Mobile Phones Are Growing Again
You may not like this trend, but it looks like mobile phones are growing again. If you felt funny talking to the air with your phone in your ear, just wait until you're talking to a book. After years of evolution from brick-sized phones to pocket sizes, cellphone size is going in reverse with devices like the original 5.3-inch Note.
The Samsung Note II phone is probably what started the trend toward bigger with phones. It's about 75 percent larger than the original Apple iPhone. One owner says iPhone users stop him on the street to remark about the size of his phone. He says it did feel a little weird at first, but he loves his big screen.
Some tech reviewers called the big phones silly. But as sales boomed, other makers followed with still-bigger "phablets," as techies are calling them. They're a cross between a phone and a tablet.
Shipments of phones with screens 4.6 inches or larger grew to 82.7 million units in 2012 from 1.8 million the year earlier.
The United States is actually behind the times when it comes to large-display smartphones. They are much more often seen in China, Japan and other parts of Asia. In China, women carry a big phone in their purse and a small cellphone in their pocket.
Chinese electronics company Huawei Technology has introduced what it says is a smartphone with the largest screen in the world. It has a 6.1-inch display. The Ascend Mate has more than double the surface area of the original iPhone introduced in 2007.
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