My TIME.com column this week is about Motorola’s Atrix 4G, an Android handset that’s available for pre-order from AT&T starting on February 13th and is scheduled for release by March 6th. I spent most of my wordage on the aspect of the phone that’s unquestionably most interesting: the optional laptop dock that gives the Atrix a big …
Smartphones
It Only Takes Six Minutes To Steal Stored Passwords on the iPhone
For those of you who think that your iPhone will thwart any criminal, we’ve got news for you: Someone can find your password in less than six minutes without any password cracking.
Researchers Jens Heider and Matthias Boll at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute Secure Information Technology (Fraunhofer SIT) performed a fast jailbreak and …
Facebook Phones Run On Android, Heading to U.K.
The once-rumored Facebook phone is coming (and it’s actually two phones). As the most recent rumors correctly indicated, the handsets come from London-based INQ Mobile and are “the result of close collaboration with Facebook,” according to the company’s press release.
The INQ Cloud Touch will be the first phone out of the gate. It’s …
Verizon Closer to Letting Users Chat, Web Surf Simultaneously on 4G Network
Verizon made the first successful VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) commercial call in the world yesterday morning, the system that is one of the candidate 4G networks. The mobile communication standard will allow people to surf the web and use other phone functionalities while talking on the phone. Though the first call – made in Basking Ridge, …
AT&T Launches Free Mobile-To-Mobile Today
Today is the day you’ve been waiting for iPhone customers: AT&T is offering free mobile-to-mobile calls to qualifying customers. (Nothing is suspicious about the company launching this new plan today… nothing at all.)
“Mobile to Any Mobile is an exciting offer that will keep our customers connected to the people they want to talk …
Verizon iPhone Hits Stores
At long last, the day has come–the Verizon iPhone went on sale this morning at 7 a.m. at Verizon and Apple stores, Best Buy and their respective websites. It’s been a long road for Verizon to get here, but it’s finally happened. While you wait in line to get a shiny new iPhone, why not mull over the difference between the AT&T and …
HP Unveils 10-inch ‘TouchPad’ Tablet, New Smartphones
Apple, Android, and now HP—the tablet wars are about to get really interesting. HP’s going after an Apple-like ecosystem with its phones and tablets all running on the same software platform, Palm’s “WebOS” (HP bought Palm last year, if you recall).
Here’s what was announced today:
HP Veer (product page |
Nokia: “We’re Not Even Fighting With the Right Weapons”
Former head of Microsoft’s business division, Stephen Elop is now the CEO of Finnish cellphone maker Nokia. While he’s been in place since late last fall, Elop’s latest company-wide memo portrays a hard, cold, long look in the mirror at a company that once dominated the cell phone industry but is now “not even fighting with the right …
Verizon iPhone May Suffer Same ‘Death Grip’ Antenna Problem
That metal band that surrounds the iPhone 4 isn’t just for looks—it actually doubles as the phone’s antenna. And as you may recall, the AT&T version of the iPhone 4 that came out in June suffered from signal degradation when held in a certain way.
The “death grip” as it came to be known, ultimately led Apple to offer iPhone 4 owners …
Android, Apple iOS Lead 60% Increase In Smartphone Usage In US
Americans were using their smartphones a lot more last year, with usage up an amazing 60%. But it’s only really good news for Apple and Google, as ComScore figures suggest that iOS and Android were the only mobile platforms to see any increase, with RIM, Microsoft and Palm all dropping in the last months of the year.
Google’s Android …
Sprint’s New ‘Echo’ Phone Sports Two Pivoting Screens
Snap judgment: Sprint’s new Echo Android phone looks cool, but there are a lot of intangibles at play that’ll ultimately determine its success.
The big story here is the Echo’s dual 3.5-inch touchscreens and patent-pending “pivot hinge” that holds everything together.
Slide the right-hand screen down over the left screen and the …
T-Mobile To Offer Free Phones on Verizon iPhone Day
Not to be left behind in the scuffle, but T-Mobile is entering the Verizon vs. AT&T fight with a great offer of their own: free phones. While the coveted iPhone won’t be included in the promotion, all phones – including 4G-capable phones – will be gratis on February 11 and 12. The last time the company attempted this on Father’s Day …