smartphones

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For 3rd Time, Facebook Poised to Build Phone

But will it be any good, if it ever arrives?

(Newser) - Facebook is once again gearing up to build its own smartphone, and it could be here by next year. The company has hired several engineers from the iPhone and iPad teams for its third foray into the project, insiders tell the New York Times . Facebook's first attempt to build...

Verizon to Phase Out Unlimited Data Plans

'Grandfathered' customers will be shifted to data-share plans upon upgrade

(Newser) - Verizon is scrapping the $30-a-month unlimited data plan that it still gives to 3G customers who signed up for it before the company switched to a tiered system, reports FierceWireless . When the "grandfathered" customers upgrade their devices, they will be shifted over to Verizon's new data-share plan that...

Sexting Solution? App Kills Image After 10 Seconds

Snapchat might help prevent post-text embarrassment

(Newser) - Good news for naked celebrities: A new app lets people send sexts with less chance they'll leak online. Snapchat allows users to set potentially embarrassing photo messages to delete themselves within seconds. It even warns senders when a recipient tries to take a screenshot of a message, the website...

BlackBerry Surrenders on Consumer Market

Maker RIM will instead focus on business customers

(Newser) - Struggling BlackBerry maker Research in Motion said today it will cede most consumer markets after failing to compete with flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple's iPhone and models that run Google's Android software. Instead, RIM said it will return to its roots and focus on business customers, many...

Angry Birds Won't Tick Off Nokia After All

Rovio will create a version for Windows Phone platform

(Newser) - Good news for Nokia and fans of Angry Birds who use their phones: Game-maker Rovio says it plans to make a version of the new Angry Birds Space for the Windows Phone 7 platform, despite earlier reports to the contrary, notes Mashable . The game sequel launched on iOS and Android...

Have an AT&T Unlimited Plan? Not Anymore

Grandfathered in, you say? Well you're now capped at 3GB

(Newser) - Amid growing controversy over data "throttling" —in which smartphone users on so-called unlimited data plans risked seeing their speeds slowed dramatically—AT&T is taking a simple step: It's effectively ending unlimited data. The company is setting a cap of three gigabytes' usage, beyond which "unlimited"...

Hackers' Favorite New Target: Android

Malicious apps surged more than 3,000% last year

(Newser) - Cyber criminals have spent years figuring out how mobile systems like Android work, and now they're cashing in, security experts warn. Android, now the most popular smartphone operating system, has seen malware surge along with its popularity. Malware targeting the Google-created system grew a massive 3,325% in the...

Will Smartphones Kill Braille?
 Will Smartphones Kill Braille? 
Feb 14, 2012 1:15 PM CST

Will Smartphones Kill Braille?

Only 1 in 10 people who are blind can read it

(Newser) - Braille's battle to avoid the fate of the Dodo is a long-running one: In the 1950s, more than 50% of the blind learned it; today, that figure is down to just 10%. And smartphones are just making matters worse, reports NPR . It takes a look at the life of...

AT&T Customers Stunned by 'Unlimited Data' Limit

Top data users find smartphones 'throttled'

(Newser) - AT&T stopped offering unlimited data plans in 2010, but some of the customers who already had the plans are finding "unlimited" doesn't necessarily mean what they thought it meant. AT&T has started "throttling" the top 5% of data users, cutting their download speeds by up...

Cops: Remote Shutdowns Would Curb Phone Thefts

They want FCC, carriers to put safeguard in place

(Newser) - With smartphone robberies soaring, frustrated police are calling for regulators and service providers to shut down stolen phones remotely to reduce their value, reports the Washington Post . About 40% of robberies in Washington in 2011 involved smartphones, iPods, or tablets, while in New York City the figure was nearly 50%....

Nokia Posts $1.4B Loss in 4th Quarter

But sales of Windows smartphones are meeting expectations

(Newser) - Mobile phone maker Nokia Corp. today posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $1.4 billion as sales slumped 21% even as the company's first Windows smartphones hit markets in Europe and Asia. The loss compares with a profit of $981 million in the same period a year earlier. Nokia...

Rumor: An iPhone 5 Summer
 Rumor: An iPhone 5 Summer 
Jan 25, 2012 5:19 PM CST

Rumor: An iPhone 5 Summer

Next generation could feature 4-inch screen: 9to5Mac

(Newser) - A fresh new rumor declares an iPhone 5 launch this summer with a screen enlarged to at least 4 inches (compared to 3.5 inches on the iPhone 4S). Prototypes of the iPhone 5 are apparently "floating around," claims the Apple-centric blog 9to5Mac , which is getting its info...

RIM&#39;s Co-CEOs Step Down
 RIM's Co-CEOs Step Down 
Jan 23, 2012 6:58 AM CST

RIM's Co-CEOs Step Down

Balsillie, Lazaridis insist it had nothing to do with investor pressure

(Newser) - A big shuffle at Research in Motion last night, as Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis—who have served together as co-CEOs for two decades—stepped down, turning over the top position at the struggling company to former chief operating officer Thorsten Heins. Balsillie and Lazaridis also gave up their co-chairmanship,...

5 Must-Have Apps for Fliers
 5 Must-Have Apps for Fliers 
Jan 7, 2012 5:34 AM CST

5 Must-Have Apps for Fliers

Find tickets, new flights, even lounges

(Newser) - Every air traveler armed with a smartphone should load up on these five apps, says the Travel section of USA Today:
  • SkyScanner (Free): This app will hunt down the best price for your ticket. It scans not only all of the airlines' websites but all of the online travel agencies
...

Top 1% of Mobile Addicts Use Half the Bandwidth

And the gap is growing, new report finds

(Newser) - The most voracious mobile users are hogging the majority of the world's mobile broadband traffic—and the gap between them and non-power users is growing, according to a new report. Arieso, an English company that advises mobile operators, believes that the top 10% of mobile users generate 90% of...

Samsung Hits Record Profit
 Samsung Hits Record Profit 
Jan 6, 2012 10:11 AM CST

Samsung Hits Record Profit

Thanks to its array of smartphones

(Newser) - Samsung Electronics today reported that Q4 was its most profitable quarter ever, thanks mostly to skyrocketing smartphone sales. Samsung is projected to have shipped 35 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, after surpassing Apple in Q3 as the world's top smartphone purveyor, Reuters reports. Those sales helped fuel a...

iPhone 4S to Be Launched in China Next Week
 iPhone's Siri Learning Chinese 
Jan 5, 2012 3:09 AM CST

iPhone's Siri Learning Chinese

4s to be launched in China, 21 other countries

(Newser) - Apple is about to get more than a billion new potential customers for the iPhone 4s—but many of them may find it tricky communicating with Siri just yet. The smartphone will be launched in China and 21 other countries next week, and while its voice-activated virtual assistant currently only...

Angry Birds Get Happy Over Holidays: 6.5M Downloads

Rovio has a record day on Christmas

(Newser) - At this point, maybe phones should just come preloaded with those ubiquitous birds: Game-maker Rovio reports 6.5 million downloads of various Angry Birds versions on Christmas Day, reports All Things D . Which is impressive not just because it's a record and three times more than last year, notes...

VW Is Right: Shut Off the BlackBerries

Why automaker's move to unplug employees makes sense

(Newser) - Three cheers for Volkswagen! The German automaker has decided to turn off the email server for its employees' BlackBerries every day before and after work, and Roger Cohen of the New York Times thinks it’s a visionary move. Constantly being plugged into work has real costs, and while employees...

The New Headache: 'Peeping Tom' Phone Apps

Apps silence 'click,' black out screen to shield photo snapper

(Newser) - Cell phone apps that allow "peeping Toms" to secretly snap photos of unsuspecting targets are causing major headaches in Japan, and are bound to head to closer shores. The apps mute the sound of a photo click, and can also make it appear that the cell phone user is...

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