Crave

Unsurprisingly, the iPhone 3G S is tops in touch-screen phones.

(Credit: CBS Interactive)

Market research firm ComScore reported on Tuesday that touch-screen mobile-phone adoption is not only on the rise, it's growing at a rapid rate.

Touch-screen phone adoption grew by 159 percent between August 2008 and August 2009, according to ComScore. The firm also found that by the end of August 2009, there were 23.8 million users with touch-screen mobile phones in the United States alone. In August 2008, just over 9.2 million people were using touch-screen phones.

But it's not just the touch screen that's enjoying strong growth. ComScore also found that smartphones are gaining traction across the U.S. Between August 2008 and August 2009, smartphone adoption grew by 63 percent. There were 20.7 million mobile subscribers using smartphones in August 2008. More than 33.7 million subscribers had smartphones by August 2009.

Unsurprisingly, it was the iPhone that led the way during that period. According to ComScore, the iPhone was the top touch-screen device for users aged 13 and older, capturing 32.9 percent of the touch-screen market. The LG Dare placed a distant second, accounting for 8.7 percent of the touch-screen phones in the wild. That device was followed up by the LG Voyager, BlackBerry Storm, and Palm Treo, which captured 7.8 percent, 7 percent, and 6.5 percent of the market, respectively.

It's also worth noting that the average user of a touch-screen device is younger than those who use standard mobile phones. According to ComScore, 51.4 percent of smartphone users are under the age of 35. A whopping 57.7 percent of touch-screen users fall within that age range. ComScore also found that 20.6 percent of touch-screen users range in age between 18 and 24. Less than 5 percent of touch-screen users are 65 and older.

Do you fall in line with these stats? Let us know in the comments below.

(Credit: Matt Hickey)

T-Mobile on Sunday took the veil off of its rumored new aggressive pricing plans and made them official. And they're not just attractive, they're simple as well.

They are split into two major categories: the Even More Plus plans that don't include hardware subsidization but has no contract, and the Even More plans that include hardware and have a two-year contract.

The noncontract Plus option looks great for people who already own hardware that would run on T-Mobile's network, like an unlocked GSM phone. The top plan, at $79 a month, includes unlimited airtime, texting, and even Web browsing. That's about $20 less than the full unlimited plan that is offered by Sprint, until now the best all-in plan around.

Don't need data and just want talking and texting? That'd be just $49 a month for all-you-can-eat on both. Like we said, aggressive.

But just because they're not subsidizing hardware with these Even More Plus plans, it doesn't mean someone would be stuck with their current phone. T-Mobile's offering these plans in conjunction with its Equipment Installment Plan, which allows a user to break up payment on a new phone into 4 or 20 installments on top of what they're paying for their bill, and it's interest free. A $399 G1 would be just $19.95 a month for 20 months. If you're anti-contract, that's a great way to go.

Of course, one could still go the traditional route and get a phone with the Even More plans and get a handset subsidized, but the Even More plans don't offer an unlimited everything plan. Adding a data and text plan to the same G1 available on the installment plan takes the unlimited side up to $99 a month, on par with Sprint. In addition the G1 costs $129, leaving $270 to be made up for by subsidization. On a two-year contract that's $11.50 per month.

But what's the best way to go? This can get confusing, but bear with us here. ... Read more

T-Mobile's Pulse (click for full slideshow)

(Credit: ZDNet UK)

T-Mobile has demonstrated the first pay-as-you-go Android handset to go on sale in the UK.

The Pulse, which is manufactured by Huawei, was announced on Thursday. Huawei is best known in the UK for manufacturing mobile broadband dongles for operators such as T-Mobile, and the Pulse marks its entry into the British handset market.

"The T-Mobile Pulse represents another Android milestone from T-Mobile," said Nicola Shenton, who currently heads the operator's handset business in the UK, in a statement. "We introduced the first Android handset, the T-Mobile G1, to the UK back in October 2008, launched our second handset, the G2 Touch, earlier this year and now we're opening up Android-based smartphones to a whole new type of mobile user with the first handset on pay-as-you-go."

"We predicted back in June that we expected one in five T-Mobile mobile internet users will have Android-powered devices by the end of the year, and the launch of the T-Mobile Pulse is a major step in making this a reality," she added.

The pay-as-you-go T-Mobile Pulse will go on sale in the UK in October at £180. Contract pricing is yet to be announced.

David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.

If you need a GPS device to get around, it's becoming more likely you'll get yourself a mobile phone with built-in satellite mapping than buy a standalone personal navigation device.

According to market research firm iSuppli, by 2011, virtually all smartphones will sport built-in GPS functionality, and by 2014 there might be no more market left for PNDs.

The Palm Pre is one smartphone that offers viable GPS navigation solutions.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

While this is a grand statement, it's quite credible. Just a year or two ago, it was hard to find a phone with built-in GPS functionality that actually worked reliably. Now look at my iPhone 3GS. I have all three major GPS applications on it, including TomTom, Navigon, and iGo My Way, and each can turn the phone into a dependable navigator. In addition, I am now testing the fourth one, CoPilot Live from ALK Technologies.

While I may be unusual--mostly because nobody needs more than one GPS app on his or her phone--the truth is that more and more phones offer the same feature and more people are using their phones as their primary GPS navigator while driving.

The Palm Pre, for example, also offers a great GPS navigator provided by TelNav, and my co-worker Joseph Kaminiski sure has made good use of it. Prior to the Pre, Joseph used the Treo 800 for the same purpose.

Nonetheless, for now, the market for PNDs is still going strong. According to iSuppli, PNDs will continue to lead the navigation market in 2009, with some 114 million sets predicted to be in use by the end of the year, compared with 57.8 million navigation-enabled smart phones.

New smartphone models are becoming increasingly suitable for use as navigators due to their larger displays, bigger internal storage, faster processors, and most importantly, the increased number of developers creating apps for them. As a matter of fact, all current navigation solutions on smartphones are applications developed by third parties.

iSuppli predicted that thanks to such factors, the number of people who use the iPhone alone as a navigator will increase from just 2 million in 2009 to 20 million by 2013.

Personally, however, I still believe there will be a market left for personal navigation devices. Though I have been making good use of my phone for getting me places, I still like a standalone GPS device for my car as sometimes while driving, my iPhone needs to be used as what it's designed to be: a phone.

Here I am testing the sturdiness of a Samsung M110, Sonim XP1, and Sony Ericsson C702 by putting them inside a working vacuum cleaner. They held up well.

(Credit: Fredrik Stehn)

Nokia's new dust-, water-, and shock-resistant GSM phone, the 3720 Classic, is good news for people who've lost one or two mobiles in a pool of water.

It's not the only one on the market, though--well-protected phones for iDEN and CDMA networks have been around for a long time, and starting a few years ago a new series of GSM mobiles from Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and small American manufacturer Sonim were certified according to the so-called IP-54 standard.

All are fresh alternatives to trustworthy and historic companions such as the Ericsson R310 from 2000 (the "shark fin"), the Nokia 5210 from 2002, and the Nokia 5500 Sports from 2006.

American users might not have had the pleasure of torturing these phones, as GSM networks were scarce in the U.S. at the time the Ericsson R310 and Nokia 5210 launched. Furthermore, they were only dual band for European frequencies.

The IP Code that's used for certifying the new models is an international standard that defines protection against dust and water.

The Nokia 3720 Classic is the latest entrant to the water-resistant genre.

(Credit: Nokia)

The first digit ranges from 0 to 6 and regards dust, the second ranges from 0 to 8 and regards water. IP-54 means, more or less, that the device is almost completely protected against dust and that it resists splashing water from any direction.

Last year I had great fun putting the Samsung M110, Sonim XP1, and Sony Ericsson C702 to the test (article in Swedish). I put the phones in a vacuum cleaner bag while cleaning, held them under the shower spray, launched them from a second-floor balcony, and dropped them in a glass of beer.

The Samsung M110 turned out to be the clear winner, happily receiving calls even when immersed in a mug of brew.

How many marketing goons did it take to come up with "Beanzawave?"

(Credit: Daily Mail)

In what appears to be another case of "good idea, poor execution," Heinz has partnered with Frazer Designers to invent the world's smallest USB-powered microwave. The little device aims to satisfy the appetites of office workers who have so much work on their plate they can't find the time to step outside for a bite to eat. Stranger still, the microwave is called...the Beanzawave (what?!).

The small turquoise device is officially the smallest microwave ever invented, measuring a tiny 7.4 inches tall, 6.2 inches wide, and 5.9 inches deep. Much like today's external hard drives, the microwave is entirely powered by the USB bus on a computer, so there's no extra plug necessary. If you're wondering how it'll nuke your food, the answer has the Microwave Association (what?!) worried as well. Gordon Andrews and Stephen Frazer, the masterminds and "microwave experts" (what?!) behind the Beanzawave claim the device uses phone radio frequencies that produce the heat necessary to cook a single serving of food in Heinz's proprietary "Snap Pots."

Bill takes a break and enjoys a nice pot of poison.

(Credit: Daily Mail)

All right wait, what?! Phone radio frequencies to cook our food? Apparently we've totally forgotten our fear that cell phones are carcinogenic and catapulted directly to ingestion. Andrews claims it's actually possible to adjust these radio frequencies to cook different foods, including pies, burgers, soup, or tea. He also suggests powering the Beanzawave with lithium ion batteries for campers and fishermen who want hot food in the field.

This prototype isn't getting very good feedback from the Microwave Association, and they're pretty sure this miniature technology won't ever see the light of day. I'm with them. But Heinz is sticking to the plan and says the final production decision rests in the hands of public feedback, so let's hear it: would you feel comfortable eating food out of a microwave powered by your computer using phone radio frequencies? Leave a comment and let us know!

(Source: DailyMail)

Welcome to affordability, BlackBerry Bold.

(Credit: Research In Motion)

I'm now the proud owner of a BlackBerry Bold.

For a while, I was trying to decide if I wanted to ditch my iPhone 3G for the Bold. After some research and hands-on time with Research In Motion's beauty, I decided that it was in my best interest to escape from Apple's grips.

But there was a problem: the BlackBerry Bold is expensive. If you're not eligible for a two-year upgrade, the Bold will set you back $550 at the AT&T store. If you're new to AT&T or eligible for the upgrade price, you pay $399.99.

I didn't want to spend that much on a mobile phone that replaced another expensive gadget. Plus, I wasn't eligible for an upgrade. So I decided to head down to the AT&T store to talk with a representative to figure it all out. And much to my surprise, he and I determined that I would end up paying just $30 for the Bold.

Here's how it worked:

(Credit: Flora Graham/CNET)

It starts with that horrible sinking feeling: You've left your phone on the train. Then you realize that your company's evil plans were on that phone and you're about to be fed to the sharks with frickin' lasers strapped to their heads.

A frenzied call to your network will lock the phone for making calls and sending texts, but all of your text messages and files will stay on the mobile's memory, ripe for the plundering.

Software house UMU has had a bright idea. StopThief is an app for your Nokia Series 60 or Windows CE device that lets you lock or wipe that handset as quickly as sending a text message.

We tried StopThief on our Nokia E51, which contains the Crave plans for world domination. It was as easy to install as you can get on Symbian, and once it was up and running we had no trouble locking and wiping the handset at the speed of text.

Locking was quick to undo by entering our password, but wiping is permanent, so not to be messed with. When the handset was locked, we couldn't run any program, but we could still look at the home screen, so any info displayed there, such as the subject lines of e-mails in the in-box, was still visible.

Wiping deleted text messages, photos, video, and contacts--the only thing it misses out are calendar entries, so the details of our meetings with fellow conspirators were still in the hands of our enemies.

BlackBerry-ers using BlackBerry Enterprise Server have had this ability for a while, and it's a very handy feature if your phone holds anything more valuable than embarrassing snapshots and smoochy texts. UMU claims that a mobile phone is stolen every 12 seconds in the U.K. and over 50,000 phones are left in the back of London taxis in an average year.

StopThief is available from the UMU Web site for 9.95 British pounds ($14.72).

(Via Crave UK)

Microsoft appears poised to officially unveil a Web-based service that will let users store, share, and back up data from their mobile phones.

Provided, that is, that the phones run Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6 phone operating system. And the service will be available as only a limited beta to start with.

Details of Microsoft's impending My Phone service slipped out inadvertently when the Web site went live ahead of its scheduled debut. The site appears to have been spotted first by Engadget Mobile, which also referred to the service as SkyBox.

Microsoft's My Phone service is intended to provide backup and other services for Windows Mobile 6 users.

According to the Microsoft My Phone site, the service will let users back up and restore the phone's data, access contact and scheduling information, and share photos. Users will get 200MB of free storage, but beware--a synchronization attempt that exceeds the limit will cut off any files beyond the 200MB mark.