Good news for people who enjoy tethering their smartphones, but dislike having to pay their phone company extra for the privilege. Well, as long as those people are customers of Verizon. Who have Android devices. And aren’t grandfathered onto an unlimited data plan. Yesterday, the Federal Communication Commission announced that Verizon Wireless has to allow customers access to third-party tethering applications. Verizon insists that they totally never told Google to withhold tethering apps from their customers in the Android Market/Google Play. But they’re “voluntarily” paying a $1.25 million fine as a result of the investigation, and have agreed to train all employees on why they can’t block users from downloading any (legal) apps. [More]
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Can A Smartphone App Diagnose Your Ailing Car?
By 6.18.12
With Tom and Ray Magliozzi, hosts of NPR’s “Car Talk,” hanging up their coveralls and retiring from the radio this fall, there will be a serious void in car diagnostics for ordinary people. We will no longer be able to imitate (very poorly) the sounds that our cars make and get help over the air. So where can we turn now, short of visiting an actual mechanic? Our colleagues a few parking spaces away at Consumer Reports Cars discovered and tested a free Android and iPhone app called Car Trouble that supposedly helps diagnose, well, car trouble. Is it of any use? Yes and no.
Are Verizon Reps Pushing 4G Android Smartphones Over The 3G iPhone?
By 5.3.12
Is there some kind of anti-iPhone conspiracy going on at Verizon Wireless stores? Some customers think so, but perhaps it’s just a matter of 4G versus 3G. After all, there is no 4G-compatible iPhone for Verizon, and many customers want the fastest, newest technology. Or maybe it’s all one big secret deal conducted in dark corners with men in trench coats and fedoras! [More]
Why Do App Developers Release iPhone Versions First?
By 5.2.12
Even though there are still significantly more smartphones running some version of the Android operating system, it’s not uncommon to see developers come out with an app for iPhone users weeks or months before they release anything for Android. What’s up with that? [More]
A Million People Download Instagram For Android & Annoy All Their iPhone Friends
By 4.4.12
Just the other day, you might’ve been enviously watching your roommate flip through his Instagram pictures on his iPhone, shooting your Android sullen glances for its Instagram deficiency. But then, then there was yesterday –¬†when one million downloads of Instagram for Android went flying through space and into eager hands. [More]
Shouldn't I Be Able To Delete Unwanted Apps Off My Own Darn Phone?
By 3.22.12
The last time I looked something up in the Yellow Pages was back in the pre-Google era as part of a youthful prank calling spree, although I’m sure I used it to keep a door open at some point in the last eight years. And now I’m stuck with an unwanted Yellow Pages app that came on my Android phone. It can’t be deleted, along with a stupid Blockbuster app and other useless things I do not want. [More]
According To Taiwanese Commercial, Steve Jobs Is In Heaven Playing With Android Phones
By 2.6.12
Since we don’t really know what happens to us when we pass on, a Taiwanese commercial is taking advantage of the unknown and picturing heaven as a place where Steve Jobs can finally play with Android phones to his heart’s content. Which is very likely, considering he called them “sh#!” while he was alive. [More]
Dating Site Says Android Users Are More Likely To Give It Up On The First Date
By 2.2.12
Match.com did some very scientific research in Canada, polling singles living up there beyond our borders, and found that Android users are a lot more likely than other smartphone users to put out on the first date. Maybe don’t use that as your pick-up line, however, if you spot someone with an Android phone. [More]
Do You Use Your Mobile Phone In The Bathroom?
By 2.1.12
We’ve all got that person at work who just yakkety yaks away on their phone in the bathroom, and it’s probably the same guy/gal who uses their shoe to flush and opens the door with a paper towel (so inconsistent, germaphobes!) Hey, maybe that’s even you, because as a new survey says, lots of us use our mobile devices in the john. No judgment! [More]
Apple Wins Small Victory In Patent Battle Against Android Smartphones
By 12.20.11
There are so many patent battles going on around the globe between Apple and various smartphone companies, it can be hard to keep track of all the suits and countersuits. In one small but important battle decided recently, Apple has come out on top of HTC, in a ruling that could also affect the way Google’s Android operating system works. [More]
Microsoft Wants To Soothe 5 Traumatized Android Users With Free Windows Phones
By 12.15.11
Do reports of malware on your Android phone have you in a cold sweat? Are dreams of scary phone viruses dancing in your head? Microsoft is taking advantage of those fears and using recent bumps in the road for Android to offer free Windows phones to five Android users with the worst malware horror stories. [More]
Android Users Will Also Be Able To Take Faux-Vintage Photos With Instagram
By 12.8.11
Good news, Android users who have been just dying to take as many cool, faux-vintage retro-ish pics on your smartphones — soon Instagram won’t just be for iPhones anymore. Developers are working on a version of the photo app for the Android platform. [More]
Researcher Claims Software On Many Smartphones Is Tracking Your Every Keystroke
By 12.1.11
There was that late-night text you shouldn’t have sent, or maybe the embarrassing amount of times you searched for Hall & Oates lyrics before calling your ex-boyfriend to cry. What if software on your Android phone was logging all of that info and keeping it elsewhere? One security researcher claims that is exactly what’s going on. [More]
Amazon Unloading All Non iPhone Smartphones For $.01 (With Some Catches)
By 11.21.11
If you’re willing to sign a new two-year contract, from now until Cyber Monday, Amazon is selling all non-iPhone smartphones (read: Androids) for the low low price of $0.01. Yes, one penny. That’s also 99 cents less than $1. Though in most cases, you need to be a new customer for whatever carrier you choose. [More]
Security Vulnerability Exposes HTC Smartphone Users' Info
By 10.3.11
HTC makes some powerful Android smartphones, but owners will have to replace their smug senses of superiority with worries about their personal data. A security vulnerability in recent updates to several HTC phones, including the Evo 3D and Thunderbolt, includes logging tools that potentially allow outsiders to get a hold of GPS, encoded text message data, email addresses and other info for those who use the phones. [More]
Amazon Fire Could Be A Big Bummer For Android
By 10.2.11
Good news for Amazon’s Kindle Fire is that it could be poised to be a serious competitor to the iPad. Bad news for Google and its Android operating system, which the Fire runs on, is that if it does rival the iPad, Google probably won’t see much benefit. [More]
T-Mobile Exec: Over 1 Million Customers Using Unlocked iPhones On Our Network
By 9.27.11
Right now, U.S. cellphone users can only choose between AT&T and Verizon Wireless if they want to use the iPhone without jailbreaking it to use on another provider’s network. And even though T-Mobile may eventually get the iPhone if AT&T can convince the courts and regulators to let its purchase of T-Mobile USA go through, a number of customers aren’t waiting. [More]
