mobile

One problem almost all laptop users have experienced is not having the "latest version." I'm not talking about a particular piece of software, a driver update, or even the laptop itself. I'm talking about that moment when you're on the road or at a conference and you smack yourself in the head because you forgot to get the "latest version" of that important file off your desktop PC. From there, it's a scramble to call your co-worker, roommate, or significant other to find a way to get the latest version to you.… Read more

The long-awaited iPhone software development kit, which will be released in June, was finally unveiled Thursday.

And with it came a few applications, developed in a couple weeks by some very high-profile names in tech. Apple demonstrated seven new applications in a variety of categories: business, communications, and games.

• Touch FX: Adds Photo Booth-style effects to a photo using your finger on the iPhone touch screen. Pinch or tap to introduce fun-house mirror style effects.

• Touch Fighter: The first official game for the iPhone, developed by Apple engineers over two weeks. You fly through space and steer by … Read more

Up until today, only Windows Mobile 5 and 6 and BlackBerry users could take CellSpin's mobile blogging and media-sharing platform for, well, a spin. On Thursday the San Jose, Calif. company announced a big addition to the family: phones on the Symbian platform.

Adding Symbian cell phones, many of them high-end, brings CellSpin's free beta service to over 300 handsets and over 30 carriers worldwide.

CellSpinners can quickly share photos, video, text, and audio to Blogger, eBay, Facebook, YouTube, Picasa, LiveJournal, Flickr, and Windows Live Spaces, with more partnerships on the way. Of course, there are a few … Read more

It wasn't too long ago we editors--or anyone!--got acquainted with Skyfire (review), the newest mobile browser to challenge Opera Mini's dominance. Check out the fresh minimalist design and clever search options, plus one disappointing feature that's far from a thriller. (Go ahead and award yourself 10 points if you spot that reference in the video.)

Boost Mobile is often known for their iDEN/Walkie-talkie phones, as their "Where you at?" ads would suggest. However, the youth-oriented Sprint-Nextel offspring also offers a few non-iDEN phones, and its latest is the Motorola Krzr K1m. The K1m has all the features of the Sprint version, such as an MP3 player, a 1.3-megapixel camera, GPS, as well as EV-DO support, and is available for $249.99. It also includes a preloaded service called "The Latest," which gives you access to information such as news, sports, and stock market updates throughout the day. Premium channels … Read more

Though rumors have been out there for weeks, Intel has confirmed that upcoming Montevina mobile technology will be branded Centrino 2. The chipmaker also said the Core 2 Extreme QX9770 is shipping.

This follows the official rollout of the Atom brand for ultrasmall devices on Sunday. As part of the Atom platform, Intel will offer a combination CPU-chipset wireless solution called Centrino Atom, with device suppliers shipping products next quarter.

Now Intel has added the Centrino 2 brand to the mix. The branding will break down into Centrino 2 for consumer notebooks and Centrino 2 vPro for business portables.

"… Read more

American workers apparently are getting more comfortable accessing the Web via their cell phones and PDAs.

The number of mobile devices accessing the Internet via wireless broadband skyrocketed 154 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006, according to research released Tuesday by ComScore.

The study also found that mobile broadband had a higher presence on work computers (59 percent) compared with home or personal computers (41 percent).

Verizon and Sprint accounted for the majority of the mobile broadband market last year, according to ComScore.

"Though mobile broadband access is currently used by … Read more

Nearly a quarter of all cell phone users in the U.S. say they've seen an advertisement on their phones in the past 30 days, according to a report from Nielsen Mobile, which tracks these trends.

About half of those who saw advertising on their mobile phones in the past month responded to an ad, the report said. In the fourth quarter, there was a big jump in the number or people reporting that they had spotted advertisements on their mobile phones. In fact, this figure rose 38 percent to 58 million users who said they saw advertising on … Read more

Yahoo is on a mobile roll.

The Internet company on Tuesday unveiled a new bookmarking tool for cell phones that lets people keep track of favorite Web content--news feeds, search results, Web sites--from one place on their handheld. The technology, called Yahoo OnePlace, will be available in the second quarter of 2008, according to Yahoo.

The tool builds on other new mobile applications from Yahoo. Those include OneConnect, a tool to update social-networking messaging on the phone (announced in February), and OneSearch, which aggregates news, weather, financial data, photos, and Web links based on search queries.

Yahoo has heavy competition … Read more