Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Wednesday evening everyone. Perhaps the biggest story to hit the Internet today was Disney’s statement that it has shut down LucasArts, instead shifting to a license-based model, opening the series up to a wider range of game developers. Speaking of games, Rovio announced its 2012 revenue, pulling in a profit of approximately $71 million, while EA’s All Play senior vice president told Games Industry that the majority of gamers prefer its freemium model.

It has been one year to the date since Instagram became available on Android, with about 50-percent of its users running the mobile operating system. Google has rolled out an update to Chrome for Android to include autofill/password syncing, as well as updating Gmail with better auto-complete predictions. Twitter has started rolling out an update to its Android and iOS apps (and mobile web) with a wider variety of content, and Skype hit a new record with 2 billion minutes being used daily.

It has been a fairly busy news day for Apple, which is celebrating the 3-year anniversary of the iPad and had its “Bounce-back” patent invalidated by the USPTO. A crazy rumor has it an Apple TV with a motion controller will be launched this year, and if you’re up for some reading, we’ve got a piece on the iPhones expected to launch this summer. AT&T has rolled out its LTE network to 14 additional markets, and will be offering the 16GB GALAXY S 4 for $199.99, while T-Mobile has been tipped as preparing to bring LTE to unlocked iPhone 5s.

Hyundai and Kia have recalled over 1.9 million vehicles, Veyron has lost its top-speed designation to the Hennessey Venom GT, and Jimmy Fallon is slated to replace Leno as host of The Tonight Show next year. Facebook’s Home software has been leaked ahead of its unveiling, and CyanogenMod has added back in the opt-out feature to appease users. And last but not least, if you’re looking for something to celebrate, today is the cell phone’s 40th birthday. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of the night folks!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: April 3, 2013 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mobile phones may not be anything too special these days, but 40 years ago today, the world’s first cellphone was just being born, and it was all the rage. On April 3, 1973, the first call from a cellphone was made by the inventor himself, Marty Cooper, where he called out to his rival: the head of the research department at Bell Labs, Joel Engel.

That phone call was made on a Motorola DynaTAC 8000x (pictured above), a 2.5-pound piece of machinery that was priced at $4,000 when it went on sale in 1983. When Cooper called Engel from his DynaTAC, he was quite literal with his feelings, and didn’t say anything too poetic: “Joel, this is Marty. I’m calling you from a cellphone, a real handheld portable cellphone.”

Of course, this may remind you of Alexander Graham Bell’s work and his invention of the first practical telephone. On October 9, 1876, Bell called his assistant, Thomas Watson, and they talked by telephone to each other over a two-mile wire that stretched between Cambridge and Boston, marking it the first time that anyone had ever communicated through two-way voice over electronic signals.

As for the first cellphone, that’s still a remarkable feat, and as with the traditional telephone industry, the mobile phone industry has come a long way since its inception. We went from 2.5-pound cellphones costing thousands of dollars, to devices that weight just a few ounces and can do pretty much anything. We certainly can’t wait to see what the next 40 years will bring us.

Image via Flickr

The cellphone turns 40 years old today is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s easier to put a phone in someone’s hand than it is to build a proper sanitation system. According to a UN report, 6 of 7 billion people in the world have cell phones, while just 4.5 billion have access to a toilet or latrine. More »

More members of congress are joining in on the fight to repeal the ban on cell phone unlocking. Several senators and representatives are voicing their opinions about the issue and a few are planning on introducing bills to fight it. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar announced yesterday that she was drafting a bill to legalize cell phone unlocking. She stated yesterday, “I will continue to work to advance commonsense measures to protect consumers and promote competition.”

Joining in on the fight is Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, Utah representative Jason Chaffetz, California representative Darrell Issa, Colorado representative Jared Polis, and California representative Anna Eshoo. Eshoo is also planning on drafting up a bill similar to Senator Amy Klobuchar’s. She says, “The ban on unlocking cell phones puts consumers in the back seat when it comes to choosing the mobile device and service that best suits them”.

Senator Ron Wyden drafted up the “My Wireless Device Independence Act” to “ensure you can unlock your device.” He was the first senator to create a bill on the topic. Representative Jason Chaffetz is working on legislation as well, saying, “It is a freedom issue. You own the phone, you should be able to unlock it” The other representatives, while not drafting any bills, will be offering their full support to the cause.

With so much support for this issue, and being backed by so many members of congress, it seems like there’s a very good chance that cell phone unlocking can once again be legal. Consumers were outraged when the law went into effect January 26th. They paid a lot of money for their device, and having restrictions on what they could do with it didn’t seem to make any sense at all.

[via PC Magazine]

More congress members fight cell phone unlocking ban is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

By March 1, foreigners in North Korea will be able to access the Internet via a 3G mobile network. This is achieved by using a SIM card that is available for purchase for a lowish fee, but is unique to visitors. Those who live in North Korea are limited in their access to mobile services, and still won’t have access to the World Wide Web. The network will be provided by Koryolink.

The service is set to launch by March 1, though it could happen earlier. This follows a change in North Korean law not too long ago that allows visitors to bring their own smartphones into the nation so that they can be used with the carrier’s SIM card. This is something that was never before allowed, and provides visitors with a level of connectivity with the outside world that has never existed in the northern Korean nation before.

The SIM cards are available at Koryolink retail stores and at the airport, priced at $70USD. The call rate is reported by the Associated Press as being 5 Euros per minute to the United States. Not surprisingly, calls to South Korea are not allowed. The hefty price tags will no doubt prevent travelers from using their cell phone as they would elsewhere, but does provide a necessary service to visitors, giving an (expensive) way to contact home.

In addition, users will be able to purchase a per-month mobile broadband plan via the service, using the SIM card in their mobile data device (USB modems will be supported). The cost of the monthly plan has not been released yet, however, but we’re guessing it’ll be pretty high if the per-minute rate is any indication.

[via Yahoo]

North Korea to switch on 3G network for foreigners by March 1 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.