French telecom regulations threatened to keep the iPhone 3G out of France last year, and it looks like French telecom authorities are attacking the iPhone once again. More correctly, regulators are attacking Orange’s exclusivity deal to sell Apple’s iPhone 3G in France. The French Competition Council has ordered France Telecom’s Orange to terminate its exclusive…
Verizon Wireless Promises Unlocked GPS Receivers Next Year!
Integrated GPS receivers are a must-have features in today’s high-end handsets. Location-based applications are becoming ever more popular, and has thrust GPS functionality into the spotlight. That is, unless you’re sporting hardware emblazoned with Verizon Wireless’s logo. Verizon Wireless has earned the distinction of being one of the most closed and controlling wireless carriers in…
Mobile Spy Hits iPhone – SMS Text Messages and Phone Calls No Longer Private
And you thought your down-low phone calls and sly SMS text messages were private. Mobile Spy, the mobile phone “monitoring” application previously available on Windows Mobile and Symbian platforms, has finally hit one of the biggest smartphone successes of 2008. The Mobile Spy application is now compatible with the iPhone and iPhone 3G. Retina-X Studios…
iPhone Dev Team’s iPhone 3G SIM-unlock and what it means for you
There’s a good deal to be said about Apple’s decision to sell, for the most part, their iconic iPhone and iPhone 3G through exclusive carrier deals. The iPhone 3G is tied to sanctioned GSM carriers in most parts of the world, usually requiring heft roaming fees to use the handset in foreign counties. The iPhone…
HTC Advantage picked up by O2 as Xda Flint
Remember that laptop/cellphone hybrid called the HTC Advantage? It looks like O2 has embraced the mobile computing movement and is now offering the HTC Advantage X7510 as the O2 Xda Flint. The Windows Mobile Professional-powered HTC Advantage sports a laptop-rivalling 5-inch VGA touchscreen, detachable QWERTY keyboard, 16GB of onboard storage, 3G data connectivity (HSDPA), GPS,…
Surgeon uses SMS text message instructions to save Congo boy’s life
We’ve heard of impromptu pilots safely landing an airplane with the help of SMS text message instructions, but this is the first we’ve heard of a surgeon using text message to perform a tricky operation. British vascular surgeon David Nott saved a 16 year-old Congo boy’s life by performing an amputation with instructions sent via…
Sony Ericsson planning first Android smartphone for Summer 2009 – Android XPERIA?
With the news that Sony Ericsson is jumping on board the Android-train, it’s not unsurprising to hear that the Japanese-Swedish mobile phone manufacturer is gearing up to launch their first Android OS-powered smartphones in Summer 2009. A new report from IDG.se suggests that the first Sony Ericsson handsets to run the Android OS will debut…
Verizon-Alltel acquisition deal cleared by FTC
It’s finally official. Verizon Wireless will soon become the largest wireless carrier in the US when it finalizes its acquisition of Alltel. The last regulatory obstacle standing in the way of the Verizon-Alltel deal has been hurdled with the US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) approval of the deal. With the FCC and US DoJ already…
Android OS ported to HTC Touch [Video]
With Google’s Android OS being open-source and all, it’s only a matter of time before Android-enthusiasts port the Linux-based OS to their favorite smartphones. The latest handset to get the Android-treatment is the Windows Mobile-powered HTC Touch, of all things. The HTC Touch was manufactured as a Windows Mobile Professional smartphone, but xda-developers user dzo,…
AT&T to trial 3G femtocells next year – In-home cell towers coming to AT&T
The femtocell push has hit the US GSM ecosystem. Sprint’s Airave femtocell is already on market and ready to boost Sprint’s CDMA signal for customers with weak signal reception in their homes. Today, we are hearing that AT&T is looking to trial their own 3G GSM femtocell solution next year. Femtocells are essentially miniaturized cellular…