The smartphone has become quite the ubiquitous device – most people have one and if they don’t, they are thinking about getting one. In fact smartphones and tablets are becoming the device of choice – in 2010 the number of shipments of smartphones and tablets for the first time in history exceeded the number of computers and notebooks delivered. Also, in 2013 the number of smartphones and tablets will exceed the installed base of computers and notebooks for the first time in history. You can do so much more with a smartphone than ever before, the only problem is the screen is so small. Well, did you know you could use your big flat screen HDTV as your smartphone display?

There comes a time in every phone’s life when it decides to take a plunge in a big old puddle of water. For me, that moment came several times – Once with a hot pink BlackBerry I’d put in my pocket during the day, promptly forgetting it was there when I turned on the bath for my kids. It took a nice jump into a warm and sudsy tub of water.

Yet another time there was some serious iPhone water damage to my husband’s phone after he dropped it in the, yes you guessed it, toilet. If this has happened to you, you know that feeling of panic when you realize that your go-to gadget might be completely destroyed. Not only is it going to be expensive to replace, but all of your personal data is stored (and probably not backed up) on it.

Bluetooth wireless headphones offer great freedom in your day to day life. By cutting the cord between your head and your pocket or bag, you’re free to move however you want. However, a great pair of wireless headphones can be hard to find. So when I got the opportunity to review a pair of Plantronics BackBeat GO bluetooth headphones, I was hopeful. Could these finally be a pair of wireless headphones that I could use to replace my standard wired earbuds?

With its sleek, fresh design, leading technology and innovative apps, HTC One is outpacing the competition. Compatible across many carriers, this latest offering from HTC is quickly becoming the new smartphone of choice. Watch out Apple and Android!

Celebrate Earth Day by doing some spring cleaning. How many dead cell phones do you have in a drawer at home? Find out how to recycle them and put them to good use.

Facebook held a big press event at its headquarters on Thursday. Rumours have been flying for weeks that the social media giant was set to unveil its own Facebook smartphone. While the company did reveal a new HTC Android phone that’s optimized for Facebook, the big story was Facebook Home, basically an Android makeover that turns your smartphone into Facebook central. For social media junkies, this is a big deal. No having to navigate to a Facebook app —your entire display is dedicated to interacting with Facebook. 

On April 3, 1973, an event took place that marked the beginning of one of the biggest consumer electronics trends in history. Martin Cooper, a Motorola engineer, burned a rival at Bell Labs by calling his competitor from a cell phone in New York —the world’s first handheld mobile phone call. **competitor** that Cooper used was a big, heavy prototype that took another 10 years to reach production. Besides the 1.1 kg weight, this cell phone prototype measured 22.9 x 12.7 x 4.4 cm and lasted 30 minutes on a charge. It was released in 1983 as the $3,995 Motorola DynaTAC 8000x. We’ve come a long way since then...

The powerful and elegant Blackberry Q10 promises to lure people back to the company, particularly those who love a gorgeous QWERTY keyboard with room to maneuver while sending texts.

With a powerful new battery, a premium finish and design built for speed, the Blackberry Q10 is a high performance workhouse for the busy executive or road warrior.

Blogs have developed into one of the more compelling content publishing platforms of the digital age. One of the tools that has helped to make blogs so popular is the RSS feed. And when it comes to RSS readers, Google Reader has been tops since 2005. So what to do now that Google has announced that it’s killing off Google Reader, effective July 1, 2013? No worries, blogs aren’t going anywhere, RSS isn’t going anywhere and there are plenty of alternatives to Google Reader available.

Later this spring, select stores and our online store will offer the Sony Xperia ZL Smartphone, which has been described as the “little brother” of the Xperia Z. Many of the features are the same; however it will most likely be offered for about $100 less than the Xperia Z! Sounds like a no brainer for Sony lovers!

Smartphones have evolved from a specialized business tool for checking e-mail to a must-have device that does everything from web browsing to casual gaming, watching movies, listing to music taking photos —and checking e-mail. In the process these mobile gadgets have evolved from small, no-nonsense, souped up cell phones to pocketable computers where style is also an important feature. In the meantime, they’ve grown, with 2013 models featuring 5-inch HD displays while packing the processing power of high end laptop computers from only a few years ago. How and why are smartphones getting so brawny and how far can they go?

If you’ve ever lost an iPhone or want to protect your current new  phone, you’ll be interested in Kensington Proximo. This is a digital leash that sounds an alarm when you’ve left your iPhone behind. Android users can purchase the Kensington Proximity Tag that also sounds an alarm.

Install the Kensington Proximo and never worry about losing your iPhone again.

Your iPhone is more than just a phone; it’s the camera you always have with you, it’s a suite of business applications, it’s your game console, and it’s how you stay in touch with your friends and family. But if you’re often exposing your phone to dangerous environments, or if you’re just very prone to accidents, you’ll want to give your iPhone the best protection.

Meet the OtterBox Armor case. This case offers the best protection for your iPhone that I have ever seen. Meeting US military grade standards, the OtterBox Armor features an interior silicone layer that protects your iPhone from drops of up to 3 metres (10 feet). It also has a strength-reinforced plastic exterior with rugged metal latches to protect your iPhone from up to 1.8 metric tonnes (2 tons) of weight. On top of this, the Armor has o-ring sealed port covers which make your iPhone waterproof up to 2 metres (6.6 feet, for 30 minutes) and keeps dust or debris from getting in. On top of all this, the rugged clips allow you to quickly open and close the case, to ensure you can quickly pop your iPhone out when you don’t need the protection.

Microsoft has announced a new upgrade for its Windows 7.8 phone to make it more compatible with the W8 apps. The company has also been working with developers to beef up its store with more apps and choice for users. It all translates to a more robust experience for W8 users with plenty of choice and flexibility.

Don’t have a leprechaun outfit ready for next Sunday? Don’t fret - show your spirit this year with these green-themed devices!

Mozilla is trying to make a name for itself in the competitive smartphone market. The ZTE Open is the first handset featuring Mozilla's open, HTML5-based Firefox OS. Without the need for lots of memory and basically running all apps as web pages, this smartphone comes in at a lower price. Perfect for those wanting something cheaper and simpler with more flexibility. Will it take off here in North America?

HTC has raised the smartphone standard with its latest model. The HTC One takes some risks in both the design and functions but with some amazing technology to back up the changes. Beautiful and functional, the HTC One is a winner.

RIM had two big announcements recently. It officially changed its name to Blackberry and launched a new smartphone.

Will the Blackberry Z10 be enough to revive the company? It remains to be seen if people will come back to the company but Blackberry is certainly trying hard this time around.

It's safe to say that whatever is popular at CES is a good indication of what will be filtering down to consumers.

This year’s CES had more than 3,200 exhibitors showcasing more than 20,000 new products. Some were winners, some were losers.

Here are the top five tech trends to watch that will be hitting the shelves in 2013.

When you pop the mophie juice pack powerstation out of its case, the first thing you’ll see is a nice little inscription on the back of the package that says, “mophie loves you.” After trying out three of mophie’s juice pack powerstations for myself, I’d have to say I think I love them a little bit more.

All you have to do is think back to how many times you’ve been left hanging in an odd situation with a dead phone battery and you’ll understand why I say this is a gadget everyone with a smartphone or tablet should own. I recently took my kids on vacation to a theme park where I promptly drained the battery on my iPhone within 2 hours because I was taking so many videos and photos. Switching over to my new iPad, I thought I was covered but I soon depleted the battery on that one too.  Because I didn’t have a way to charge any of my devices other than the hotel, I missed capturing quite a few memories that day that I really wish I hadn’t missed.

New toys at Christmas means you may have some discarded electronics. Whatever you do, don’t throw old electronics into the regular garbage where it becomes toxic e-waste.  

Our modern  electronics  (especially hand held devices ) are a complex mix of heavy metals and chemicals that need to be handled properly.  Throwing electronics into the garbage can pollute our soil, water and air.

Here’s how to do the right thing for Planet Earth and enjoy your new toys guilt-free!

Make no mistake, 2013 is going to be huge for Canada’s Research in Motion (RIM), the company that arguably kicked off the smartphone craze with its BlackBerry devices. By the end of January we will see its new BB10 operating system and new BB10 devices. RIM has been on the road, demonstrating the new OS and devices, including sessions this week in Toronto. Today, RIM announced that BB10 has gone gold, which means what you see at this point is what will be released. 

It’s officially December, which means that the holidays are upon us. Along with hot cocoa, snow, and mistletoe, this season brings stress. You want to be able to enjoy yourself this December, so here are a few Apps that might make your holiday season just a little bit easier.

Shopping for a teenager this year? Mine just turned 14 (two days ago to be exact) and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier when it comes to getting the right gift to keep her happy. It’s always a difficult task to keep up with the latest trends and find something that won’t make its way to the return desk, or worse…shoved at the back of a desk drawer in a wasteland of crumpled paper.  

Thankfully, I’ve noticed a trend over the past year…teenagers seem to love gadgets. With all of the time they spend glued to their phones instant messaging, texting and watching YouTube videos, it’s the ‘new’ way to stay connected with friends. Remember when chatting on the phone was cool for teenagers? Those days seem to be long gone with Skype and Facetime…feeling old yet? 

For me, stockings are one of the best parts of Christmas. In addition to buying the typical practical items, I try to make a point of getting unique gifts that they wouldn’t normally buy for themselves.  Fortunately Best Buy has lots of items that meet both of these criteria. I am going to give you 15 suggestions but I bet you can find a bunch more if you cruise their online shopping site.  Stuffers shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg so all are under $15.

Are you like me and cannot be without your iPhone for any period of time? Call me nomophobic but ever since I started using smart phones I cannot imagine being disconnected for long periods of time. I’m constantly checking in, photographing, and catching up on the latest news everywhere I go. My iPhone 4 has been a faithful companion. It’s held up well over the years taking a fair amount of abuse, but I know sooner or later I’m going to drop it and with all that glass, it won’t take it well. I’m also not interested in upgrading quite yet either. In other words, my options are limited if I want to extend the life of my phone.

If you’re in the market to upgrade your smartphone, then this is the time of the year to get your geek on.  All the major players in the mobile market have come to the table with faster, sleeker and more powerful devices. This struggle for the top spot between the companies means consumers get more out of their hard earned dollars. Along with Apple, Samsung and Nokia, HTC has given their newly updated HTC One X+ an overhaul, which puts it on the “must have list” for smartphones.

At first glance, you may not notice much of a difference. The One X+ has the same dimensions, a 4.7-inch screen and virtually the same weight as its predecessor.  What’s changed with the design is the new rubberized grip - which I prefer (I hate being a butterfingers).  To me, the device feels more comfortable to hold and you’re much less likely to drop it than before.   

The most significant difference the HTC One X+ offers is a considerably faster processor.  I was pleased with how quickly I could move through the operating system and how the apps opened so swiftly.  If you’re a multitasker looking to switch between and run multiple apps simultaneously, this little gizmo will be your new best friend, move over hair straightener!

Hurricane Sandy may have postponed the big event but Google did release the latest Nexus devices -- small, medium and large -- equipped with the new Android system.

The long awaited Nexus 4 smartphone, the recently released 7-inch Nexus tablet and the new Nexus 10 tablet will all be running Jelly Bean, the new Android 4.2 operating system.

When your pocketbook can’t match your desires, it’s nice to have an option like the Samsung Galaxy Ace II x. This is a well rounded smartphone offering you some of the Galaxy mojo without eating up your budget.

Simple and sleek in design and a wee-bit bulkier at 10.5mm thickness, it still delivers good audio, decent web browsing and an excellent camera.

Black Friday is coming, and we’re getting the site ready with some of the best deals of the year. Here is your sneak peek on some of the deals you don’t want to miss.