mobile - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Apple said to be making big mobile payment move with recent hire

  Apple could be making plans for a big role in mobile Near Field Communications (NFC) with the recent hiring of Benjamin Vigier as its product manager of mobile commerce.

• RIM needs to make the BlackBerry business-sexy

  Last week at an event in New York, Research In Motion introduced its latest smartphone, the BlackBerry Torch, along with the most recent update of the operating system, BlackBerry 6.

• On the streets of Stockholm with LTE

  A test of TeliaSonera's LTE (Long Term Evolution) network and its new multimode modem shows the next-generation mobile technology at its best -- delivering speeds at up 59.1M bps (bits per second) -- when used at 2.6GHz. But it also reveals how the technology sometimes struggles when used indoors.

• Samsung Epic 4G smartphone to debut Aug. 31

  The Samsung Epic 4G will debut Aug. 31 for $250 after rebate and with a Sprint Nextel two-year agreement, the carrier announced today.

• After beating Microsoft, VirnetX hits Apple with patent suit

  A firm that received a US$200 million settlement from MIcrosoft in May filed similar patent infringement charges against Apple Wednesday, claiming that the iPhone and iPad illegally use its technology.

• HP details tablet plans, confirms Windows 7 and WebOS versions

  Hewlett Packard definitely plans to be in the tablet business, but questions remain about whether it will create different hardware for each of three expected tablet operating systems -- Android , Windows 7 and WebOS.

• Google expands Voice Search with new actions

  Google on Thursday introduced a tool for easily sending links from its Chrome browser on a PC to an Android phone, and added 12 more voice-activated actions to the Voice Search tool in Android 2.2.

• Samsung Epic smartphone sales date coming soon

  The Samsung Epic, an Android 2.1 smartphone with a physical slideout keyboard that will run on Sprint's WiMax 4G network, could ship by Aug. 21, based on various reports citing unnamed sources.

• iPad, laptops drive integrated chip market

  Four out of five PC laptops that ship in 2014 are expected to use integrated graphics processors, according to a report released today.

• 4G czar at Sprint backs WiMax 'singularly'

  Don't ask Matt Carter, president of 4G at Sprint Nextel, about LTE, a competing wireless technology. He wants to focus on Sprint's use of WiMax for 4G wireless networks.

• New Android malware texts premium-rate numbers

  Researchers at Russian security company Kaspersky Lab say they've discovered the first malicious software program to target Google's Android mobile operating system.

• Amazon may be eyeing other gadgets than Kindle

  Amazon.com is reportedly considering building prototypes of gadgets other than its Kindle e-reader. But one analyst questioned the value of such devices unless they can be tied to Amazon-provided services and content.

• Apple plugs critical iPhone jailbreak holes

  Apple today patched the two vulnerabilities used to jailbreak Apple's newest iOS 4 operating system, bugs that security researchers warned could be used to hijack iPhones , iPod Touches or iPads.

• HP could make mark in mobile technologies with next CEO

  With Mark Hurd's sudden resignation, Hewlett-Packard Co. has a golden opportunity to hire a CEO with business savvy in mobile, wireless and smartphone areas, helping give the mature technology behemoth a needed and vital strategic direction.

• iPad halo effect brightens iPhone prospects

  Apple's new iPad casts a "halo" over the older iPhone, with owners of the tablet about twice as likely to want the company's smartphone as consumers who own neither, a Nielsen analyst said today.