FREETEL continues expansion push with REI at MWC 2016

You can’t blame FREETEL for trying to make a name for itself.

We saw the company make a concerted push of its current smartphones back at CES. Now, it has a new Android Marshmallow phone and, in the spirit of the OPPO F1, it’s got an aluminium back panel with diamond-cut edges. And in the spirit of the more expensive phones this year, it has two rear cameras, too.

Then again, it’s not about the spirit as it is about the beautiful and elegant looks — that’s what the Japanese kanji 麗 (pronounced “rei”) stands for. It also seems wise — as the kanji 怜 symbolizes (again, pronounced “rei”).

Japan Display shows off new Pixel Eyes LCD, gets up hopes of waterproof iPhone 7

A display vendor for Apple’s iPhones has just introduced some cutting edge glass and enhanced tech.

Japan Display Inc. has just started production of its second-generation Pixel Eyes panels. In addition to improved black levels, stylus tip registration down to 1mm and some new sensors and materials. The big “get,” though? Wet finger operation.

That’s what’s getting the rumor mills fired up on this upcoming waterproof iPhone 7. Investors have been betting on it and factories have been working on it. But it seems like Japan Display is getting its work done.

Apple’s four-inch iPhone and new iPad Air tablet could go up for sale in just over a month

Sometime in the last month or two, the idea that Apple’s about to announce a new four-inch iPhone passed somewhere from the stuff of rumors to what was starting to feel a lot more like a certainty. And as reports closed in on a possible March announcement for the new hardware, this once-fanciful notion was on the verge of becoming quite real, indeed. Now we’re looking forward to not only the phone we’re hearing will launch as the iPhone 5se, but also a new iPad Air 3, and maybe even some new Apple Watch hardware. March 15 is our best guess for Apple’s announcement of all this new gear, but assuming that does go down as anticipated, when might this new hardware actually go up for sale? Today, rumors finally start tackling that question.

Samsung Galaxy View tablet now discounted to $449

All glorious 18.4 inches could be yours for the low, low price of…

Well, if $549 wasn’t good enough for you, you probably wouldn’t shell $499 or go to AT&T to find room on your kitchen countertop or fridge for the Samsung Galaxy View at this price.

Amazon, Best Buy and B&H have all taken down the tablet’s price to $449. Just remember that this device would better serve those who love to binge watch something on their mobile phones, but would rather have the phone stand up by itself and be large enough to be seen from a distance of at least three feet.

At least we’ve got stereo speakers in the house.

Get the Nexus 5X even cheaper (starting at $280) on eBay while you can

If you thought the newest upper mid-range “pure Google” phone was an interesting proposition at $380 and up, then a very alluring one at $330, and an outright irresistible bargain when dropped an extra 30 bucks, wait until you hear what eBay seller Buydig has to offer today.

You guessed it, we’ve just reached another Nexus 5X all-time record low price, in both 16 and 32GB configurations. The entry-level model costs a measly $280 on the auction website in your choice of carbon black or quartz white coats of paint, while the version capable of accommodating twice the data internally sets you back $330 only in the former color.

Qualcomm ushers in the ‘next era of wearables’ with Snapdragon Wear 2100 SoC

You’d probably expect a fledgling segment of the ever-growing tech industry to advance at a more rapid pace than fully mature, saturated markets, and while that’s been true in some aspects for wearable devices, most smartwatches have also worryingly stagnated in a key department.

Remember the 2014 LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live? Well, their sequels, threequels and spin-offs may look far prettier on the outside, and they’ve definitely gained a bunch of software tricks, a few being nowadays even capable of initiating and receiving voice calls by themselves.

But you know what the two fugly squares still share in common with the stylish circular Watch Urbane, Huawei Watch or second-gen Moto 360? Ancient Snapdragon 400 processors, exactly.

HTC One M10 only expected out stateside in May, ‘One Watch’ a little earlier

It feels like we’ve been basically saying the same thing in anticipation of every single high-end HTC product launch over the past few years, and once again, it appears the company’s financial well-being, even its very survival, hinges on an impending flagship phone.

The problem is the One M10, aka Perfume, aka One-something-else-entirely isn’t impending enough, skipping this month’s Mobile World Congress, where the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5 are expected to go official.

Worse yet, the One A9 lookalike may also skip the month of March entirely, seeing daylight around mid-April in London, and barely going on sale on American shores “the week of May 9th.”