Despite competing against big name manufacturers and their flagships, Alcatel has had a strong showing at MWC for the past few years, with their “premium mid-range” Idol series at the front and center. This time around, we may not have gotten the latest addition to that series as expected, but the company has just taken the wraps off three new affordable smartphones that offer some unique capabilities. Here is all you need to know about the Alcatel U5, A3, and A5 LED!

We haven’t heard much about the company’s ventures since its inception, but today we are learning about a major investment they are making into CastAR. And they are getting no chump change; Rubin is investing a whopping $15 million on the augmented reality-focused startup. This funding comes in the form of cash, office space, knowledge and more. So what does CastAR do? The company creates a set of glasses that can project holographic images in front of you, using your surroundings as a base.

Messenger is a very popular messaging app, as it is used by over 1 billion people across the globe every month. That’s why Facebook wants to monetize it as much as possible, and that’s why it is now bringing ads to the app. The company recently announced that it is launching a small test in Australia and Thailand that will bring ads to the Messenger home screen. Luckily, these won’t show up in a conversation.

FreedomPop has been in the free mobile data business for years now, and morerecently in 2013 the provider started offering free phone service utilizing Sprint’s network. As you might have guessed, the business model here is that you get so much service free (200 minutes, 500 texts, 500MB data) but you can also unlock unlimited everything for an extra charge of $20. Right now FreedomPop’s services are limited to select Sprint markets, though the company’s ambitions don’t end there.

Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 A new GLBenchmark test result reveals that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 model would come with an Intel Atom Z2560 chip inside, which may be a surprising choice for the Android device maker. Model number GT-P5200 has been spotted in GLBenchmark results both in Wi-Fi-only and 3G versions – we’ll remind you that the GT-P5200 is said to be the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, although this particular tablet version is yet to be unveiled by Samsung.

The Google Play Movies & TV app for Android just got a rather large, if a bit superficial, change. The latest 3.22.14 version, available to download from the Google Play Store, turns the app into a dark theme by default. Instead of a white background with some red category bars, the app is now almost completely dark, with white categories. 15 best Android launchers to make your home screen perfect Apps

Earlier this month, Sprint became the first U.S. carrier to introduce an update for the recently released HTC One M8. Now Verizon is following suit with an update of their own, though for very different reasons. Unlike the Sprint update, Verizon’s M8 update doesn’t bring the M8’s extreme power saving mode, and instead is essentially a bunch of bug fixes and performance improvements. Specifically, the change-log for the update mentions the following:

Two days ago, we mentioned that Motorola was starting a soak test for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on the Motorola Atrix 2. It must have gone well, because starting today, the update is rolling out for all Atrix 2 users. Motorola announced the update on their website today, noting that this update is indeed available for all users of the Atrix 2. The specific Android version is 4.0.4, build number 67.

The Oppo F series is known for its capable front-facing camera, making these handsets among the best for selfie aficionados. Now we have a successor coming and the press is already getting ready to take a look at it. The invite isn’t really giving away much we didn’t already know. Of course the imaging has a strong focus on photography, which is what this phone is all about. The writing only says “Step up the selfie revolution”.

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