Blendtec is back with another "Will it Blend?" video, this time pitting the iPhone 5 against the Samsung Galaxy S III

Are you ready for a  ridiculous and nonsensical test which has no merit and which proves absolutely nothing?

Then, the iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S III blender test is for you!

While most of us are just trying to get our hands on one of the newest and best smartphones, Blendtec, a maker home and professional blenders is busy pulverizing them.

It's pretty much what it sounds like. With a few of these "Will it Blend?" YouTube videos under his belt already, Blendtec's Tom Dickinson asks the question again, pitting the "the latest," i.e. Apple's iPhone 5, vs. what Samsung "claims to be the greatest," the Galaxy S III.

The iPhone 5 may have a retina display, and the Galaxy S III may have a bigger screen, but which will withstand the blending?

Tom describes both smartphones, highlighting their most attractive features, and then unceremoniously chucks each into its own Blendtec Total blender.

While the iPhone 5 starts shattering pretty early on, the Galaxy S III holds in there for an impressive amount of time, but eventually meets its end in much the same way as the completely obliterated iPhone, in a pile of black powder.

In the end, as the blender lids are removed and toxic-looking black smoke wafts up, we're left having to agree with Tom, who concludes: "I think the real winner is the Blendtec Total blender."

The whole stunt kind of runs opposite to what we do at Pure Mobile. But even though we've got a mission to help people protect their devices, we can't help but get some sort of sick pleasure out of watching this total and utter destruction.

Though we'd have to agree with Blendtec's disclaimer: don't try this at home!

Whether by accident or not, Apple seems to time its events to overshadow those of its competitors.

Here's the thing with Apple. Rumors surface, and create a little buzz, until one of its competitors announces news of their own, and the Apple rumor dies. And then wham! Apple comes out and makes the revelation everyone thought they would, trumping all the interest in whatever it was their competitor has just announced.

Pure Mobile reported yesterday that Samsung has sent out invitations for a special Galaxy Note II event in New York City scheduled for October 24. It's the kickoff to the the new device's world tour, and was likely to get the lion's share of tech reporting and headline space. Until...

Well, it turns out that the Galaxy Note II will have to share the spotlight, since Apple's just announced it will be holding an event for the iPad Mini – get this – October 23.

Likely to be unveiled October 23, Apple's iPad Mini is expected to be slightly smaller and slightly cheaper than its predecesor

When we initially reported on rumors of an iPad Mini event, we cited Forbes (among others) who said to expect invitations to start rolling out on the October 10. That makes us only a couple of days behind schedule.

The New York Times' AllThingsD reports that Apple is likely to officially unveil the new iPad Mini at the event. That's just one day ahead of Samsung's event, and only three days ahead of Microsoft's plans to launch Windows 8. Seems, like Apple is well timed, indeed.

Apple promised earlier this year that 2012 would give Apple fans "a lot to look forward to"

Meanwhile, says the Wall Street Journal, we can expect more than just a display of the smaller next generation iPad October 23:

"Traditionally, when Apple unveils its new devices, it offers two things that competitors sometime do not: a specific date for when the device will be available and a specific price."

But we're already guessing that the new tablet will be cheaper than the full-sized iPad and we'd be willing to stake a fortune on an iPad Mini launch safely before Christmas.

We at Pure Mobile do love a good mobile device event, and Samsung has promised us yet another one.

In addition to the rumors of an upcoming Galaxy S III Mini event in Germany (which we reported on last week), Samsung has confirmed an October 24 event in New York City as the first US stop on the Galaxy Note II's World Tour.

This Samsung "Save the Date" teased with a pic of a stylus but no mention of the Galaxy Note II

Late last month, Samsung was already teasing the affair, with a "Save the Date" card showing a stylus pen and the tagline "The Next Big Thing Is Here." However, the next generation Galaxy Note "phablet" was never shown. But the official invitations, which started rolling out yesterday, do show and name the device, removing all previous doubts.

The official press invite confirms the Galaxy Note II as the focus of the October 24 event in New York

Still, this is likely to be the beginning rather than the end of all speculation about the new combination phone and tablet. It doesn't mark the release of the new Galaxy Note II, and it won't be the first time the device has been seen.

So what can we expect to learn about the latest smartphone in Samsung's Galaxy lineup?

Well, for one, we may finally get some sort of confirmation on the Galaxy Note II's American release date. And hopefully, Samsung will be giving us some notion of its price, too.

Leaked pictures of what appears to be an LG-made future Nexus device surfaced this week

They usually stand for "life's good," but this week, LG's trademark letters stood for something else entirely – "leaks guaranteed."

If you're building a new smartphone, as LG appears to be, you can pretty much assume someone's going to get a picture of it, and that before too long, the whole of the internet is going to see it.

All that glitters is not yet to be sold: the sparkly backing of the new LG E960

The leak in question this time is what appears to be an LG-made Nexus device. Judging by the leaked photos, which appeared in the XDA-Developers forum, Engaget says the LG E960 "appears to be a variant of the Optimus G – until you realize that it's using software navigation keys, doesn't quite resemble the international or AT&T Optimus G models and is oddly badged as the 'Full JellyBean on Mako.'"

The "next Nexus," LG's E960, is shown running on Android 4.1.2

Both Engaget and Mobile Syrup are hailing the new Android-powered LG smartphone as the future Nexus device, with the latter noting the similarities between the E960 and the LG Optimus G.

It's apparently got the same "rather boxy design, a 1280×768 4.7-inch IPS screen, a 1.5Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and that awesome-sounding 13MP camera," says Mobile Syrup.

The device also bears some resemblance to Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, though the E960's corners seem more rounded than those of of the LG Optimus G, and it's backing is flatter, with a sleeker design than that of the Galaxy Nexus.

A shot of the new LG device, minus the spyproof backing

Meanwhile, says Mobile Syrup, the fact that the E960 has recently passed through FCC  certification "showing off PCS and AWS bands for HSPA+ and AWS bands for LTE," hints that the new smartphone is likely to be available on a number of networks, potentially making it "one of the most multi-faceted unlocked phones on the market."

Based on the assumption that LG is in fact producing the next Nexus device – which it probably is – there's talk that the LG E960 may be ready by early November.

Opower compares the energy used to charge an iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III for an entire year. Image courtesy of Mashable.

If you're a smartphone owner, you're already familiar with the ritual if charging up your device one or more times a day. And the question of how much power you're actually sucking when you do so has probably crossed your mind. It's got to be quite a bit, right?

But a new study from Opower – which Mashable has provided some nice graphics for – may put your mind at ease concerning your electricity bill and your carbon footprint.

The report found that the power used to charge a smartphone throughout an entire year is negligible. According to Opower, it takes just 3.5 kilowatt hours per year (an annual energy cost of about $0.41) to charge up an iPhone 5 from 0% to full, year-round. That's pretty cheap.

The rates were pretty close for the Samsung Galaxy S III, which costs roughly $0.53 a year to charge. Opower says the slight discrepancy is probably due to the fact that the Galaxy's battery is larger.

But, though the impact of charging an individual smartphone is pretty small, Opower reminds us that, collectively, they do eat up a lot of power:

"This year alone, Apple expects to sell 170 million iPhone 5s. Those 170 million smartphones will draw enough electricity to power all of the homes in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a year."

Still, Opower predicts that smartphones may help reduce energy consumption over all, since they're now being used in many cases as substitutes for bulkier, more power-hungry devices, like desktop computers and TVs.

Smartphones and tablets, like the iPhone 5, iPhone 4, Galaxy S III, and iPad, use much less power than many other consumer devices. Graphic courtesy of Mashable.

For instance, says Opower, "An iPhone 5 requires 20 times less energy to operate than a typical laptop – and 100 times less energy than a typical 42-inch plasma TV."

“Put simply, says Opower analyst Barry Fischer, "a day spent web-surfing and Facebooking on a smartphone or tablet is a much more energy-efficient day than doing the same on a computer [...] the rise of smartphones, like the iPhone 5, is likely to save energy in American homes as it diverts our time from using far less efficient consumer electronic devices.”

This graphic from Mashable compares the energy used for other consumer electronics relative to the iPhone 5

Samsung has already patched the dirty USSD code that threatened Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III

As far as sheer volume of interest goes, Samsung outdid Apple this week, with more stories flying around about the Galaxy S III than about the iPhone 5.

Top of the list was security. According to most of the top tech sites, Galaxy S III owners might have had a bit of a scare this week. That is, if Samsung hadn't already dealt with the problem before anyone even knew it existed.

Apparently, says Mashable, a vulnerability was discovered in Samsung's Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) that "potentially allowed attackers to remotely wipe the contents of Galaxy S II and III devices," essentially restoring them to factory settings.

This video, of Technical University Berlin researcher Ravi Borgaonkar at a security conference in Argentina, shows how it's done.

Thankfully, Samsung's already come out with a patch, and the company issued a statement to Engadget urging users to update:

“We would like to assure our customers that the recent security issue concerning the GALAXY S III has already been resolved through a software update. We recommend all GALAXY S III customers to download the latest software update, which can be done quickly and easily via the Over-The-Air (OTA) service.”

So, now that your smartphone is safe and sound, how about encrusting it with crystals? If you're nodding your head in agreement, and if you have upwards of £2099 (about $3370 U.S.) to spare, maybe consider upgrading to the Samsung Galaxy S III Swarovski Edition?

This crystal-encrusted "Swarovski Edition" Galaxy S III may cost you upward of $3370, but at least the case is free

The device, available from Amosu Couture, is set with 500 Swarovski crystals around the bezel, plus an extra 16 around the home button. Sort of pricey and all, but you do get a free calf leather case.

Now for the really juicy stuff. Hot on the heels of all the rumors surrounding an iPad Mini launch, Samsung's brewing its own big news about something small.

This leaked German invite to a rumored Samsung Galaxy S III Mini launch reads: "So big can be small. And so small can be big."

According to TechCrunch, which cited "a recently released press invitation," Samsung may be unveiling a smaller scale version of the Galaxy S III (the Mini) at a store in Frankfurt, Germany. The invite, written in German and loosely translated as "So big can be small. And so small can be big," is so far the only proof of such an event.

But it's already got Samsung fans more than a little excited, if you'll excuse the pun.

The drama between Apple and Samsung continues outside the courtroom in latest Galaxy S3 ad

What? Did Apple really expect Samsung to sit quietly?

It's been a good week for Apple, what with its big reveal and overwhelming enthusiasm for the iPhone 5.

But, despite all the recent glory, Apple's got an enemy. And the thing about enemies is that, as much as they like to kick you when you're down, they're just dying to kick you when you're up too.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that the courtroom battle between Apple and Samsung has been raging for the better part of a year now.

Most recently, the dispute over intellectual property saw Apple win a ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission.

But that last ruling is unlikely to put an end to the drama between the two smartphone makers, even if it means taking the fight out of the courtroom and into the streets. In fact, Samsung has done just that.

Just days after Apple's iPhone 5 unveiling, Samsung's latest ad for the Galaxy S3 takes direct aim at the newest iPhone incarnation.

The ad, which compares the two smartphones' capabilities, and calls out the iPhone 5 by name, bears the statement: “It doesn't take a genius.” Presumably, the “it” in question is figuring out the Galaxy S3 is "better."

Samsung's latest Galaxy S3 ad calls out the iPhone 5 by name

The timeliness of the ad, which must have been prepared based on specs obtained before Apple's September 12 unveiling, led 9to5Mac to quip: “you can say a lot of things about Samsung, but one thing you can’t say is that they are slow.”

Indeed, Samsung pumped that one out pretty quickly. But that's no surprise considering this isn't the first anti-Apple ad the company's run. Back when they were promoting the Galaxy S2, they slammed the iPhone with an ad making fun of Apple fanatics, claiming “the next big thing is already here.”

This time, however, Samsung's Apple-bashing is more delicately directed at the company, not its users, and that may just work. At the very least, the ad should make people feel smart for choosing a Galaxy, rather than stupid for standing in line at the Apple Store.

What do you think of Samsung's new ad? Is it tasteful? Accurate? Do you think it'll work? Leave your opinion in the comments section.

A couple of weeks ago a jury agreed with Apple in their latest lawsuit against Samsung, awarding Apple over $1 billion supporting its claim that Samsung infringed on their patents in the design of eight Samsung mobile phones and one tablet. But, there is method to Apple’s madness, and it isn’t putting Samsung out of business.

What this verdict does give Apple is the upper hand in “negotiations” that are being conducted through the courts all over the world. Apple’s opponents include five of their largest competitors in the global war for smartphone and tablet dominance. It’s not just Apple claiming patent violations. Most of the mobile behemoths are fighting amongst themselves over license agreements.

Apple big beef with its device-making rivals like Samsung, it that they use the Android operating system that Google gives away for free. According to Bloomberg Industries, Android accounts for about 60 percent of the mobile market, three times as large as Apple’s iOS. The big prize Apple has its sights on is having the dominant operating system in the device market. The problem many consumers, app designers and device manufacturers should have with Apple’s OS is that it’s a closed-garden operating system while Google’s (and Microsoft’s) is an open system. This means that Apple controls everything. (This was a point that Steve Jobs was always fanatical about.)

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh will probably deny a request by Samsung to throw out the verdict. Samsung’s lawyers will file an appeal in a higher court.

Koh will still have to decide whether to issue an injunction blocking the sale in the U.S. of the nine Samsung devices in the latest lawsuit. If she decides in favor of Apple, Samsung will have to make some design changes, eliminating the offending features or pull them from the market. Samsung probably won’t expend too much effort on this since the nine devices are older ones, and they can still sell them outside the U.S. The hit to their bottom line should be minimal.

Once the competitors get some legal satisfaction, they’ll make their financial deals over supplying products and components to one another. Even Apple will play nice. (Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer for mobile-device components).In the meantime, the companies are still doing business as usual with one another while they keep their lawyers busy in court.

Telecom companies and consumers aren’t going to put up with a clearing out of the competition by Apple. Many of us like Android devices like Samsung’s, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS is a welcome addition to the competition. Bottom line: what ultimately happens from all this bickering is up to us.

Samsung is bringing a new addition to its Galaxy smartphone line called the Galaxy S Duos, and it’s got one really unique feature – the ability to operate on two wireless carriers at the same time.

The Galaxy S Duos hardware is designed to support two SIM cards. You can have two different phones numbers running on two different networks from the same phone. In other words, even if you have AT&T for work and Verizon for personal use, you can use the same phone for both.

As Samsung said in a blog post announcing the phone: “Its unique ‘Dual SIM Always On’ feature allows you to receive calls on one SIM number while taking a call from the other, ensuring that you can manage both personal and work commitments without ever missing a call. You also have the flexibility of selecting different billing plans for either SIM, switching between them at your convenience.”

At first glance, the Galaxy S Duos looks a lot like the Galaxy S III, but its features are very different. The Duos has a 4-inch 480x 800 TFT touchscreen display, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1GHz processor and 4GB of storage.

In contrast, the Galaxy S III has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen with 1,280 x 720 resolution, a higher-resolution 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and either 16 or 32GB of built-in storage.

The Samsung Galaxy S Duos will be available next month in Europe. There's no word on when those of us on this side of the Atlantic will see it.

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, men and technology go together hand and hand or perhaps like a hand in heel much like women and shopping go together.  Men most commonly use their  Smartphones or other technological devices for audio and video playback, as personal organization applications, Internet access, and global positioning systems also known by its more popular reference GPS. According to a recent Smartphone Survey, more than 50.9% of women have adopted smartphones, with just a slightly lower 50.1% of men who've adopted smartphones. Here's a list of some of the most popular Smartphones that every woman should consider purchasing that man in her life whether its a husband, boyfriend, fiancee, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, nephew or even just a friend:

1)      For that tech savvy man in your life you should consider the HTC EVO 4G LTE Smartphone because of its immense popularity and it technologically advanced features such as an Android 4.0 Operating System, 4.7-inch HD display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and 4G LTE connectivity. The HTC EVO 4G LTE is a literal out of this world technological marvel that also features Beats Audio, a quality sound system that is a perfect combination of hardware and software to mix the perfect and finally at $199.99 it also has a technological marvelous price to match.

2)      For that music loving man in your life you should consider the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Smartphone (yes that's the real name) is readily equipped with everything that music loving man of yours could want. Some of those intriguing musical features include the ability to run on the Gingerbread Android Operating System and 1GHz Qualcomm Scorpion processor. It also features a a 3.2-inch TFT capacitive touch display, 480x320p screen resolution, 5MP rear camera, 0.3MP secondary camera, 512MB RAM, and a 2GB memory card. The battery life of this Sony Walkman inspired Smartphone is a capability of f 14 hours on 2G network and 6 hours on 3G and the Live Connection is supported on a 3G Network by a Wi-Fi with DLNA support, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity enabled.

3)      For the Corporate/Businessman in your life the BlackBerry Torch 9810 is the perfect briefcase accessory that every man should have in hand or in his pocket. The BlackBerry Torch 9810 comes fully equipped with h the legendary BlackBerry Messenger, QWERTY keypad, multi touch input, optical trackpad, TFT capacitive screen, megapixel camera, 4 GB internal memory, WiFi and of course also includes its 3G capabilities. The BlackBerry Torch also features ample 8G that is example to 32GB of memory, the convenient connectivity capabilities allow you to connect with with HSPA+ high speeds and WI-Fi. The BlackBerry 7.0 Operating System is nothing short of amazing with its liquid animation graphics that include instant response times and stunning graphics, it also supports HTML5 video and a voice activated universal search engine.

4)      For the man in your life who's “young at heart” the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S has the looks, the design and the raging trends in sync with your man's youthful zest for life. The  Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S features a 4.2 inch capacitive touch screen with LED backlight along with a an 8 megapixel camera capable of recording and capturing every youthful moment of the day and even well into the night. The  Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S  also features 720p HD Videos, runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread Operating System, a turbo lightening fast turbo fast 1.4 GHz processor and more than 25,000 Google Play applications most of which are free to use and download. With this youthful Smartphone also comes a youthful price tag for roughly $350.00.

5)      For the social man in your life who loves his friending everyone he meets on Facebook and tweeting on Twitter about the fun in his life the Chat 3G is the perfect Smartphone Companion for this man. The Inq Chat 3G is just as it a sounds a very unique and intersting Smartphone that features blazing 3G speeds and even syncs your iTunes and Windows Media music, video and photos straight from your computer. With the Inq Chat 3G Smartphone you'll be sure to never miss a text message, you'll be able to connect on the go and of course Facebook is at the touch of your fingertips.

6)      For the video gamer in your life who loves the thrill of the motorcycle chase, the capture of the alien foe or simple just a quiet countryside drive the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is meant for that very gamer in your life. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play features 4-inch LED backlit screen, multi touch input, Wi-Fi, 3G, 5 megapixel camera capable of recording 720p videos, runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS.  The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is also the first and only known PlayStation Certified Android Smartphone but the downside it does come with a $369.99 price tag.

7)      For the versatile man in your life the iPhone 4S is the most versatile Smartphone for the your perfectly versatile man. The iPhone 4S features a 3.5 inches LED backlit capacitive touchscreen, IPS TFT , a 5 megapixel camera with an LED flash and a front camera for capturing versatile images. The iPhone 4S also includes a Siri, you can ask her to make calls, send text, get directions or even tell a joke. The iPhone 4S features the A5 one of the fastest dual core processors that any Smartphone currently  in process, 8MP iSight camera and optics and a versatile price tag of $199.99.

8)      For the multitasking man in your life the Nokia E7 is a Smartphone that stands alone that is perfect for work and play.  The Nokia E7 features ts full SLIDER QWERTY keyboard perfect for sending a quick email, typing short papers, instant messaging, social networking browsing the internet, the high definition 8 megapixel camera is perfect for taking crisp, clean photos and videos with its 720p HD quality and the Nokia E7 boasts an impressive nine hours of battery life. The Nokia E7 also includes a a 680 MHz ARM 11 processor, 256 MB of RAM, 16GB of personal storage space, an AMOLED touchscreen, and a 1200 mAh battery.

9)      For the family man in your life the ZTE Fury is a perfect match for that endearing and enduring family man who loves your and your children. The ZTE Fury features a  3.5 inches capacitive touch screen with 480 x 320 pixels resolution that utilized SnapDragon Qualcomm MSM8865 single-core 1.5 GHz, operates with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread  OS, and it also includes a 4 GB plus slot MicroSD internal memory that can be upgrade to 32 GBs with 512 MBs RAM. This Smartphone also enables you to subscribe to Sprint Mobile Control for USD 4.99/per channel/per month to to lock their children’ mobile phone or schedule and to monitor their children's downloaded applications.

10)  Finally for the sports fanatic man in your life the Galaxy Nexus is the perfect Smartphones that enables your sports fan to view his football, baseball and even football on a high quality Android 4.1 Galaxy Nexus touchscreen. The Galaxy Nexus also features a 4.65-inch 720 Super AMOLED HD display, 16GB or 32GB of on-board storage, 1GB of RAM, and NFC technology. It's 3G Network is easily accessible from anywhere in the world whether your on the go or in the comfort of your own home. The Galaxy Nexus is the first device running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and is the first pentaband device that utilizes the HSPA+ GSM networks.