Editorials

Consumers benefit from more choice in prepaid mobile plans

Last year, T-Mobile threw down the gauntlet and announced it would no longer subsidize smartphones and went to a pay-as-you-go format. Since the beginning of the year, Sprint, AT&T and Verizon Wireless have also announced changes to their pay-as-you-go strategies. While the Big Two (AT&T and Verizon Wireless) took baby steps towards making pay-as-you-go a viable alternative for their contract customers, this is still a positive development in my opinion. More choices in the no-contract space are a small but important win for consumers and will hopefully lead to more options for customers of all four of the major U.S. carriers.

Read story →    0 comments   

The New Google Plus Layout - For Better Or Worse

Vic Gondotra, Vice President at Google announced a new layout, along with several other related features to the Google+ platform. Along with the layout change, there were several changes to photos and other services, adding up to "41 new features". Google+ has become much more than a simple social network and matured into a full-fledged social platform, but has it matured for the better?

Read story →    0 comments   

RootzNews Week in Review: in the wake of Google I/O

Last week was probably the most exciting week of the year so far at RootzNews thanks to Google's annual I/O superconference. The event was a disappointment to those who were expecting announcements of a new Nexus 7, Android 4.3 or a new Q, but for those who were focused on development, it was well worth the wait. Even for Android enthusiasts who aren't developers instant gratification came in the form of a new Hangouts app, a new Play Music app with a subscription service and improvements to Search/Google Now among other updates.

Read story →    0 comments   

From the Soapbox: remembering the true purpose of Google I/O

Are you looking forward to seeing what surprises Google has in store for I/O? Do you look forward to seeing what Android 4.3 will bring to the table, what hardware Google might unveil (new Nexus 7, anyone?) or what updates Google will bring to long-popular apps such as Gmail, Maps, Google Talk (erm, Babel, erm, Hangouts) and Games (oh, I forgot - that one doesn't officially exist yet)? I am definitely looking forward to seeing what Google has in store, but it's easy to forget the true purpose of the event, which is why I'm writing this article.

Read story →    0 comments   

RootzNews Week in Review: I/O, I/O and more I/O, protexus your nexus, a development for developers

Another awesome week has come and go at RootzNews, including some great expectations for next week's I/O event (not to mention a spoiler that has already leaked), reviews of protection options for your Nexus 4 and Nexus 7, and a development on the, erm, development front. Stop right here if you don't want to spoil your surprise for a major unveiling to come at I/O .

Read story →    0 comments   

RootzNews Week in Review: One Galaxy S IV gets locked down, two others get CyanogenMod, Glass gets a trifecta

Last week featured an outstanding review of the HTC One (I myself still think the HTC One is the best phone currently available), but this week two of the biggest stories centered on Samsung's Galaxy S IV. One of the first stories of this past week was that AT&T has locked down the bootloader for its Galaxy S IV, while one of the latest stories was that the T-Mobile and Canadian variants of the Galaxy S IV now enjoy official CyanogenMod nightly support. Also - you might want to sit down for this - Google Glass was in the news again (three times on RootzNews, in fact).

Read story →    0 comments   

RootzNews Week in Review: so far the HTC One is the best phone in the known universe

It's been another must-read week at RootzNews, crowned by Steve Smith's (aka b16) review of the HTC One. Personally, I'd like to see what comes out in the second half of the year, especially from the Nexus front, but if I had my choice of any phone in the world that I could get right now, the HTC One is the one I'd grab. Of course there were many other compelling stories this week, capped off by Friday night's news that Snapdragon 600-based Galaxy S IVs have root already and the next version of Android will almost certainly be 4.3 Jelly Bean.

Read story →    0 comments