Distracted driving is responsible for many wrecks, and as a result there has been a push for auto makers to implement technologies aimed at reducing gadget-related distractions. There’s some controversy about whether those technologies help or cause more of an issue than they fix, but both those issues aside, New Jersey has a proposal on
Smartphones are, to some degree at least, delicate electronic creatures that happen to be stuffed in pockets, bags, placed on counters, taken to precarious places, and dropped on a near-daily basis. Anyone who has owned a phone for a significant amount of time has cracked a screen or crimped a corner at some point, which
We saw a couple images surface on June 6 of a device said to be the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, a 6.4-inch phablet previously known as the Sony Togari. While both the images certainly look like they could be the handset, neither are official, unlike the one that surfaced today. In a Sony event invitation,
As mobile technology increases, so does the trouble it causes on the road when drivers engage with the devices. The powers that be have been pushing auto makers to implement systems that prevent or limit the use of devices in their car, with the NHTSA being particularly vocal about it on June 7. While hands-free
Rumors had surfaced that Verizon would be adding the LG Optimus Zone to its prepaid offerings at some point, which has panned out, with the device appearing on Verizon’s website earlier today. Also called the LG Optimus L3, the Optimus Zone is an entry-level handset, and is joined by the Optimus Exceed, a rebrand of
On May 13, we reported that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was calling on Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung to help reduce smartphone theft. Such an issue has been growing, and subsequently resulting in increased crime statistics. Next week, Schneiderman and San Francisco’s District Attorney George Gascon plan to meet with industry reps to
According to The Guardian, the National Security Agency is presently mining millions of records from Verizon, which it slapped with a court order back in April. The order was sent in its entirety to the media company by an unspecified source, and details that such records are being handed over to the government without consumer
The D11 conference has been underway, with Tim Cook discussing all things Apple yesterday, and today with Motorola‘s Dennis Woodside discussing the company and its plans. According to Woodside, Motorola plans to launch amidst a range of smartphones one particular hero handset called the Moto X, which is said to be “contextually aware of what is going on around it.”
Motorola also has plans to release a “handful” of handsets in October (or possibly sooner). While those devices weren’t discussed, Woodside did get into Motorola’s planned hero phone, the Moto X, saying it will be the first smartphone built in the US. Such a title is earned by making the phones via a 500,000 square foot structure in Texas, a place that was used in the past for making Nokia handsets. While Android’s Sundar Pichai has had access to the phone, Woodside says access to Android code won’t be used to give the handset an advantage.
When questioned about the so-called hero device, Woodside responded: “It is going to be broadly distributed. There are a couple things we’re going to be doing differently … Motorola has always been good at managing ultra-low power sensors, such as the gyroscope and the accelerometer, and keeping those on all the time so the device knows different use states. The [Moto X] knows when it is in my pocket, it knows when I take it out of my pocket. I might want to do something, I might want to take a picture, so it fires up the camera.”
When asked if that meant the Moto X will always fire up the camera when taken from the pocket, Woodside went on to clarify his statements, saying no, that it will rather know what the user wants to do, and facilitate such an action. He went on to give a more specific example of what can be expected from the phone, using a different scenario to illustrate the point. “Imagine when in the car, the device will know it is going 60mph and it is going to act differently so you can interact with it safely. Those are the kinds of things we’re doing with fundamental technology.”
Because of its contextual awareness, the phone will allow users to interact with it in a way that is said to not be possible with the current smartphones on the market. According to AllThingsD, the Moto X will be rolled out by October of this year, but no other details about it were provided, such as specs or how much users can expect to pay for it.
Update: According to a press release Motorola has published, the Moto X will actually be available some time this summer, not October as originally stated.
SOURCE: AllThingsD
Dennis Woodside: Motorola to launch hero Moto X smartphone this year [UPDATE] is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Nokia’s Lumia 925 handset is the first in the Lumia line to feature a metal body, something that some feared would result in issues with its antenna and reception. Addressing those concerns, Nokia has posted a rundown of its antenna design in a blog post today, discussing the steps taken to ensure antenna performance and radio reception wasn’t compromised by the handset’s metal shell.
Nokia states that the metal body of the Lumia 925 does not have any effect on signal reception, that being due to the design, particularly the aluminum ring that circles the handset. The Lumia 925 is equipped with multiple antennas, the main one being installed in the bottom portion of the smartphone, and the other two being near the top.
According to the post, the 925 has “stripes” keeping the antennas separate from portions of the metal ring, with the aluminum band being part of the overall antenna system. On top of it is the implementation of technology designed to balance the power with adjustments that take place based on how the handset is being held.
As such, the maker says that the antenna performance is maximized for all radio bands, whether it is LTE, WCDMA, or GSM, and that the reception experienced is on par with a handset body made entirely of polycarbonate rather than metal. There is a small caveat – Nokia says the signal will be reduced if the user purposely covers all edges of the phone with their hands.
This follows the “antennagate” debacle that Apple was hit with following the iPhone 4′s release, with users experiencing little or no signal if they held the handset wrong. Because of the issue, Apple was hit with a class-action lawsuit, eventually settling the issue with a $53 million settlement after offering a case that would serve as an unwanted bumper between the phone and antenna.
SOURCE: Nokia
Nokia Lumia 925 aluminum ring ensures antenna performance is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
AT&T has imposed a new “stealth fee” that, starting with this month, will tack an extra 61 cents on their monthly bills. While the amount is small, the principle behind it has many – both customers and non-customers alike – crying foul. The carrier says the new fee is a monthly administrative charge, and says that other carriers have done the same. Though it is a small amount, the company is slated to make millions from it.
The carrier sent out notifications to its customers about the fee 30 days before it went live, and says it includes details on each monthly bill regarding the extra 61 cents, per a statement by an AT&T spokeswoman. The new charge is applied for “certain expenses, such as interconnection and cell-site rents and maintenance.” Verizon Wireless imposes a similar fee, and had briefly also instituted a $2 fee for customers who chose to pay over the phone and via an online account, something that was quickly squashed following consumer complaints.
Reportedly, AT&T is looking at making about $350 million from the additional fee this year, and more next year due to the additional months it would be charged, having missed out on four months’ worth of the new revenue in 2013. For consumers, it will represent an additional $7 and some odd change shelled out yearly to the carrier, an amount so small some shrug it off.
Watchdog Public Knowledge has criticized the change, stating that the additional monthly 61 cents is merely a price increase, and that the carrier can get away with it because of lax regulations and insufficient competition in the market. A senior attorney with the advocacy group, John Bergmayer, said: “Imagine if McDonald’s advertised hamburgers for 75 cents, but then required you pay a $3 bun fee.”
Because the fee is so small, some call it a below-the-line charge because customers aren’t likely to notice it. That aside, it is also provides a way for carriers to advertise a lower fee than customers are actually charged. Presently, AT&T already charges about 50 cents as regulatory cost recovery charge per phone line, something that has been part of the carrier’s bills for about a decade.
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
AT&T’s new monthly stealth fee has some crying foul is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
