Using Google Fi abroad

Posted on by Hayato Huseman

Google Fi is an interesting thing. For the uninitiated, Google Fi (formerly known as Project Fi) is a new wireless carrier straight from the search giant itself, pairing Sprint and T-Mobile coverage together with fairly competitive rates, and one great philosophy: don’t pay for what you don’t use. In essence, you choose a data plan at the start of your service (every 1 GB = $10), and come time for the bill, you’re credited back what you don’t use — right down to the dollar. Best of all (at least, for me), here’s the real kicker: data use overseas comes at ...

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IFA had nothing on Samsung, the Galaxy Note 5 is still the best new phone

Posted on by Hayato Huseman

IFA 2015 was a show for smartwatches. The Gear S2 took the press by storm with its beautiful design, rotating bezel, and new and improved Tizen operating system. The Moto 360 and Asus Zenwatch got updated hardware, and Huawei showed off their own Android Wear ...

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The best of IFA 2015

Posted on by Hayato Huseman

IFA 2015 has come and gone, and now members of the press are making their way home from Berlin, Germany, including our own Hayato Huseman and Michael Fisher. We’ve been bringing you as much content as possible to give you an idea of what IFA had in store this year, and what new gadgets you’ll have to look forward to in the coming months … but what were some of the best mobile-related devices we saw there? Some of the best product categories? The best experiences? What was the best of IFA 2015?SmartwatchesAsk anybody that attended; this year’s IFA was all about ...

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Five techies walk into IFA 2015… | Pocketnow Weekly 164

Posted on by Jules Wang

It might as well have been a bar. Or a dance club. Full of EDM, feathers and psychotic playhouses. Really, when you walk into the Messe Berlin around this time of year, you should expect and receive everything. Buzzed-about wearables from Huawei and Samsung made their ways to the fray. Sony wore its Xperia lineage with its sixth coat of paint. ZTE splashed more of its truer colors onto the newest Axon smartphone. And then the trunk of the show irreparably branches into something else.We’ll enjoy the climb as we head inside Mobilegeeks.de’s tech.lounge at IFA 2015 and join ...

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Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700: hands-on with the “Surface killer” (Video)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

The peak of IFA is well behind us, and as the expo wraps up, we’re getting a little time to circle back around and take a closer look at some products that launched over the course of the past few days. We just took another peek at the sizable Lenovo Phab Plus, and now we’re checking in with another of the company’s new products, the 12-inch 2-in-1 IdeaPad Miix 700.We were already a bit taken ...

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Lenovo Phab Plus: hands-on with the 6.8-inch giant (Video)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Lenovo emerged as one of the manufacturers with an impossible-to-ignore lineup of new devices this year at IFA, bringing us all manner of new laptops, tablet, phones, and all the hybrid model living in-between. We’ve already had the chance to go hands-on with a bunch of these new devices at early briefing events, including the company’s giant new phablet (or should we just call it a tablet at this size?), the 6.8-inch ...

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Original Moto 360 vs. this year’s new Moto 360 (Video)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Last week brought us no shortage of new hardware, as we got started on what promises to be a month full of some of the most anticipated launches of the year. And while that meant a nice assortment of compelling new smartwatches, few have been able to demand level of interest we’ve seen surrounding Motorola and its second-gen Moto 360. We brought you an early hands-on account of the wearable right when it was first announced, but in the time since we’ve had a chance to go back and give the new ...

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Alcatel Onetouch introduces Idol 3C, Pixi First handsets

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Last night, IFA brought us a bunch of new product announcements from Alcatel Onetouch, hitting all the bases with new phones, tablets, and wearables. That was just the warm-up lap, though, and tonight the phone-maker is back with a fresh set of hardware, including a couple new phones: meet the colorful Idol 3C and affordable Pixi First.The Idol 3 was already one of our favorite phones this year, offering exceptional value for ...

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ZTE Axon Elite hands-on: the international Axon (Video)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

The ZTE Axon may represent the company’s big effort to make a name for itself in the US market, but despite the manufacturer’s custom-made-for-the-US claims, it quickly became apparent that ZTE had international ambitions for this hardware. First we saw China get its own version of the Axon, and this week at IFA ZTE introduced the new Axon Elite, ...

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Sony Xperia Z5 Compact hands-on: Sony’s secret weapon?

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

It may not have a 4K screen, nor even a 1080p one for that matter, but if you still yearn for a day when phones didn’t feel like tiny tablets, when one-handed operation was a joy, the 4.6-inch 720p screen on the new Sony Xperia Z5 Compact may just be exactly what you need. We just put the phone head-to-head with its big brother the Z5, and now we’re spending a little one-on-one time with the baby of the Z5 family, with our own Z5 Compact hands-on.Admittedly, the Z5 Compact ...

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Sony Xperia Z5 vs. Xperia Z5 Compact: head-to-head at IFA (Video)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

For a certain type of smartphone user, Sony’s something of a savior: in a world where all too often carrying a phone that dares deliver a screen size south of five inches means living with sub-par hardware, Sony and its Xperia Compact phones have managed to not skimp on flagship-level components. This week at IFA, we saw Sony introduce its latest hot rod in a tiny package, the Xperia Z5 Compact, and on the show floor in Berlin we’ve tracked the handset down to bring you a close-up ...

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Sony Xperia Z5 Premium hands-on: 4K comes to your pocket (Video)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Admit it: when you first heard those rumors about Sony bringing a smartphone with a 4K display to IFA this year, you had your doubts. Granted, we’ve known manufacturers have been able to produce such screens, but for someone to actually build a phone around one, and so soon? Well, this was a believe-it-when-you-see-it moment for a lot of us, and at IFA this week, we sure saw it: the Sony Xperia Z5 ...

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Sony Xperia Z5 hands-on: IFA 2015 highlights (Video)

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Following Samsung’s decision to introduce the Note 5 and GS6 edge+ back in mid-August, IFA this year has felt largely like Sony’s place to shine, and the company has stepped up to give us some of the biggest devices to launch at the trade show in the form of the new Xperia Z5 series. A trip to Berlin wouldn’t be complete without checking in on this hardware, and we start our hands-on treatment off with a look at the Xperia Z5 itself.If the Xperia Z4 came off as a hold-over, or left you feeling ...

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ZTE Axon Elite goes global with fingerprint and eye scanner, 1,080p display

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

It’s ZTE’s turn to shine at IFA 2015 in Berlin, and as expected, the Chinese device manufacturer has traveled to one of Europe’s biggest consumer electronics trade shows with some distinctly familiar gear. The Axon, or Axon Pro phone is up for grabs in the OEM’s homeland, plus the US already, and starting September 24, it shall further spread its wings on the old continent.This time branded Axon Elite, the ...

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Behold the 17-inch Alcatel Onetouch Xess Android ‘tablet’

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

It’s a tablet. It’s an Android all-in-one PC. It’s… something else entirely. A tablet “so different we can’t call it a tablet”, according to the device’s very manufacturer. That’s right, Alcatel Onetouch is playfully uncertain exactly how to market the colossal 17.3-inch Xess, which manages to get a precious head start on that crazy rumored 18.4-inch Samsung pad.Of course, this isn’t the first time we’re seeing Android loaded on a physical keyboard-lacking touchscreen device rivaling the ...

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