The worldwide mobile phone industry felt the impact of the global financial crisis in the third quarter of 2008 as total handset shipments were down significantly over previous quarters.
Six months after successfully testing the waters with its line of Mini-notebook PCs for students, HP introduced three new mini-models of a fresh HP Mini 1000 line, which focus on the needs of Internet-centric ...
NTT DoCoMo reported quarterly net income had climbed to 173.1 billion yen, a 37 percent jump from last year's earnings of 123.7 billion yen.
I’m not one to take cheap shots at Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens. But it’s Halloween.
The senator will be allowed to vote in next week’s election, despite having been convicted of multiple felonies in federal court. “I have not been convicted of anything,” he maintained during a Thursday night debate in Anchorage, only days before Tuesday’s election.
Laptop Magazine tested Windows 7 Ultimate (Pre-Beta) on an ASUS Eee PC 1000H. And just as Microsoft said: it works.
The Eee PC running a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor and 1GB of RAM handles the new operating system pretty well, just as it ran Vista pretty well when we loaded Vista Basic on it a few months ago. We still had a problem getting a few of the Eee PC drivers to work with the system, but for the most part we were able to get all of the features to work using the XP drivers provided by ASUS.
Unsurprisingly, it takes 58 seconds for the system to boot the OS. Of course, it has actually taken a minute for some systems to boot XP as well. However, the Eee PC 1000H boots in only 40 seconds with its default operating system.
Once booted, it was pretty neat to see Windows 7 on the 10-inch screen. As we mentioned in our Windows 7 overview, things pretty much look and feel like Windows Vista.
At the Inside Windows 7 press demo last Sunday, Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky said that all software and hardware that works with Windows Vista will work with Windows 7, as driver support remains the same. Hooks for “cloud computing” will enable applications to run online. It should be available next year. Some time.
Acer, the world’s third-largest PC vendor, said shipments of its Aspire one netbook could reach 6 million units this year, which would edge out the popular Asus Eee PC at the top of the market.
Sprint Nextel is targeting parents of trick-or-treaters by halving the price of its GPS-based child-locating service. Starting today, parents can now use Sprint Family Locator, including recent enhancements, for just $5 per month.
Sprint Family Locator allows parents to view the location of their children from a Web-enabled phone or computer. Sprint has also upgraded the offering, adding 3D maps, pushpin places for favorite locations, and the ability by users to customize the app by uploading photos of family members.
“Sprint has always been proud to offer the wireless family locator service with the most compatible phones and fewest plan limitations, and now we’ve made Sprint Family Locator the least expensive in the industry,” said Len Barlik, Sprint’s VP of wireless and wireline services.
The application was developed by WaveMarket, and Sprint Nextel became the first carrier to offer GPS-based child-tracking with its launch in April 2006. The service has seen an average of more than 3 million location requests per month since June, according to the operator.
It may be getting some stiff competition from the open applications marketplace on iPhone app store and T-Mobile’s G-1 Market. And speaking of Androids . . .
Related DailyWireless stories on Location Services, GPS, and Transit Connectivity include; Six Mobile Developers to Watch, Obama iPhone App: All Volunteer Effort, Nokia’s iPhone Killer, G1 Reviews, T-Mobile’s Android Phone, BBC Tracks a Container, Mobile Search with My Location, Tracking al-Qaeda, XOHM to Launch with Location Services, Google’s Location-Aware API Opens Up, Cars Talking WiMAX, Motorola Car Computer, Livable Streets Network, Google Streetview on Cell Phones, Rest Area Hotspots Closed, Chrysler Offers Internet Access, Portland Commuter Rail Readies Wi-Fi, Chrysler Rolls Out U-connect , Ford Sync, Mobile Livecasting, Google Transit Maps + WiFi, Chrysler: Wi-Fi Car This Year, The Connected Bus, Hotspot for Bedouins, Chrysler Getting WiMAXed, Verizon Traffic Mapping , PePWave Mobility: Connectivity for Vehicles, Civic Booster, Broadband Wireless Modems, Kyocera KR2 Mobile Router, Gadgets That Listen, Analog Cellular to Shut Down, Microsoft Vrs OnStar and 3-D Traffic/Weather Maps and Handheld Intelligent Transportation.
Analysts see a tough battle for the handset maker to increase sales amid a global economic downturn.
Consumer advocacy group, Free Press says don’t be frightened by their fear-mongering message that our TVs will never be the same if some broadcast channels are used for high-speed Internet.
Lobbyists at the National Association of Broadcasters are trying to scare Washington with horror stories about “white spaces” — vacant TV channels that can be used to bring high-speed Internet connections to rural and low-income Americans across the country.
The FCC must not buckle under the intense lobbying pressure, says Free Press. They’ve created a postcard to send the FCC this Halloween — to help build a better Internet for everyone.
It needs yes votes from three of the five commissioners for approval, and commissioner Roger McDowell seems to think that won’t be a problem. “I’m very optimistic,” the Republican told Reuters. “I think this could be a 5-to-0 vote.”
Lithium-Ion batteries used in about 35,000 Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Dell notebook computers -- as well as an additional 65,000 units sold worldwide -- are defective. Specifically, these Lithium-Ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers.
As of Oct. 30, there have been 19 reports of the batteries overheating, including 17 reports of flames and fire. Ten of those battery failures resulted in minor property damage, and two consumers experienced minor burns.
"This is not a huge recall seeing as there were millions before from Sony's last round," said Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates. "But we've already seen way more instances of flames and property damage than there was in the last big battery recall."
Checking Your Battery
Computers with the recalled batteries were sold directly the PC makers, through computer and electronics stores nationwide, and through various Web retailers for between $700 and $3,000. The batteries were also sold separately for between $100 and $160.
HP is recalling batteries that have a barcode label beginning with A0, L0, L1 or GC that were shipped with HP Pavilion dv1000, dv8000 and zd8000 models, Compaq Presario v2000 and v2400 machines and with HP Compaq nc6110, nc6120, nc6140, nc6220, nc6230,nx4800, nx4820, nx6110, nx6120 and nx9600 computers.
Dell is recalling battery model OU091 in its Latitude 110L and Inspirion 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 and 5160 computers. Toshiba's recall includes about 3,000 Satellite A70/A75, P30/P5, M30X/M35X and M50/M55 laptops and Tecra A3, A5 and S2 computers.
"Consumers should immediately remove the recalled battery from their notebook computer, and contact their computer manufacturer to determine if their battery is included in the recall and to request a free replacement battery," the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission...
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday gave the green light on the merger of Alltel with Verizon Wireless. Alltel, the 5th largest wireless provider in the United States, would then become a part of Verizon Wireless, the 2nd largest (after AT&T). The merger should then make Verizon the largest U.S. cellular carrier with some 80 million subscibers.
But the DOJ is requiring Verizon to divest assets in 22 states, including service in all of North Dakota and South Dakota; large portions of Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming; and parts of Alabama, Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia.
Verizon plans to pay Alltel about $5.9 billion for equity in the company, but it will also take on about $22.2 billion in debt. Alltel incurred most of this debt when it was taken over in a leveraged buyout last year.
Investors have been concerned that the acquisition has gotten too expensive as debt financing costs have risen. But Verizon’s CEO Ivan Seidenberg assured them during the company’s quarterly conference call this week that Alltel is still a good purchase and would pay for itself in the long run.
Verizon is the second-largest mobile carrier in the United States, with 70 million subscribers in 49 states, after AT&T Mobility with 75 million subscribers. Alltel, the fifth-largest mobile carrier in the United States, has about 13 million subscribers in 35 states.
The $28.1 billion deal, which was announced in June, still needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The agency is expected to vote on the acquisition at its November 4th meeting.
The Public Interest Spectrum Trust, comprised of six organizations, has balked at an order proposed last week by FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin to approve the merger, reports the Washington Post. Ben Scott, policy director at Free Press, said Verizon’s promises to open their networks to any devices and technologies hasn’t come to fruition.
The merger would create the nation’s largest cellphone carrier, with 80 million subscribers.
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