Quick Tech News » Phone

Wiring Gone Wrong

admin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:34:24 +0000

Most of these wire mess images are from India. I would hate to have to troubleshoot these wire junctions and find out why someone’s telephone or internet isn’t working. I guess in North America we take proper cable management for granted. Oddly enough this is where all our tech support comes from. I would not trust the people that put up these cables to fix anything.

Hands-on: Google Voice dialing up for launch

admin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:28:29 +0000

Google has reportedly obtained over a million phone numbers in preparation for the public launch of its new Google Voice telephony service. Ars gives you an inside look at the closed beta.

Boingo Awarded a Patent For Hotspot Access

admin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:28:04 +0000

Boingo has scored a patent for accessing a Wi-Fi hotspot by a mobile device. The patent, no. 7,483,984, was issued in January, but Boingo only started talking about it recently. The patent application was filed in December 2002. According to the company, the methods covered by the patent include: “…accessing wireless carrier networks by mobile computing devices, where a client software application hosted by the device accesses carrier networks using wireless access points. For example, when a computer — or netbook, smartphone or any other Wi-Fi-enabled device — is in a location where there are multiple signals, the patented technology looks at each signal and alerts the user which signal will work, showing the signal as an understandable name and ID for the user.The patent covers all wireless technologies and spectrums, as well as any mobile device that access wireless hotspots.” The company is not saying anything about whether or how they will attempt to wield this patent.

Flash to Brighten Most Smartphones – iPhone, BlackBerry to Stay Dim

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:27:35 +0000

With the news that its omnipresent-on-the-desktop Flash player will be available in more mobile forms before the end of the year, Adobe is finally following through on its goal of joining the smartphone party — but the two biggest names in that market are still missing from the invitation list. Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry won’t be getting the beta version of Flash Player 10 at the Adobe Max conference in October.

The Commodore 64 vs. the iPhone 3G S

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:27:03 +0000

Harry writes “The unfortunate news about Apple rejecting a Commodore 64 emulator from the iPhone App Store inspired me to compare the C64 to the new iPhone 3G S, in more detail than any rational person is likely to compare them, ever again. If nothing else, it’s a snapshot of just how far technology has come since the C64’s release in August of 1982.”

iPhone 3.0 Software: Poor Battery Life & Speed Reported

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:27:00 +0000

iPhone 3.0 software works well when pre-installed on the new 3G S. When users download and install it themselves on older versions of the handset, however, things are apparently taking a decidedly different turn.

iCrack: The iPhone Is An Accident Magnet

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:26:22 +0000

A new report from SquareTrade details the accident-prone nature of Apple’s line of smartphones, reporting that over 20% of iPhones have been damaged in the last 22 months. Cracked screens abound.

A Wiki For Cable and Connector Pin-Outs

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:26:06 +0000

Nicola Asuni writes to let us know about a new resource for hardware hackers: a wiki about pinouts — hardware interfaces of modern and obsolete hardware. “Created with the same MediaWiki software that was developed for the Wikipedia project, AllPinouts.org is a wiki that allows users to get and share information about hardware interfaces, including pinouts of ports, expansion slots, and other connectors of computers and different electronic devices (i.e. cellular phones, GPS, PDA, game consoles, etc.). All text is available under the GNU Free Documentation License and may be distributed or linked accordingly. The ‘pinout’ (or ‘pin-out’) of a connector identifies each individual pin, which is critical when creating, repairing or hacking cable assemblies and adapters.”

Now We’re Talking: AIM With Push Support Hits The App Store

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:26:04 +0000

There’s been a lot of talk the past few days since the launch of the iPhone 3.0 software about the lack of Push Notification apps in the App Store. Well, today brings a big one: AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

Find My iPhone works, and it is awesome.

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:26:03 +0000

Forgive the self-post, but the story is too great not to share. Technology let me be a total badass today.I’m still giggling about how that guy must have felt as he gave up the goose and waved me over to hand the phone back.