devices

Adobe Systems' announcement today that it would abandon its work on the mobile version of its Flash Player also applies to consumer devices such as TVs.

Adobe will no longer focus on porting the Flash plug-in into Web browsers on consumer electronics devices and instead encouraged developers to build native apps for those devices, the company confirmed in a statement today to GigaOm.

"Adobe will continue to support existing licensees who are planning on supporting Flash Player for web browsing on digital home devices and are using the Flash Player Porting Kit to do so," Adobe said. "… Read more

When the late Steve Jobs introduced iOS 5 during his last keynote address in June, he touted iCloud as something that "just works" and that users would have nothing to learn. As it turns out, he was right, but only on his first point.

Not only is there a lot to learn about iCloud, but users have little control over it once they start. So before you jump in, it's important to know a few things about it.… Read more

Advanced Micro Devices unveiled a restructuring plan today that will reduce its global workforce by 10 percent, or about 1,400 jobs, by 2012.

The layoffs, which are expected to save the company $200 million, represent the first major action by new CEO Rory Read, who took the helm of the chipmaker in August.

"Reducing our cost structure and focusing our global workforce on key growth opportunities will strengthen AMD's competitiveness and allow us to aggressively pursue a balanced set of strategic activities designed to accelerate future growth," Read said in a statement. "The actions we … Read more

Those of you paying for multiple data plans per mobile device or per family member may get some relief down the road as shared data plans become more prevalent.

The number of mobile devices sold on shared data plans is projected to grow 89 percent per year over the next few years, hitting almost 187 million in 2015, says a new report from Infonetics Research and published by mobile networking company Tekelec.

Some carriers may be slow to enter this new arena because implementing a shared data plan is more challenging than it sounds. Such plans demand a more "… Read more

LONDON--Multitouch revolutionized user interfaces, and if Nokia researchers get their way, a mobile device that's sensitive to how it's being flexed could be the next revolution.

At the Nokia World show here, the Finnish mobile phone maker showed off its "Nokia kinetic device" with a flexible display. Gripped with two hands, it would scroll through music collections or photo albums when twisted. Bowing it inward or outward zoomed photos in and out or paused and played music, while tapping the corners panned through photos.

While it was a real computing device with a real OLED display, … Read more

After the recent phone tracking/tracing revelations around Apple, Google, and Microsoft, a lot of you got understandably freaked.

Did you opt in to constant surveillance just because you bought a smartphone? The answer is "somewhat," but at least when it's your own device doing the tracking you can do something about it.

In this episode of Device & Conquer, I'll lay out how your phone can track you, dispel a few myths about that, and about GPS satellites, and give you a few tips for taking back what privacy you still have.

In OS X Lion, Apple changed the default scroll direction from moving the screen in the opposite direction to the cursor to be similar to the iPad and iPhone, where when you scroll the image on the screen moves in the same direction you are scrolling.

This behavior may be expected for touch-screen devices, but for many people the change is a bit confusing, despite the introductory warning that informs you about the change when you first boot Lion.

For people who wish to keep the conventional scrolling behavior, there's an option to do so in the Mouse and … Read more

Believe it or not, tablets are shaping up to be the future of home theater controls.

Brian Cooley walks you through what could become the ultimate couch potato setup.

SAN DIEGO--In case you didn't know, connected devices--or gadgets with a built-in cellular connection--are a big thing.

They've been a focus here at this year's CTIA Enterprise & Applications show. AT&T executive Glenn Lurie called it "the next big thing" in the wireless industry yesterday. His boss, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega, reiterated the sentiment today at the keynote address. Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead also talked up its position in the connected devices business.

The GSM Association and Machina Research said the addressable market for the wireless industry … Read more