Leaked Windows Phone roadmap reveals Tango, Apollo update plans

Indicating yet again that 2012 is going to be a big year for Windows Phone, details have emerged about Microsoft’s plans for its upcoming Tango and Apollo updates.

Tango, an update which will focus on delivering “products with the best …

Mainland China gets iPhone 4S in time for Chinese New Year

The iPhone 4S is set to drop in mainland China by or before January 23, the date of the Chinese New Year.

According to People’s Daily, the official news outlet of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, …

50,000 apps later, Windows Phone is still in trouble

Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform now has more than 50,000 apps available — a significant milestone, but one that still puts it far behind Apple’s 500,000 iOS apps and Google’s more than 380,000 Android apps.

At least things seem to be …

Siri now available on jailbroken iOS 5 devices, including iPhone 4

A fully functioning port of the iPhone 4S’s hyped Siri voice assistant is now available for almost all jailbroken Apple mobile devices and huzzah, it’s legal!

The somewhat gimmicky Siri assistant has been the focus of the iPhone 4S’s advertising …

Gameloft slashes all app titles to $0.99 for a limited time

Gameloft has announced an upcoming sale for all of its premium game titles on the Android Market. This includes N.O.V.A. 2 HD, Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus, and Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, each of which usually retail for $6.99.

The holiday …

Foxconn invests $1.1B for world’s largest smartphone production plant

Foxconn plans to invest $1.1 billion in its Henan, China smartphone manufacturing plant in order to build the world’s largest smartphone production facility, reports China Daily. The company is the world’s largest electronic component contractor and is Apple’s principal parts …

Jailbreak! iOS 5.0.1 gets untethered exploits for non-A5 chip devices

Hackers have just taken the wraps off some handy new jailbreaking tools for iOS devices.

The wares will work for any iOS devices running the 5.0.1 version of the operating system and will work for all of Apple’s mobile hardware …

Christmas marks record high for Android and iOS activiations, app downloads

Christmas is a time for giving, and for many the gift this year was gadgets. Android and iOS devices saw a year-over-year 140 percent jump in activations this Christmas, with application downloads sailing past the historical norm.

Smartphones and tablets …

2012 predictions: It’s doom & gloom for Amazon, RIM and Zynga

The predictions I made for 2011 turned out pretty well, since I framed things like any good fortune teller or horoscope would have done. I was vague enough to allow flexibility but detailed enough to sound spot on. I would …

Watch out Qualcomm, DoCoMo taps Samsung, Fujitsu, others for LTE chip venture

Qualcomm’s mobile chipset dominance may be threatened by a new joint venture spearheaded by Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, focusing on next-generation LTE products.

DoCoMo is investing $5.8 million in a wholly owned subsidiary, dubbed Communication Platform Planning Co. (creative, no?), which …

The top gaming technologies of 2011

Each year brings a host of new technologies to the table that make the gaming landscape seem significantly different from what came before, and 2011 was no different. Here are some of the most important technological advancements the game industry …

Samsung reconsiders Android 4.0 on Galaxy S, expects 15% rise in handset sales in 2012

It looks like owners of Samsung’s first Galaxy S devices didn’t take too kindly to the news that Android 4.0 won’t be made available as an upgrade.

Thanks to the massive outcry from customers, Samsung is now apparently reconsidering making …

Bump CEO on idea “borrowing,” popularity & the Chicago scene (video)

Bump CEO Dave Lieb took some time to chat with us in the VentureBeat studio recently, and we talked all kinds of trash.

Bump is the mobile app that lets you send data back and forth between two phones simply …

Kindle Fire gets a bite of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Well that didn’t take very long. Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet — which you’ve likely seen gifted quite a bit this holiday season — has been hacked to run a “pre-alpha” version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

You can thank …

Where in the world is the next booming smartphone and tablet market?

The U.S. and China currently have the world’s largest potential smartphone and tablet markets, but many other countries are ripe for wider smart-device adoption in 2012.

Flurry, a mobile analytics company, has crunched numbers from the past month to paint …

VentureBeat Holiday Contest: Win a Galaxy Nexus and Beats Studio headphones!

Tired of just pining after Google’s latest flagship phone, the Galaxy Nexus? Now you’ll have a chance to get your paws on one.

VentureBeat is giving away a Galaxy Nexus, as well as a pair of Beats Studio headphones, as …

Sorry Galaxy S owners, no Ice Cream Sandwich for you (blame TouchWiz)

Owners of Samsung’s first lineup of Galaxy S phones are in for some bitter news this morning, as the company has confirmed that the phones won’t be receiving an update to Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich.”

Samsung pointed to its …

FCC gives the nod to AT&T’s $1.9B Qualcomm spectrum deal

Sure, AT&T’s grand plan to take over T-Mobile has fallen on its face, but at least the company now has more spectrum available for its budding 4G LTE network, thanks to government approval for a deal announced last year.

The …