Todd R. Weiss

Apple is looking to create original entertainment programming to take on competitors including Netflix and to expand its roots into a wider range of income-producing content for consumers. Apple’s exploration of the idea was reported in an Aug. 31 story by Variety, which was based on interviews with anonymous sources. The internal Apple research work […]

Google’s Android Wear for iOS app is now available for iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 users so they can get many of the features and creativity of Android Wear when they are using an Android smartwatch along with their Apple devices. The long-awaited move, which was rumored in April, means that iPhone 5, 5C, 5S, […]

When Verizon Wireless announced earlier in August that it was dumping two-year contracts for its mobile devices and services, some contract-bound consumers apparently were worried that they’d have to switch to no-contract plans. That was never the case, even when Verizon first announced its no-contract future, but the company fielded so many questions from customers […]

The upcoming fourth-generation Apple TV set-top box will be priced at $149 or $199 and will be available for purchase in October, according to the latest rumors and reports about the long-awaited devices. The latest published reports, based on anonymous sources at Apple, say that the new devices would cost at least twice as much […]

LG is getting into the luxury smartwatch business with the LG Watch Urbane Luxe, which it will release in October as a limited-edition premium timepiece that will be limited to 500 copies. The 23-karat gold Watch Urbane Luxe, which will sport a watchband made from alligator hides, will be sold through Reeds Jewelers in the […]

Samsung is offering an Ultimate Test Drive program to Apple iPhone owners to entice them to try and switch to one of Samsung’s latest Galaxy S6 Edge+ or Note 5 smartphones, which officially went on sale Aug. 21. Any iPhone owner can participate in the Ultimate Test Drive after paying a $1 fee and registering […]

Traveling with a laptop or tablet, but without reliable WiFi access, can be frustrating—especially when you are trying to get work done on deadline. That’s where portable mobile hotspots from cellular phone carriers can help, offering instant, dedicated WiFi connections with accompanying data plans. So when Boost Mobile sent me a $49.99 Netgear Fuse Mobile […]

Android Wear’s latest update now includes the ability for users to view animated interactive watch face designs right on their smartwatches; this allows users to get needed information at a glance, without having to tap an app to retrieve the details. The new capabilities—which are part of the latest Android Wear update that also includes […]

With an upgraded heart rate sensor, Sony’s upcoming SmartBand 2 health and fitness band will help users gain new insights into their fitness, stress levels and general well-being, as well as announce audible and visual notifications of incoming calls, texts, emails and social media posts. The new smartband, which was announced by Sony on Aug. […]

ZTE’s $180 Warp Elite Smartphone Comes to Boost Mobile Now available from Boost Mobile, the ZTE Warp Elite delivers a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 5.5-inch HD touch-screen display and a quad-core processor. The ZTE Warp Elite from Boost Mobile The Warp Elite includes a 5.5-inch HD touch-screen display that’s covered with durable Coring Gorilla Glass […]

BlackBerry is expected to launch its first Android smartphone later this year, as it continues to fight to gain market share and new customers in a global smartphone market that Apple and Samsung dominate. Dubbed Venice, the smartphone will run an unknown version of Android and will be available from the big four mobile carriers […]

When the Google Express same-day delivery service began as a pilot in the San Francisco Bay Area in March 2013, the idea was to help the company compete with Amazon and its well-established delivery services for a wide array of consumer products. Now Google is re-evaluating those efforts and apparently closing two Google Express delivery […]