When you look at the US smartphone market, it's dominated by the usual two suspects - Apple and Samsung - with the team from Cupertino taking the lead, which is understandable as it is a domestic company to be proud of. Last quarter's breakdown for American users aged 13 and up pegged them as having mostly iPhones (44%), or Galaxies (28%), with LG vying for third place with 10%, Motorola at 4%, and HTC at 5th place with only 2.3%. If anything, that shows the dire straits that HTC finds itself in when it comes to the American market. Not being represented in a carrier roster is a kind of a death sentence in the US, as that's where most users shop for new phonese. In fact, T-Mobile dropped the HTC 10 only a few weeks after it launched without citing any reason, but if there was big interest and profit with the handset, it would have probably stayed in the portfolio. "HTC has bleak prospects, given lack of availability from T-Mobile and AT&T and weak prepaid availability, while the OEM has (a) tiny share of 2% at Sprint and <1% at Verizon," according to Wave7’s analyst Jeff Moore. All of these mishaps have forced HTC, which wasn't known for great value tags, or significant cuts, to readjust its pricing strategy in the US. The HTC 10 went from the whopping $699 down to $499 very soon after launch, and now the U Ultra is following suit. HTC announced recently on Twitter that it is slashing the prices of its newest flagship from $749 to $599, and that's a handset with large QHD panel, high-end camera and premium design augmented by a secondary screen that was just announced last month. Not only that, but the One A9 went down to just $199, and the Bolt for $150 off. In fact, another analyst, Cliff Maldonado from BayStreet Research, thinks that HTC is winding down its inventory and may not out other flagships in the US, but rather end up making phones for external customers like Google: "We believe the launch of the Pixel at Verizon and the Bolt at Sprint, combined with the recent headcount reductions, indicate HTC will follow more of an ODM business model going forward. We believe HTC has astutely restructured to compete with their hardware design strengths and partner with brands to lower marketing and distribution costs and overall risks. It will be interesting to see how and with whom HTC partners with next." There you have it, no matter what HTC does, there just doesn't seem to be much interest from US carriers when it is going it alone. What do you think, is this some nefarious plot by carriers, or is the problem of HTC's own making?

Many have assumed that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 would be the first Samsung handset to sport a dual camera setup. But you know what they say about making assumptions. Instead, a sketch tweeted by a source reveals that it will be a new handset in the Samsung Galaxy C line that will be the first Samsung handset to carry two cameras on back. The sketch also shows that this Galaxy C phone will sport the slotted antenna design instead of those unsightly antenna lines that run on the top and bottom of a phone. Not only do they look much better than those ugly lines, they also do a better job of making sure that your hands don't interfere with the phone's signal (if you are holding it the wrong way). Late last year and earlier this year, there was talk that the Samsung Galaxy S8 or the Samsung Galaxy S8+ would feature a dual camera setup in back. As it turns out, Samsung must have been serious about this because an alleged Galaxy S8+ prototype was discovered with a pair of cameras on the back. If the prototype is legit, Sammy planned on using a vertical placement for the two cameras. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 could be unveiled at IFA during the first week in September. The unknown Samsung Galaxy C model sporting the dual cameras is supposed to launch before the Galaxy Note 8 does. We might not know if this is a legitimate story for a few weeks. Even if it isn't the first Samsung model to offer it, we would have to say that the odds certainly favor a dual camera setup being employed on the Galaxy Note 8.

Venmo is a free digital wallet that allows users to wire funds into or out of their Venmo account, bank account or debit card. Today, word surfaced about meetings that Apple has held with firms in this industry about starting up its own money transfer system. In other words, Apple is looking to build a Venmo competitor that would allow iPhone owners to transfer funds to and from others' iPhone handsets.

Those in the know say that Apple could officially unveil this new payment service some time later this year, allowing Apple to compete with others in the industry such as Pay Pal, Square Cash and Chase's Quick Pay. The latter processed a leading $28 billion last year while Venmo had a hand in $17.6 billion worth of financial maneuvers; Venmo's annual payment volume is doubling each year. Subscribers to these so-called peer-to-peer services use them to split the tip on a dinner, or to come up with their share of next month's rent.

Most financial companies that offer such a service use them as a loss leader. This means that huge financial supermarkets typically lose money offering such small sum wireless money transfers. But they are willing to do that in order to get consumers hooked on their firm, hoping that new subscribers end up using other profitable services offered by the banking company. Need a loan, a credit card or a mortgage? If you already have a money transfer arrangement with a financial firm, you're more likely to use that company for a loan that is highly profitable to the lender. Apple, however, doesn't think in terms of loss leaders. If it does make a go at starting a peer-to-peer wireless financial service, it would do so with the intent of turning a profit on the business.

Keep in mind that Apple has been rumored to be setting up such a P2P (peer-to-peer) money transferring system before. Back in 2015, the Wall Street Journal said that Apple was about to start such a service in 2016, which would have been folded into Apple Pay. The inclusion of Apple Pay in the new service remains a strong possibility. However, the new rumor does include talk about a new Visa card that would be offered by Apple, but would run through Visa's debit card system. It would work with the new P2P service by allowing those wired funds from an iPhone user to have access to that money instantly, instead of waiting for the money to hit the user's bank account. This is something that PayPal currently does.

Bank executives are not happy about Apple working with Visa, and plan on letting Visa know that at an annual summit that is set to be held next week.

The Sony Concept team announced that it's preparing an Android 7.1.2 concept update for the Xperia X smartphone. Concept releases are a way to get the latest pure Android version running on your Xperia phoneif you would like that in place of the official Sony firmware, which is a reasonably clean build of Android as well.

The Android 7.1.2 update will bring Bluetooth connectivity improvements, battery usage alerts, and various other fixes. Notably, this Android build gave Google Pixel and some Nexus phones issues with their fingerprint sensors. The changes Google applied to this part won't be included in the Xperia X Concept Update.

A drawback to the update is that the setup wizard for the initial setup (or after performing 'factory reset' and 'add user' functions) after powering the phone will only work with Wi-Fi. It's not very likely you will be impacted by this in any major way.

The concept update is ready for release and is going to be published soon. The Xperia X Concept program is only available to Sony's European users for some reason.

LG Electronics is planning to increase the number of applications optimized for its 2017 flagship – the G6. The Seoul-based tech giant announced that by next month, its app store will boast 300 apps which will fully support the 18:9 "Full Vision" display of the G6. At the time of writing, there are about 200 apps which support the unusual aspect ratio on the company's SmartWorld store, so these numbers suggest that we will see a 50% increase in this particular segment of LG's digital market. As Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones also feature screens with similar aspect ratios, this latest move by LG can be seen as an attempt to gain and maintain a competitive edge over its larger South Korean adversary. The company's official stance is that it aims to allow users to enjoy superior digital content, such as games and movies through the screen of the G6. In a previous statement, the company said: Compared with conventional 16:9 aspect ratio displays, the 18:9 format offers more viewing space and a more immersive experience when streaming videos and playing games.

How would you like to receive a "free" tablet on T-Mobile's dime? Purchase the LG G6 or LG V20 from T-Mobile along with the LG G Pad X 8.0 using the carrier's Equipment Installment Plan. Then, sign up for a data plan containing at least 2GB of data a month. Six to eight weeks later, you will be reimbursed for the tablet via a pre-paid MasterCard. In theory, the MasterCard should be used to pay off the remaining balance of the tablet. But you could decide to use it for something else; as long as you are making the monthly payments on the device. Speaking of the tablet, the LG G Pad X 8.0 features an 8-inch LCD screen with a 1200 x 1920 resolution. Powering the slate is a Snapdragon 617 SoC carrying an octa-core 1.5GHz CPU, and the Adreno 405 GPU. 2GB of RAM is inside along with 16GB of native storage. The actual amount available to the user is 9.18GB. Those seeking additional memory can access the 128GB capacity microSD slot. Both back and front cameras weigh in at 5MP, and a 4650mAh battery keeps the hamster wheel spinning. Android 6.0 is pre-installed. Besides this very serviceable tablet, if you purchase the LG G6 from T-Mobile before April 30th, you will also receive a free Google Home (although to be fair, the free Google Home is available to anyone who buys the LG G6 in the U.S. before April 30th. The free tablet deal is a limited time offer, and we have no idea when it will expire. In addition, once supplies of the tablet run out, the deal is over. If interested, click on the sourcelink or visit your local T-Mobile location.

We're in full swing for Apple iPhone 8 rumors and a lot of the chatter has been regarding the "premium/pro" version of the next iPhone. That's the model expected to have a bezelless OLED display and because of that design, Apple has to do something different with the Touch ID fingerprint scanner. But, that has been proving difficult.

Remember the game Mouse Trap? The idea was to put together a wacky Rube Goldberg-esque contraption piece by piece, depending on the roll of the dice. This weekend, LG released a video that shows the LG G6 being put through a number of obstacles while certain features appear on screen. It's an interesting way to show off the durability of the handset, while confirming some of the specs and capabilities of LG's new flagship phone to consumers.

Some of the features highlighted in the video include the IP68 certification rating which allows the device to be submerged to as deep as nearly 5-feet for as long as 30-minutes, and emerge unscathed. The phone passed 14 different military tests and a straight drop of 3-feet, proving that it could survive a fall. It also will live through temperatures as cold as -4 degrees Fahrenheit to as high as 140 degrees Fahrenheit. With Quick Charging 3.0, the battery is charged to 50% in just 35 minutes. And the maximum temperature of the LG G6 after charging is 95.09 degrees Fahrenheit, so you shouldn't have to worry about it overheating while plugged in

If you want to see the LG G6  survive an entertaining test in the lab, click on the video at the top of this story. It certainly looks like LG has built a better mouse trap.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen spoke to analysts today via conference call following the release of the company's fiscal fourth quarter earnings report. BlackBerry reported profits on an adjusted basis of 4 cents a share, topping forecasts of a breakeven quarter. During his chat with the Wall Street prognosticators, Chen made everyone's ears perk up when he said that BlackBerry is moving into the second phase of its licensing program. He noted that one of BlackBerry's partners is very interested in building an Android powered slate, and as a result "you may soon see a BlackBerry tablet," Chen said. The company interested in building the device is one of the three companies now licensed to build BlackBerry phones. The trio include China's TCL, India's Optiemus and Indonesia based PT BB Merah Putih. Chen did not reveal which of the three is interested in producing the slate. If the tablet is manufactured, BlackBerry will be in line to receive royalties based on sales. The tablet would run on software provided by BlackBerry. The BlackBerry PlayBook is the only tablet to wear the BlackBerry name thus far. Released in 2011, the tablet used the QNX operating system which later morphed into BlackBerry 10. While the OS received positive reviews, BlackBerry shipped the slate without a calendar app, and email required the use of a BlackBerry handset and the BlackBerry Bridge. These are shocking omissions for a company well known for the email client on its handsets. "One of our partners are (sic) very excited to build a tablet based on Android, and so they wanted us to give them the portfolio rights to do that. I'm interested to do that because I'm going to get royalties for every tablet they ship. I will just leave it at that, and it's not even that, we have to curate it, we have to do a lot of things on with it, so it's not a 100% committed thing but it's gonna come from our partners and BlackBerry will only receive royalty but it's using our software and we do the QA and portfolio management, so I hope that clarifies that point."-John Chen, CEO, BlackBerry You can count former BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins as being among those surprised at the possibility of a new BlackBerry tablet. Back in April 2013, Heins said that tablets would be dead in five years.

Those pre-ordering a Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy S8+ from Samsung Malaysia will be receiving some free items for their new handset. That's because the Samsung unit is trying to entice consumers in the country into reserving one of the two new models. A useful 5100mAh power bank is one of the items. It's the perfect accessory for power users or for those who plan on showing off their new phone to friends, family and strangers that they bump into.

Other items being given away by Samsung Malaysia to consumers pre-ordering the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ include a Limited Edition Starter Kit. This contains a clear cover, a screen protector, a wireless stand and a USB Type-C cable. And the last freebie is a one-year Samsung Protection Plus subscription. The latter extends the warranty on either model by one additional year, and also covers one year of protection for the phone's display. With the warranty in force, a cracked screen can be replaced for free (one time only).

The power bank, Starter Kit and Protection Plus subscription are valued together at $203 USD. Not a bad haul at all. Reserving a unit in Malaysia requires leaving a deposit equivalent to $68 USD on Samsung Malaysia's pre-order page, which can be found by clicking on the sourcelink. Pre-orders begin in the country at 10 am local time on April 11th, and run until 11:59 pm local time on April 13th. The phones will be available a day early, on May 4th, for those who pre-order one of the two models.

In other markets like the U.S., Samsung is tossing in a Gear VR headset, a controller, and some content from Oculus with the pre-order of  a Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+. The value of that package is $130.