Entry-level handset coming to O2, Carphone Warehouse

Samsung has announced that the Galaxy Young, first revealed back in February, will be hitting British shores this weekend. The budget-focused handset packs a 1GHz CPU, 768MB of RAM, a 3.27-inch HVGA screen and Samsung's TouchWiz UI atop Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Around the back there's a 1300mAh battery and 3MP camera. Not cutting edge by any means, but it's likely Samsung's looking to compete on price rather than specs here.

Samsung says the Galaxy Young will be coming to a range of outlets, including Carphone Warehouse and O2, in "a range of color options." On-contract prices start at £9.50 per month, or you can buy it outright on PAYG for £89.99

$199.99 on contract with 16GB, shi​pping June 11

Looking for a bit more color in your Galaxy S4? The "aurora red" version announced yesterday is now available to pre-order over on AT&T's online store. Currently you're limited to the 16GB storage option, which will run you $199.99 on contract or $639.99 outright. Pre-order today and AT&T aims to get your bright red GS4 out to you by June 11, three days before it arrives in brick-and-mortar stores.

Pre-order at the link below, and hit the comments to let us know if you're placing your order today.

Source: AT&T

Full screen browsing for tablets and automatic page translation highlight the changes for the latest Chrome for Android beta

Chrome beta for Android has been updated to version 28 (28.0.1500.21), bringing a number of requested features along with the new code base. Tablets now have the same full screen experience that phones have as of version 27, as the toolbar and omnibox simply disappear as you scroll down the page. In addition, automatic translate for pages not in the device's native language is available, just like users are used to on the desktop. Here's the bullet point change log:

• Google Translate: When you come across a page written in a language that isn't in the same language as your phone or tablet, look for the translation bar
• Fullscreen on tablets: Simply scroll the page to dismiss the toolbar
• Support for fullscreen API
• New graph showing your estimated bandwidth savings when you use the experimental data compression feature
• Mobile friendly error pages

The jury is still out about any speed increases, but my first impressions are favorable. If you're following the Chrome browser beta track for Android, grab today's update in Google Play or from the link above.

Source: Google Chrome team

The same Galaxy S4 we all know and love, with less bootloader protection and more good karma 

If you're the type who would rather not play the cat and mouse game with Samsung to keep your bootloader open on the Galaxy S4, here's some interesting news. The Developer Edition Galaxy S4 looks to be headed to both AT&T and Verizon. While we don't have any full details, we expect these to be identical to the standard 16GB versions, but with less bootloader protection. We also expect them to be full price, as carriers don't want to make it easy to get your hands on something they don't control.

Word from Samsung on both is just "coming soon" and neither AT&T or Verizon has had anything to say concerning these. Hopefully, they will be better received that the Developer Edition Galaxy S3 was last year, so Samsung knows it's worthwhile to continue to build developer-friendly versions of their carrier locked phones.

Source: Samsung (1), (2); via : Phandroid

More than just a pretty face, the HTC One is business ready and HTCPro certified

HTC has announced that the HTC One is their first HTCPro certified smart phone in the US.This means that the device meets standards that make it ready for the enterprise and a good choice for business customers. Specifically, the HTC One it meets the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 and offers 256-bit encryption. It also includes IPsec VPN for security when accessing corporate networks, and features device management APIs for remote administration from your mail server administrator.

We're not sure just how many of the 5 Million sold are being used for business purposes, but it's nice to know that they can be if that's your thing. For more information about the HTCPro program and the HTC One, visit the source link below.

Source: HTCPro

Price meets performance with the new Hisense Sero line of tablets, exclusively from Walmart

Hisense and Walmart have got together on a pair of Android tablets designed for the budget minded consumer. There are two offerings, both at pretty compelling price points and the hardware itself looks nice enough to make us look twice.

First up, the $99 Sero 7 LT. At the cost of a typical e-reader you'll get a Google certified device with the following specs:

• 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display
• 1.6 GHz dual-core CPU
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• 1GB of RAM
• 4GB of storage
• Mini HDMI, micro USB, microSD
• Wifi

While there's nothing here to amaze anyone, the price point and Google Play certification make it one of the better sub-$100 tablets available. 

On the other hand, the $149 Sero 7 Pro has the right price, and specifications that best the Nexus 7 in almost every way:

• 7 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display
• 1.3 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
• 1GB of RAM
• 8GB of storage
• 5.0MP rear camera with auto-focus and flash
• 2MP front-facing camera
• mini HDMI, microSD card slot, micro USB port
• Wifi, Bluetooth, NFC
• 10 hour battery life

Hisense has made their first step into the tablet market pretty interesting we think, and we'll definitely have to take a good long look at the Sero 7 Pro. The tablets should be available in stores and online at walmart.com starting May 24. The full press release is after the break.

The actor, investor and first person to hit 1 million Twitter followers weighs in on the industry at CTIA

Turns out that Ashton Kutcher has a lot of the same problems you do. Twitter is too noisy. International roaming plans are expensive. Facebook, while great, has maybe become a bit overgrown.

Sound familiar?

The actor and investor sat down for a fireside chat today at CTIA in Las Vegas and had more than a few choice words for the mobile industry, and chances are you've heard a good many of them before -- and said them yourself. Things were a little winding, with moderator Julia Boorstin of CNBC keeping things moving, and nobody's breaking any real ground here. But it was an interesting chat from someone who's very much been at the forefront of the social revolution, for better or worse.

The raw exploits to work around the locked bootloaders on some Galaxy S4s is released

On the heels of the release of the Galaxy S4 on Verizon, Android security researcher Dan Rosenberg has released the tools and files needed to work around the bootloader security of the AT&T and Verizon versions of the Galaxy S4. Unlike the other versions of the S4, the versions built for America's two biggest carriers have an extra security layer at the bootloader level, which makes it a bit difficult to flash a custom recovery or boot image to the device.

Rosenberg's tools work around these issues, and allow the user to flash custom kernels and recoveries on the AT&T and Verizon branded Samsung Galaxy S4. 

It's worth noting that these aren't for the novice, so you might want to wait a day or two to see what other developers can build using the new bootloader tools. Hopefully, something simple and sane can be made for those folks who want or need to do a little magic on the software of their Galaxy S4. See the links below for more information.

Source: XDA; Azimuth Security. Thanks everyone who sent this in!

First UK network to confirm it'll carry Samsung's 6.3-incher

Three UK is the first (and so far only) major UK network to confirm plans to launch the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Mega. The Mega 6.3, which dwarfs even the Galaxy Note 2, packs a 720p display resolution, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and the latest TouchWiz UI. On the inside it's running a 1.7GHz dual-core CPU and 1.5GB of RAM. And yes, it's a rather large telephone.

There's no date on the cards yet for the Galaxy Mega's arrival on Three, but reports from independent retailers point to a July launch. In the meantime, Three's published an official teaser video, which you can find over at the source link.

Source: YouTube

We're live from the third day of CTIA in Las Vegas. And at this morning's keynote address we're gearing up for a chat with actor Ashton Kutcher, who also happens to be a bit of a technology nerd as well as the latest portrayer of Steve Jobs in a movie that might or might not see the light of day later this year. (Initial screenings didn't go so well, apparently.)

So, strap in and join the liveblog after the break. Kelso's up at 9:30 a.m. PDT, 12:30 p.m. EDT.