PHONE NEWS
Samsung Announces YOUM Flexible Display
Submitted Friday, April 13, 2012 @ 02:31 AMhuffingtonpost.com — You may recall Samsung's amazing concept video released last December for a mobile device consisting entirely of a flexible AMOLED display. The translucent device translated languages on the spot, projected images in 3D and performed other awesome tasks. See the complete story here.
How Linus Torvalds Helped Bust a Microsoft Patent
Submitted Tuesday, March 27, 2012 @ 06:04 AMwired.com — Linus Torvalds just can’t help but be a thorn in Microsoft’s side. First, he created an open source project that completely upset Microsoft’s business model. And now, he has helped shoot down an important Microsoft patent in Redmond’s crusade to wring licensing dollars out of Google Android and other versions of Linux. See the complete story here.
Free Android Apps Packed with Ads Are Major Battery Drains
Submitted Tuesday, March 20, 2012 @ 12:49 PMcio.com — Free Android smartphone apps loaded with advertising such as Angry Birds may be a boon for your wallet, but the apps cost your handset some battery life, according to a new study. See the complete story here.
Fake Google Play site serves Android malware
Submitted Tuesday, March 20, 2012 @ 12:45 PMnet-security.org — Online scammers are known for their adaptability, so it should not come as a surprise that the recent name change of Google's official Android Market - now dubbed Google Play - would be quickly taken advantage of. See the complete story here.
Android and Linux re-merge into one operating system
Submitted Tuesday, March 20, 2012 @ 12:38 PMzdnet.com — For years, Android has been a Linux variant, but now, with the release of Linux 3.3, the two operating systems are united again. See the complete story here.
Vibrating tattoo alerts patent filed by Nokia in US
Submitted Tuesday, March 20, 2012 @ 12:37 PMbbc.co.uk — Vibrating magnetic tattoos may one day be used to alert mobile phone users to phone calls and text messages if Nokia follows up a patent application. See the complete story here.
Apple's Siri not as smart as she looks, lawsuit charges
Submitted Saturday, March 17, 2012 @ 04:24 AMnews.cnet.com — Apple's been a little overzealous in the way it's advertised Siri, the voice assistant feature found on the company's latest iPhone, a new lawsuit claims. See the complete story here.
Aghast at Avast’s iYogi Support
Submitted Saturday, March 17, 2012 @ 04:21 AMkrebsonsecurity.com — The makers of Avast antivirus software are warning users about a new scam involving phone calls from people posing as customer service reps for the company and requesting remote access to user systems. Avast is still investigating the incidents, but a number of users are reporting that the incidents followed experiences with iYogi, the company in India that is handling Avast’s customer support. See the complete story here.
Walmart buys a Facebook-based calendar app to get a look at customers' ...
Submitted Saturday, March 17, 2012 @ 03:55 AMarstechnica.com — A report from the retail technology site StoreFront Backtalk (registration required for full story) suggests that Walmart's recent acquisition of a Facebook calendar application with 16 million users is part of a plan to drive more sales through social networks. The Social Calendar app and its file of 110 million birthdays and other events, acquired from Newput Corp., will give Walmart the ability to expand its efforts to dig deeper into the lives of customers—allowing customers to make purchases on Walmart.com directly from event reminders from the Web or their mobile device. See the complete story here.
Paypal Here offers stores smartphone credit card reader
Submitted Saturday, March 17, 2012 @ 03:53 AMbbc.co.uk — Paypal has introduced a mobile credit card reader enabling on-the-fly transactions at small firms worldwide. See the complete story here.
Android applications flaw can allow photo access
Submitted Thursday, March 01, 2012 @ 10:18 PMandroidcommunity.com — Ever wonder if the photos you snapped with your Android device were safe from others to see? Well, I’m sure you hadn’t considered it, but it turns out they’re not. Developers have the capability to see users photos right after they allow them to access their local information! This little glitch can occur without any notice to the user as well. See the complete story here.
Rider Jams Cell Phones on SEPTA Buses
Submitted Thursday, March 01, 2012 @ 09:57 PMnbcphiladelphia.com — The NBC10 Investigators track down a rider who admits to jamming cell phones on a SEPTA bus. The rider explains why he does it. An expert says this is a public safety concern. See the complete story here.
Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses by Year’s End
Submitted Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 09:16 AMbits.blogs.nytimes.com — People who constantly reach into a pocket to check a smartphone for bits of information will soon have another option: a pair of Google-made glasses that will be able to stream information to the wearer’s eyeballs in real time. See the complete story here.
Mobile Malware On The Move, McAfee Report Says
Submitted Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 09:01 AMdarkreading.com — The number of new malware samples hit 75 million worldwide last year even as PC malware counts declined, with mobile malware rapidly emerging, according to new data from McAfee Adam Wosotowsky, McAfee, senior anti-spam research analyst and an author of McAfee's new Fourth Quarter 2011 Threat Report, says there was a significant uptick in mobile malware -- mostly for Android platforms -- between the third and fourth quarters of last year. "We saw the rate of increase in mobile malware really take off compared with [the period] before," Wosotowsky says. See the complete story here.
Social messaging apps 'lost networks $13.9bn in 2011'
Submitted Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 08:30 AMbbc.co.uk — Social messaging applications cost mobile network operators $13.9bn (£8.8bn) in lost SMS revenue last year, a report has claimed. See the complete story here.
Apple wins over Motorola in 'slide-to-unlock' ruling
Submitted Monday, February 20, 2012 @ 02:53 AMbbc.co.uk — Apple has won a patent dispute against Motorola Mobility regarding a "slide-to-unlock" feature on smartphones. See the complete story here.
Your address book is mine: Many iPhone apps take your data
Submitted Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 03:36 PMventurebeat.com — Path got caught red-handed uploading users’ address books to its servers and had to apologize. But the relatively obscure journaling app is not alone. In fact, Path was crucified for a practice that has become an unspoken industry standard. See the complete story here.
iPad maker Foxconn lifts China workers pay again
Submitted Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 03:35 PMin.reuters.com — Foxconn Technology Group, the top maker of Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads whose factories are under scrutiny over labour practices, has raised wages of its Chinese workers by 16-25 percent from this month, the third rise since 2010. See the complete story here.
HTC shuts down Dashwire mobile backup service, takes user data with it
Submitted Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 03:27 PMbetanews.com — Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC acquired cloud services provider Dashwire in August for approximately $18.5 million with the outward intention of integrating the company's cloud services into its still-in-beta HTCSense.com mobile backup, storage, and content management service. See the complete story here.
Symantec warns of Android Trojans that mutate with every download
Submitted Monday, February 06, 2012 @ 08:47 AMtechworld.com.au — Researchers from security vendor Symantec have identified a new premium-rate SMS Android Trojan horse that modifies its code every time it gets downloaded in order to bypass antivirus detection. See the complete story here.