Mobile Technology

Android currently accounts for 50-percent of the smartphone market. So does the release of the iPhone 4S mean that Apple could overtake Android in the market share battle? Almost certainly not. But we are beginning to see record sales numbers for the release of the 4S which, when combined with opening up the market a bit more by adding another carrier (Sprint), could see Apple take a bigger bite out of the pie. Read More

Undergraduate student, Adam Duran, made excellent use of his time at Stanford University, where he attended a two-month summer course organized by the Army High-Performance Computing Research Center (AHPCRC). Together with his mentors, Adrian Lew and Sohan Dharmaraja, he created a potentially game changing application that should make the lives of visually impaired people both easier and less expensive. The application turns a tablet into a Braille writer and thus saves the blind from having to purchase a device that may cost up to ten times more than a tablet. Read More

Even though it's not called iPhone 5, Apple's latest version of its iconic smartphone - the iPhone 4S - is reportedly proving to be quite the hot potato with consumers. Apple says pre-orders topped a million in its first day, stomping all over the company's previous iPhone pre-order single-day record of 600,000 for the iPhone 4. Read More

With companies these days justifiably concerned about the security of the mobile devices provided to their workforce, many workers find themselves carrying around two mobile phones – one for personal use and another for business. Sure, mobile phones aren’t the huge pocket-stretching devices they once were but for the sake of convenience, one is most definitely better than two. Now researchers at Fraunhofer have developed software that allows the creation of two virtual smartphones in a single device, providing security for companies while letting workers install their own apps. Read More

India has already churned out the world's cheapest car and is now launching what's billed as the world's cheapest 7-inch touchscreen tablet. The result of efforts by India's Ministry of Human Resource and Development to develop a low cost computing device that could be used by students across the country, Aakash, or "sky" in Hindi, is set to be sold to students at the government subsidized price of US$35. The regular retail price of the tablet is expected to be around US$60 when the unit hits the shelves as a commercial version called the UbiSlate 7. Read More

Electronics giant LG has announced the Korean launch of what is claimed to be the highest resolution IPS (in-plane switching) display available on any smartphone. The Optimus LTE has a 4.5-inch, 329 pixels per inch resolution "True HD IPS" screen which is said to offer crisp, clear visuals and render colors in their most natural tones. Beneath the display, the smartphone is powered by a dual-core processor, runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and benefits from a large capacity battery. Read More

To cut down on the amount of mobile phone chargers relegated to the garbage after a phone upgrade, in 2009 the European Commission reached a voluntary agreement with 14 major smartphone manufacturers who committed to providing a standardized charger based on the micro-USB connector that is compatible with all models of data-enabled mobile phones. Apple was one of the manufacturers that signed on to the agreement and has now delivered with the appearance of the Apple iPhone Micro USB Adapter in the company's U.K. online store. Read More

At the recent Adobe MAX 2011 conference, Adobe announced a lineup of Touch Apps tailored for Android and iOS-based devices, including a touch-operated tablet version of Photoshop. Touch Apps will be available either as standalone products, or as components of a larger web-based service called Adobe Creative Cloud, which was also unveiled. Read More

As a result of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, radiation detectors have been a popular item for Japanese consumers. Recognizing the market for such devices, last month Scosche – a company known for its car audio and iPod/iPhone accessories – released its RDTX-Pro radiation detector and app for iPhone and iPod touch in Japan. With that model apparently flying off the shelves – it is temporarily out of stock on Scosche’s website – the company has decided to expand the product line with the announcement of two new radiation detectors. Read More