Sony Cell Phones Wireless Charging Coming

Future Sony Cell Phones and Xperia Smartphones Will Recharge Wirelessly in Just 1 Hour

Yes, it's futuristic, but that slow energy recharge isn't great for impatient types. Sony has a plan to resolve the problem of slow wireless charging with its latest wireless charging invention for cell phones. The new unit, based on a forthcoming version of the Qi standard, promises to pump 10 to 15 watts of energy into your device, allowing you to charge your cell phone in just 1 hour. Using that much power would usually cause your smartphone to overheat, but chip and power company Rohm promises that its new cell phone charging chips can handle the temperature issues. We expect the technology to be released mid-2014.

Lenovo Considers Buying BlackBerry, the Canadian Smartphone Company

Lenovo (China) is considering a bid for all of BlackBerry, according to people involved with the matter. Lenovo has signed a non-disclosure agreement with the BlackBerry cell phone company. A Lenovo purchase of BlackBerry would be one of the biggest and most noteworthy Chinese acquisitions of a Western company. Lenovo, a latecomer to the smartphone market, has gained traction in its home market and now ships more smartphones than BlackBerry. The proposed deal would be certain to face government scrutiny in both Canada and the U.S.

O2 United Kingdom's 18-Carat Gold HTC One

O2 announced today that one lucky customer who buys an HTC One from an O2 store between Thursday, October 17, and Sunday, October 20, will get more than just a multi-award-winning phone – they'll get an HTC One made out of 18-carat gold. The 18-carat Gold HTC One, one of only five in the country, is worth over £2000 and is the most exclusive and expensive phone ever made by HTC. To win the device, each HTC One sold in an O2 shop between Thursday and Sunday will come with a Golden Ticket – entering that code online will give customers a chance of winning the golden phone. They'll also keep the HTC One they purchased in the O2 store, meaning they can share the HTC One love with another person too.

AT&T Announces $5 Tablet Day Passes, Deal to Power Tesla’s In-Car Wireless

While consumers are clearly buying tablets in droves, getting them to fork over to connect them to cellular networks has been another story. Buyers have overwhelmingly chosen Wi-Fi-only models, and, even when buying cellular-capable devices, they aren’t always connecting them to the network. AT&T is hoping that a new $5-per-day option will convince more customers to try out cellular, perhaps going with that option over hotel Wi-Fi when traveling. Another plan aimed at less-frequent users allows customers to pay $25 for 1 gigabyte of data that can be used any time in a three-month period. Separately, the company is also announcing that electric-car maker Tesla is using AT&T’s wireless network to power in-car diagnostics, infotainment, and other services. The deal, though only now being talked about, has been in place for a while. Earlier this year, GM said it was using AT&T for the next generation of its OnStar service, replacing Verizon.

Samsung's Galaxy S4 Zoom Leaked

Samsung's Galaxy S4 Zoom appears to be coming. Images of the smart camera appeared on Twitter today, hinting that the device could be forthcoming. The 16-megapixel Zoom is an intriguing mash-up between the Galaxy Camera and the Galaxy S4 Mini.