Posted 09/30/08 at 04:10:26 PM by Paul Lilly

SanDisk on Tuesday announced plans to release a 16GB microSDHC and Memory Stick Micro (M2) mobile memory cards, which would qualify as the world's largest mobile phone removable memory card capacity. The timing couldn't be better either, as handsets continue to up the ante with high tech features like media playback, HD digital camera capabilities, GPS, gaming, and everything else manufacturers can stuff into a mobile phone.

"Handsets have become far more than just phones - they’ve become mobile jukeboxes, mobile offices, even mobile movie theaters," said Avi Greengart, Research Director for Mobile Devices at Current Analysis. "Flash memory cards have increased in storage capacity, but even an 8GB card may be too small for anyone with GPS map data, a few movies, a game or two, a presentation file and other applications."

Officially available at Best Buy Mobile stores in October and Verizon Wireless stores in November, SanDisk has set the MSRP for the 16GB microSDHC at $100, and $130 for the M2.

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mobile, storage, Sandisk, Cellular, Cell, micro sdhc, phones

Posted 09/25/08 at 01:35:53 PM by Paul Lilly

Phew, that was a close one! T-Mobile could have found itself on the receiving end of another angry online mob. We've seen a rash of them as of late, such as the public outcry in defense of Daniel_K and his modded Creative Drivers, and, more recently, the Amazonian backlash towards EA for saddling Spore with draconian SecuROM DRM. T-Mobile could have been next, had it decided to stick with its guns and impose a one gigabyte cap on its upcoming G1 phone. Now T-Mobile is saying that the bandwidth limit has been removed, at least until it reviews its plans and comes up with a new one.

"We removed the 1GB soft limit from our policy statement, and we are confident that T-Mobile G1 customers will enjoy the high speed of data access over our 3G network," T-Mobile wrote in a statement. "The specific terms for our new data plans are still being reviewed and once they are final we will be certain to share this broadly with current customers and potential new customers."

Good thing too, because the limit would have affected customers who plan to use Android features, and the last thing T-Mobile and the new Android platform needs is bad press if it is to wage war with Apple and the iPhone regime.

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mobile, cell phone, Cellular, android, t-mobile, cap limit

Posted 09/23/08 at 04:30:41 PM by Paul Lilly

The way things are shaping up, you might as well take your cell phone and toss it in a river. That is, if you put much stock into the most recent studies. Yesterday we learned that the quality of our little olympic swimmers (yes, even Maximum PC's sperm is hardcore) might turn out to be duds if forced to sit in close proximity to our cell phones while in talk mode, and in another blow to procreation, another study has emerged suggesting that mobile phone users under 20 years of age may be more susceptible to cancer.

Professor Lennart Hardell from the University Hospital in Orebo Sweden conducted the study and found a five-fold increase in particular types of cancer, including brain cancer (glioma) and cancer of the auditory nerve, among sub-20 year olds who use mobile phones. And when it comes to young children, he warns that the thinner and still developing skulls makes kids more susceptible to electromagnetic radiation.

This isn't the first time the safety of cell phone use has come into question, and likely won't be the last given the conflicting results. Last year a study in Denmark failed to show any connection between mobile phone use and the onset of cancer among the 420,000 participants involved.

Are cell phones safe? Hit the jump and post your thoughts.

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mobile, cell phones, health, Cellular, consumer electronics, study

Posted 09/23/08 at 12:05:11 PM by Paul Lilly

We're still a month away from seeing the first mobile phone running Google's Android mobile platform hit the retail sector, but while ordinary folk have to wait patiently, there exists a handful of Google and maybe T-Mobile employees plugging away on the new phone. And it's from spotting one of these pre-release units in the wild that VentureBeat reports that Amazon will have a mobile store in place by the time Android ships.

Speculation suggests that the Amazon music store on Android will most likely be a mobile version of its existing AmzonMP3 online digital music store. Such a move would certainly heat up the competitive juices between T-Mobile's HTC Android phone and Apple's iPhone, and perhaps help Amazon grab some of the marketshare controlled by iTunes.

Let the mobile phone wars begin.

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Software, mobile, cell phone, Google, amazon, Cellular, android, consumer electronics

Posted 09/22/08 at 11:15:37 AM by Paul Lilly

The Cleveland Clinic has bad news for amorous males who tote their cell phones in their pants pocket. According to the Clinic's research, mobile phones left on talk mode can reduce the quality of sperm.

"We believe that these devices are used because we consider them very safe, but it could cause harmful effects due to the proximity of the phones and the exposure that they are causing ot the gonads," says lead researcher Ashok Agarwal.

Agarwal and his team studied semen samples from 32 men with each person's sperm placed in small conical tubes, and then separated them into two groups. One group was kept clear of any cell phone emissions, while the other group sat 2.5 centimeters away from an 850MHz cell phone in talk mode, The researchers did this to simulate active cell phones kept in pants pockets while talking on headsets.

"On average, there was an 85 percent increase in the amount of free radicals for all the subjects in the study," noted Agarwal. "Free radicals have been linked to a variety of diseases in humans including cancer."

But don't panic just yet. By Agarwal's own admission, the small sample size can't be viewed as conclusive, nor does it take into account layers of skin, bone, and tissue that might protect precious sperm.

Even still, how long do you give cell phone manufacturers until they start marketing new models as being semen safe?

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cell phone, Cellular, consumer electronics

Posted 08/13/08 at 03:49:54 PM by Paul Lilly

According to a previous report by The Wall Street Journal, Google's open-source Android platform likely won't see the light of day until 2009, but that may not be the case. A new rumor hitting the web claims that T-Mobile will debut the first Android phone for pre-sale as early as September 17th.

Blog site TmoNews, who claims to be privy to this information based on a "trusted source," also says the new phone (codenamed G1) will cost consumers $399 - ouch! But that's when it goes fully public. TmoNews says the G1 pre-sale will last for one week and be available only to T-Mobile customers, who will be able to pick up the phone for $250 below retail. Everyone else will have to wait until mid-October.

The site also claims the G1 will come in black, white, or brown and include a 3-inch wide touch screen, 3G support, and a slide-out Qwerty keypad. Anyone that plans on picking one up will need a Gmail account, or so the rumor goes.

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Software, mobile, cell phone, Google, open source, Cellular, android, Cell

Posted 08/11/08 at 08:50:13 PM by Paul Lilly

There's no stopping it folks, the text messaging revolution is here and it's sweeping the nation from the pre-teen crowd all the way up to the potential presidency. Don't believe it? Let's have a look at the evidence.

Exhibit A

Morgan Pozgar, a 13-year-old girl from Claysburg, Pennsylvania, wins last year's text messaging championship and takes home a $25,000 purse for for typing Supercalifragilisticexpialidoucious! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious in just 42 seconds. To become the champion, little Miss Pozgar estimates she sent 8,000 text messages a month in preparation for the contest.

Exhibit B

Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his team have set up a website where you can register to receive a text announcing Obama's choice for a VP running mate the moment it becomes official (and it won't be Hillary).

Republican candidate John McCain has accused his rival of being too much of a celebrity and not enough of a political leader, but could this latest move be a way to gain supporters among the tech savvy crowd? Post your thoughts below.

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mobile, text messaging, Cellular, consumer electronics, politics, barack obama

Posted 07/17/08 at 10:15:33 PM by Paul Lilly

Cell phone technology has come a long way since it was first introduced, and just as we can't help but snicker when catching a glimpse of the old beige bricks that started it all, it won't be long before today's mobile phones will be considered equally rudimentary. But even with the rapid pace of technology, it took Apple's iPhone to change the game, ushering in what's sure to be a new era of nifty must-have functionality. But what exactly will the post-iPhone cell phone be capable of?

Popular Science whips out its crystal ball so you don't have to, and what they've come up with are five different features that are all destined to come to future cell phones no later than 2009. More than just a wishlist, Popular Science explained the reasoning behind each category and which companies are at work on each technology. PC-grade computing and graphics by late 2009? Sign us up! The list looks sound, but one must-have feature noticeably absent is Sprint's crime deterrent system.

What features would you like to see in tomorrow's cell phones?

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apple, phone, cell phone, iphone, gadgets, hardware, Cellular, consumer electronics