It was the device that Android geeks had been dreaming of. A phone stuffed with all the best hardware, run on a clean, fast interface that does away with any bloatware.

When Google unveiled plans to sell a version of Samsung’s popular Galaxy S4 with its stock Android interface on Wednesday, many Android fans must have got their credit cards out ready to spend. The bigger question, though, is whether this is the start of a trend – a good one.

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Haven’t gotten dearest Mum a gift when Mother’s Day is in less than a week? No sweat. Get her a tech gift that makes life better every day.

Here’s a Geek-Girl’s Emergency Everything Know-It-All Mama’s Day Gift Guide. You can call it the Geek MA gift guide. …

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is one great phone when it comes to hardware like its 5-inch Super AMOLED screen. Yet, by packing in a whole of features – including some crapware – the Korean phone maker may make you pull your hair out in frustration at times.

How do you get get a “clean” Android interface, without all the clunky bells and whistles? Here are some suggestions. …

Folks looking for their next smartphone running stock Android may be surprised to find themselves looking no further than Singapore, where local firm Synrgic on Tuesday unveiled the Uno, their new mid-range smartphone.

Sporting a sleek, umber-coloured exterior, the Uno — which means “one” in Spanish or Italian — is completely designed and developed in the Singapore. And instead of mass-producing the smartphone in China, as most brands are wont to do, the Uno will be manufactured in South Korea “to get the best quality”, according to Synrgic CEO Cheo Suan Jin. …

If you’re looking for a small, affordable tablet, there’s another interesting option from Asus, in the form of the Fonepad. On sale in Singapore from April 27, the 3G-enabled, 7-inch Android tablet costs an attractive S$369. …

An interesting app from Singapore now promises to help blind persons check their bills, count change or walk down an alley by placing a video call to a guide who can talk them through the process. …

The much-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 is finally going on sale in Singapore on April 27. Without an operator contract, it will go for S$998, roughly the price of main rivals like the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z.

For many phone enthusiasts looking to buy the next big thing, the past couple of months have been spent comparing the features and usability of all three top-end smartphones.

Still can’t decide? Fret not. We have a quick guide to help you pick from the three most desirable phones out there.  …

Samsung, the biggest smartphone player, shipped a whopping 213 million smartphones in 2012, commanding nearly 30 percent of the global smartphone market. From October through December last year, it sold an impressive 720,000 phones per day.

The Korean electronics giant looks set to maintain its reign as the king of the hill, with the launch of the Galaxy S4 with LTE in Singapore. Available from April 27, the widely anticipated smartphone with 16GB of internal storage will retail for S$998 without a contract.

How did Samsung become one of the largest players in the smartphone market, beating competitors like HTC, Sony and LG despite its late foray into the Android market in 2009?
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Like many critics, I’ve been cool to the unveiling of Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 last month, after rivals such as HTC had raised the competition a notch.

Getting my hands on it, however, gives me another perspective. Actually, the much-awaited flagship in the Galaxy line doesn’t feel as flimsy as its predecessor.

Yes, it’s plastic – or polycarbonate, as the Samsung folks in Singapore insist – but it doesn’t feel that cheap. …

Can a Samsung Galaxy S III mini, which went on sale in Singapore last month for S$568, be going for as little as S$179 at a store at Sim Lim Square? Apparently not, unless you’re interested in a fake, or rather, shanzhai, version of the smartphone.

A Techgoondu reader sent us some interesting photos earlier this week, showing copy versions of Samsung phones being sold at one of Singapore’s popular IT malls.

The Galaxy S III mini copy is among several, he said. Yet another model that looks like a Galaxy Note II is also on sale, he added. …