Author: Rich Brome

HP is jumping back into phones at a completely unexpected time. HP made quite a few iPAQ Windows smartphones back in the day (2004-2009, to be precise.) Then they bought Palm and infamously drove that into the ground. (RIP, webOS.) But now HP is jumping back into the fray with yet another Windows smartphone: the Elite x3 with Windows 10. This huge 6-inch phablet sets itself apart with not only Windows 10 with Continuum, but the ability to run old-school x86 Windows apps (not just Windows Universal apps like the Lumias.) It also has serious security features. In other words, this is a phone aimed squarely at serious enterprise customers. We checked it out. Read on for our first impressions.

The Priv is BlackBerry’s new flagship phone, but it’s also much more than that. As the company’s first phone to use Google’s Android instead of a BlackBerry OS, it represents a major new strategic direction. It also comes as the company is considering whether or not to continue making phones at all, so its success is crucial. The Priv has a premium design with a slide-out keyboard, curved-edge screen, and high-end camera. How is it in person? Read on to find out.

Kyocera’s popular Hydro series of water-resistant phones recently gained a new sibling with the Hydro Icon, which is pretty much a Hydro Vibe that’s shock-resistant, so it can survive clumsy hands. Since the body differs a bit from the Vibe, we wanted to share our hands-on impressions.

T-Mobile tonight announced changes to its existing Simple Choice plans. At the lowest tier – people currently paying $50/month for the first line – the high-speed (4G) data cap doubles from 500 MB to 1 GB. The next tier also sees an increase, from 2.5 GB to 3 GB. However the third data tier – which starts at $70/month for the first line – will change from unlimited to a new cap at 5 GB, although existing customers will be grandfathered and keep unlimited data. Unlimited data for new customers will now only be available with a new tier starting at $80/month for the first line. Also, while Simple Choice plans already offered free global roaming in 115 countries for text and basic data, they will now also include free unlimited texting from the U.S. to other countries, and the number of countries has grown to 122. As before, extra lines cost $30/month for the second line and $10/month for lines 3-5. Also, extra data (such as $30/month for unlimited) is multiplied by the number of lines. Existing Simple Choice customers will automatically be upgraded to the new plans on March 23 for post-paid, or April 26 for pre-paid.

The Aio brand’s days may be numbered – since AT&T plans to replace the brand with Cricket – but for now, they’re still around and pumping out new phones. Their latest is the Sonata from ZTE, a basic Android phone.

Kurio is readying a new phone for kids with extensive parental controls. It’s a standard Android phone, but the remote controls for parents are impressive. Read on for a tour and our impressions.

The FCC today approved the LG LS-980. The phone supports all three frequency bands Sprint plans to use for LTE in the coming years. It’s the first such phone to gain the FCC’s approval, although the company Sprint currently uses the 1900 band (band 25) for LTE, but in the coming year will start deploying LTE in the 800 and 2500 bands the company acquired from Nextel and Clearwire, respectively. FCC documents show that the LG LS-980 also supports CDMA, as well as GSM and WCDMA for global roaming. NFC is also included. The FCC approved a potentially related VS-980 phone with Verizon frequency bands the day before.