phones

One of the features iPhone users don't get to enjoy compared to their iPod brethren is mass storage--the option to use the device as a portable hard drive. Despite the iPhone's 4 and 8GB capacities, Apple isn't giving folks access to that beautiful free space. Not to fear though, eCamm Network has iPhone users covered with a $10 piece of Mac software called iPhoneDrive that turns the phone into a mass storage device.

Once installed, the program lets you send files of any size (iPhone storage permitting) back and forth. It also supports drag and drop. Unlike … Read more

It's rough getting accustomed to a touch screen phone like the iPhone, especially with the virtual keyboard. That's why someone has come up with an iPhone typing test that you use with your iPhone to get the hang of your new way of communicating. You'll soon learn to "trust the keyboard."

iPhone link: http://www.iphonetypingtest.com/

Count down the days, hours, minutes, and even seconds to that next big thing, using this iPhone app called Countdownr. You can set a counter to a specific date and time, or even configure a counter for upcoming events from public Google calendars.

iPhone link: http://www.countdownr.com/mobile.html

Things seem to have gone from bad to worse for the No. 2 mobile handset maker Motorola and its CEO, Ed Zander.

On Wednesday the company issued a profit warning citing weak sales in its mobile handset business. The company said that it expects second quarter sales of $8.6 billion to $8.7 billion, down from the $9.4 billion it had predicted earlier. The company also said it would report a loss between 2 cents and 4 cents a share. Some analysts predicted the company would actually report a profit of about 2 cents. Motorola is expected to … Read more

If you've ever wondered who's driving like a bonehead up ahead, it could be a teen who's behind the wheel, steering with one hand and sending a text message with the other. According to a study from AAA and Seventeen magazine, cited by this USA Today article, almost half of teens surveyed admitted that they send text messages from the driver's seat. (The researchers interviewed about 1,000 teen drivers in the United States to compile the data.)

That dovetails with a study published Tuesday about teen cell phone habits, which commonly include texting from the … Read more

John Mayer has apparently betrayed Apple's way of life.

In comments made before his performance at Macworld earlier this year, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, sapless singer/songwriter Mayer told attendees that Jobs' penchant for making consumer-friendly products was "like the opposite of terrorism." Should we therefore assume, then, that Mayer's current gig as a high-profile sponsor of iPhone competitor BlackBerry Curve means he's gone over to the dark side?

Research In Motion (RIM) is the official sponsor of Mayer's summer tour, coming soon to a high-school cafeteria near you. The Unofficial Apple Weblog … Read more

OK, so I get the iMac, the iBook, the iPod, iTunes, and even (grudgingly) the iPhone. Apple thought up the moniker, so we can't begrudge them for expanding on the very successful franchise. But the iTrip, the iRiver Clix and Cowon's range of iAudio products tested the limits of my patience. And I could have held my tongue if BMW's iDrive had been the end of iOpportunism.

But when I noticed the iLoad--a device for ripping CDs and DVDs to iPod without a computer--on Senior Editor Donald Bell's desk this morning, I felt the need … Read more

The iPhone may be the answer to what many people want in a smart phone, but it's unlikely to end the scourge known as CrackBerry addiction anytime soon: unless e-mail software like Synchronica's takes off.

Synchronica, based in the U.K., announced Wednesday that its Mobile Gateway 3.0 software will allow companies to deliver corporate e-mail to the iPhone without having to open the firewall or otherwise meddle with their security settings. It allows the iPhone's e-mail client to talk directly to Microsoft's Exchange e-mail servers through Outlook Web Access and doesn't require companies … Read more

So here's the deal: If there's going to be any meaningful backlash against touch screens, it may require some innovative thinking on the part of button proponents. But we hope that it won't depend on the likes of Vertu and their $310,000 phones.

Nokia, at least, appears to be doing its part with a new design for the "7500 Prism" handset destined for the Chinese market for about $290, according to Gizmodiva. Its contribution to the cause? Triangular buttons that form a diamond pattern on the keypad.

We were just relieved to find that … Read more