO, Fla.--At BlackBerry Live 2013, the phone maker announced that it would roll out BB10.1 software to its Z10 handset. The upgrade will also include access to the Skype video chat application.

BlackBerry also handed out the Z10 device to attendees here at the BlackBerry Live show so many folks no doubt will be able to enjoy the fresh infusion of software. Stay tuned as he get hands on with our upgraded Z10.

AT&T's Aio Wireless rounds on T-Mobile's no-contract plans

Well, this is interesting. AT&T launched a brand-new prepaid network on Thursday that goes head-to-head with T-Mobile's new no-contract model.

Called Aio Wireless (pronounced AY-oh), the new wireless service provider leans on AT&T's network and offers a range of prepaid devices, including Apple's iPhone 5, which costs 649.99 full retail.

Other smartphones are decidedly more entry-level, and Aio does not offer premium devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Nokia Lumia 920. It does, however, sell Nokia's budget Lumia 620 Windows phone 8 device for $179.99.

There are striking similarities … Read more