InsideTech

In the early days of social networking, the dominant player was MySpace. As time went by, MySpace was joined by other players like Facebook and Twitter. MySpace has since lost the top position in the social networking world to Facebook. In October, traffic numbers for September 2009 for social networking sites came in and Facebook had over 300 million users, pushing ...

SEATTLE - Dell Inc. is officially jumping into the "smart" phone market this month in a deal with China's biggest wireless carrier, China Mobile Ltd. The Dell Mini 3, a keyboardless touch-screen phone that runs Google Inc.'s Android operating system, will also be available in Brazil later this year. The computer maker, based in Round Rock, Texas, would not say ...

LONDON - Rogue employees at a major mobile phone company illegally sold millions of customer records to rival firms, Britain's information watchdog said Tuesday. Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, said the case was a serious breach of data privacy, and he called for harsher punishments for offenders. "The existing paltry fines ... are simply not enough to deter people from engaging ...

AT&T's Christmas wish to take its main competitor's aggressive ads off the air has been met with disappointment. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Batten Sr. handed the telecom a lump of coal, denying their request for an injunction, commenting that while Verizon's commercials were "sneaky" they weren't misleading. Judge Batten Sr. commented that people might "misunderstand" the commercials, "but that doesn’t ...

Research In Motion Security Chief Scott Totzke recently said there is a chance smartphones could one day be hijacked and turned into rogue phones on a much larger scale than what is being discovered now. Totzke, who is RIM's VP of BlackBerry Security, claims summer DDos attacks against South Korea and the United States, reportedly led by North Korea, could also ...

Nearly 1 in 4 teenage drivers admit to texting while driving, with half of all teenagers admitting they've been in a vehicle with a teenage driver who was texting. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research numbers indicate drivers under the age of 20 had the highest number of distracted-driving fatalities in 2008.  In the No. 2 spot, according to ...

Nov. 5--The wireless industry gathered Wednesday in Dallas to talk about the next generation of high-speed mobile connectivity and promote a new industry standard. But the spirit of cooperation went only so far. Some of the disagreements among the giants couldn't help but leak out, even as telecom experts predicted a magical era a few years down the road with ...

In a wireless market featuring high prices, limited competition, and sparse regulation, it's time consumers got some protection.

Nov. 2 - There are more than 100,000 iPhone applications in existence. Some provide users with valuable media and information. Others plaster fake mullets on photos of friends. Here are a few you just might want to check out. COOL AND INNOVATIVE In 2002, James Hom was working on a lab assignment at Stanford University when he mentioned to teaching ...

If there's one thing clear from the Google Voice iPhone debacle, it's that there's no love lost between AT&T and Google.  AT&T, to date, is accusing Google of everything from political and news manipulation, to violating net neutrality. The drama surrounding the rejection began shortly after when the Federal Communications Commission opened an inquiry into who was responsible for the rejection ...

NEW YORK - The Wall Street Journal launched a wireless application for BlackBerry smart phones Tuesday as news organizations look for opportunities to tap an emerging market for mobile advertising. The free WSJ.com Mobile Reader will let users view headlines, summaries and full articles - previously viewed articles will be available for some time even if the user loses wireless connectivity. ...

Oct. 19 - One surprising thing about Microsoft's recent PC operating systems is how they reflect the mood of the time, not just in Redmond but across the U.S. Like a popular song or movie, Windows Vista echoed the confused and security-obsessed state of the country midway through the decade. Its heavy-handed security warnings clashed with people's growing desire to ...

NEW YORK - Verizon Wireless will start selling its answer to the iPhone - the Droid - for $200 this week as the company taps into the growing appetite for smart phones that go far beyond making calls. The Droid could help Verizon retain its status as the nation's largest wireless carrier and contribute to a turnaround of its manufacturer, ...

Google has been successful with its new smartphone OS, Android. The OS got a slow start and had to fight through some growing pains, but has proven to be popular with smartphone users and phone manufacturers alike. To get Android into the hands of even more users, Google and Verizon have announced a new agreement that will leverage the 3G network ...

P. Morgan Brown learned the hard way how crafty wireless providers can be. On a quick trip to Indonesia, his wife took her Verizon Wireless cell phone and when she came home, a nice big surprise was witing for her. The first bill, with charges at $2.50 per text message and $1.75 per one-minute phone calls, came out to around $8,000. "We ...

WASHINGTON - Opening a government meeting on auto safety, the Obama administration reported Wednesday that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, a striking indication of the dangers of using mobile devices behind the wheel. The Transportation Department was bringing together experts over two days for what it's calling ...

Funny how a pair of smartphones from the same handset maker come across so differently. The Hero from Sprint is generally a pleasure to use and a credible new rival against BlackBerrys and iPhones. AT&T's Pure, on the other hand, reminds me of cranky child. The two phones are sired by HTC of Taiwan. The disparity has less to do with ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After more than a year of delays, Garmin Ltd.'s GPS unit/wireless device hybrid nuvifone is finally going on sale in the U.S. Garmin, based in the Cayman Islands with headquarters in Olathe, Kan., said Tuesday AT&T Inc. will begin selling the nuvifone G60 on an exclusive basis beginning Oct. 4 at AT&T stores and online. The device ...

There appears to be no rhyme or reason to how or why Apple approves or disapproves apps that are allowed into its App Store. To make things even more confusing, Apple has approved apps and then turned around and forced them to be removed from the store later. Vonage announced today that it has received approval for its new calling application ...

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators said they will try again to test prototypes on Jan. 24 for transmitting high-speed Internet service over unused television airwaves. Late Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission said the devices - developed by Adaptrum Inc., Microsoft Corp., Motorola Inc. and Philips Electronics North America Corp. - will be tested in laboratory and real-world conditions. The agency said testing ...