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SpinVox, a United Kingdom-based voice-to-text specialist that in October introduced support for "microblogging" networks such as Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce, has launched a plug-in for BlackBerry handsets.

Called SpinVox Voicemail, the service identifies the caller and converts the voice message into text or e-mail or both. (The message remains audible.)

SpinVox users then have the option to reply by e-mail, voice, or SMS text message. The monthly cost of the service is based on the number of voice-to-text conversions used: there's a 10-conversion package available for about $6, a 20-conversion package for about $10, and a 50-conversion … Read more

Mobile users who haven't made the jump to watching videos on their cell phones and smartphones may see a juicy, dangling carrot on the horizon. A paper submitted by John Barrett of Parks Associates and David Wertheimer of USC's Entertainment Technology Center (PDF), summarizes that mobile phone users will watch more videos on their phones if they can get them for free. Well, duh. Who doesn't want free?

The study found that only a fraction of users with video-capable phones take advantage of them to watch movies and TV. Many of the reasons boil down to price, … Read more

If the spare contents of your wallet dictate your dining destination, you'll want to know of this reprieve. Cellfire (hands-on review), offers coupon deals with more than 10,000 local U.S. restaurants and services, and chains. With custom-built applications for BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, the RAZR, and Nokia phones, Cellfire has rounded the smartphone bases. A WAP site--www.cellfire.com--that works with iPhone and other Internet-enabled devices brings the app home.

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Article updated 2/28/08 with new information about Facebook's mobile settings.

The old adage, " 'tis better to give than to receive" should never apply to mobile software, much less to cell phone versions of social networks.

I initially thought BlackBerry's maker, RIM, was the culprit of a unilateral experience using Facebook for BlackBerry that let me push data to friends' Facebook accounts without receiving notice of any messages in return. It's since been pointed out to me that the product isn't so stingy to most, who can and do receive notice of … Read more

What do you do if you're billed as a business professional's Facebook, and a substantial portion of your more than 19 million members are jet-setting business types with fancy mobile phones and jobs that lend themselves to schmoozing? You build a mobile Web site so they can invite contacts as they meet them or identify in real life those they already have.

That was the impetus behind LinkedIn's mobile beta. (That and the fact that all the other social networks have mobile Web sites, too.) It's a good move for the social network, whose CEO, Dan … Read more

Breaking things--that's what the very bright and super curious do; they look beyond the obvious to see what's truly lurking beneath the surface. On Wednesday and Thursday, attendees at Black Hat D.C. 2008 got a window into the latest research being done on Web applications, wireless, and embedded technologies.

On Wednesday, researchers David Hulton and "Steve" showed how with about $1,000 with of equipment they can decrypt A5/1 cellular GSM traffic in less than a hour. Following that, Adam Laurie reprised his popular RFIDiots talk from last year's Black Hat briefings with … Read more

Last month we vowed not to post any more items on multi-card readers, figuring that enough was enough after an 80-in-1 version came out. We lied.

But this one isn't here to play the same numbers game, probably because that arms race has already gotten out of hand. Instead, this Triangular USB Multi-Functional Card Reader has taken a different route--by combining it with a clock and a thermometer. (We said different, not better.) It does come in three colors including black and orange, however, which is a good thing if you're a San Francisco Giants fan.

Smartphone customers keep flocking to the BlackBerry, and there are signs that it's not just harried executives signing up for service.

Research In Motion announced Thursday that it expects to have added 15 percent to 20 percent more subscribers than it initially forecast for its fourth fiscal quarter, which ends next week. The company originally thought it would add a net total of 1.82 million subscribers during the period, but strong holiday sales and the absence of a usual seasonal drop-off are credited with the surge.

Long the smartphone of choice for the U.S. businessperson, the BlackBerry … Read more

Update on February 22, 2008, at 3:20 p.m PST: This blog has been updated to include a response from American Express.

WASHINGTON D.C.--Adam Laurie, an RFID security expert, used the Black Hat DC 2008 conference here, to demonstrate a new Python script he's working on to read the contents of smart-chip-enabled credit cards.

As part of his presentation Wednesday, Laurie asked for someone from the audience to volunteer a smart card. Without taking the card out of the volunteer's wallet, Laurie both read and displayed its contents on the presentation screen--the person's name, … Read more