Personal communications

SAN FRANCISCO--After about a month of using a Windows Phone 7 device with no extra apps at all, it was fun to get my hands on some games.

On Tuesday I had a chance to play with a handful of the titles that Microsoft just announced would be coming to Windows Phone 7 when it launches later this year.

Though just a small sample, the quick look showed that Windows Phone 7 is quite a capable platform for games. That's important, because games in general--and the phone's Xbox Live tie-in specifically--will have to be a key selling point … Read more

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has offered the Indian government information and tools to help government agencies monitor communications sent via the BlackBerry's email and messaging services, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The Journal said that according to the minutes of a July 26 meeting between RIM and government officials--part of an ongoing series of negotiations--the company said it had "a setup to help...security agencies in tracking the messages in which security agencies are interested."

The Journal also reported that an Indian-penned summary of one of the discussions said RIM had agreed it could provide … Read more

eBay's PayPal is in talks with Google to about adding its payment service to Android devices, according to a Bloomberg report Friday.

If the discussions to use PayPal for Android application purchases go well, the service could be available on smartphones with Google's software by the end of this year, according to Bloomberg's unnamed sources.

Android app purchases currently are made using a credit card or Google's own competitor to PayPal, Google Checkout. PayPal is already available as an application for accepting and making mobile payments on several mobile platforms, including Android. The reported description of … Read more

With its hilly terrain, dense urban population, and plenty of government red tape, San Francisco already is a difficult place for cell phone carriers to build new antennas. But that process could become even more complicated if the city approves new aesthetics restrictions for antenna installation on public property.

Under the Personal Wireless Service Facility Site Permits Ordinance (PDF), introduced Tuesday by SF Supervisor John Avalos, antenna applicants would have to consider the visual impact of any new installations. The city could also reject applications based on that factor alone.

Jonas Ionin, senior planner for the San Francisco Planning Department, … Read more

Taiwan-based manufacturer HTC has been growing its market share steadily for some time now, thanks to strong consumer interest in smartphones, something the company specializes in.

Today, Gartner released its numbers for worldwide mobile device sales for the second quarter of 2010 and, for the first time, HTC has made it into the top 10.

Selling about 5.9 million units, HTC came in at No. 8 on Gartner's chart. This is more than double its second-quarter 2009 figures and gives the company a market share of 1.8 percent for the second quarter of 2010. The research firm … Read more

Taking a bite out of Apple's playbook, Research In Motion has unveiled a new podcast service for its BlackBerry mobile customers.

Launched on Wednesday, the free BlackBerry Podcast service lets BlackBerry users find, download, and subscribe to audio and video podcasts created by a host of providers, said the company.

Mobile customers can search the podcast catalog by keyword, category, and other criteria, and then preview any podcast before deciding whether to subscribe. Podcasts can be downloaded to the BlackBerry's microSD card where they can be played through the phone's media player or removed and played on … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See the bios of Berin Szoka and Adam Thierer below.

The announcement this week of Google and Verizon's proposed compromise framework for Net neutrality regulation seems to spell an end for the old "hands off the Net" consensus. But is such Internet regulation really needed?

Hard-core Net neutralists like the group Free Press insist that this deal isn't sweeping enough to protect the "free and open Internet." But in fact, the Net continues to do just fine without heavy-handed regulation. As Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president for global public policy, explains, … Read more

Droid Doesn't. Or it could be that Droid Won't. Or even Can't.

But the statistical evidence is clear. The numbers do not claim to have been working late at the office. They merely expose a suspicion that has been harbored by many in the bars and bordellos of our nation.

Yes, in a deep and sonorous study by the dating site OkCupid, there seems to be no doubt: iPhone owners have more sex than BlackBerry owners and a lot more sex than the worthy, solemn, dedicated purchasers of Android phones.

The numbers for women might leave some … Read more

Security experts warned on Tuesday about what is believed to be the first Trojan targeting Android-based mobile devices that racks up charges by sending text messages to premium-rate numbers.

The Trojan-SMS malware, dubbed "Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a," is being distributed via an unknown malicious Web site, said Denis Maslennikov, senior malware researcher at Kaspersky Lab.

Users are prompted to install a "media player application" that is a little bigger than 13 kilobytes, but which is hiding the Trojan inside, according to Kaspersky and mobile-phone security company Lookout, which analyzed the threat.

Like all Android apps, the … Read more