Hasta La Gadget!

As the leaves turn to gold and flutter from the trees, the Engadget team digs out their scarves and mittens to get ready for the mad rush of phone launches that take place ahead of the holiday season. We’ve seen big devices (both large and high-profile ones) enter the world over the last few months, including new heavyweights from Apple and Google. Then there’s Samsung, Nokia and HTC, which are all following the philosophy that bigger is better.

But it’s not just on the hardware side that things are getting exciting. T-Mobile’s eliminated roaming charges and Verizon is doubling its LTE speeds to a whopping 80 Mbps. AT&T is offering customers a $5 daily pass for internet and is making mobile share plans the standard rather than the exception. Of course, if you’d prefer unlimited data, Sprint is promising that its Spark LTE will beat the field — but it’s currently only available in NYC, LA, Chicago, Tampa and Miami. Whether you’re looking for a smartphone right now, or if you’re contract is about to expire, this is your guide to the best ones on the market.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Google, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, LG, Blackberry, T-Mobile

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If you’re planning on picking up the Nokia Lumia 925, you might to think about hitting up the Microsoft Store instead of your carrier. The reason is because as you can see from the screenshot above, the Microsoft Store will offering the handset on contract via AT&T or T-Mobile, but at the same time will throw in a free wireless charging case for those of you who enjoy the wireless charging capability of your phone. The case is valued at $39 and the phone itself is priced starting at $99 along with a two-year contract from either carrier.

The Nokia Lumia 925 was released not too long ago and is the first Nokia Lumia device to actually sport the use of aluminum in its body. For the most part Nokia’s Lumia lineup had been made of polycarbonate, so the Lumia 925 does feel slightly more premium thanks to the use of metal. Its specs include a 4.5” 1280×768 display with a Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and an 8.7MP PureView camera with a 2,000mAh battery.

Microsoft Store Offers Free Wireless Charging Cover For Lumia 925 original content from Ubergizmo.

Nokia has been on a roll lately, releasing new ads that poke fun at the competition, while highlighting some of the key strengths of their mobile devices, and in this latest Nokia Lumia 925 ad, it’s another funny video from Nokia that demonstrates one of the features of the handset. It basically shows a family where an overly-friendly boyfriend of the daughter joins them for a day at the park, and while mom and the daughter are obviously smitten by him, dad isn’t too thrilled.

The video highlights one of the camera features on the Lumia 925 which is the ability to take photos and remove unwanted objects from the photograph after the shot has been taken with a simple tap on the screen, versus a more complicated editing process. It’s pretty funny and a lighthearted commercial that will get a few chuckles, so if you have a minute to spare do check it out in the video above.

New Nokia Lumia 925 Ad Is Funny original content from Ubergizmo.

We’re sure BlackBerry 10 fans around the world have probably been hearing a lot about an upcoming device going by the BlackBerry Z30 moniker. We’ve seen photos and videos leaked in the past, and thanks to a newly leaked photo, we are looking at the Z30 again, except this time it is pictured alongside the Nokia Lumia 925. Unfortunately apart from this latest leak, it does not really tell us anything new about the handset, such as its availability or when BlackBerry plans to announce it, but for those wondering how big the device is, hopefully its comparison to the Lumia 925 will be able to give you a better idea.

As a quick recap for those who might not have been following the news, the BlackBerry Z30 is an upcoming phablet from BlackBerry. It is said to sport a 5” 720p HD display and will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.7GHz. It will also feature an 8MP rear-facing camera with BlackBerry 10 running the show. It is unclear as to when BlackBerry will announce the Z30, but tutorial videos found in the upcoming BlackBerry 10.2 update suggests that it could be in the near future. Either way we’ll keep our eyes peeled, so check back with us at a later date for the details.

BlackBerry Z30 Caught On Camera Alongside Nokia Lumia 925 original content from Ubergizmo.

The Nokia Lumia 925 is one of the company’s latest phones, and given that Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is exactly a super star compared to iOS and Android in terms of market share, one of the marketing tactics deployed by Microsoft and Nokia would be to compare their products against their competitors. Well Nokia has recently released a new ad in which the Lumia 925’s low-light photography capabilities were highlighted, with the tagline reading, “Night time photos you’ll actually want to share”.

It’s a pretty funny video and while it does not name the iPhone specifically, the camera used in the video is clearly that of an iPhone, showing how Apple’s smartphone is not as effective as the Lumia 925 when it comes to grabbing photos in low-light conditions. Of course one could argue that you could use the flash on your phone to help illuminate your subjects, but flash usually makes the photo a little harsh and unnatural. In any case if you have a minute to spare, you’ll want to check out the hilarious video above.

Nokia Lumia 925 Low-Light Photography Ad Is Hilarious original content from Ubergizmo.