Vanity, thy name is smartphone thief: We’re no strangers to the tale of the narcissistic villain who’s ultimately caught after uploading photos taken on the pilfered phones somewhere the owner can see them. That’s the ending one iPhone owner is hoping for, as she’s been watching the person who stole her device unwittingly send them straight to the owner’s Facebook account. [More]
smartphones
Nintendo Announces Plans To Make Games For Mobile Devices
By 3.17.15
Have a hankering to play Super Mario at the bus stop but don’t have the portable gaming console to satisfy that urge? Soon video games from Nintendo will make the move from consoles to mobile devices, as the company announces a partnership with an online gaming firm to develop and operate new apps. [More]
Smithsonian Museums Ban Use Of Selfie Sticks, Still Encourage Selfies
By 3.4.15
When documenting a trip to the nation’s capital, tourists might enjoy having a few photographs of themselves against the backdrops of the memorials and monuments that fill the city. But if you were thinking of using a selfie stick to get just the right angle while posing in front of the Hope Diamond at the Natural History Museum, you might want to think again. [More]
Google Wallet To Come Pre-Installed On AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile Android Phones
By 2.23.15
Even though Google Wallet has been around for several years, the mobile payment system hasn’t been the industry leader the company had hoped for, mostly because AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile created a competing app, Softcard. But Google has now reached a deal with those three providers that will result in Google Wallet being pre-installed on new devices later this year. [More]
BlackBerry Suing Makers Of Slip-On iPhone Keyboard Again, Claiming New Version Is Infringement
By 2.17.15
BlackBerry has a bone to pick with Typo, the makers of a slip-on iPhone keyboard that the mobile phone company already sued once with claims that the case infringes on its patents, and it’s not ready to let that bone go anytime soon. A new lawsuit against Typo is now on the books, this time aimed at the company’s second iteration of slip-on accessories [More]
Authorities In Three Major Cities Say Smartphone Thefts Have Dropped After Implementation Of “Kill Switches”
By 2.11.15
Times used to be, having a smartphone in your hand meant someone probably wanted to steal it. And while that may still be true, authorities in San Francisco, New York and London say the number of stolen smartphones has dropped dramatically since manufacturers started including “kill switches” that allow phones to be turned off remotely if they fall into the wrong hands. [More]
Police Use GPS Signal From “Dummy” Phone To Find $23K In Stolen AT&T Phones
By 2.5.15
Anyone who’s robbed a bank (or seen countless movies and TV shows about bank robbers) knows to expect that the bank might have put some sort of tracking device inside the stolen money to help police locate the loot. But it looks like phone retailers are using the same tactic to curb the theft of pricey smartphones from stores. [More]
Can Camera Companies Stay Relevant In A World Where Smartphones Rule? They’re Certainly Trying
By 1.7.15
Companies with long histories in the photography industry are scrambling to stay relevant in a day and age when nearly every smartphone comes equipped with a high-resolution camera, making it incredibly convenient and easy for consumers to snap away in just about every occasion. The fight for relevancy has never been more evident than during the showcases presented at the 2015 CES, where companies like Kodak, Canon and Nikon displayed a range of products designed to compete and capitalize on the convenience afforded by smartphones. [More]
FCC Releases Massive Study On Mobile Phone Theft, Asks Wireless Companies To Start Making Changes
By 12.5.14
Smartphones are amazingly convenient: tiny little hand-sized computers that make it easy to organize our lives on the go. They’re also amazingly good targets for theft: tiny, portable, expensive, and full of personal information. Mobile device theft is on the rise, just as mobile devices are, and the FCC has been trying to find ways to protect consumers when their devices get yanked from their hands. [More]
Shoppers Would Rather Stare At Their Phones Than Talk To A Salesperson
By 12.3.14
When you’re shopping at a store in the real world, would you rather have a conversation with a sales associate or look up information on your own mobile phone? The results of a study by the Consumer Electronics Association will shock nobody who has ever received inaccurate or misleading information from a salesperson, or had to get away from an aggressive salesperson who wants nothing more than to close a sale. [More]
FBI Director Wants To Change Law To Allow Easier Snooping On Smartphones
By 10.17.14
Last month, FBI Director James Comey expressed vague concerns that new privacy measures on iOS and Android smartphones might allow criminals to do bad things. Now Comey is saying it’s time to change the law to make sure that law enforcement doesn’t have to figure out your phone’s password. [More]
Giving Police Backdoor Access To Smartphones Is An Invitation To Be Hacked
By 10.3.14
With both Android and iOS phones making privacy updates that will make it impossible for Google or Apple to unlock a device without a user’s passcode, even with a warrant, authorities from local police to the head of the FBI to the U.S. Attorney General are saying there should be some sort of backdoor way to gain access to these devices. But what they don’t realize is that leaving in that additional point of access just makes phones more vulnerable to other forms of snooping. [More]
California Becomes Second State To Require “Kill Switch” On All Smartphones
By 8.26.14
California officially became the second state in the U.S. to require smartphone manufacturers to include a “kill switch” function on all devices. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on Monday, just two weeks after the measure passed the state senate. [More]
Cafe Blocks Wireless Signals So Patrons Can Put That Dang Phone Down Already
By 8.21.14
Look up from your screen. Did you forget there’s a real world out there, with sights and sounds and people who aren’t yammering away at you via any of the plethora of apps for mobile devices? One café in Canada wants to remind customers of what it’s like to live in a wireless-free world. A wireless-less world? [More]
The Time Has Come: Facebook Forcing Smartphone Users To Download Separate Messaging App
By 7.29.14
Have the urge to send a Facebook message to your ex at goodness knows what time in the morning saying Zeus only knows what? If you want to make that mistake on your phone, soon you’ll have to download the social network’s entirely separate Messenger app, or forever keep your peace. Until the next time you hang out with your pal tequila, at least. [More]
Senate To Finally Consider Bill To Make Cellphone Unlocking Legal Again
By 6.24.14
Four months after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would override the Librarian of Congress’s industry-backed decision to make it illegal for consumers to unlock cellphones and take them to other carriers, members of the U.S. Senate will finally get around to considering a similar piece of legislation, giving some hope that the bill might pass in our lifetime. [More]
New Amazon Phone Will Reportedly Be An AT&T Exclusive
By 6.17.14
Seven years ago, AT&T scored millions of new customers by being the only U.S. wireless provider to offer the Apple iPhone. That exclusive has long since faded into memory and the iPhone is no longer the market dominator it once was. But it looks like AT&T might be hoping that lightning strikes twice, as a new report claims that the Death Star will be the sole carrier for Amazon’s rumored smartphone and/or sex toy. [More]
French Priest Offering Up Blessings To Extend The Life Of Parishioners’ Smartphones
By 6.3.14
Having a phone that’s always running out of juice is an irksome experience. So one French Catholic priest is offering a help line in the form of a blessing for his parishioners’ smartphones, to extend their battery life. “We must remember that the blessing of communication devices is written into the tradition of the Church just like with boats, carts and all instruments of labor and animals,” he explains. [via UPI.com] [More]
