Mobile and Wearables Forum

Apple today announced that it will begin shipping iPhones for CDMA networks, such as those offered by Verizon and Sprint, ending a three-year monopoly in the U.S. held by AT&T since iPhone's inception. Once the phones becomes available later this year, iPhone users in the U.S. that don't wish to …

[ATTACH=right]14158[/ATTACH]I love my iPhone. It's a cool device with lots of free and low-cost apps at my finger tips, but I've been wondering lately if some of these Apps are a good thing. I mean, why do I need a dedicated New York Times app, for example? Why doesn't the …

The annual [URL="http://cansecwest.com/"]CanSecWest PWN2OWN[/URL] hacking contest has [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story270028.html"]done it again[/URL] and provided us news types with the perfect headline writing opportunity as the Apple iPhone falls to the hackers in just 20 seconds. The hackers in question, Vincenzo Iozzo and Ralf Weinmann, picked up the prize of $15,000 and an …

[I]The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think. Oh by the way, which one's Pink? ~Pink Floyd, Have a Cigar[/I] In the classic rock tale, the young, talented musicians are exploited by one of two entities: the unscrupulous manager or the greedy record company. This week Pink …

I am not surprised that the Trademark Office has refused the application filed by Google in respect of the Nexus One smartphone trademark. What does surprise me, however, is that Google went ahead and chanced its arm with the application when a cursory search would have shown that a similar …

I'm in search of Linux--which sounds odd since it seems that I should be able to find all the Linux I'd ever want but I want to know about [I]your[/I] favorite Linux gadget, project, invention, software, innovation or appliance. I want to know which ones are most important to you--which …

The other night my son had a homework assignment asking me how technology had changed since I was a child. I started rattling off the the devices and technologies we take for granted today that didn't exist back then. Sounding like my parents talking about the old days, I told …

The [URL="http://www.linux.com/news/featured-blogs/158-jim-zemlin/286723-bringing-the-magic-to-linux-with-meego-"]announcement[/URL] from The [URL="http://www.linuxfoundation.org"]Linux Foundation[/URL]'s Jim Zemlin: [QUOTE]MeeGo combines Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo projects at the Linux Foundation to create one open source uber-platform for the next generation of computing devices: tablets, pocketable computers, netbooks, automotive IVI and more. Why should you pay attention to this announcement? With …

The long awaited unveiling of the latest Microsoft mobile phone OS is happening as I type in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. Twitter is all excited, as you might imagine, with tech journalists and gadget watchers alike swooning over the flashy new additions which would seem to suggest that …

There are many interesting new products that get released to the masses at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but few of them are as cheap as the Vodafone 150. Being dubbed the most affordable ultra low cost handset from Vodafone ever, the 150 is intended for those emerging markets …

The day that Google announced its Nexus One retail strategy, [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story250839.html"]I wrote a post[/URL] pulling no punches that I thought it was a horrible idea. If [URL="http://www.tuaw.com/2010/01/14/nexus-one-sells-only-20-000-phones-its-first-week/"]first week sales figures[/URL] are any indication, I am being proven right. What's more, Google appears to be cannibalizing their own ad space to …

The trend in recent years has been from smartphones to get bigger screens and slimmer profiles, with everyone pretty much following where the Apple iPhone leads them. Until now, that is, with Nokia breaking free from the constraints of a huge touchscreen and apparently opting for a tiny candy-bar design …

When Google developed the Nexus One, they might not have figured on one huge unintended consequence. They [URL="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/01/googles-dont-be-evil-mantra-is-bullshit-adobe-is-lazy-apples-steve-jobs/#ixzz0eaEaTQsI"]pissed off Steve Jobs[/URL] big time. "We didn't get into the search business," he reportedly barked, at a Town Hall style meeting, following the iPad announcement last weekend. "They got in the phone …

Apple has this week released a software update for the iPhone which addresses a total of five security vulnerabilities. But not, it would seem, the small matter of a year old glitch which could turn your iPhone into a spyPhone. First the good news, Apple has released [URL="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4013"]iPhone OS 3.1.3[/URL] …

For a while it looked like the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story252590.html"]Google threat[/URL] to pull out of China was just a load of hot air, and pretty late hot air at that considering [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story253371.html"]it had taken years[/URL] for the search giant to realise that [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4434.html"]state censorship is a bad thing[/URL]. But that has all …

Interested in following the Obama presidency? There's an [URL="http://itunes.com/apps/thewhitehouse"]app[/URL] for that. Timed for the State of the Union speech next week, TheWhiteHouse is a free application for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch that lets users stream video, browse photos, and read text from President Barack Obama's White House. According …

It's always exciting to hear about new technology like the tablet, and the idea of a new Apple tablet is one that sets us all aglow. But while we wait seemingly endlessly for Apple to come through (or not) with its long-rumored product, other manufacturers are flirting with the same …

Lord knows I could do with shedding a pound or 50, but it never occurred to me that WiFi could help me do that. However, according to a press release that arrived today it would appear to be the case. Some French technology outfit has launched a set of WiFi …

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein isn't looking to the stars for his comeback strategy. The inventor of the iPod was quoted last week saying he had never used an iPhone and that he doesn't pay that much attention to Apple. Was he kidding? If his strategy for competing with the industry's …

Google announced the long awaited [URL="http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2010/01/google_releases_its_nexus_one.html"]Nexus One[/URL] today, but the phone itself was only part of the story. Google has decided to distribute the phone exclusively through its own [URL="http://www.google.com/phone"]web store[/URL], a misguided strategy I think will ultimately backfire on them. Frankly, I think it's a mistake for the company …

Well, this looks like it - all the reports are in place. I think we can safely say it's Googlephone day, particularly when there are bloggers around who've [URL="http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/01/the-google-phone.html"]already received a Nexus[/URL]. This only leaves one question unanswered. If the Nexus is going to be the Google phone, what are …

News [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/dec/14/mobilephones-google-nexus-one-gphone"]"leaked"[/URL] this weekend of an unlocked Google-branded phone. On the upside, an unlocked phone means you aren't tied to any particular carrier, nor are you required to sign a contract, but on the downside, you don't get the large provider subsidy on the phone cost in exchange for the …

Persistent rumors have Google scheduling an event for Tuesday to launch its new Nexus One mobile phone. Engadget was even fortunate enough [URL="http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/02/exclusive-google-nexus-one-hands-on-video-and-first-impressio/"]to procure one[/URL] ahead of the launch. Whenever Google makes it official, it's clearly an impressive looking device, but ever since I heard about Google manufacturing its own …

Augmented reality has been a bit of a Star Trek thing until now - you know, one of those things that seems a good idea but won't really work outside of a few sci-fi shows. Well, maybe it won't be for long. The [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8421684.stm"]BBC[/URL] is among the sources suggesting it's …

The [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story220247.html"]hugely popular[/URL] act of text messaging is many different things to many different people, from a cool way to keep in touch at one end of the spectrum to something that is destroying the English language at the other. You can [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story220712.html"]use SMS to hack an iPhone[/URL] or send …

If you are expecting a nice shiny iPhone or BlackBerry as a gift this Xmas, your joy may be short lived if network crashes this week are anything to go by. Earlier this week Twitter users in the UK were reporting data network access as being down for close on …

The Android has landed. 17 percent of people in the U.S. currently planning to buy a smartphone within the next three months are considering one that runs Google's mobile OS, while 20 percent indicated that iPhone would be their choice. That's according to [url=http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/12/Android_Crashing_the_Smartphone_Party]a report released yesterday[/url] by analyst firm …

The news that Google is going to start making its own mobile phones to run the Android operating system might seem odd at first but it's actually quite logical. I should stress it's unsubstantiated as yet but it's appeared on a number of websites. The doubters have pointed out that …

My son needs a new phone, so yesterday at my suggestion, we took a trip to the local AT&T retail store to get a look at the options up close and personal. Instead of eager sales people trying hard to sell us phones, we found they preferred to send us …

Mike Elgan, the veteran technology journalist, mused last week in a [URL="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141437/Elgan_7_reasons_why_e_book_readers_make_lousy_gifts_this_year"]Computerworld article[/URL] that eBook readers would make lousy gifts. I don't necessarily agree with all of Elgan's points, but it got me thinking about how useful a one-trick device is for users. If you think about it, we began …

According to a new survey of London taxi drivers, an average of 10,000 mobile phones are left behind by customers every single month. If that total is not staggeringly high enough, you can top it up with another 1000 iPods and memory sticks if you like. December is the worse …

Smaller, bigger, faster. The more time that goes by, the bigger the number of bits they squeeze into smaller places for less money. And always faster than before. This time it's Samsung, with [url=http://www.eetimes.com/news/design/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221901550]news today[/url] that it has begun volume production of flash memory that's more than three times faster …

A couple of months ago DaniWeb reported how British singer Lily Allen [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story226113.html"]turned the music copyright debate into a copywrong farce[/URL] with some ill conceived blogging. Things went quiet soon after the media had swarmed all over Allen and her odd arguments, not least as she [URL="http://torrentfreak.com/lily-allen-deletes-pro-copyright-blog-and-ends-career-090924/"]closed down her blog[/URL] …

Verizon made [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37NKnDRPFKU"]an ad[/URL] making fun of AT&T's 3G coverage (and it's manliness). AT&T wasn't happy because it suggested their 3G coverage was spotty. So [URL="http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/03/atandt-sues-verizon-over-theres-a-map-for-that-ads/"]they sued[/URL] saying the ads were misleading consumers, and anyway they had way more customers and their customers loved them, and Verizon just couldn't handle …

The [url=http://www.blackberrydeveloperconference.com/overview]BlackBerry Developer Conference[/url] concluded yesterday, but not before Research in Motion had the chance to unveil enhancements to its [url=http://na.blackberry.com/eng/developers/]BlackBerry Application Platform[/url], which now supports [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL_ES]OpenGL ES[/url], a subset of the desktop graphics API specification for embedded systems. Useful for development of 3D games development and other graphics, it's …

Now that's what I call an Android phone. Actually, that's what I call an Android phone that might just [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3944.html"]kick some iPhone ass[/URL]. The [URL="http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/specifications/xperiax10a?lc=en&cc=us#a"]Sony Ericsson Xperia X10[/URL] social networking phone is Android powered and feature rich. How rich? Well, how does 1GB RAM plus 16Gb of flash storage and …

Cellphone manufacturer Samsung has taken everyone by surprise by announcing its own operating system Bada - Korean for 'ocean' - will [URL="http://www.bada.com/samsung-launches-open-mobile-platform/"]launch in December[/URL]. The intriguing question is why the company wants to do it. The Smartphone arena is at the moment dominated by a handful of players - Google's …

It is something of a good and bad news day for mobile phone giant Nokia. On the same day that it announces shipping of the new N900 handset, based on the open source Maemo 5 software, Nokia is also recalling a staggering 14 million mobile phone chargers due to concerns …

You don't have to have lived in Haight-Ashbury in the Sixties to achieve self-awareness in San Francisco. BlackBerry developers are gathered in the city this week for the annual [url=http://www.blackberrydeveloperconference.com/overview]BlackBerry Developer Conference[/url], taking place now through Thursday. Among the top stories is a new service platform from Research in Motion …

If you're yearning to break free from Apple-sanctioned iPhone carrier AT&T (and you don't mind trading your warranty for the privilege), then reach out and touch George Hotz. The iPhone hacker yesterday posted a [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g23e9e9zOVI&feature=player_embedded]video showing an iPhone call on T-Mobile[/url], and Wednesday is expected to post the code that …

On the face of it, you would think eBook Readers would be perfect for an academic setting, but according to a [URL="http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/28/kindle-dx-called-poor-excuse-of-an-academic-tool-in-princeton/"]post on Engadget[/URL] this week, Princeton students participating in a pilot program were unhappy with the Kindle DX's feature set, particularly ones essential to students such as annotation and …

If it wasn't bad enough that someone is filing for a trademark to cover an adult-oriented games console called a SexBox, the world's largest adult entertainment company is seeking approval from Sony to turn its entertainment console into a PornStation 3. Silican Xtal Corp, a San Jose based integrated circuit …

It's official - [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk"]Amazon[/URL] is finally going to bring the [URL="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015T963C//ref=amb_link_84995193_2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=0YE4YSBQWS4B3NPRZQ2G&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=472917413&pf_rd_i=468294"]Kindle e-book reader[/URL] to countries other than the US, including my own UK. Thing is, there are going to be issues. The first is a practical one. In the absence of any specific announcement to the contrary, we're all going …

[URL="http://www.toshiba.com"]Toshiba[/URL] has launched a new selection of notebook computers - but they look rather like Netbooks. Priced at the upper end of the cheaper notebook market (and the exact cost will depend on your territory, let's just say they're starting at £429 in the UK) they're called the CULV satellites …

When singer Lily Allen posted a passionate plea for people to stop illegally sharing music files, and started a dedicated blog where fellow pop stars could voice their concerns over the 'theft' of their work, you might have been forgiven for thinking it would just turn into the usual bunch …

This week I went to an annual press launch in London. Called [URL="http://www.myplaybite.com"]PlayBite[/URL], it's not half as salacious as it sounds, just a group of companies that share the same PR company (also called Bite, you can see where they're going with this) exhibiting stuff. There were a few gadgets …

It was surreal to read today that Microsoft's Apple iPod killer, the Zune, has gone all high definition. That's to say that the new version announced today will have high-def capacity. Reaction has been positive; connect it to a TV and it'll be great, everyone's going to want one. Well, …

Yesterday Microsoft launched the long-awaited [URL="http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunehd/default.htm"]Zune HD[/URL]. By all reports, this is a pretty nice device with a large 3.3 inch OLED screen with HD video and HD radio playback. As a media player, it offers access to a limited App Store and a very nice $15 all-you-can-eat monthly music …

When interface guru Jakob Nieslen reported on the [URL="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/kindle-usability-review.html"]Kindle 2 [/URL]usability last March, he pointed out it was great for books, but not much other content. Why is this significant? Two recent reports suggest that the eBook Reader could move beyond a simple device for reading books, and could become …

Don't get me wrong, I'm a great fan of the PS3 but not for the gaming which, when compared to the Xbox 360 is in a totally different league in my opinion. But when it comes to the actual hardware, well, the PS3 wins every time. Not only is it …