SMARTPHONE

Even as the world is getting ready to welcome 2012, the rumor mills are keeping themselves busy with trying to to figure out what features and release date of the next generation iPad - and the latest rumor is that the new iPad, dubbed iPad 3, will be thinner thanits predecessor because of IGZO panels.

Siri, the voice-controlled, intelligent, personal assistant that has become the most popular feature of iPhone 4S, is useful and will try to answer all your questions. But don't push it too far or else, it might hurl curses at you, as a 10-year-old British kid found out, to the dismay of his parents.

2011 has been a very exciting year for smartphones thanks to the number of devices that flooded the market, and the trend is expected to continue in 2012.

Lest you fear Verizon has gone mad with power by trying to charge people $2 for paying their bills online, take heart because the Interwebz have spoken. Less than 24 hours after news got around that Verizon was going to institute the convenience fee in January, the company has retracted the fee.

As you think about what the new year will bring in 2012, try to imagine a whole new way to interact with your mobile devices. It was only 2007 when Apple brought us the touchscreen smartphone, and now, a program called Senseye will enable people to control their devices with their eyes.

The iPad 3 was initially rumored to be thicker than its predecessor in order to accommodate an alleged retina screen, but new reports have revealed that the tablet's new design will be slightly thinner than the iPad 2, the DigiTimes reported.

Robert W. Baird believes that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) finished 2011 on a strong note, with healthy Search and e-commerce trends likely driving upside to consensus estimates. The brokerage reiterated its outperform rating on shares of Google, while increasing its price target to $760 from $700.

The highly anticipated next generation iPad will come sooner than expected - in late January 2012, according to the latest rumor. And, hold your breath, Apple will launch not only one, but two new iPad models, which will target both mid- range and high-end market segments.

Mobile phones, long seen as safe amid rising threats to computer security, have become a key target for hackers and an increasing worry for corporate IT departments.

Mobile phones, long seen as safe amid rising threats to computer security, have become a key target for hackers and an increasing worry for corporate IT departments.

AT&T released one of the long-awaited 4G LTE smartphones, HTC Vivid, on its network Nov. 6. The phone has a 128.8 x 67.1 x 11.2 mm dimension, and weighs 176.9 grams.

HTC Amaze 4G, which was released in October for T-Mobile, is expected to see or give stiff competition to Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, which is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) version of the Galaxy S2 and debuted Nov 6 in AT&T network.

Technology companies appear likely to resume battle in 2012 on three major fronts of the patent wars: smartphone designs, operating systems and semiconductor chip sets. Despite passage of copyright reform under the America Invents Act in September, technology lawsuits persist and experienced lawyers worry that little will change.

Windows Phone Apollo is rumored to launch at the end of 2012, around the same time the iPhone 5 will supposedly be released. So are you on team superphone or smartphone?

A smartphone is no longer a style statement, rather it is a necessity. So there is no wonder that 2011 has been an exciting year for smartphones. A number of smartphones flooded the market this year and the phones manufactured by HTC stole a considerable share in the market.

Sony Tablet S and Tablet P are about to receive Android 4.0 - Ice Cream Sandwich - updates, the Japanese electronics giant announced on its online community forum.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said on Wednesday it has slashed prices on its PlayBook tablet in India in a move aimed at boosting dismal sales for a device that was briefly considered a potential threat to Apple's iPad.

As Apple gears up to release its most anticipated tablet yet, Android competitors are getting ready to rival the iPad 3, with Google plotting the latest aspiring iPad-killer.

Google+, Google’s challenge to Facebook, is adding 625,000 daily users and already may have as many as 62 million signed up, unofficial statistician Paul Allen claimed.

The year 2011 was one in which smartphones and tablets achieved a status of necessity, instead of being style statement which they used to be in the past, thanks to Apple and Google.

Lumia 800, which Nokia's best high-end smartphone and is the fruit of its partnership with Microsoft, is rumored to hit the U.S. market in January 2012. It will, however, face immense pressure from LG Nitro HD, which has more specifications.