Connecting With Cell Users
300597
Handset design is evolving as more features are added to phones, but one crucial element seems to be left behind -- the user. By Elizabeth Biddlecombe.
277602
By Michelle Theriault, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.  Sep. 24--On a recent afternoon, Dave Shockley learns to text message.   It's not as if Shockley's unfamiliar with cell phones.
707957
I might get an iPhone, but before I spend the money to switch carriers,  I need someone to test out the reception in my house.
670010
Users of the four major consumer IM networks will be able to chat with each other?with some restrictions.
435802
Ups and downs with a music and messaging phone
408925
By Oren Dorell  The same technology that keeps cellphone users in touch with their cellphone companies can also help locate people who are lost.
283704
Tell us what's really going on with mobile data and services... Quick Poll Respected readers we need your help. Give us two minutes of your time and push forward the sum of human knowledge. Doesn't sound too bad does it? Just answer the questions below. Thanking you in advance.â¦
155353
Cellphone services are gearing up for a fight with handset makers -- and it's all about Wi-Fi
208819
Mobile operators are starting to wake up to the potential of giving their customers access to the net.
47672
(InfoWorld) - What a world. We have to fight off viruses, zombies, bots, phishing, and on and on. Can you believe how many just plain evil people there are in the world? And what is their point? Simple thievery? To prove they are smarter than the rest of us? And think of all the money that's spent on defending, as best we can, against these miscreants or in cleaning up the mess when they get the better of us? Indeed, what a waste. While viruses have appeared on mobile devices, they are, thankfully, few and far between. Part of the reason for this has been a lack of standardization of software environments on handsets, and part is due to the minimal functionality that is typical on these products. It's hard for the socially challenged to overwrite boot sectors, corrupt data, or otherwise run amok on most cell phones today. Apple's decision to limit local software execution on the iPhone is undoubtedly due, at least in part, to a fundamental fear of hackers. While the Macintosh hasn't been much of a target for the hacker community, the iPhone could be a lot more tempting. There will be far more iPhones than Macs in the world in just a few years. Plus, Apple partner AT&T doesn't need the support headaches that come with having a large number of users jamming its 800 numbers with reports of bizarre symptoms on their iPhones. Regardless, being a Web services guy, I absolutely applaud Apple for moving the Web services art forward a notch or two with a very capable platform that might indeed replace PCs for many of us over the next decade or so. We don't need to run a lot of local code to have a meaningful IT experience while on the go. Of course, the iPhone will be hacked over time, requiring updates and fixes, just as is the case with the PC. There are already reports of hackers working diligently to unlock the phone so that non-AT&T SIM cards can be used, and to avoid cellular activation so that the device would be used only Wi-Fi networks -- with VoFi services, of course. Any programmable device runs this kind of risk, and defending against unauthorized code will remain a challenge for some time to come. Which brings me to a really obscure but very important, shall we say, "opportunity" for hackers. Last year, I wrote about one of the most exciting technology developments in wireless, software-defined radio (SDR). Basically, SDR simplifies radio hardware design by replacing specialized circuitry with software. Among the many benefits of SDR are over-the-air bug fixes, the ability to add new features on demand, and dynamic reprogrammability -- turning, for example, a GSM phone into a CDMA phone or even Wi-Fi or Bluetooth or UWB or whatever on the fly. With so much software at play here, the question has to be asked: Could an SDR get hacked? Suppose someone figures out how to build a virus that quickly spreads to SDR-based handsets, disabling them or using them as jammers or worse? What if those handsets are being used for public-safety applications? This is not to say that hacking is the only vector for wireless disruptions. After all, anyone can use a jammer to disable communications in a local area, and any moron with a reasonable shortwave transmitter can pretend to be an air traffic controller. That fact that we still use an unencrypted, unauthenticated communications protocol for such a critical service boggles my mind. The FCC is rightfully concerned about SDR hacking and has issued new regulations for SDRs that mostly attempt to deal with open source software in SDR applications. There is significant concern that open source software creates specific vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. I don't think this is very likely for two reasons. First, open source isn't the same as open architectures. Each product vendor would of necessity keep certain elements of their implementation secret, locking out all but the most determined hackers. But secondly, and more importantly, the real issue is how to protect individual phones from ever loading harmful software. We already have pretty good techniques for this from the PC world, and there are many effective approaches to solving this particular security concern. It could even be argued that the technical scrutiny that comes with open source actually enhances security and integrity; the real issue is controlling what software, open source or not, gets onto the mobile device. As I noted in my last column, the big issue with SDR isn't hackers or security: It is the need to lower the power demands of SDR implementations so that they have a prayer of running on batteries. The road to SDR-based handsets isn't at all paved yet, but open source is a relatively minor concern.
223804
Buckle your seat belts. Place those tray tables in the upright and locked position. But you may not have to put away your cellphone.
676307
Yahoo's new oneConnect service lets mobile phone users share bits of their favorite Web sites with friends.
520888
By Anne KrishnanFORGET GAMES AND RING TONES --Â A Durham company wants to help patients use cell phones to manage diabetes. Confidant Inc. has developed technology that lets mobile phones wirelessly receive, analyze and transmit data from glucose meters and blood pressure cuffs.
43176
BlackBerry fans can now own a handset that also does WiFi. But you will find, as with other hybrids, that switching between cellular and WiFi service is hardly seamless.
211415
Anyone who has been inside a hospital probably has been cut off from relatives and colleagues because of a common rule: no cellphones. But some health care facilities are creating wireless networks to let patients, family members, physicians and staff members use their phones.
442156
Every day, cubicle-dwellers get up from their desks and walk to their nearest windows in search of a strong enough signal to make or answer a cell-phone call. Cathy Zatloukal thinks her in-building wireless infrastructure company, MobileAccess Networks, can save them the trip.
555049
It may be something of a teenage nightmare: limits on when a wireless phone can make and receive calls and to whom, restrictions on text messages and talk time, and set allowances for ring tones and other downloads - all at a parent's fingertips.