BlackBerry users can now share get friends to add them to Messenger via QR barcode scanning on Facebook, thanks to a new application. Your BBM barcode can be applied onto a faux-Berry in your profile’s sidebar, or it can be overlaid onto your profile picture in a variety of colour schemes. With that posted, any…
Facebook Implementing QR Codes?
Facebook is apparently working on implementing QR (Quick Response) codes, potentially allowing you to view a profile, initiate a friend request, add someone to your address book, or view their latest status simply by scanning a 2D code with your smartphone’s camera. Scattered reports have seen links like the one above pop up and disappear,…
SingTel is trialing an LTE network
Singapore’s SingTel and Ericsson are trialing LTE network at SingTel’s headquarters, Comcentre. The carrier’s plan is to progressively upgrade its existing HSPA network over the next 12-24 months to be LTE-ready. Likewise, commercial deployment is slated to take place in phases, subject to the availability of frequency spectrum and commercial LTE mobile devices. Commenting on…
Sprint WiMax phone could debut next week
Credible reports are swirling that Sprint will unveil its first 4G smartphone at next week’s CTIA conference. Will we finally get to see the HTC Supersonic? Sprint CEO Dan Hesse will be giving a keynote speech at CTIA next Tuesday, and those “people familiar with the matter” told The Wall Street Journal that WiMax and…
Contactless Payments Via microSD Card to be Offered by SideTap
Tyfone, First Data and NXP have collaborated on a product called SideTap, which is launching today and will enable mobile users to make contactless payments thanks to their microSD memory card. The card itself retains all of the storage functions you would want, but is also chock-full of security features to ensure your transactions are…
Icera enables 21Mbps HSPA+ on USB modems through software upgrade
Mobile broadband semiconductor vendor Icera has started shipping its “HSPA+ Release 7-enabled” HSPA+ soft modem to customers. The company’s platform delivers 21Mbps download speeds as a software upgrade to its current HSPA 14Mbps platform, using the same silicon. It is expected that first Icera customers, which currently ship 10.2Mbsp and 14.4Mbps modems, start upgrading their…
Zer01 Mobile Webpage Disappears, Company Dead?
Remember Zer01, the guys who were promising to undercut all the major carriers with unlimited voice and data for $70/month using some heretofore unseen voodoo magic? Well, their website has disappeared into a puff of smoke a few days ago, without so much as a “Dear John” letter. To be fair, it’s only redirecting to…
TI, GetFugu and UT Dallas team-up to work on Google Goggles-like HDI technologies
The MobileLab research group at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) is working with Texas Instruments and GetFugu on next-generation human device interactions (HDI) technologies. In addition to good ol’ cash, both TI and GetFugu has an expertise to offer – the chip maker wants to extend the reach of its OMAP processors,…
IBM to collaborate universities in India and Japan to make mobile devices more accessible
As part of its Open Collaborative Research program, IBM is working together with the National Institute of Design (NID) of India and Japan’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) to explore an open, common user interface platform for mobile devices that will make them easier to use for disadvantaged populations around the world.…
BlackBerry 9650 Bold/Tour/Essex to Launch in May?
The last we heard about the BlackBerry 9650, its release on Verizon and Sprint were being delayed due to software problems, and it was being renamed from the Tour2 to the Bold, but today, we’re hearing murmurs that the Verizon version will be launched sometime in May. For those with the original Tour, there’s news…