PhoneTalk

Looking for a cell phone with the latest technology? Check out the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G available with MetroPCS service. The new smartphone runs Android 2.3, sports a 1GHz processor, and a spacious and crisp 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen. All of this will come in handy when using the Dyle mobile TV app that can be used to watch live TV found on your local TV stations. There's no need to worry about using 4G LTE data or finding a WiFi connection because the app actually provides mobile TV reception. The technology is fairly new so the service isn’t available everywhere. When you’re not watching TV on the phone, there’s also a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera for capturing pictures or shooting HD video.

Do you want to watch live TV on your cell phone? Let us know in the comments below.

Much anticipated Samsung Galaxy SIII is now available for T-Mobile and works on the company's 4G network. It comes in blue and white and runs the latest Android 4.0, comes with a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor and a spacious 4.8-inch touchscreen display. Get a closer look at the phone and see what comes in the box in the video below. Is this the Android phone you've been waiting for? Let us know in the comments below.

Today at the Windows Phone Summit being held in San Francisco, Microsoft showed off Windows Phone 8. There are quite a few enhancements that users can expect, but existing Windows Phone 7.5 users won’t get is the ability to upgrade their phones to Windows Phone 8. Existing Windows Phone users will, however, get an update to 7.8, which will have the new Windows Phone 8 Start screen -- it’s a bit of a centerpiece of the upcoming Windows Phone 8.

The idea behind the new Start screen is that you can customize it anyway you want, changing tile sizes giving some activities more significance than others (watch the video below to see it in action). Other noteworthy features are the inclusion of Internet Explorer 10 (that’s a full web browser, not a mobile version), the Wallet (manage payments, deals, and cards you might find in a wallet), and Nokia’s mapping software. We should also note that existing Windows Phone apps will work with the Windows Phone 8 platform.

We can expect to see Windows Phone 8 models from Nokia, HTC, Huawei, and Samsung. Some of the hardware features to expect include a multi-core processor (this will make the phone faster and more powerful), a slot for an external microSD storage card, NFC chip (Wallet apps and connecting with other Windows 8 devices), Nokia maps, and a WXGA display (1280 x768) – that’s HD.

Get a peak at the new Start screen in the Mircosoft video below.

Last month in London, Samsung unveiled the latest model in its Galaxy line of products. Today, word is out on when we can expect to see it in the states and which service providers will be offering it. All the major carriers will be offering the latest Android 4.0 smartphone. That includes T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and AT&T. Not all carriers are mentioning an availability date, but Sprint and T-Mobile say it will be available later this month.

The Galaxy S III will sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of internal RAM, and work on 4G networks so it should offer a speedy user experience. The phone will be a bit large with a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display covered with Gorilla Glass 2.0 that will help protect the phone from the elements and accidents that can happen in everyday use. As expected, the phone will sport a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera that can record 1080p HD video. It will include quite a few photo features such as Burst Shot for capturing three images in a row with no shutter lag time. The phone will be available in White or Blue with either 16GB or 32GB of internal memory, and it can accept a microSD card for more storage space.

Samsung announced the next generation of its popular GALAXY S line of products in London today. The idea behind its design is that this smartphone will get to know and ultimately understand you. At the heart of how you will interact with the phone is a natural language interface called “S Voice.” It can be used to tell the phone what to do - anything from play a favorite song, send messages, or take a picture with the camera. The feature will get so accustomed to you, that it will be able to recognize your voice and even your face. With a 4.8-inch display the phone is a bit smaller than the Galaxy Note.

There are also quite a few enhancements made in the camera such as a zero-lag shutter speed, a burst shot feature for capturing 20 shots in a row, and even a Best Photo option that can select the best picture out of eight photographs. Find a photo that you want to share with others feel free to share it using “Buddy Photo Share.“ Want to share something larger? Then check out “S Beam.” It’s like Android Beam, but will work with bigger files such as a 1GB movie file in three minutes or 10MB music file in just a few seconds. None of this requires using a WiFi or data connection.

Now for the tech specifics: The phone will sport a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED (bright, crisp, and viewable in bright sunlight), rear-facing 8-megapixel camera and front-facing 1.9-megapixel camera, built-in NFC Chip, and run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS. The phone will be able to playback full HD 1080p video. Plus the phone can be turned on its side for watching videos in 16:9 widescreen mode. There will be 16GB and 32GB configurations for onboard storage with a 64GB model available soon and it will support up to a 64GB microSD card. That’s plenty of storage for videos, photos, music, files, and more.

The phone will be available this summer and you can learn more about it by cheking out the The Next Galaxy.

One of the latest model’s in Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile products, the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze, has a lot to offer including the ability to work with T-Mobile’s speedy 4G data network. The Android 2.3 smartphone features Samsung’s friendly user interface, Samsung Media Hub for renting/purchasing movies and TV shows, and contributing to the snappy experience is a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor. As expected, the smartphone also sports a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera that can record 720p HD video and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat. While not quite as big as some Android phones currently available, it does sport a spacious 3.9-inch Super AMOLED display that is sharp, crisp, and viewable in direct sunlight.

At the end of last year, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus became the first phone to ship in the United States running Android 4.0. Dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich, this is the OS that bridges the gap between Android tablets and smartphones. Since its debut people have wanted to know if and when the latest OS would be arriving on their Android smartphone. Thanks to the Verizon’s News Center Updates, we now know which Verizon 4G LTE phones should be getting the latest OS. Although, there’s no word on when the update will be arriving, here’s the list of phones scheduled to get the update:

• DROID 4 by Motorola
• DROID BIONIC by Motorola
• DROID Incredible 2 by HTC
• DROID RAZR by Motorola
• DROID XYBOARD 8.2 by Motorola
• DROID XYBOARD 10.1 by Motorola
• HTC Rezound
• HTC Rhyme
• HTC ThunderBolt
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
• Spectrum by LG

Verizon's latest phone to sport a slide-out tactile 4-line QWERTY keyboard is the Samsung Brightside. Although it’s not a smartphone, it does have plenty of features for those who want to get some work done while on the road. In addition to threaded messaging (for viewing the text conversation on the screen) and a web browser, the 3G phone supports mobile e-mail and the ability to view Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, and even HTML pages. It sports a 3.2-megapixel camera and the 3.1-inch touchscreen means the Samsung Brightside is pocket-friendly. The phone is currently available.

During CES, MetroPCS announced it would be adding the 4G LTE compatible Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G and the LG Connect 4G to its line-up. The Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G will run the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, sport a 1GHz processor, a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 3.5-inch display. Users will be able to use Google Talk to make video calls. While the LG Connect 4G is a bit more high-end featuring a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 4-inch touchscreen display featuring Corning Gorilla Glass Screen Protector making it durable. It will also run Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, but the phone’s 5-megapixel camera will be able to record 720pHD video. Music lovers will appreciate that the LG Connect 4G will also come pre-loaded with Rhapsody Unlimited Music service. Both phones will require one of the company’s smartphone plans.

As Sprint begins to expand to the 4G LTE network, the company announced the first three products that it would be offering with 4G LTE compatibility. First up, a mobile HotSpot device from Sierra Wireless called the Tri-Network HotSpot that will work on 3G, 4G and 4G LTE data networks. The HotSpot can be used with up to eight WiFi-enabled devices simultaneously and it evens features a microSD slot that can be used for network storage. The first areas to get Sprint 4G LTE service will be Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

The first two 4G LTE phones with Sprint service will be the popular Samsung Galaxy Nexus that runs the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS. Unlike the Verizon version of the phone, Sprint’s model will support Google Wallet. The other 4G LTE phone will be the eco-friendly LG Viper with a casing made of 35 percent recycled plastics. Feature-wise, the LG Viper 4G LTE will sport a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera and front facing VGA camera, a 4-inch touchscreen display, and will run the Android 2.3 OS.

In other Sprint news, the company showed off the Samsung Epic 4G Touch in white (pictured below) and announced that the HTC View tablet would be receiving the Android Honeycomb OS.

In this installment of Questions and Answers, we'll tell you how to remove numbers from the reject list on a Samsung Rugby and Verizon phones that don’t require a data plan. Got a question you want answered? Submit your question here. You can also ask me on Twitter. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

How to take a number off the reject list Samsung Rugby? – lw

To remove a phone number from the reject list follow these steps:

1. Select Adress Book from the Menu

2. Choose Reject List option and use the navigation keys to highlight the desired entry.

3. Once highlighted, select Options and then Delete and choose Selected.

4. Confirm that you want the number removed from the Reject List by selecting yes.

I am looking for a basic Verizon messaging phone that doesn’t require a data plan. What are my options? – RB

There are quite a few options that don’t require a data plan, however, these four phones have a slide-out tactile QWERTY keyboard making them ideal for texting:

• LG Cosmos 2
• LG Octane
• Pantech Jest 2
• Samsung Intensity II

To find other Verizon cell phones that don’t require a data plan check out this blog post.