Mobile

Like previous generations, today's teens seem to be constantly on the phone. But now they're doing a lot more texting than talking.

One third of teens in the U.S. text more than 100 times a day, according to a study released Tuesday by Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Based on a survey and focus groups conducted with teenagers between 12 and 17, Pew found that text messaging is by far the most common way that kids communicate with each other, more than chatting on the phone, e-mailing, using social-networking sites, or talking face to face.

More … Read more

The fastest are getting faster.

Eight of the top 10 countries or regions in terms of Internet speed saw a boost in the final quarter of 2009, according to Akamai's "State of the Internet Report" released Tuesday.

Among those top areas, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan grabbed the best Internet performance globally, averaging connection speeds higher than 7.5 megabits per second (Mbps) in the fourth quarter. Although South Korea actually was hit by a 29 percent decline in performance year over year, it still snagged the No. 1 spot at 11.7 Mbps.

The United … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.

Even before the D.C. Circuit's decision in Comcast v. FCC, a great deal of ink has been spilled over speculation that the FCC will rescue its marooned Net neutrality rulemaking by "reclassifying" broadband Internet access as a "telecommunications service" under Title II of the Communications Act. (Some of that ink has been my own.)

Earlier last week, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski refused to rule out that possibility, telling a Senate Committee that "we haven't settled on a path forward." … Read more

Palm implemented an executive-retention plan Friday as a key leader decided to move on amid reports that the company is up for sale.

Engadget spotted a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday notifying investors that Michael Abbott, senior vice president of software and a key representative before developers, is leaving the company. In a separate but definitely related statement, Palm said it has given senior executives incentives to remain with the company for two years, including $250,000 in cash for its chief financial officer and senior vice president of global operations.

It's looking more … Read more

Google's Android software is unable to format the higher-capacity memory cards listed as compatible with many of the phones running the operating system.

CNET reader Carey Hildebrand brought the issue to our attention after discovering an issue with his Nexus One. The Web site for the Nexus One says that Google's "superphone" should be compatible with microSD cards with up to 32 gigabytes of storage, but there's a catch: a flaw in Android makes it unable to format 32GB cards.

Google confirmed the problem. "This issue has been fixed, and will be part of … Read more

How does one print from a cloud-based OS like Google's Chrome when you can't install a local printer driver? Google is getting closer toward the answer.

The company is in the midst of developing a Google Cloud Print system that would allow Chrome OS users to send documents from any device to their own local printers or to other shared printers. Rather than depend on local print drivers, Cloud Print would receive and manage print jobs on Google's end and send them back to a printer.

Now it's making some resources available to developers. In a … Read more

Cablevision, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable are teaming up to allow their subscribers in New York City and the surrounding area to roam onto each other's Wi-Fi networks.

All three companies currently offer free Wi-Fi service to their cable subscribers in areas surrounding the Big Apple, including parts of Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Starting Thursday anyone who subscribes to broadband from any of these providers will get free Wi-Fi access on the two other cable operators' Wi-Fi networks.

The blog Broadband Reports notes this is particularly good news for Time Warner Cable customers. Time Warner has relatively … Read more

AT&T's claim that it carries the most wireless data traffic on its network is being challenged.

An ABI Research report released this week states that both Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel handled more data traffic last year than did AT&T. Verizon and Sprint each carried over 16 billion more megabytes of mobile network data than AT&T in 2009, the report noted.

Together, the report added, Verizon and Sprint carried 63 percent of the U.S. market's mobile network data traffic last year.

Meanwhile AT&T, which has been bashed over the past couple of years for poor network service … Read more

A number of mobile industry players including Intel, Motorola, and Samsung have launched an effort to push for devices and equipment based on the upcoming WiMax 2 high-speed wireless standard.

The WiMax 2 Collaboration Initiative, announced Sunday, aims to speed up industrywide adoption of the next WiMax release, which is based on the IEEE 802.16m standard and due for finalization in the second half of this year.

WiMax 2 will maintain backward compatibility with the earlier WiMax standard, based on IEEE 802.16e, while increasing peak transmission rates to more than 300Mbps, increasing Internet telephony capacity and lowering latency, … Read more