Zoobos » mobile

Spark Tablet Coming for the FOSS Crowd

Richard Adhikari — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The recently announced Spark tablet might prove to be the first Linux-running open source tablet fully capable of being modded by users. It has an open Linux stack on unlocked hardware, and it will come with an open content and services market. The Spark will come under the GNU General Public License from its inception. Pricing will be about US$265, according to KDE developer Aaron Seigo. The Spark will be offered as a device made for customization and project-specific integration.

Bits Blog: Obama and Romney Campaigns Adopt Square for Funding

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:53:02 +0000

Mobile payments could be a transformational technology for the 2012 election, as Square is becoming popular in campaigns by President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Ultrabooks, Tablets and the Space Between

Jack M. Germain — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The stage is set for a new battle of mobile form factors. The winner could set a new non-desktop standard for consumers and office workers looking for a better alternative to bulky laptops. Lighter, thinner and more powerful are the key factors guiding the designs of tablets, convertibles, hybrids and Ultrabooks. All four form factors challenge the range of sizes found in traditional notebook computers. The netbook is perhaps a casualty of the last round of form factor skirmishing.

Gadgetwise Blog: Toshiba Sells Lighter Tablet

Zubosky Jeff — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:01:36 +0000

Toshiba will sell a 10-inch tablet that is lighter than the iPad, but it won't be cheaper than one.

Gadgetwise Blog: An Invisible Keyboard Aims to Improve Touch-Screen Typing

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:19:46 +0000

At the International Consumer Electronics Show, Snapkeys demonstrated an invisible keyboard that it hopes will become the default typing method on smartphones and tablets, replacing the traditional qwerty layout. The company says it believes this typing method improves speed and comfort on touch screens.

Presented By:

Win New Customers

Ads by Pheedo

Gadgetwise Blog: Touch-Screen Gorilla Glass Slims Down

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:31:39 +0000

The screen on your smartphone or tablet is almost certainly made of a special class of glass known as Gorilla glass. Corning, a major glass maker, has introduced the second generation of its Gorilla glass, which is 20 percent thinner but just as tough as its predecessor.

Gadgetwise Blog: Over-the-Air TV to Your Phone — Again

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:42:59 +0000

Broadcasters are trying again to send TV programming to hand-held devices over the air.

Gadgetwise Blog: Mikey Digital Aims to Improve an iPhone’s Audio Recording

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:57:06 +0000

A $100 microphone aims to improve the quality of recording with an iPhone or other Apple device.

Gadgetwise Blog: Goggles That Take Your iPhone Under the Sea

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:38:49 +0000

Aryca, a Chinese company, modified a pair of swimming goggles to include a watertight chamber that encloses an iPhone.

Gadgetwise Blog: Playing Games Without Sore Thumbs

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:19:00 +0000

An iPhone case with special grips to help with finger fatigue when playing games.

Gadgetwise Blog: Nvidia Pushes Into Mobile Processors

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:59:17 +0000

Nvidia announces a new Asus touchscreen tablet, powered by its new, more powerful processor.

Gadgetwise Blog: Nvidia Pushes Into Mobile Processors

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:59:17 +0000

Nvidia announces a new Asus touchscreen tablet, powered by its new, more powerful processor.

Disruptions: Taxi Supply and Demand, Priced by the Mile

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:01:55 +0000

On New Year's Eve, a one-mile trip cost $135, and while customers were unhappy, the Uber car service company expects to keep dynamic pricing on big party holidays.

Gadgetwise Blog: New Feature to Cobra iRadar Detector

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:15:01 +0000

A new twist on the idea of crowdsourcing speed traps is unveiled at C.E.S. in Las Vegas.

Gadgetwise Blog: With Lumia 900, Nokia and Microsoft Bid for Smartphone Relevance

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:03:24 +0000

Nokia on Monday introduced the Lumia 900, a smartphone that the Finnish cellphone maker and its software collaborator, Microsoft, hope will finally lead to redemption in the smartphone market.

Gadgetwise Blog: A Thinner Smartphone

Zubosky Jeff — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:44:02 +0000

Huawei, a Chinese wireless company, is planning to introduce a new smartphone that it says is the world's thinnest and fastest of its class.

Presented By:

Win New Customers

Ads by Pheedo

Disruptions: Resolved in 2012: To Enjoy the View Without Help From an iPhone

Zubosky Jeff — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:15:43 +0000

Constant interaction with electronics deprives us of the daydreaming time necessary to solve problems.

Disruptions: Resolved in 2012: To Enjoy the View Without Help From an iPhone

Zubosky Jeff — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:15:43 +0000

Constant interaction with electronics deprives us of the daydreaming time necessary to solve problems.

Gadgetwise Blog: Jildy App Sorts Your Facebook Friends for You

Zubosky Jeff — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:07:43 +0000

A new app called Jildy, released for the iPhone last week, sorts your Facebook friends into lists of those who interact with one another, so you can read or post to just those people quickly.

Bits Blog: Mobile App Downloads Set Records on Christmas

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:07:26 +0000

Christmas Day downloads of iOS and Android apps from mobile app stores more than doubled compared to years past, shattering records, according to a report.

Gadgetwise Blog: App Smart Extra: Other People’s Apps, Now Visible to You

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:37:28 +0000

Crosswalk, an iOS app, lets you share what apps you are using with other users and shows you what apps other people keep on their phones.

Gadgetwise Blog: App Smart Extra: Other People’s Apps, Now Visible to You

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:37:28 +0000

Crosswalk, an iOS app, lets you share what apps you are using with other users and shows you what apps other people keep on their phones.

Bits Blog: What’s Next for T-Mobile?

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:51:23 +0000

T-Mobile isn't saying what's next after its failed merger with AT&T, but some analysts suggest that it could be useful to a media company like Amazon or Google.

Disruptions: Wearing Your Computer on Your Sleeve

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:06:04 +0000

Millions of people stroll through life staring into a mobile device, absorbed by their screens. Technology will solve this problem by creating wearable computers.

Can WebOS Rise Above Clouds of Skepticism?

Katherine Noyes — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:45:57 +0000

HP's decision to open source its webOS mobile operating system may have met with some early cheers from observers glad to see the company's indecision come to an end, but much of that relief has been increasingly tempered by sentiments of a darker kind. "WebOS is doomed to fail" read one headline. "Open Sourcing The Platform Is The Death Of WebOS" agreed another. Much as many are relieved the technology won't be left to languish any longer, in other words, there's also considerable skepticism about the ultimate consequences of the move -- even among open source fans.

WebOS Crawls Out of Purgatory and Into Open Source

Richard Adhikari — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:15:44 +0000

HP announced Friday it will contribute webOS to the open source community. The decision seals the fate of the operating system, which HP acquired when it purchased Palm for $1.2 billion in April 2010. Since then, the Pre smartphone line running webOS flickered out, and HP's TouchPad tablet, launched in July, only took off when production was discontinued and prices sank to $99. HP will make the underlying webOS code available under an open source license, and it will enlist the open source community to help define the charter of the webOS open source project.

Bits Blog: Programmer Raises Concerns About Phone-Monitoring Software

Zubosky Jeff — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:02:06 +0000

A viral Internet video has raised privacy concerns about an obscure piece of data-collection software that is embedded in millions of cellphones. Trevor Eckhart, a 25-year-old programmer, shows that a program called Carrier IQ may be quietly logging much of a phone user's activity.

Bits Blog: Cloud Computing as a Threat to Older Tech Companies

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:31:39 +0000

Many tech industry giants will scramble to sustain relevance because of the convergence of mobile devices, social networking, and cloud-based computing and data storage, IDC predicts in a new study. If the IDC's view ends up being correct, the technology industry is in the midst of perhaps its fastest-ever transition.

Gadgetwise Blog: Finding Good Apps for Children With Autism

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:12:55 +0000

Several Web sites have been created to review and maintain lists of apps aimed at helping children with autism and other special needs.

Gadgetwise Blog: An Extra Set of Eyes at the Museum

Zubosky Jeff — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:15:36 +0000

Two New York Museums, the American Museum of Natural History and the Guggenheim, recently introduced new mobile applications.

Gadgetwise Blog: Headphones With Swagger (and Lots of Bass)

Zubosky Jeff — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:13:51 +0000

The rap impresario Dr. Dre is the celebrity behind Beats, a successful line of expensive headphones that have become a fashion accessory.

Gadgetwise Blog: Electronics Price Predictor Is Now Mobile

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:10:04 +0000

Decide.com now has a mobile app for the iPhone that has the price predicting abilities of the Web site and a few other features that might make buying electronics a little more reassuring.

Bits Blog: Visa to Offer Mobile Payments in Developing Nations

By JENNA WORTHAM — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:00:49 +0000

Visa announced plans for a product aimed at letting cellphone users in less developed nations buy goods and pay bills using their phones. The service will be available through a simple application or text messaging,

Bits Blog: Will Windows Phone Woo Developers?

By JENNA WORTHAM — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:07:56 +0000

Microsoft and Nokia want to claim a large piece of the smartphone pie with devices running a new version of Windows software. But will the devices be able to attract enough developers?

Bits Blog: Apple Takes iTunes to Other Kinds of Payments

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:58:43 +0000

Apple this week introduced a feature in its Apple Store app for the iPhone. The feature, called EasyPay, lets people take a picture of a product's bar code with the phone's camera, then buy it on the spot, using their iTunes account. For now, use of iTunes as a traveling wallet is modest; you can use it to buy the cheaper accessories in an Apple store. The phone's location tracker must be on, too, so Apple can verify that you are in one of its stores.

Bits Blog: Another Service Interruption for BlackBerrys

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:11:30 +0000

A month after BlackBerry service crashed worldwide, Research in Motion said some users were again experiencing delays. Meanwhile, Google said it would stop offering a GMail application for BlackBerrys.

Bits Blog: Adobe to Kill Mobile Flash, Focus on HTML5

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:39:25 +0000

Adobe announced Wednesday that it is killing Flash for mobile devices and will instead focus its efforts on HTML5 for mobile developers.

Bits Blog: Nokia’s Comeback Strategy in Smartphones

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:05:17 +0000

The company's chief says it must exploit the shifting smartphone market, profit from its alliance with Microsoft and develop services based on its own assets.

Bits Blog: Siri Failure Leaves iPhones Mute

Zubosky Jeff — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:25:15 +0000

Apple's Siri voice technology for the new iPhone experienced bumpy service for a second day.

Bits Blog: HTC Unveils Rezound, a Phone With Beats Headphones in the Box

By JENNA WORTHAM — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:11:31 +0000

The Rezound, which will be available from Verizon for $300, will come prepackaged with a pair of Beats headphones.

Bits Blog: New iPhone Faces Battery Complaints

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:10:24 +0000

Customers of Apple's iPhone 4S are complaining about poor battery life for the product, but Apple hasn't yet offered an explanation for the problem.

Gadgetwise Blog: Making Restaurant Recommendations Smarter

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:43:54 +0000

Alfred, a restaurant-finding app, will learn your preferences and tailor your choices.

Gadgetwise Blog: Charging Your Devices Through Solar Power

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:23:34 +0000

Changers, a German-based start-up, will soon begin offering an ultra-simple solar charging device that can also track the amount of money and CO2 people save.

Bits Blog: Can Mobile Search Be as Big for Google as Desktop Search?

Zubosky Jeff — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:38:28 +0000

Google says mobile is a multi-billion dollar business, but some analysts wonder whether cellphone users will ever click on ads the same way the do on computers.

Gadgetwise Blog: Choosing the Right iPhone Data Plan

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:12:43 +0000

Sprint has the best deal, but if you don't like Sprint, then AT&T has a slight price advantage over Verizon.

Tizen Could Be a Giant Step Back for Mobile Linux

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Amid continued traction for Android, there have been a number of other developments for mobile operating systems based on Linux. Given my support for and belief in Linux and open source software, you might expect me to be bullish on the prospects for all of this mobile and device Linux. However, based on what I've seen in the past in terms of mergers, reshuffles and strategic restarts, I believe the introduction of the Tizen Linux-based OS is reminiscent of a time when mobile Linux wasn't really moving ahead.

Gadgetwise Blog: Facebook iPad App Improves on Web Site

Zubosky Jeff — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:15:12 +0000

The Facebook iPad app is a drastic improvement over the Web site because it is designed to make use of the touch screen and offers new features like locating friends on a map.

Gadgetwise Blog: Why the New iPhone Looks the Same

Zubosky Jeff — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:14:25 +0000

That the new iPhone 4S looks like the old one is not an accident. It's part of a pattern that Apple has been employing for years.

MeeGo Loses Its Last Friend as Intel Turns to Tizen

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:09:26 +0000

Months after losing support from handset maker Nokia, the MeeGo mobile OS lost another major backer when Intel announced Wednesday it wouldn't continue with the Linux-based operating system. Instead, Intel will partner with Samsung to develop Tizen, a new open source Linux build. Intel launched MeeGo in 2010 with partner Nokia, but soon afterward Nokia turned away from MeeGo in favor of a deal with Microsoft and Windows Phone. The MeeGo OS managed to appear in one Nokia handset, the N9, but the phone was launched after Nokia had already made its move toward Microsoft.

Bits Blog: Manilla Offers Customers Mobile App and Deal Reminders

Zubosky Jeff — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:12:38 +0000

Manilla, a personal account management service, announced the release of a mobile app that will allow customers to manage bills and daily deals by smartphone.