The impact of long term exposure to cellphone radiation is still largely unknown, but all the evidence up until now lends credence to the fact that you probably have better things to worry about. San Francisco lawmakers disagree however, and a controversial new law that forced retailers to display radiation levels of different handsets has the CTIA pulling them into court. “The CTIA's objection to the ordinance is that displaying a phone's SAR value at the point-of-sale suggests to the consumer that there is a meaningful safety distinction between FCC-compliant devices with different SAR levels," it said in a statement.

According to CTIA officials the new law supersedes the FCC’s authority to regulate radio emissions, and is misleading for consumers who ultimately haven’t been properly educated as to what the SAR ratings actually mean. Some have been tempted to lump cellphone manufacturers in with the tobacco industry who lied to customers for years about the dangers of smoking, but this is a bit misleading as well. Independent labs have backed up the fact that cellphone radiation levels as they are mandated today are considered safe and in some cases might even be beneficial.  

Only time will tell if the law will hold up in court, but at the end of the day perhaps it will encourage manufactures to voluntarily lower radiation levels. Studies show it probably won’t help, but it certainly can’t hurt.

Read More

Motorola managed to find a company willing to purchase its wireless network business, and that company is Nokia Siemens, who has agreed to cough up $1.2 billion for it, the two companies announced this week.

"This is an exciting acquisition that I believe has significant benefits for customers, employees and our shareholders," said Rajeev Suri, Chief Executive Officer of Nokia Siemens Networks. "Motorola’s current customers will continue to get world-class support for their installed base and a clear path for transitioning to next generation technologies while employees will join an industry leader with global scale and reach. Nokia Siemens Networks will see the benefits of a deal that is expected to enhance profitability and cash-flow and to have significant upside potential."

The deal nets Nokia around 50 more customers, while also strengthening its position with China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon, and Vodafone, Nokia said.

As part of the deal, Motorola will shuttle about 7,500 employees to Nokia, including large research and development sites in the U.S., China, and India.

More info here.

Read More

We keep hearing about all these tablets that are supposed to come out by the end of 2010, which makes us think it's going to be a very busy (and competitive) holiday shopping season. Go ahead and add Nokia to the ranks, which also wants a piece of the tablet pie and is slated to launch it's own branded unit in the fourth quarter.

There aren't a whole lot of details to go on, other than it will sport an ARM processor inside. Nokia is said to be in talks with various upstream component makers and has already completed about 100 engineering samples, but no one seems to know (or is wiling to say) whether the panel size will check in at 7 inches or 9 inches.

And that's really it. No definitive word on the OS or other specs, though there's chatter Nokia will tap into Meego and sell the device through its carrier partners.

Read More

When I signed up for T-Mobile one year ago, I didn't expect to sit around in envy halfway through my service agreement as other wireless vendors pump out one awesome smartphone after another. The G1 I snagged was supposed to be a precursor of things to come, only it hasn't quite worked out that way.

Maybe things are getting ready to change, or perhaps it's just wishful thinking, Either way, T-Mobile is now offering the Nokia E73 Mode smartphone built around the Symbian platform. It's the thinnest full QWERTY keyboard smartphone in T-Mobile's stable, and with the Switch Mode feature that let's users switch between customizable home screens, T-Mobile's billing this one as ideal for both work and play.

Some of the other features include a 5MP camera with flash and auto-focus, 3G support, Bluetooth, microSD memory card slot, built-in GPS receiver with Ovi Maps and Nokia's turn-by-turn navigation service, Microsoft Exchange support, a 2.4-inch QVGA (320 x 240 display), and of course Wi-Fi.

The phone costs $70 with a two-year service contract, or $300 by itself. As for me? I'm still holding out for a compelling Android phone to entice me to stay with T-Mobile 12 months from now.

What smartphone are you rocking, and are you planning to upgrade anytime soon?

Read More