smartphones

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T-Mobile May Beat Verizon to iPhone
 T-Mobile May Beat 
 Verizon to iPhone 
hot rumor

T-Mobile May Beat Verizon to iPhone

Verizon's alliance with Google an obstacle for Apple

(Newser) - Competition from Google's Droid platform may stall the Verizon-Apple marriage, meaning the iPhone will wind up branching out to T-Mobile first. With AT&T's exclusive deal near an end, furious speculation about which provider will be the next to offer Apple's signature device has focused on Verizon. But two industry...

AT&T Data Caps: Innovation Killer?

Caps will put limits on innovation, developers warn

(Newser) - AT&T's decision to drop its unlimited data plan today may put the brakes on innovation, makers of smartphone apps warn. AT&T—whose example other firms are expected to follow—says that the limits have been set high enough that they'll only be an issue for a small minority...

AT&amp;T, You're Ripping People Off
AT&T, You're Ripping
People Off
opinion

AT&T, You're Ripping People Off

We needed fairer data plans

(Newser) - Andrew Munchbach has given some thought to AT&T's new billing plans and come to one inescapable conclusion: "AT&T, your improved data plans suck." It's not the lower data caps—he understands the principle, even if he doesn't like it—it's the "dismal" way AT&T...

Have Some Malware With That Smartphone App

Malware sneaks in to smartphone software stores

(Newser) - The millions of apps available online have greatly expanded smartphones' capabilities—but at the price of security, cybercrime experts say. Google, Research in Motion, and Apple have all had to pull malicious or deceptive applications from their stores, but not before some had already been downloaded by scores of users,...

Why the iPhone 4G Won't Be Worth the Money
Why the iPhone 4G Won't Be Worth the Money
OPINION

Why the iPhone 4G Won't Be Worth the Money

Mostly because the current one does

(Newser) - When the iPhone first debuted, it was in a class by itself. But these days it's “a triumph of marketing over functionality,” writes Mark Warman of the Telegraph . Unless the following issues are fixed, there's no point getting a 4G.
  • It's anti-technology: Apple keeps rejecting new features other
...

AT&T Drops One-Price-Fits-All Plan for Smartphones

Other carriers expected to follow

(Newser) - In a sign of a coming industry shift, AT&T will next week stop offering new smartphone users a single price for unlimited Internet access. Under the new plan, customers can pay $15 per month for 200 megabytes of data or $25 per month for 2 gigabytes, instead of $30...

AT&T Raises Smartphone Termination Fee to $325

Move comes before it loses exclusive iPhone deal

(Newser) - AT&T is jacking up early termination fees for smartphone contracts to $325 for new customers starting next month, reports the Wall Street Journal . The nearly two-fold increase comes amid two developments (purely coincidence, says the company): First, Apple's new iPhone is expected out in June, and that could mean...

iPhone Child Care: There's an App for That

Smartphones double as children's toys

(Newser) - Parents have long relied on books, toys, and distractions to entertain their kids when taking them out in public—but these days, they are likely to just grab a smartphone. Kids find the intuitive interface of iPhones and other touchscreen gadgets entertaining, and software designers have taken note: over two-thirds...

Microsoft's Kin: Does the World Really Need a 'Social' Phone?

Heir to the 'sidekick' throne misses the mark

(Newser) - If you're a Facebook-addicted, text-loving teenage girl, you might, maybe, like this phone. If not, look elsewhere. Microsoft's Kin isn't a smartphone, but a cell designed for social media. Is it any good?
  • Gizmodo calls it "the most seamlessly connected phone on the planet," but doesn't love the
...

Google Dumped From Chinese Smartphones

Unicom say Google search won't be on its Android phones

(Newser) - China's second-biggest cell phone operator—apparently bowing to pressure from Beijing—has announced that Google search won't be available on the Android smartphones it developed in partnership with Google. "We are willing to work with any company that abides by Chinese law ," said the president of China Unicom....

Dozens of iPhone Factory Workers Seriously Ill

Chinese workers hospitalized with nerve damage

(Newser) - Dozens of Chinese workers have spent close to a year in hospital after sustaining nerve damage in a factory making iPhone components. The workers, mostly young women, were exposed to a toxic solvent they used to clean iPhone and iTouch screens, GlobalPost finds in part of a series of investigations...

Fandango Tests Digital Movie Tickets

No need to print them, just flash your cellphone in theater

(Newser) - Tired of standing in line at the movie theater, or even printing out your tickets at home? Fandango has a solution. Starting today, moviegoers in eight markets—including New York, Houston, Dallas, and San Diego—will be able to flash their cellphones rather than bothering with a physical ticket. The...

Desktops 'Irrelevant' in 3 Years: Google Exec
 Desktops 'Irrelevant' in 
 3 Years: Google Exec 
all hail the cloud

Desktops 'Irrelevant' in 3 Years: Google Exec

John Gerlihy says company to focus on mobile computing and the cloud

(Newser) - In three years, the desktop computer will be a relic of a bygone era and cloud computing will be the standard. At least that’s Google’s bet, as expounded by Europe exec John Herlihy. Down the road, he told a conference, “desktops will be irrelevant.” Just look...

Why Talking on the Phone Stinks

 Why Talking on 
 the Phone 
 Stinks 
Uh, how are the kids?

Why Talking on the Phone Stinks

The pleasantries, the epic goodbyes make conversation totally lame

(Newser) - Though you'll have to pry the smartphone out of most Americans' cold, dead hands, there are plenty of reasons why those gadgets are good: They allow you to communicate in so many ways other than talking. The Oatmeal illustrates (literally) 10 good reasons why talking on the phone sucks:
  1. All
...

Smartphones Block Out Real World

Fathers, lovers, etc. lost in omnipresent gratification of data

(Newser) - Once upon a time, a professor says, we “put up” with the piecemeal flow of information “because we had to,” but now that the world is at our fingertips, it’s hard to resist. Just ask the dad who let a bathtub holding his daughter overflow because...

BlackBerry Takes Bullet for Ohio Woman

Boyfriend's gun fires accidentally, and device is there

(Newser) - Having a smartphone can save your life—an Ohio woman's BlackBerry took a bullet for her when her boyfriend's concealed handgun accidentally went off in a diner. Anthony Holtvogt, 24, and his girlfriend were preparing to leave a diner after some beers, when a .32-caliber handgun caught in his sleeve,...

Web Puts 2nd Language at Your Fingertips

Online options, from free to pricey, abound

(Newser) - The days of chanting vocabulary words in a classroom and dozing off in the language lab are fading from memory as language instruction becomes increasingly available on the Internet. Freestanding smartphone apps are one option, and more structured instruction comes at a price—and sometimes no price at all. The...

Google's Nexus One Cleans Up Curse Words

Voice-recognition feature uses # symbols on its screen readout

(Newser) - No cursing, please, your Nexus One might be listening: Reuters has discovered a quirk with the Google phone's nifty voice-recognition feature. If you say "bullshit," the readout on the screen will be "bull####." Ditto with other favorite phrases of the potty-mouthed. What gives? Google says it's...

Smartphone Scammers Recycle Dial-Up Tricks

 Smartphone Scammers 
 Recycle Dial-Up Tricks 
bogus phone calls

Smartphone Scammers Recycle Dial-Up Tricks

Trojan diallers call premium lines, racking up huge charges

(Newser) - Criminals have revived an old trick dating from the days of dial-up Internet access to target smartphone users. Trojans known as "diallers" that hijack a line to dial dozens of premium-rate numbers or send premium SMS messages are on the rise again, according to security experts. The diallers—generally...

Users Already Grousing About Google Phones

Lack of support helpline irks Nexus One users

(Newser) - The honeymoon for Google's Nexus One smartphone lasted under a week for many users. Support forums are already filled with critics complaining about various problems, especially connectivity issues. The biggest problem, though, appears to be that many users aren't clear on which company is supposed to answer their questions and...

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