Personal communications

Can GPS help prevent another missing child?

The recent recovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was located 18 years after being abducted by a stranger, once again has parents thinking about how to protect their own kids. That's one of the reasons behind a growing number of child locator products that typically use GPS and a cellular device to help a parents and authorities pinpoint a missing child to within a few yards.

But before getting into the technology, here are some important statistics to put this problem into context.

Stranger abduction is rare A 2002 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice found … Read more

Apple, AT&T face yet another iPhone MMS lawsuit

For at least the third time this month, Apple and AT&T are being sued by a consumer complaining of being duped into believing that multimedia messaging, or MMS, was already available on the iPhone.

Filed in the Northern District of Ohio on Wednesday (PDF hosted by Wired), plaintiff Deborah Carr says Apple and AT&T misled the public into believing that the iPhone 3GS was capable of sending and receiving MMS messages on the device. The lawsuit claims that Apple's "print and video advertisements...on television, the Internet, the radio, newspapers, and direct mailers" … Read more

Apple says it's not to blame for 'exploding' iPhones

Apple's iPhone may be the darling of the mobile-phone industry right now, but some users in France aren't singing its praises, claiming that the device explodes or cracks without warning.

However, after conducting an internal investigation into the cause of the broken touch-screen glass, Apple denies that there is an underlying iPhone flaw. In fact, Apple said that in all cases it investigated, some kind of force was applied to the iPhone, causing the glass to break, according to a BBC report Friday.

"The iPhones with broken glass that we have analyzed to date show that in … Read more

Apple lands deal to sell iPhone in China

The iPhone now has an official ticket to China.

Mobile phone operator China Unicom plans to start selling two versions of the iPhone in China in the fourth quarter of 2009, under a three-year deal, an Apple representative confirmed Friday morning.

China Unicom didn't say what it will charge for the iPhones or what the service plan will include, but it does plan to keep the price modest by offering subsidies to customers, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the deal earlier Friday. The agreement does not include revenue sharing, the newspaper said.

In accordance with … Read more

Verizon gets top marks in call quality

Another day, another cell phone study from J.D. Power and Associates. This time, it's not customer service--T-Mobile, Alltel, and Verizon Wireless tied for that honor earlier this month--but a survey of the all-important call quality.

Just like last year, Verizon was the overall winner this time around. The carrier ranked highest in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest regions. According to the study, Verizon had particular success with limiting dropped calls, failed initial connections, and late or failed text and voice messages.

In the Western region, Verizon tied with Alltel and T-Mobile (in its press release, Verizon … Read more

Android apps show big potential for growth

This was originally posted at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

Android, iPhone and iPod Touch users are all highly engaged with applications and frequently download them to their devices, according to a new survey from AdMob.

However, Android has a much smaller base of devices and thus has more upside ahead.

AdMob, a company that tracks mobile Web and application usage, found that Android and iPhone users download nine to 10 apps a month and iPod Touch users download 18 a month. More than half of the Android and iPhone users spend more than 30 minutes a day using apps, … Read more

Linux-based OS drives new Nokia N900

With its new N900 handset, Nokia is playing up the Linux angle.

Part cell phone, part computer, the N900 takes advantage of Nokia's Linux-based Maemo operating system to offer multitasking, Web browsing, a touch screen, and slide-out keyboard.

Running the open-source Maemo 5 software, it can provide more of a PC-like experience on a small device, according to Nokia. The Maemo OS lets people juggle several applications at the same time.

"The Nokia N900 shows where we are going with Maemo, and we'll continue to work with the community to push the software forward," Anssi Vanjoki, … Read more

Nokia unveils new mobile financial service

Mobile phone maker Nokia on Wednesday announced the launch of a financial service called Nokia Money, designed to let consumers pay bills and merchants and send money to friends and family using their cell phones.

Nokia believes the service will help people in the U.S. and in emerging markets who are not served by banks or other traditional financial outlets.

"In many countries, mobile phone ownership significantly exceeds bank account usage, suggesting that many mobile phone users have very limited or no access to basic financial services," said Mary McDowell, Nokia's chief development officer.

The new … Read more

Is PSA on texting and driving too shocking?

It has already been discussed on NBC's "Today Show."

It has apparently enjoyed more than 1 million views on YouTube. And it has already aroused cries that it is too graphic, too shocking, too much to watch.

But the police department of Gwent, Wales, felt it had to do something to highlight the realities of texting and driving, so together with filmmaker Peter Watkins-Hughes, it made a public service announcement.

The film shows a teenage girl driving some friends in her car. Engrossed in her texting, she is involved first in one crash before her car is … Read more