Mobile

The Ford Motor Co. is hoping to make it an easy choice for North American social networking fans when deciding on a new vehicle. Thanks to a feature called "Sync AppLinks", those who buy or lease the forthcoming 2011 Ford Fiesta will be able to use ... applications on their smartphones simply by verbalizing commands and using buttons on their steering wheel. Ford is pitching Sync AppLinks as a safety feature that makes it easier for car owners to use mobile phones while operating their motor vehicle. In large pockets throughout North America, non-hands-free mobile phones are illegal when in use ... (view more)

With strict hands-free mobile phone laws affecting people in cities across North America, in-car services such as Onstar are seemingly the only way a person can make a legal phone call while driving. But what if you need to send an important email ... reply or text message while on the go? For Blackberry users on a Sprint plan, hands-free emails and texting is now a reality. These subscribers have the opportunity to install a speech-to-text mobile application that will enable them to dictate text-based messages without having to take their hands off the steering wheel. The technology that allows ... (view more)

According to reports, gadget gurus Sony are currently developing a smartphone and a portable computer to compete with Apple's iPhone and iPad devices. Sony is hoping to woo consumers by releasing a smartphone that will capitalize on what some ... experts might call its biggest strength: video gaming. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Sony is working on a phone that will play PlayStation Portable, or PSP, titles. Given that the level of development involved in the average PSP game tends to be more significant than that associated with an iPhone game/app, it's possible Sony's ... (view more)

Microsoft looks set to severely restrict the range of phone designs compatible with the forthcoming Windows Phone 7 series. Right now, it appears there will be just three basic styles of handset with the new system. A recent podcast featured two ... members of Microsoft's Australian division discussing plans to restrict manufacturers to three different chassis, the basic physical design of the phone. Three Windows Phone 7 Chassis Classes The first design will be for touchscreen phones and includes some very specific requirements: a 800x480 pixel screen, an accelerometer, a 5 megapixel radio, a 1 ... (view more)

A new iPhone app is causing quite a stir because of its ability to perform a background check on nearly anyone within a matter of seconds. While the app would be a tremendous resource for checking out a romantic prospect or a new co-worker, the ... opinions of most people change when the tables are turned and the background checks are being done on them. Still, BeenVerified is a friend to almost any employer. The only stipulation is that individuals may only conduct up to three free background checks per week for the app to still be considered free. For an additional $8 per month, you can ... (view more)

As is part of the annual tradition, millions of people around the world rang in the New Year with more than a few adult beverages. But unlike any other year to date, after the partying had ceased thousands reached for their mobile phones to ... determine whether or not they were capable of driving home. Apple App Released by Colorado DOT R-U-Buzzed, a free application released by the Colorado Department of Transportation (DOT), helps users determine their blood alcohol level in a matter of seconds. All an individual has to do is spin the virtual wheel to match weight, alcoholic beverages consumed ... (view more)

Waterloo-based Research In Motion's (RIM's) is receiving plenty of flak from its users after a second outage in less than a week. The outage left users of the popular handheld without service from Tuesday evening until the following morning. "One ... outage is bad enough, but when potential customers hear of two in one week, they get very nervous," said one poster on the Crackberry blog, a forum that keeps users of the handheld in touch with one another and updated on recent events related to the device. (Source: informationweek.com ) Most concerning of all the negative sentiments were threats by ... (view more)

The BlackBerry is one of the most popular handheld devices in the world today because it offers instant and reliable access to email, instant messaging and of course voice communication. Unfortunately, none of these lovely features were available ... during a recent outage -- the second of its kind in the past week. Let's face it -- there isn't much advantage to having instant access to your friends, family, and colleagues when the handheld network you use is out of service. That was the case on Tuesday night, when for the second time in less than a week the BlackBerry service went out of service ... (view more)

Think you can multitask while driving? Think again. According to a recent report, drivers who use their cell phones to text while behind the wheel are six times more likely to crash their rides. "When people talk on the phone while driving they are ... four times more likely to get into an accident," says University of Utah psychologist Frank Drews. And thanks to Drews' last study, we now know texting behind the wheel means you're actually six times more likely to crash. (Source: com.au ) Studies Push Legislators to Act Talking on your cell phone while operating a vehicle has become illegal in ... (view more)

What could have been the first mass-market Internet tablet-PC-based device has been abandoned in a copyright dispute. Michael Arrington, the man behind the CrunchPad, says the firm physically manufacturing the product wanted to go it alone, but the ... two sides are locked in an irresolvable dispute. The original concept of the CrunchPad was to produce a simple Linux-based tablet PC for easy web access, filling the gap between accessing the web on a smartphone and carrying around a full-blown portable computer such as a netbook or laptop. CrunchPad: a Blogger's Brainchild One of the most notable ... (view more)