Smartphones

Siri, the voice recognition technology on Apple's new iPhone 4S, has attracted buyers by the millions with its ability to handle complex search queries. Siri's personified as a somewhat sassy female personal assistant, but at least one person finds her downright disturbing: Google Chairman Eric Schm...

HTC on Thursday announced its latest smartphone, the Rezound, an Android handset for Verizon's 4G LTE network. The phone offers several features, most notably a collaboration with musician Dr. Dre and record producer Jimmy Iovine's start-up Beats Audio. A similar phone, the HTC Sensation XL with Bea...

AT&T on Monday announced the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and the HTC Vivid. These are the carrier's first Android smartphones to run on its 4G LTE network. They will be on the market Nov. 6. On that day, AT&T will also launch 4G LTE services in four new markets -- Boston; Washington; Balti...

RIM has agreed to let Indian officials conduct lawful surveillance of customers in that country using its BlackBerry services, according to a recent report. The decision is yet another step in RIM's long, drawn-out battle with New Delhi over the latter's demands to monitor users of BlackBerry servic...

The convenience of using your smartphone to store, stream and curate your music collection -- or simply stream music from online, personalized radio stations like Pandora -- doesn't mean you need to sacrifice your home stereo system for the dubious quality earbuds that came with the phone. The inves...

Nokia announced its first smartphones running Windows Phone at Nokia World 2011, being held in London through Thursday. These are the Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. Both have social networking capabilities, 1.4 GHz processors, hardware acceleration and graphics processors. They will have access to a...

Can a new mobile operating system pull Research In Motion, maker of BlackBerry devices, out of its current funk? Not only has the company been steadily losing market share to competitors with flashier phones -- namely Apple and makers of Android handsets -- but its worldwide network recently experie...

Motorola Mobility on Tuesday announced its latest smartphone, confirming many of the rumors and spec leaks that had already begun to surround the handset. It's called the "Droid Razr," its body is partially made of Kevlar, it has a 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass display, it's a 4G LTE device, and it's heade...

Battered by customer outrage worldwide over its BlackBerry network failures last week, as well as strong sales of the iPhone 4S from rival Apple, Research In Motion on Monday announced a slew of free gifts in an attempt to remedy the situation. Consumers who own BlackBerries will get premium apps wo...

Motorola and Verizon Wireless are reportedly about to unveil a Droid challenger to the highly touted Apple iPhone 4S. The two have invited the press to an event to be held Oct. 18. Details about the event are not forthcoming, but Motorola has released a teaser video. The clip throws out words like "...

Five years after it first launched its Zune portable digital media player, Microsoft has reportedly decided to stop making the device. However, it will apparently continue to offer the Zune music and media service on Windows Phone 7 smartphones, as well as the Xbox 360. Microsoft did not respond to ...

SPOTLIGHT ON SECURITY

Facebook Enlists Websense for Neighborhood Watch

Facebook, long a darling of cybercriminals looking to lure in unsuspecting cybersocializers, has partnered with content security vendor Websense to help protect members from links that lead to malware and malicious sites. That may prove good news to corporations, where many IT managers consider empl...

Last week was another big week for technology as Amazon announced a new line of Kindles and Microsoft released its Mango product into the wild. Many of us are thinking these products target Google's gains and missed opportunities more than they do Apple's. I'll share my thoughts on the potential for...

Microsoft on Tuesday released the latest version of its smartphone operating system, a version that could make handsets using the OS more competitive with market leaders Android and iOS. The new release -- Windows Phone 7.5, aka "Mango" -- has more than 500 new features, according to Microsoft, most...

It's a myth that ostriches bury their heads when they spot danger. It sounds plausible, but in reality, they're just like us: In the face of imminent danger, they either run or attack. This makes sense when you stop to think about it. After all, one thing that seems almost painfully obvious is tha...

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