Smartphones

VMware, Verizon Split Mobile Personalities
May 15, 2013

VMware and Verizon on Wednesday jointly announced the availability of VMware Horizon Mobile, a dual persona solution designed to segregate corporate and personal information, on the LG Intuition and Motorola Razr M smartphones used by Verizon Enterprise customers. The dual persona system establishes a separate workspace for corporate data, while personal information remains separate and secure.

Microsoft Plans Meek Summer Update to WP8
May 15, 2013

It appears that Microsoft won't be rocking the Windows Phone 8 boat very much until 2014. Microsoft spread some crumbs Tuesday about an update to its mobile operating system coming this summer, and the offering is pretty mild. Another scheduled update for the fall is expected to deliver more of the same. The summer update is just a "momentum release," said Directions on Microsoft's Rob Sanfilippo.

BlackBerry's Bold Moves on Display at Conference
May 15, 2013

BlackBerry, which had 3 percent of the global smartphone market in Q1, according to Gartner, is taking bold steps to turn around its fortunes. The company announced those moves Tuesday at its BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando, Fla. It will bring its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to the iOS and Android platforms later this year.

Nokia Goes Slimmer, Shinier With New Lumia 925 Smartphone
May 14, 2013

Nokia on Tuesday unveiled the Lumia 925, which it described as a "new interpretation" of its flagship Lumia 920 smartphone. The Lumia 925 includes what the company claims is the most advanced lens technology and next-generation imaging software, which enables the phone to take the best low-light images.

Xperia ZR Takes the Plunge for Underwater Photos, HD Video
May 13, 2013

Sony on Monday announced the Xperia ZR, which can take photos and full HD videos underwater -- well, in 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes, anyway. The device is also dust-resistant. The Xperia ZR will be available in black, white, pink and mint, and will be rolled out in Q2, but Sony did not give details on release date or price.

Amazon's 3D Phone Could Simply Be a Wonder to Behold
May 10, 2013

Amazon is rumored to be developing two high-end smartphones, as well as an audio-streaming device, broadening its range of branded hardware products well beyond its current Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets and its expected -- though as yet unconfirmed -- TV set-top box. The big surprise in the latest rumor is that one of the smartphones might actually support 3D video.

High-Tech Plot Leads to Record-Breaking Heist
May 10, 2013

In what is believed to be one of the biggest robberies ever executed, cyberthieves stole nearly $50 million from a pair of Middle Eastern banks. Far from bullying their way into vaults, members of this crime ring reportedly hacked into credit card processing firms and withdrew money from ATMs in 27 different countries.

T-Mobile Enjoys Strong but Limited iPhone 5 Q1 Bounce
May 08, 2013

T-Mobile sold approximately 500,000 iPhone 5 handsets since their April 12 launch with the carrier, the company announced Tuesday during its Q1 earnings report. T-Mobile -- the last of the major carriers to offer Apple's smartphone -- attributed those sales to a combination of new and existing customers.

Lumia 928 Steps Out of the Shadows
May 08, 2013

Nokia has created a video that shows off the PureView camera in its upcoming Lumia 928 handset and more importantly show how it compares to two of its rivals. The video highlights how the new Lumia 928's 8.7 megapixel camera fares better in low light, and how the optical image stabilization can handle fast movements.

Apple Paces Healthy Q1 Smartphone Sales
May 06, 2013

Smartphone usage is up in the U.S., with Apple and Android the preferred brands for the first three months of 2013, according to a recent report from comScore. Apple's iPhone accounted for 39 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in the first quarter of the year, a 2.7 increase in market share from the previous three-month period.

Mobile Industry Castigated for Limp Response to Cellphone Theft
May 03, 2013

The mobile industry isn't doing enough to prevent cellphone theft or to help its victims, critics allege. Theft of mobile devices is on the rise. In some cities, notably Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, it represents a significant portion of all robberies. Device manufacturers could offer tech solutions to help quickly trace devices or disable them once they are reported stolen.

Phone Passions Runneth Over in Satirical Lumia Ad
April 30, 2013

Microsoft has launched an ad for Nokia's Lumia Windows Phone, presumably with the goal of neutralizing competitors enough to make some inroads in the hot mobile market. The ad is clever and funny enough to accomplish it -- depending on how well Apple and Samsung fans handle the ribbing against their beloved devices.

Report: Galaxy S4 Matches iPhone5 in Display Dazzle
April 27, 2013

The Samsung Galaxy S4, scheduled to launch worldwide Saturday, has a display that's on par with the trendsetting Retina Display of Apple's iPhone 5, according to display experts DisplayMate Technologies. The company conducted tests on screen reflections, brightness and contrast, colors and intensities, viewing angles, display power consumption and running time on battery.

The Future Is Now With AT&T's New Home Automation Tech
April 26, 2013

AT&T has introduced Digital Life, a home security and automation system that realizes a goal the company set more than a decade ago of creating tools that would allow people to manage lights and security systems remotely. Digital Life will allow homeowners to control appliances, lock and unlock doors, and monitor their homes remotely using a number of mobile apps.

India to Get a Smartphone for the Blind
April 25, 2013

A company in India has developed a smartphone for the blind. The device will be equipped to read text messages and emails, and it will then convert the text to Braille. It will utilize shape memory alloy technology, which exploits a metal's ability to "remember" its original shape. The phone's screen is not a screen so much as a grid of pins that move up and down to form Braille characters.

Android: A Second Career in Security?
April 23, 2013

Many of us have a wealth of decommissioned corporate-provisioned mobile devices: We've bought them, handed them out, and seen them used successfully for years. Now they're on their way to the great docking station in the sky. However, because these devices are already off the books adapting them for specific security functions can mean achieving certain goals practically for free.

Schmidt on Google's UK Taxes: This Is How It's Done
April 22, 2013

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt defended the company's tax practices in the United Kingdom, where Google and a handful of other U.S. tech companies have been chastised for not paying enough taxes. Google paid just over $9 million in UK taxes in 2011, despite hundreds of millions in turnover. The company was able to pull this off by operating out of Ireland, which has a much lower tax rate.

Magellan SmartGPS Does the Cloud Right
April 22, 2013

With smartphones and an increasing number of tablets becoming GPS-capable, it is easy to write off dedicated GPS players. So many seem stuck in the past -- days when devices needed a wired connection for updates and didn't seem to be aware of Web services they might be ideal for, like Yelp. I think it is time to revisit the dedicated GPS player, and I'll use the Magellan SmartGPS as an example of the current best of class.

Icelandic App Aims to Prevent Accidental Incest
April 18, 2013

Before knocking boots, knock phones. Three software engineers at the University of Iceland have designed an app to alert people if a casual encounter might in fact be casual incest. By bumping their mobile devices together, the app lets users -- and potential partners -- instantly compare their lineage, showing the nearest common ancestors. If a close relative is detected, users are alerted via an alarm and text warning.

The Rebirth of PCs, or Telling IT to Frack Off Again
April 15, 2013

I've been watching the horrid numbers surrounding the PC market with double digit declines and folks increasingly talking about the "death of the PC," but I don't think the PC is dying any more than computing was dying when the PC was created. What we are seeing is a rapid evolution of the platform -- a shift to where the calculations are made back to a centralized resource, but the end result is at least as personal as we have always had.