Stories by Florence Ion

LG G3: Great battery life, wonderful features, and no more software bloat

When it comes to Android smartphone mindshare, Samsung gets all the attention, while HTC plays mop up. But way out in left field sits the oft-forgotten LG, a company that continues to make great phones. Add the new flagship G3 to LG's strong legacy--it has to be seriously considered by anyone looking for a feature-filled smartphone. This is a phone with smart industrial design and stellar battery life, and LG has eliminated much of its software bloat.

Curved smartphones: just a gimmick, or the next big thing?

Smartphones can't get any bigger. Talking on today's 5-inch-plus models borders on trying to hold a small tablet up to the side of your head. So what's a phone manufacturer to do to differentiate its phones from all the others? Bend them! These new curved phones might seem gimmicky, but if early models catch on, they'll become the next hot commodity.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra: Big and dangerously thin

Thin is certainly in, at least where gadget design is concerned, and although other Android-handset manufacturers claim to have the thinnest model, Sony has swooped in with a large phone that really is thin. The company that brought us the Walkman and the PlayStation likely figured that being the thinnest phablet on the market would give the Xperia Z Ultra an edge over its large competitors. Not quite.

HTC One Max review: An old phone in a new body

It's no secret that HTC is struggling. In the past year alone, the company lost several key players on its executive team and posted a net loss of about $101 million. Based on that criteria alone, the forecast looks grim for the Taiwan-based phone manufacturer, and the plan to get its business back on track is seems to be to just keep repackaging its one phone that made headlines, the HTC One.

Tablet buying guide 2013: How to pick the right tablet

You might be looking to snag a tablet for yourself or for your loved one. But before you venture out to a brick and mortar store or get lost scouring for websites and looking for deals, take a step back. Like everything else in life, tablet shopping is easier if you have a plan.

Android 4.4 KitKat: An only slightly better Android

Android has a face only an engineer could love. At least, that's the reputation it has earned over the past few years. Google's mobile OS is a hotbed of mobile innovation and new technologies, but its interface doesn't have the friendly consumer-centric design of iOS or Windows Phone. With Android 4.4 KitKat, Google aims to address this shortcoming, while baking-in a handful of nifty new features.

The Nokia Lumia 925 is just another Lumia in a sea of Lumias

The Nokia Lumia 925 is essentially a refresh of last year's handset, the Lumia 920, but with a bit of added panache, like a thinner body to fit your hand better and a suite of extra software features. It's a capable phone, but Nokia forgot to include a marquee feature that would help it stand out from the crowd.

Google announces a quad-core, 1080p Nexus 7

A sharper display, wireless charging, quad-core processor, and rear-facing camera: Google's 2013 edition of the Nexus 7 proves you can get plenty of bang for your buck, even though its latest entry in the budget tablet market now exceeds that magical $US199 price point.