Mobile

The iPhone can finally be purchased in China! Unfortunately, Apple Inc. refuses to endorse the product, it does not function properly, and sells for more than double the price of the North American model. Those enthusiasts willing to pay 8,800 yuan ... ($1,170 USD) can pick up their new iPhone at electronics markets all over Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. In the United States, the iPhone can be purchased for as little as $499 in some areas. (Source: technology.canoe.ca ) Overshadowing the inflated price tag is the fact that the product does not function properly. The Chinese model can ... (view more)

A usability study by consulting firm User Centric has found that average cell phone users are more efficient when using a QWERTY keypad than Apple's new iPhone design. The study involved 20 participants who said they sent text messages at least 15 ... times per week. Half of these participants owned a QWERTY keypad, and the other half owned a phone with a numeric keypad. None of them had ever used an iPhone. All participants were asked to copy 12 standard messages that had been created for the study using their own phones. Then the participants were asked to copy the same messages with an iPhone ... (view more)

Given the somewhat surprising popularity of the iPhone (come on, that price is rich), it's less-than-surprising that a host of third party options are headed towards the device. First up may be eBooks and even old-school text games, both taking ... advantage of a generally reliable service, awesome resolution, and long-time projected growth. For those of us who rarely leave the nauseating glow of the computer screen, eBooks have become a popular alternative to the rainforest-ruining fare of yesterday. Granted, sometimes there's just no replacement for the feel of a good, physical book, but for ... (view more)

Apple is not only known for its sleek and simple product designs, its success is actually built on it. Thus, it came as quite a surprise when AT ... (view more)

Now that it's been a while since the iPhone's release, it seems an appropriate time to discuss the device's impact on the "smartphone". ABI Research weighed in on the debate after revealing its forecast that the smartphone market segment will ... increase from 218 million units in 2007 to 426 million units in 2012. Stuart Carlaw, wireless research director at ABI Research, says that although the iPhone will have a considerable impact, it will not have the ground-breaking effect that many had initially expected. "The iPhone will not revolutionize the smartphone market," said Carlaw, "but ... (view more)

EMusic, the second-largest online music distributor after Apple's iTunes, is expected to announce a deal with AT ... (view more)

iPhone users have flooded the Apple support site, as well as numerous other sites, complaining about problematic iPhone screens. Consumers are angry that the screens labelled as LCD panel ID "7" display a faint grid of dots and are dimmer than those ... with a panel ID of 5. (Source: realtechnews.com ) Entering *3001#12345#* (including the asterisks) on an iPhone and hitting the Call button puts the phone into Field Test Mode. From this mode, users can view information about the iPhone's hardware, such as the firmware versions and the LCD panel ID number. The panel IDs that start with a 7 are ... (view more)

As we've seen online with popular Web 2.0 programs like MySpace and Facebook, a public buzz is like honey to hackers. Now, it's stinging potential iPhone owners, many of whom might be duped into a recently reported phishing scam. Concerns stem from ... a new botnet, which links infected PC users to an imitation web page purporting to sell Apple's popular new communicator. Visitors are prompted to enter personal details and financial information, which is quickly lapped up by goons behind the scheme. The bot itself is part of a widespread Trojan virus named Aifone.A, a growing web threat that has ... (view more)

July heat can do some serious damage to production. With temperatures soaring across North America and Europe, employers are often forced to limit the physical activity of their outside employees. With that said, here's one sun casualty you might ... not expect: your cell phone. In a recent report compiled by Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, researchers found that many dropped calls are not the result of elevators or even subway tunnels, but instead flares emitted from Mr Sun himself. (Source: allheadlinenews.com ) How is that possible? Granted, the sun is a long way away from both us and ... (view more)