Celler PhonePC World - Another week, another roundup of what you may missed in the world of geek. During the past seven days we've looked at how to hack your Windows Mobile phone to run Android, how one design student is looking to save the world one power outlet at a time, and how you can get more hands on with your computers.
Celler Phone
Behind the $300K Magical, Mechanical Mobile Phone (PC Magazine)
PC Magazine - Forget digital. The phone of the future will be mechanical. We interview to the creator of the Celsius X VI II LeDIX phone, the $300,000 luxury phone that swaps chips for gears. It's the ultimate steampunk phone, and it's coming.
On the Call: Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge (AP)
AP - Cablevision Systems Corp. is testing a new mobile phone that can work with Wi-Fi and cellular networks.
India Resumes 3G Auction Process, Inviting Applications (PC World)
PC World - India started the process for auctioning 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) licenses again on Thursday, but it has scaled back the number of licenses up for bidding.
Government eyes paying broadcasters for mobile spectrum (Reuters)
Reuters - The top communications regulator offered to pay television broadcasters to give up their rights to airwaves worth an estimated $50 billion as it looks to overcome a looming scarcity of wireless spectrum for advanced mobile phone services.
Mobile Carriers Defend Early Termination Fees (PC World)
PC World - Early termination fees for mobile phone contracts are necessary to subsidize the cost of smartphones and customers know what they're getting into, mobile carriers told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in comments filed this week.
Consumers Are Pushing Up Sales of Smartphones (NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - Mobile-phone sales worldwide headed up at the end of last year, according to a new report from industry research firm Gartner. Sales in the fourth quarter posted a 8.3 percent increase compared to a year ago, although overall 2009 sales dropped 0.9 percent.
Watching the Games? Switch on your cellphone (Reuters)
Reuters - Cellphones and the Internet are muscling in on more traditional media as ways to see the Olympic Games, and the trend will only deepen, organizers said on Tuesday.
India’s 3G Auction Rescheduled to April (PC World)
PC World - India's auction of 3G licenses has been fixed for April 9, after three postponements, the government said on Wednesday.
Nexus One's Screen is Gorgeous, But With Issues (PC World)
PC World - While Google's Nexus One may have its issues (its many, many
issues), one thing that nobody is complaining about is its gorgeous, 800-by-480 pixel AMOLED screen. When compared to the iPhone 3GS's paltry 480-by-320 pixel LCD screen, well, it hardly seems a contest.
Google slashes Nexus phone early termination fee (Reuters)
Reuters - Google Inc told communications regulators on Tuesday the fee assessed on customers who end their service contracts for its Nexus One mobile phone has been slashed to $150 from $350.
Verizon Plan Requirements Won't Change With Skype (PC World)
PC World - Once the shock of seeing Skype on Verizon Wireless phones wears off, it may look like not much has changed: Subscribers who want to use the application will face the same required service plans.
Mobile phone subscriptions to top 5 bln this year (Reuters)
Reuters - Mobile phone subscriptions will buck the economic crisis and top five billion this year, but the high speed Internet remains a "digital divide" between rich and developing countries, a U.N. agency said on Tuesday.
Mobile phone sales slide in 2009: study (AFP)
AFP - Worldwide mobile phone sales fell 0.9 percent last year to 1.2 billion units, but the market recovered in the fourth quarter thanks to the success of smartphones, the Gartner research group said Tuesday.
Handset market rebounding in 2010: report (Reuters)
Reuters - The cellphone market will rebound more strongly strongly than expected this year as improving economies boost spending on new gadgets and handset vendors push cheap smartphones, research firm Gartner said on Tuesday.
AT&T Roars Back in PCWorld’s Second 3G Wireless Performance Test (PC World)
PC World - AT&T says it has worked hard to improve its much-maligned 3G network over the last eight months--erecting hundreds of new cell towers, using better-performing wireless spectrum, and souping up its cell sites across the country--and the results of our latest 13-city 3G network performance tests suggest that the network has indeed undergone a drastic makeover.
Gadget E-Waste Poses Significant Risks, U.N. Warns (NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - A sharp rise in the sale of consumer gadgets around the globe will pose serious environmental and public-health risks over the next 10 years unless action is taken to properly collect and recycle their materials, according to a report from the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). The products range from computers, printers and mobile phones to music devices, electronic toys, and televisions.
Hack Shows How to Get Android 2.1 On Some Windows Mobile Phones (PC World)
PC World - As a long-time Windows Mobile user who finally gave up on it and switched to an Android phone, I’ve been thrilled with the new operating system. Now, it looks like others who are fed up with WinMo might be able to switch a little more easily.
Mobile phones become pocket banks in poor countries (AFP)
AFP - An Afghan police officer gets his salary in a text message on his mobile phone. A Kenyan worker dials a few numbers to send money to his family.
Sweden beats U.S. to top tech usage ranking (Reuters)
Reuters - Sweden took the number one spot from the United States to top the annual rankings on the usage of telecommunications technologies such as networks, cellphones and computers, a report released on Thursday shows.
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