Mobile

It appears Apple will sell an unlocked edition of the iPhone in Italy, which raises the question of whether the company will adopt a similar policy elsewhere in the world. An unlocked phone is one that will work with any telephone carrier. So far, ... Apple has always sold the phone in a locked state. For example, in the United States it only works on the AT ... (view more)

Remember those annoying TV interruptions testing the Emergency Broadcast System? Well, now federal regulators have approved a plan that would make your cell phone part of the emergency alert system by allowing blanket text messages to be sent to all ... cell subscribers within a given geographic area. Although cellular customers would be allowed to "opt-out" of the plan, the Warning Alert and Response Network Act of 2006 required the FCC to upgrade the ways the public can be alerted about emergencies. With more than 200 million cell phones in use in the U.S., and with texting becoming more ... (view more)

Microsoft is applying the power of the microprocessor to a traditionally low-tech problem: traffic jams. The firm is launching a web service that will give driving directions specifically designed to avoid busy spots. It's based on a technology ... called 'Clearflow', which took researchers five years to develop. The idea is that every time traffic backs up, it causes an effect that spreads across adjoining roads. Clearflow can quickly measure and analyse the way live traffic problems affect side streets as well as major highways. The system will cover 72 cities and will be free to use as part of ... (view more)

On Monday, regulators released plans to allow in-flight cell phone use across all 27 nations in the European Union once a flight has reached an altitude of 10,000 feet. The service will be provided for Global System for Mobile communications ... (G.S.M.) handsets only, a standard that is used by 90% of wireless users in Europe. A device called 'On Air', created by Airbus, will be used to create a small cellular network on board an aircraft and then send signals via satellite to cell towers on the ground. (Source: nytimes.com ) Despite the government's good intentions, various problems remain or ... (view more)

There's a major shortage of iPhones in stores across the country, and Apple's own online outlet is also running short. The shortage has prompted speculation Apple is planning to bring forward the launch of its next phone, likely based on 3G ... technology. AppleInsider, an unofficial site that reports on the company's business, says it contacted Apple stores across the country and all were out of stock of both the 8GB and 16GB models. Thus far, there's no news as to when replacements will arrive. Readers of the site added to the reports, suggesting some entire states were without stock. There's ... (view more)

Although often credited as the father of computing, Charles Babbage (author of the "analytic engine"), probably didn't envision anything like mobile computer access or smart phones. Today, however, a growing percentage of the population cannot do ... without mobile communications and Internet access in their day-to-day lives. A recent study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project has found that 62 percent of Americans use mobile access to digital data or tools. Moreover, the same study found that most would have great difficulty in giving their gadgets up; the cell phone would be the ... (view more)

The next time you're in an airport, train station, bus station, coffee house, or other public place and decide to "jack in" to the Internet, you might well be exposing yourself to identity thieves -- or worse. Here's how it works: the girl across ... from you in the airport coffee shop has a laptop in her briefcase that's set as an 'access point', or a 'WiFi hotspot'. She's even given the access point a legitimate-sounding ID, say, something like "Free Airport WiFi". You power up your own laptop, quickly browse for available networks, see "Free Airport WiFi", note that it's unsecured but ignoring ... (view more)

Last week, Apple kicked off a new era for the iPhone, introducing its Software Development Kit (SDK), which will allow developers to create programs for Apple's newest gadget. During a keynote address, Steve Jobs introduced a few limitations to ... Apple's relatively open policy for new software. Any programs that are illegal (file sharing), Malicious (viruses), violate privacy, hog bandwidth or display explicit images will not be allowed. (Source: blogsmithmedia.com ) The iPhone is also not going to allow applications to run in the background, which means you can only access one program at a ... (view more)

As Microsoft continues its bid to take over Yahoo, both firms have announced moves to boost their standing in the mobile Internet market. Microsoft has signed a deal to supply its Silverlight system to cell phones made by Nokia. The system is a ... rival to Adobe's Flash software and allows devices to run interactive graphics and animations. At first the system will only be available on high-end Nokia models. However, it's likely to be extended to other handsets, including those from LG and Samsung, so could theoretically wind up on 53% of all smart phones. If Silverlight becomes popular, ... (view more)

Think the iPhone is the wave of the future? Their good friends at Nokia might have something to say about that. The company recently revealed 'Morph', a concept that hopes to demonstrate the flexibility -- quite literally -- of future cell phones. ... Unveiled at The Museum of Modern Art display in New York, Morph is the result of a shared project between Nokia and Britain's University of Cambridge. The pairing promises to release a number of radical concepts in the next while, but their opening salvo has certainly caught the attention of the techie nation. (Source: businessweek.com ) The concept ... (view more)