Mobile Phone

We’ve already seen lenses for mobile phone cameras that allow users to take macro or wide-angle photographs. Now, iPhone 3G/3GS owners can extend the capabilities of their camera phones even further, by adding on an Eye Scope 8x optical zoom lens. Given the way every little shake of the hands would show up when zoomed in that far, it even comes with its own mini tripod. Read More

Hackers equipped with inexpensive radio hardware and open source software can compromise your mobile phone, listen to your conversations, intercept your data, or rack up huge bills on premium services, all without you knowing. Ralf-Philipp Weinmann, a cryptologist at the University of Luxembourg Laboratory of Cryptology and Security, has discovered a new type of over-the-air attack on mobile phones, and at the 2010 DeepSec conference in Vienna demonstrated how the exploit could be used against nearly any mobile phone. Read More

Remember a simpler time when people used mobile phones to make calls? When just about everyone owned a Nokia, and most of those were a model with cutting-edge features like an internal antenna, vibrate call alert and the facility to create your own ringtones? If you're too young to remember the iconic Nokia 3210 or were too set in your ways to own a mobile back in the dark ages of the late 1990s, then a French company called Lëkki is now offering you a second chance. Refurbished and revamped, there are currently two legendary phones on offer as part of the company's Back to Basics ethic. Read More

Whether it's due to improvements in our smartphones or the rise of tablet computers, one thing's for sure - mobile Internet usage is on the rise. That's welcome news for the vast number of web developers looking to break into the applications market. Of course, making sure that a new application works correctly across the various mobile platforms can be a bit of a coding nightmare. Happily, help is at hand in the form of a new mobile web standard developed by the international community working to make the web accessible for all. Read More

With two thirds of the world population now carrying a mobile phone, we are in the position for the first time to enable a new form of broadcasting. Alcatel-Lucent has announced a new Broadcast Message Center (BMC) which enables targeted government text alerts to be sent to mobile users based on their location – from a city block to nationwide. The flexibility and scalability of the BMC will save lives in the event of a gas leak, chemical spillage or natural disaster, as it leverages cell broadcast technology to bypass the network congestion that invariably hampers emergencies. The BMC will also be deployed as a commercial broadcast solution, enabling enterprises to communicate with a mobile workforce, or service providers to offer opt-in subscriber services that generate new sources of revenue. Read More

A consortium of scientists has been formed to try and stem the rise of sexually transmitted diseases (or infections as they are now called) that's said to be reaching epidemic proportions in the UK. As early diagnosis and treatment is essential in such matters, the team is creating a self-diagnosis system where results can quickly be displayed on a mobile phone or computer screen. The system could even automatically make an appointment at a clinic or direct the unfortunate sufferer to the nearest pharmacy, where treatment would be waiting. Read More

engadget has published the first unofficial pics of what appears to be the much-rumored PlayStation phone, which looks like the result of mating a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 with a PSP Go. Read More

Facial detection technology is now pretty common in digital cameras, but has also found its way into things like taps, door locks, televisions and even ice cream machines. Recently, researchers from the University of Manchester developed software that allows mobile phones to detect faces too. Unlike some devices that simply identify faces, however, phones equipped with this software will be able to continuously track faces in real time. Read More

Camera phones are pretty much de rigueur nowadays but what about clock phones? Sure, your mobile phone no doubt displays the time but does it simultaneously give the time for six different time zones using six separate clock faces on the rear of the phone? Unless you own one of Gresso’s Luxor World Time phones, I’m guessing not. Read More