Boom times ahead for mobile web

The world of mobile internet devices is set to explode in the next four years says chip maker Intel.

Research carried out for the company suggests portable net-enabled devices will grow to 1.2 billion by 2012 as the need to be connected increases. The BBC reports.

"Intel's predictions were unveiled as it launched a series of chips designed for portable web-browsing gadgets.

Alongside an explosion in mobile web-using devices, Intel estimated that 100 million households will also be watching IPTV by 2011."

Thief steals Prince Harry's phone in African nightclub

When a thief saw the opportunity to steal a mobile phone in a dark nightclub in a small African town, little could he have known that it belonged to Prince Harry on a charity trip to the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho. Daily Mail reports.

'When we eventually found the culprit it took quite some time to explain to him that he had stolen from the prince. To him Prince Harry was just one of those white guys said a source from the Lesotho Defence Force.

The prince decided not to press charges against the thief and was said to be relieved that his contacts list had not gone astray."

Textng on the go. The latest tech-created public nuisance

Texting-on-the-go is just the latest tech-created public nuisance as a growing group of multitaskers are texting on the go, trying to manipulate the small keypads of a mobile phone or personal digital assistant while ambulatory. They obliviously ram into walls and doorways or fall down stairs. Out on the streets, they bump into lampposts, parked cars, garbage cans and other stationary objects, reports the WSJ.

Maybe padded lamposts are not such a bad idea after all.

Apple posts 3 new iPhone 3G commercials

Apple has posted three new iPhone 3G commercials on their website: "Everyone", "Unslow" and "Work Friendly"

[via TUAW]

Rumors of a red iPhone as part of Bono's RED campaign

CrunchGear via macblogz reports on rumors of a red iPhone to launch in December to boost Christmas sales. It would presumably be sold as part of Bono's Red Campaign.

False rumors of a red iPhone have come up before - though not as part of the Red campaign - last June and last October.

Sprint to Sell Cellphone Towers To Pay Off Some Of Debt

Sprint Nextel Corp. agreed to sell nearly all its cellphone towers - around 3,300 of them - to a private-equity-backed firm called TowerCo in a deal that will generate about $670 million in cash for the struggling wireless carrier.

Sprint is expected to use the money raised from the sale to pay down some of its $24 billion in debt.

[via the WSJ]

Worries Over Jobs's Health Weighs on the Stock

UPDATE. Bloomberg

Apple Inc. rose as much as 3.9 percent in Nasdaq trading after the New York Times said Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs has told associates he is cancer- free, four years after an operation to treat pancreatic cancer.

Jobs told members of Apple's board that he is dealing with nutritional problems after his cancer surgery, which can lead to weight loss in some cases, the newspaper said, citing people close to him. He had surgery this year to fix a problem that caused the weight loss, the Times reported. "

Apple Inc.'s refusal to discuss Chief Executive Steve Jobs's health is worrying investors, causing them to scurry for what information they can get while asking just when an iconic CEO's health becomes material for a company. The Wall Street Journal reports.

"... Fears flared earlier this year, when Mr. Jobs appeared gaunt at a public appearance; the company at the time blamed "a common bug." The fears were stoked anew this week with a report in the New York Post that the CEO is unwell. Now, said one Apple fund investor, "everyone's worried."

Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton on Tuesday reiterated that Mr. Jobs's health is private."

Do Cell-Tower Climbers Have the Nation’s Deadliest Job?

Working on cellphone towers is the deadliest job in the U.S., according to a trade publication whose report was picked up by several tech blogs.

The claim gained credibility when it was repeated by the head of OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and it is being touted in publicity materials for a “ Dateline” special to air tonight about the job.

But a different federal agency that compiles job-safety statistics can’t verify the claim — which should come with a few caveats.

Full story in The Wall Street Journal.

Europe without new iPhone 3G Stock until October?

German magazine Focus reports that the iPhone 3G is completely sold out across Europe and that new inventory would not arrive until October. The magazine says that they got the information about the dramatic iPhone 3G shortage from a manager at Apple.

[via I4U]

Bluetooth covert monitoring system in the UK raises privacy issues

According to The Guardian, "tens of thousands of Britons are being covertly tracked without their consentin a technology experiment which has installed scanners at secret locations in offices, campuses, streets and pubs to pinpoint people's whereabouts.

The scanners, the first 10 of which were installed in Bath three years ago, are capturing Bluetooth radio signals transmitted from devices such as mobile phones, laptops and digital cameras, and using the data to follow unwitting targets without their permission.

The data is being used in a project called Cityware to study how people move around cities. But pedestrians are not being told that the devices they carry around in their pockets and handbags could be providing a permanent record of their journeys, which is then stored on a central database."

The Bath University researchers behind the project claim their scanners do not have access to the identity of the people tracked."

[via coolsmartphone]

Samsung Gives Phones to Chinese Olympians

Samsung Electronics has donated cell phones to every member of the Chinese Olympic squad, reports Digital Chosunilobo. The gift of 1,000 handsets is Samsung's largest marketing donation ever to a particular nation's Olympic team.

"... The donated G618 "Olympics phone" features Olympics-related ringtones and images. As the official mobile phone of China's Olympic team, it will be used by 600 athletes and 400 coaches and staff.

A Samsung official said, "With the sponsorship, Samsung can use athlete photos to produce ads and preferred contractor programs (PCP), and Chinese gold medalists will visit the Samsung PR center during the Olympics for a signature event."

Sri Lanka Bans Lending Mobile Phones to Friends

Sri Lanka's government is planning to introduce new legislation which would require mobile phone users to carry a certificate of ownership at all times when carrying their phone around. The new law, which is claimed to be aimed at cutting down on terrorist activity would also forbid lending the phone to other people. Cellular News reports.

"The proposals come from the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRC), which is also requiring proof of identity to be provided when a phone is purchased in future.

The regulator said that it has taken this step “to avert irregularities and illegal activities while minimizing threats to national security created by the irresponsible use of telephones.”"

Google SMS

By comedy group The Vacationeers.

[via Neatorama]

Motorola sues former executive over iPhone. Sony Ericcson to lay off 2,000

Motorola has sued a former executive for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement and threatening to reveal its trade secrets by taking a job with Apple Inc's iPhone division, the cell phone maker said in a lawsuit. [via Reuters]

Sony Ericsson has announced they will be letting 2,000 workers go, as they try to regain market share. [via Crunch Gear]

Unsafe chargers 'flooding' the UK

The BBC reports that hundreds of thousands of unsafe chargers for mobile phones, games consoles and music devices could have made their way into the UK.

"Trading standards officers studying dangerous chargers being imported from China say vast numbers are available on the internet and in shops.

Their tests show one brand can overheat or cause electrocution.

One of the chargers concerned has the code marking DE62347066. Others have no code and are called Travel Charger."

“Wi-Fi Squatting” can be a federal offence

It’s a federal offense in the U.S. to use someone else’s unsecured wireless network for illicit purposes. It’s a crime in Germany, too – committed by the network owner. The Wall Street Journal reports.

"According to the FBI, it isn’t a federal offense to squat, as long as the squatter doesn’t use the connection to do anything illegal. Wi-Fi squatting is against the law in some states.

A court in Germany ruled that the owner of an unsecured Wi-Fi network that a squatter used to illegally download rap songs is responsible for the crime – even though he proved that he wasn’t the one who stole the files, TechDirt reports.

The German court said that network owners are responsible for securing their networks — and can be held liable if they don’t."

Man makes cell-phone activated stun gun to punish bike thieves

boingboing has posted a video of "a shirtless inventor who explains how he made a cell-phone activated stun gun to administer a shock to bike thieves".

City revokes employees' SMS privilege

New York's Troy city employees had their text messaging privileges revoked this week after message charges totaled more than $1 000 in recent months, reports IT Web.

"Deputy mayor Dan Crawley says text messaging is unnecessary on city-provided cellphones because all city employees who need to be available for immediate contact or e-mail, such as code enforcement officers, community police, emergency personnel, and top-level employees, already have e-mail-capable BlackBerry devices."

UK. Warning over phone calls database

A central database holding details of everyone's phone calls and emails could be a "step too far for the British way of life", ministers have been warned, reports the BBC.

"Plans for such a database are rumoured to be in the Communications Data Bill.

But Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said "lines must be drawn" to defend "fundamental liberties".

The government says the growth of the internet means changes must be made to the way communications are intercepted in order to combat terrorism and crime.

... Currently police and intelligence agencies can ask telecommunication providers for information on phone calls made, texts sent and internet sites visited. The provider can query the request, which might then go to the interception commissioner and another watchdog - but under the new proposals, that right would be removed."

What happened: AT&T on iTunes activation problems

CIO.com interviewed AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel, who confirmed that Friday's activation server outage was due to massive worldwide demand.

"The iTunes software appeared to have been so overwhelmed by demand [Friday] that customers were not able to go through that final stage and sync their iPhones," Siegel said.

[via TUAW ]

Apple iPhone v2.0 software on Saturday: Still M.I.A.

Friday, there were severe activation problems with the iPhone 3G and 36 hours after the release of the iPhone 2.0 firmware, existing iPhone customers still can't download it. iTunes says it's unavailable. Apple should have done better.

[via News.com]

SMS remote control shopping robot

Japan has come out with a new robot that will let people shop at malls without ever leaving their home.

Robot developer tmsuk revealed a telerobotic shopper that can be controlled using NTT DoCoMo's cell phone technology.

[Gizmodo via Pink Tentacle]

Non-iPhones Attend Self-Esteem Workshop

[via Gizmodo]

Cell Tax Fairness Legislation

The Wireless Association President and CEO Steve Largent issued the following statement today in response to the introduction of the The Mobile Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2008 (S.3249) in the U.S. Senate:

"I want to thank Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Snowe (R-ME) for stepping up to the plate to defend wireless users across the country from unfair and discriminatory taxation.

"... The average wireless consumer in the U.S. today pays more than 15% of his or her monthly bill in taxes and fees—more than twice the rate imposed on other competitive goods and services subject to sales tax. This is an indefensible level of taxation for most any product, let alone one that allows millions of Americans to constantly stay connected with the world around them.

"We look forward to working with the sponsors and all Members of Congress to see that this important legislation becomes law."

CTIA press release.

Bic launches 'disposable' pre-charged phone

Branching out from disposable razors and ball-point pens, Bic will be launching a mobile phone in France August 7, reports The Register.

"Bic has teamed-up with Orange France to launch the Bic Phone, which comes with a ready-charged battery and an hour's free calls. The SIM card will already slotted into place, so all the user has to do is activate the phone."

Previously: - BIC Wants to Flick Your Cell Phone

Guardian Media Group Buys paidContent for $30 Million

A blog publishing story from rags to riches and heartwarming to us all.

The trailblazing blog PaidContent, specializing in coverage of the business of new media, and launched by Rafat Ali, will be acquired by the Guardian Media Group for $30 million.

Paid content's network includes includes PaidContent.org, mobile content coverage at MocoNews, coverage of India at ContentSutra, and PaidContent UK.

[Boom Town via ReadWriteWeb via Techmeme]

Read Rafat's post on how the deal was done and what's next. And the nicest post by Jeff Jarvis on Buzzmachine.

Congratulations to the whole team!

iPhone 3G Geneva Frenzy

We're so boring here!

This is the entrance of the main Swisscom store in the center of town, at 12.40 pm, on Friday July 11, the first day of the sale of the iPhone 3G.

Uh, where is everyone? In all fairness, 15 people were lined up a couple of blocks down the street at the Swisscom booth in department store Globus.

To see where it's really happening, check out Gizmodo's iPhone campers and engadget launch lineblog from around the world - with sound!!

Airport scans for illegal downloads on iPods, mobile phones and laptops

iPods, mobile phones and laptops could be examined by airport customs officials for illegal downloads under strict new counterfeiting measures being considered by G8 governments this week, writes The Telegraph.

"The measures form part of an international agreement aimed at stamping out piracy, but there are fears that individuals who have illegally downloaded songs or video clips on to MP3 players and phones for personal use could also be caught out.

According to The Guardian, "the heads of the G8 governments, meeting this week, are about to ratify the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta), which - it's claimed - could let customs agents search your laptop or music player for illegally obtained content. The European Parliament is considering a law that would lead to people who illicitly download copyrighted music or video content being thrown off the internet."

Texting champ wins $50,000

Parents may want to rethink scolding their kids for texting at the dinner table, since it could win them a ton of money, writes News.com.

"A 20-year-old college student from Cleveland State University just won the $50,000 grand prize in a national texting competition held in New York this week, sponsored by cell phone maker LG.

The previous highest prize paid for the "fastest texter" was a contest also organized by LG Electronics in March 2007 which paid $ 25,000.

Links to other text messaging championships held over the years and Guinness World records.

O2: some won't get new iPhone until August

According to the Times Online, limited supply means that most stores will only have a few dozen iPhones when the device goes on sale tomorrow.

"O2 said today that initial supplies of the new iPhone would be limited for several weeks, and that many customers hoping to get hold of one by the weekend were likely to be disappointed.

There would only be "a few dozen" iPhones per store, O2 said, and sales would be limited to one iPhone per customer, two for business customers. "