School bans fuzzy boots used to hide cell phones

By doris | Published: February 2, 2012

Full Story at msnbc.com

PHILADELPHIA — Singer Nancy Sinatra may have had boots made for walking, but she never attended Pottstown Middle School.

Starting Monday the Philadelphia suburban district is banning the wearing of fuzzy open-top boots, including the popular Ugg brand, to middle school classes because students have been stashing cell phones in the loose footwear, according to district director of community relations John Armato.

“Cell phones are a problem for obvious reasons,” Armato said.

Superintendent Reed Lindley said the school principal asked for the boot ban “because of the classroom disruptions that are resulting from ringing cell phones.”

Posted in Ban, Cellphone, Schools | Leave a comment

It costs over $17,000 a year to be a gamer apparently

By doris | Published: February 1, 2012

Full Story at ingame.msnbc.msn.com

Bloomberg recently ran a piece called “The Real Cost of Being a Video Gamer.” The query was answered by calculating the expenses that a gamer will accumulate, as part of a family of four living in San Francisco. Turns out, the final price tag is $17,077.

The article lists everything a gamer needs in his or her arsenal, which are broken down by category. You have hardware plus software, naturally, along with accessories, like controllers and displays. Even furniture and attire are accounted for. The asking price for each item is listed, and everything is combined at the very end, for the aforementioned grand total.

Posted in Game, Software | Leave a comment

AT&T outduels Verizon in iPhone

By doris | Published: January 31, 2012

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — AT&T handily beat Verizon in the battle for iPhone customers last quarter, but the company lost $6.7 billion in large part due to its failed merger with T-Mobile.

The nation’s second-largest wireless company said Thursday that it sold 7.6 million iPhones during the holiday quarter, which bested arch rival Verizon’s (VZ, Fortune 500) 4.2 million. Despite the fact that Apple’s (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone has been available on multiple carriers for almost a year, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) has continued to outpace its rivals every quarter.

Sprint Nextel (S, Fortune 500), which began to sell the iPhone last quarter, will report its sales figures on Feb. 8.

Posted in AT&T, Company, iPhone, Verizon, Wireless | Leave a comment

Sony tablets, smartphones to get Android 4.0 upgrades

By doris | Published: January 30, 2012

Full Story at Gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com

The upgrades to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich continue with the entire Sony Xperia line of smartphones, starting this spring, according to reports. Those say updates may be applied to applied to Sony’s Android tablets as well.

According to The Verge, sources say that Sony’s Tablet S and Tablet P “are already running ICS and are being tested behind the scenes, though Sony wouldn’t be drawn on giving any more specific a release window than the spring.” Sony also acknowledged the imminent upgrades on a UK-based Sony forum.

Posted in Android, Smartphones, Sony, Tablet | Leave a comment

Startup Makes ‘Wireless Router for the Brain’

By doris | Published: January 29, 2012

Full Story at TechnologyReview.com

Optogenetics has been hailed as a breakthrough in biomedical science—it promises to use light to precisely control cells in the brain to manipulate behavior, model disease processes, or even someday to deliver treatments.

But so far, optogenetic studies have been hampered by physical constraints. The technology requires expensive, bulky lasers for light sources, and a fiber-optic cable attached to an animal—an encumbrance that makes it difficult to study how manipulating cells affects an

Posted in Router, Science, Wireless | Leave a comment

How smartphone camera tech will evolve in 2012

By doris | Published: January 28, 2012

Full Story at CNN.com

(WIRED) — We love documenting our lives. If we didn’t, well, there probably wouldn’t be a hugely successful online behemoth called Facebook. And smartphone photography wouldn’t be the thriving phenomenon that it is today.

Smartphones accounted for more than a quarter of all photos shot in 2011, according to research from NPD. The iPhone has even been called the “snapshot camera of today” by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Handset manufacturers identified image capture as a key application for mobile devices early on, and have been iterating the sub-webcam-quality cameras that graced the original cellphones ever since.

Posted in iPhone, Smartphones, Technology | Leave a comment

Phone jailbreaking should stay legal, Web freedom advocates say

By doris | Published: January 27, 2012

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — Fresh from a victory that saw a pair of online-piracy bills shelved, Web-freedom advocates are now fighting to preserve their right to jailbreak their iPhones.

The Electronic Freedom Foundation, a key player in the fight against the Stop Online Piracy Act, is urging people to ask the U.S. government to declare that hacking their own smartphone, tablet or other device is not a crime.

“Smartphones, tablets, and video game consoles are powerful computers with lots of untapped potential,” the group says on its website. “Yet many of these devices are set up to run only software that’s been approved by the manufacturer.

Posted in Jailbreaking, Legal, Phones, Privacy | Leave a comment

50 new tech tools you should know about

By doris | Published: January 26, 2012

Full Story at CNN.com

(CNN) — You may have dozens of apps on your phone and scores of websites bookmarked on your laptop, but that doesn’t mean you have all the latest tech tools at your fingertips.

New mobile apps, services, social networks and other digital tools pop up so frequently that keeping up with them is a nearly impossible task. Just when you think you’re up to date, something newer and hipper comes along.

Posted in Apps, Phones, Technology, Tool | Leave a comment

Google to merge user data across more services

By doris | Published: January 25, 2012

Full Story at msnbc.com

Google plans to unify its privacy policy and terms of service across its online offerings, including its flagship search, Gmail and Google+ products, to make them easier to use, but the move could attract greater scrutiny from anti-trust regulators.

In an online blog post, Google said it expects to roll out the revised guidelines in over a month’s time, consolidating more than 60 separate privacy policies it uses for its online products.

Google currently has more than 70 privacy policies covering all of its products.

Right now, users of Google products have to agree to a new set of privacy policy and terms of services almost every time they sign up for a new service.

Posted in Anti-trust Regulators, Google, Privacy | Leave a comment

Supreme Court rules on GPS tracking, but punts on larger issues

By doris | Published: January 24, 2012

Full Story at RedTape.msnbc.msn.com

Monday’s Supreme Court ruling invalidating a conviction based on evidence gained by GPS tracking of a suspect’s car might seem like a victory for privacy advocates. But on the critical issues of privacy and Fourth Amendment rights, the majority of the court actually punted.

The unanimous opinion issued Monday morning is among the first in which the Supreme Court has decided a case at the thorny 21st-Century intersection of law, technology and privacy. Police in Washington, D.C., had tracked a suspect by placing a tiny GPS device on his car, then tracking his movements for about a month. While the trial court held that evidence obtained through the GPS amounted to surveillance of the suspect’s movements through public spaces, an appeals court ruled that it constituted an illegal search and seizure and a violation of Fourth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision.

Posted in GPS, Privacy, Tracking | Leave a comment

Why the iPad won’t transform education just yet

By doris | Published: January 23, 2012

Full Story at CNN.com

(Mashable) — Apple’s announcement on Thursday that it would be introducing a new iPad textbook experience and iBooks authoring tool presents huge opportunities for technology in classrooms.

The company is selling textbooks from McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin at a price comparable to print versions, and it’s presented an unprecedented opportunity for teachers to compile their own materials.

But Apple has a long way to go — and logistical hurdles to clear in tens of thousands of schools — before it dominates K-12 classrooms the way it has done the music industry.

Posted in Education, iBook, iPod, Technology | Leave a comment

The best places to trade-in your electronics

By doris | Published: January 22, 2012

Full Story at Gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com

If you’re holding back on upgrading to a new cell phone, camera or laptop because of cost, you may be surprised how much your old device will bring at trade-in. And if the prospect of dealing with strangers on eBay or Craigslist is unappealing to you, don’t worry, a host of trade-in programs from brick-and-mortar stores, such as Best Buy, Costco and Radio Shack, and online trade-in specialists makes the process simple. And even if your old product has little value, many of these programs offer free and environmentally-safe recycling options.

Posted in Electronics, Trade-in | Leave a comment