Mobile

The Federal Communications Commission's plan to free up 500 megahertz of additional wireless spectrum got a significant boost from the White House.

On Monday, President Barack Obama signed a memorandum that commits the U.S. to making an additional 500MHz of government and commercial spectrum available for auction and for unlicensed use within the next 10 years. This goal of getting 500MHz more spectrum in the hands of wireless broadband providers over the next decade is a key part of the National Broadband Plan that the FCC presented to Congress earlier this year.

With the backing of Obama, the … Read more

Google has remotely removed two free apps from several hundred Android phones because the apps misrepresented their purpose and thus violated Android developer policies, according to a company spokesman.

This marks the first time Google has used the Remote Application Removal Feature that allows the company to delete apps for security reasons that have been installed through Android Market.

The apps were proof-of-concept programs designed to test the feasibility of distributing a program that could later be used to take control of the device in an attack, according to Jon Oberheide, the developer who wrote and distributed them.

The one … Read more

It's time to Ask Maggie again.

This week has been a busy one with the launch of the new Apple iPhone 4 and Motorola's new Android-based Droid X. With new smartphones hitting the market, many consumers are deciding whether they should buy something new now or wait to see what comes out later this year. Readers this week also asked about service plans, wireless operator upgrade plans, and getting the most bang for your buck--and even about cell phone safety.

Readers responded well to last week's call for questions. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to everyone's … Read more

People are increasingly relying on their mobile phones to deliver maps and directions on the go, according to ComScore.

Data released by ComScore on Friday discovered that 14 percent of all mobile phones users in the U.S., or 33.5 million people, accessed maps on their devices at least once a month over the three months ended April, a 44 percent rise from the same period in 2009.

The number of mobile users who retrieved maps one to three times a month rose 47 percent to 17.1 million, while those accessing maps once a week climbed 60 percent … Read more

Despite years of investment in its Symbian operating system, Nokia has picked the Linux-based MeeGo instead to go head to head with Apple's iPhone and other higher-end smartphones.

The Nokia N8 will be the last of the flagship N-series smartphones to use Symbian, Nokia told CNET Australia, and confirmed the move in a Reuters interview. "Going forward, N-series devices will be based on MeeGo," a Nokia spokesman said, though it will continue to offer Symbian lower down the product line.

Years ago, Nokia was the dominant phone maker, but it's struggled to reclaim its past glory. The N-series change indicates the company's bets on Symbian--including Nokia's acquisition of full Symbian control from other partners and its subsequent release as open-source software--weren't sufficient to make the operating system a top-end competitor.

In contrast, the iPhone 4 appears to be increasing Apple's considerable clout in the mobile market, and application developers' products also run on the iPod Touch and iPad devices that also use the iOS operating system. At the same time, Google has been making steady gains with its Android operating system, with 160,000 new Android phones activated daily, and various partners plan Android-baesd tablets and other devices. … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Robert J. Shapiro's bio below.

The familiar, one-size-fits-all flat monthly fee for Internet use is likely headed for the technology junk pile--and it's a good thing for most consumers.

One fee for unlimited broadband access--and the same fee for everybody signing up for a particular service--helped drive the extraordinarily rapid spread of broadband, especially as those fees declined over the last decade. But broadband has changed the Internet, particularly by enabling the spread of bandwidth-intensive video and voice applications.

New analysis shows that as Internet providers ramp up their … Read more

Research in Motion on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates but missed the analysts' targets on revenue. The company also announced a share repurchase plan. (Statement, in PDF.)

For the quarter, the company reported revenue of $4.24 billion, up 24 percent from the year-ago quarter. Net income came in at $768.9 million, or $1.38 per share, up from the $1.12 per share reported in the year ago quarter. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.34 a share on revenue of $4.36 billion.

Looking ahead, the company projected second-quarter revenue of between $… Read more

The newly announced Motorola Droid X will feature a familiar virtual keyboard. But the smartphone will also come with Swype, a technology that lets people drag their finger from letter to letter to type out a message.

According to Swype, it makes for a "very accurate" text-input system that offers "very rapid text entry."

But with the Droid X firmly in the Swype camp, the company is looking beyond Motorola to license its technology. And it has its sights set on Apple's iPhone.

In an interview with Reuters, Swype CEO Mike McSherry said one of … Read more

GetJar, a mobile app store that offers software for most major smartphones, said Thursday it has picked up $11 million in financing.

GetJar said it will use the Series B funding generated by Accel Partners to continue to innovate its site and its services for customers and developers, including Pay-Per-Download, App Download Page, and App Catalogue Express.

GetJar is not nearly as well known as the Apple, Android, and BlackBerry mobile app stores. But according to GetJar, it has counted more than 1 billion downloads since its launch in 2005. GetJar describes itself as the world's second largest app … Read more