Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to the 411, my new Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I’m stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

LG enV Touch

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

I’m looking to buy a new cellular phone, and seek your advice. I want the best CDMA (for Verizon) phone that isn’t a BlackBerry or 3G/smartphone for plan purposes. I’ve pretty much come down to the Versa and the enV Touch. I’ve found the enV to be superior in terms of hardware specs, but it’s difficult to know without reviewing them both myself. But you reviewed them both yourself! So you could help me! — Dillen, via e-mail

I’ve answered this on the Dialed In podcast already, but thought it would be good to put this in the column as well. Both the LG Versa and the enV Touch have pros and cons, but I tend to lean toward the enV Touch for the better keyboard and design. The features are very similar, and the Versa is better if you like having optional modules and like to go without a keyboard every once in awhile. Still, the enV Touch has a better camera and is a little more affordable. Perhaps we should have a Prizefight between the two phones–thanks for the idea!

…

Originally posted at Dialed In Podcast

This article was written on February 28, 2007 by CyberNet.

Google has just added another tool to their Google Maps service which will help you to avoid traffic jams. Now when you go to Google Maps, you’ll notice in the upper left hand corner of the page a “traffic” button.  By clicking that, you’ll see up-to-date traffic conditions. Right now this service is offered for 30 different major U.S. cities.

Some of the major cities that they offer conditions for include San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Dallas. The map is color coded so that you know what to expect.  If you see red, it means that it will be a stop-and-go headache (less than 25 MPH).  Yellow means that “you could be a little late for dinner,” (25–50 MPH) and green means you’re good to go (more than 50 MPH).  The image below is a screenshot that I took of Chicago, and you’ll notice all three of the indicating colors.

This is an expansion from the traffic service they already had available through Google Maps Mobile. Now you can check the traffic conditions before you leave the office, and no mobile device is required. Google wasn’t the first to offer traffic conditions however; Yahoo has already offered it.

I’d be curious to find out where they’re getting their data from, and how often, and accurately it’s updated. It’s definitely a nice feature to have, and hopefully they expand it to other cities in the coming months.

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Related Posts:

• Google Adds Traffic Prediction Feature
• Avoid Traffic Jams with Microsoft’s Clearflow Technology
• Google Maps Mobile Shows You Traffic Congestion
• Google Gives “In Traffic” Time Estimates
• Maps And Satellite Imagery Simultaneous Overlay

Have a jailbroken (hacked) iPhone? Be careful what you instant message. An iPhone developer has discovered what may be a privacy leak that broadcasts your IMs to random, unintended recipients.

The issue is occurring in push IMs, which appear as alerts — a function enabled by Apple’s new push-notification feature in the latest iPhone 3.0 operating system, according to Till Schadde, founder of development company Equinux. Schadde said he discovered the error while testing push IMing in the AIM application. Schadde claims he sent an IM from his desktop to his jailbroken iPhone and received a reply from a random recipient.

The problem is likely tied to Apple’s push-notification server, which hosts messages from each iPhone based on its identifier. The theory, then, is jailbreaking the iPhones may be confusing the server, crossing over some IDs.

AOL is currently investigating the issue, according to Schadde.

Any jailbroken iPhone users out there experiencing this problem? Let us know in the comments below.

iPhone Push problem broadcasts your AIMs to random recipients, could affect jailbroken/unlocked phones [CrunchGear]

See Also:

• Battery Tests Confirm iPhone 3GS Improvements, But Complaints …
• Slow, Unreliable Wi-Fi Plaguing Some iPhone 3GS Units?
• You're Always Online With Push IM for iPhone
• Apple Debuts Aggressively Priced iPhone 3GS, MacBooks

Sure, we love a good electric jolt to the face as much as the next guy, but perhaps the company is taking things a bit far with its new TASER X3 gun. The device has a multi-shot design that allows it to fire three probes in rapid succession, along with laser sights and other enhancements to do the deed with a modicum of accuracy and safety. The new weapon will be officially unveiled on July 27th, but in anticipation of that glorious day, TASER has kindly posted an employee demonstration video of shooting three entirely underpaid women in the back, to the applause of onlookers. Our word of advice? If somebody starts yelling “TASER TASER TASER,” you and your two girlfriends might wanna duck. Horrific footage is after the break.

[Via gizmag]

Continue reading Triple-shot TASER X3 imminent, deranged employees celebrate with mock executions

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Triple-shot TASER X3 imminent, deranged employees celebrate with mock executions originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not satisfied with your Android selection? Looking for something a little easier on the pocketbook, perhaps? Well, that’s cool, partner — look no further than the HTC Click. This thing hasn’t been announced, but rumors have been swirling for a few days now that the Click would be taking HTC’s Android ambitions decidedly downmarket, and like clockwork, we’ve now got a couple alleged pictures of it. We can’t verify the authenticity of this stuff, but we certainly don’t have any reason to doubt that it’s real — it’s pretty much what we’d envision a low-end HTC Android phone would look like. One open question would be the mystery surrounding that crazy pad arrangement where we’d normally expect a trackball to be — don’t get us wrong, we’re not married to the trackball by any stretch, but it’ll be interesting to see how well this works in practice. We don’t have any details on the Click’s release, but you can bet your sweet little green robot we’ll be passing that on just as soon as we get it.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

HTC Click in the wild — Android on the cheap? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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