smartphones

Stories 321 - 340 | << Prev   Next >>

Booming iPad Stunts PC Shipments
Booming iPad
Stunts PC Shipments

Booming iPad Stunts PC Shipments

Personal computer shipments not growing as anticipated

(Newser) - Is the era of personal computers really ending ? New figures seem to support the idea: Shipments of PCs slowed last quarter, thanks mostly to, yes, the iPad. Total worldwide shipments increased 2.7%, says one report released yesterday; another puts the growth at 3.1%. Both numbers are slower...

Cell Phone Risks Tough to Ignore
 Cell Phone Risks 
 Tough to Ignore 
book review

Cell Phone Risks Tough to Ignore

Review: Two new books don't settle the issue, but raise serious questions

(Newser) - The Washington Post's environmental reporter takes a look at two books (Ann Louise Gittleman's Zapped and Devra Davis' Disconnect) that cover familiar ground on the potential dangers of cell phones. Neither comes close to settling the issue, writes Juliet Eilperin, but "they raise significant questions about our constant exposure...

iPhone App Gauges Your Happiness

And finds that daydreaming is tied to bad moods

(Newser) - Turns out the all-powerful iPhone can also moonlight as your personal therapist, by way of the "Track Your Happiness" app. The app pings users at random times during the day, asking how they're feeling and what they're doing. Researchers looked at the responses of 2,250 adults and found...

Apple Sues Motorola on Smartphone Patents

It's a countersuit, part of the escalating tech wars

(Newser) - Apple has responded to Motorola's you-stole-our-patents lawsuit with the expected no-you-stole-our-patents countersuit, reports Apple Insider . Apple actually filed two suits yesterday accusing Motorola of infringing on six iPhone patents related to multitouch features and graphical interfaces on its various smartphones, including the Droid.

Mount Everest Gets 3G Coverage

It's the highest mobile network base station

(Newser) - Can you hear me now? Ambitious climbers can now theoretically check their email from the top of the world, because new 3G mobile network service station was installed at the base of Mount Everest yesterday, CNN reports. At an altitude of 17,000 feet, it’s the highest such base...

PlayStation Phone Is Leaked—Maybe

Photos of prototype surface, but some have doubts

(Newser) - The much-rumored PlayStation phone looks to be the real deal. Engadget today provided photos of what it calls a prototype and says it would likely be on the market in 2011, with an outside chance of later this year. The phone would likely use Google's Android software and connect users...

Your Smartphone Is Full of Germs

More germs than a toilet handle, in fact

(Newser) - Your smartphone is dirtier than the toilet flush handle in a men’s restroom—18 times dirtier, to be exact. A new study shows that “personal touch-screen devices” are one of the best places to pick up germs, joining other fomites (frequently handled objects) that often spread illness, like...

Verizon Gets Cozier With Apple, Will Sell iPads

Customers can bundle it with MiFi wireless device

(Newser) - Verizon delivered a surprise today with the announcement that it would start carrying the iPad in its stores later this month, Electronista reports. An optional deal would bundle the iPad’s standard Wi-Fi model with a Novatel MiFi 2200, allowing users to share a 3G connection with other devices. The...

Microsoft Unveils Windows 7 Phones

Here's a rundown of the various devices

(Newser) - Microsoft unveiled its new Windows Phone 7 operating system today, showing off a whopping nine phones that will feature it (you can see most of them in the photo gallery). The wide launch presents a not-so-subtle counterpoint to Apple’s monolithic iPhone model, CNET observes. “The phones are always...

Verizon iPhone Due Early 2011
 Verizon iPhone Due Early 2011 

Verizon iPhone Due Early 2011

Apple also developing iPhone 5

(Newser) - Apple will have an iPhone available for the Verizon network by early 2011, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new model will be similar to the iPhone 4, but employ the CDMA wireless technology used by Verizon. The move means iPhones will no longer be exclusive to AT&T's network....

Microsoft to Debut Windows Phone 7 Next Week

Announces Oct. 11 press conference; AT&T will be preferred partner

(Newser) - Windows is at long last ready to roll out its first Windows Phone 7 device. The company has just sent out formal invitations to the big reveal—an Oct. 11 press conference, CNET reports. Steve Ballmer will be in attendance, accompanied by AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega....

Shut Off the Smartphone, Lest You Kill the Bar Debate

There are times for your iPhone; the bar is not one

(Newser) - Sure, you know to shut off your smartphone at the movies, maybe in the boardroom, and we hope in the bedroom, but there's one more place too sacred for technology: Your favorite watering hole. Ever since Derek Brown got that shiny iPhone, he finds himself Googling the answers to trivia...

Is the 'Facebook Phone' On Its Way?

Probably not, but a Facebook-branded phone might be

(Newser) - Much buzzing ensued this weekend over the possibility of a “Facebook phone.” Bottom line? Not gonna happen—but that doesn’t mean we won’t see a “Facebook-branded, social-networking-focused Android phone” in the very near future, writes Dan Nosowitz on Fast Company . The story that started it...

Few People Actually Pay for Apps

Only 13% have done so, says new study

(Newser) - Apps have captured the popular imagination and made smartphone makers' mouths water with the thought of a new revenue source. But a new survey from Nielsen and the Pew Research Center casts doubt on the size of the current market:
  • Only 13% of adults have ever paid for an app,
...

Apple Loosens Up on Apps
 Apple Loosens Up on Apps 

Apple Loosens Up on Apps

Restrictions lifted, guidelines published

(Newser) - Apple has done a U-turn and scrapped restrictions introduced earlier this year on what tools developers can use to build applications for the iPhone and iPad. Developers will now be allowed to use tools based on Adobe's Flash, and restrictions on other programming languages have been lifted, the Wall Street ...

Gadgets Are Frying Your Brain

Our brains need downtime to think, scientists say

(Newser) - Our love affair with gadgets is robbing our minds of the critical downtime they need to properly process our experiences, scientists tell the New York Times . Experiments show that when rats learn a new skill, such as running a maze, their brains actually process the experience only when they take...

Epic 4G May Put Sprint on Top
 Epic 4G May Put Sprint on Top 
Tech Review

Epic 4G May Put Sprint on Top

Reviewers loving hefty, feature-packed Sprint device

(Newser) - Sprint has been the punching bag of the mobile world for a while now, but that may be changing thanks to its lightning-fast 4G WiMax network—and the spiffy new Android smartphones that use it. First there was the HTC EVO, and now comes the Epic, part of Samsung’s...

Chicago Cop Sues for OT for Checking Blackberry

Case raises sticky smartphone concerns

(Newser) - A Chicago police sergeant is suing the city for overtime pay for all the times he checks his Blackberry while off duty, reports NPR . The case might help iron out (or further complicate) the rules governing the increasingly blurred lines between work and private life. The mayor scoffs at this...

Murdoch to Start 'Newspaper'—for iPad, Cells

He dreams: 'We'll have young people reading newspapers'

(Newser) - News Corp is planning to launch a new “newspaper” exclusively for tablet computers and cellphones. The new property will operate out of the New York Post newsroom, and be helmed by the Post’s managing editor, but will have several dozen reporters of its own, a source tells the...

Thumbs Up for Swype Keyboard
 Thumbs Up for 
 Swype Keyboard 
Tech Review

Thumbs Up for Swype Keyboard

Or should that be index fingers up?

(Newser) - Do you hate your phone’s virtual keyboard? Then you might want to try Swype, a new virtual keyboard that’s rapidly gaining buzz. Swype allows you to type by drawing lines from letter to letter, never lifting your finger from the screen. Skeptical? Don’t be, writes Katherine Boehret...

Stories 321 - 340 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser