Market research firm The NPD Group on Monday published the latest data surrounding sales of supersized smartphones in the U.S. Using its “Mobile Phone Track,” which tracks smartphone sales in the U.S., NPD has determined that smartphones with screens sized 4 inches and above became tremendously popular in 2010. Devices like Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G and  Verizon Wireless’ Motorola DROID X, which launched in the second quarter of 2010, grew to encompass 24% of the U.S. smartphone market by t...

Research In Motion’s “best BlackBerry ever” — the BlackBerry Torch — definitely wasn’t the most competitive device to hit the smartphone market place. But it looks like RIM is trying to change all that with a new take on its QWERTY, horizontal-slider: the BlackBerry Torch 2. BGR has exclusively obtained a photo of the BlackBerry Torch 2 along with the device’s full specifications. Was the Torch’s 600MHz CPU a bit too underpowered for you? You’re in luck...

We just got our hands on a crystal clear photo of the BlackBerry Dakota — you know, the device that’s going to sit right at the head of the BlackBerry family dinner table. What about the specifications for the BlackBerry Dakota? What, you thought we’d skimp out on you? How about the famous original Bold styling, HD video recording, NFC, 3G Mobile hotspot, magnetometer and much, much more! Full specs after the break! (more…)

Some might say a capacitive touchscreen that also accepts input from a stylus or a gloved finger is the white whale of the cell phone industry. Ok — most people probably wouldn’t say that. But a single touchscreen that can respond just as well to a finger as it can to a stylus is a huge breakthrough in the mobile world. This versatile display could address the U.S. and European markets just as well as it addresses Asian markets, where handwriting recognition and stylus input are requirements for many....

DigiTimes is reporting that Apple has started receiving touch panels for testing in next-gen iMacs from company Sintek Photonics. As far as the size of the displays? No, they are not 1 inch squares this time — they are said to be around 20″ in diagonal size and feature the same capacitive touch elements as the displays on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. As as usability is concerned, while everyone on this side tries to figure out how a computing device like this would be used, we’re sur...

Today in Berlin, Huawei announced the official launch of its affordable, accessible Android 2.2 handset, the Ideos. The Ideos handset comes complete with a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen display (320 x 240), 528 MHz processor, 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera (no flash), HSDPA 3G, Wi-Fi, 3G hotspot capabilities, and a micro-SD card slot. The device carries the “with Google” moniker (which means no Android skinning of any kind) and Huawei touted that Google was heavily involved in the designing ...

According to a USPTO document, HP has recently submitted a trademark application for the term “Palmpad”, a moniker that would be fitting for its first attempt at a webOS tablet. The application form lists the target goods/services as “Computers, computer hardware, computer software, computer peripherals, portable computers, handheld and mobile computers, PDAs, electronic notepads, mobile digital electronic devices”, a category of devices that describes a tablet to a tee. Another circul...

Ah, yes 4.3-inches of sensual haptic, multitouch glass strapped to a 1 GHz processor, 8 megapixel camera, and so much more. The Motorola DROID X is the latest and greatest Android handset to be unleashed upon the U.S. market, and it will be making its debut on America’s largest network — Verizon Wireless — on July 15th. We’ve been using, abusing, and confusing our review unit for just over a week, so lets jump right into our review. Buckle up and hit the break. (more…)

Apart from scattered complaints that the glass display on the HTC EVO has a tendency to separate from the devices housing, word from xda-developers is that the EVO likely suffers from the same poorly grounded capacitive display issues on another popular HTC device, the Droid Incredible. What this means that is if an EVO with an improperly grounded display is placed on a flat surface, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to operate. But complete the connection by placing a finger on the side of the displa...

Well hello again, sexy. Courtesy of Gadget University, we now have some wonderful new images of the Motorola Droid X (known aliases: Extreme, Xtreme and Shadow) to get us through the weekend. Apart from noting that the device is solidly built, it was noted that the 4.3″ WVGA display (some still contend it’s 4.1″) is not AMOLED, but it’s said to be quite the stunner likely feature IPS technology. It’s also been confirmed that the Droid X will feature a new version of MOTOBLUR, al...

While it could just as easily be a Photoshop job involving a Droid Incredible and an EVO 4G, let’s assume for a moment that what we’re looking at is the AT&T-bound HTC Aria. Shot up by one of AndroidGuy’s “pretty solid” tipsters while situated next to a business card to give us an idea of the overall size of the device, it’s said that the Aria will be the “smallest Android device” yet with a display under 3″. Other alleged specs are said to include a 5...

Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology Summit on Thursday, Lee Wong-jong, VP of marketing for Samsung, said that the global shortage of OLED displays will continue in foreseeable future as demand has greatly outpaced supply. Said Lee, ”demand for high-end displays is very strong and we may continue to fail to meet all customer requirements, even after expanding capacity by seven-fold, until next year.” Such delays are part of the reason Verizon is having great difficulties meeting sales quota...

With only a few weeks to go before sales officially kick off, retail pricing for T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G Slide has leaked out. Pegged at $399.99 on an Even More Plus plan and $149.99 with an Even More plan after $50 MIR, there’s also an option to pay $23 per month over 20 months (apparently the $3 monthly premium nets you $60 worth of accessories). A part of us wants to be believe that this information is correct and the actual pricing will be a bit lower, but considering its the same price T-Mobile...

Apple’s not the only company dealing with a misplaced prototype this morning, as the Samsung GT-i5801 has been giving the hands on treatment by HoFo founder Howard Chui. Much like the Galaxy Spica, the i5801 — which may or may not be branded as the Galaxy 3 — is an entry-level Android smartphone. What sets it apart however, is that it is sporting Android 2.1 and appears to have an AMOLED display — albeit at a resolution of 240×400. Other features include: a 3 megapixel camera, Wi...