dumbphones
Palm Copies Apple's Ego Trip
Owen Thomas · 01/08/09 06:55PMGoogle Hands Out 'Dogfood' as Christmas Bonus
Owen Thomas · 12/22/08 11:22AMDoes Eric Schmidt hate show tunes?
Paul Boutin · 11/04/08 01:40PMThe FCC is having its own vote today, on whether or not to allow future wireless gadgets to operate in parts of the radio spectrum already in use by wireless microphones. Google is all for the new spectrum-sharing policy. Professional musicians and their audio engineers are dead set against it.In theory, smartphones will detect when a wireless mic is in use in the area, and not interfere with it. In practice, who are they kidding? New York City's Broadway League is campaigning to keep that part of the radio spectrum free for roughly 450 wireless microphones used in Manhattan's theater district. Out here, I'll be furious if Journey's next show at Shoreline is ruined when 853 Google employees check their mail during "Wheel in the Sky." (Photo by Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)
Obama's cell phone sparks last-minute controversy
Owen Thomas · 11/04/08 12:20PMWe knew there would be last-minute dirty tricks in this campaign — but who knew they would include attempting to turn the powerful Apple fanboy vote? iPhone Savior has revealed, with suspicious timing, that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama uses a desperately uncool Motorola Razr, not the iPhone spotted in his hands back in May. Then again, maybe Obama's trying to appeal to America's industrial heartland; Motorola is based in the suburbs of Chicago, where Obama has his campaign headquarters. Or, possibly, he just wants to make phone calls.
iPhone's image being tarnished by poor people
Paul Boutin · 10/30/08 03:20PMThe Jesusphone is no longer just for privileged white folks. "The strongest growth in users is coming from those earning less than the median household income, particularly since the launch of the iPhone 3G." So says a report from ComScore, which concludes that "lower-income mobile subscribers are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to access the Internet, email and their music collections." Awesome. Now I can buy an iPhone 3G without feeling I'm being extravagant. But I can't shake the feeling this study was secretly paid for by RIM. (Photo by r.f.m II)
The Googlephone has a kill switch too
Alaska Miller · 10/16/08 02:20PMGoogle's Android phone has something in common with Apple's iPhone: Both gadgets have a "kill switch" to uninstall unwanted applications. Buried in Google's Android legalese is a clause that says Google might "discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement... in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion." The outrage would be pretty bad if anyone actually had a Googlephone. [CNET]
BlackBerry Storm specs claim it runs iPhone software
Owen Thomas · 10/08/08 01:40AMResearch In Motion's iPhone substitute, the touchscreen-equipped BlackBerry Storm, has debuted. Perhaps a bit hastily. In the U.K., it's sold by Vodafone, which has displayed a page of specifications. The screenshots show the Storm displaying the iPhone's characteristic icons and Apple's Safari Web browser. Has Apple licensed the iPhone's operating system to RIM? No, what this looks like is a rushed-out product launch, and an overeager Web designer. Another shot:
T-Mobile backs away from Googlephone bandwidth cap
Jackson West · 09/25/08 09:40AMThe technoblogomemesphere erupted in derision when T-Mobile's plans for a one-gigabyte monthly cap on bandwidth for the new HTC phone running Google's Android OS emerged. Customers who exceeded the limit would have seen their speeds reduced by a factor of 20. Anyone who wanted to listen to Internet radio or browse YouTube while on the bus with the gadget would have quickly run up against the limit. T-Mobile now promises to lift the cap and use a different, but as yet unknown, "network management practice" to keep the system from getting clogged. "We reserve the right to temporarily reduce data throughput for a small fraction of our customers who have excessive or disproportionate usage," the company maintains. Now the only thing standing in the way of you browsing to your heart's content is T-Mobile crappy coverage and no 3G network service outside of a few major markets. (Photo by Luis Alberto Arjona Chin)