Driven by users in Brazil, India and Russia, the number of worldwide mobile broadband subscribers increased by 50 percent last year, according to a research firm. Infonetics Research’s latest report said the total number of mobile broadband subscribers reached 846 million last year. Stephane Teral, Infonetics’ principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics, said […]
Applications
Phones gain ability to learn by touching
There’s a form of extrasensory perception called psychometry, whose practitioners claim to learn things about objects by touching them. Smartphones set to be released this month by Samsung and Sony will have some of that ability: They’ll learn things when you touch them to pre-programmed “tags.” For example, you can program a tag with your […]
Historic triumph: Audi achieves first victory of a hybrid vehicle at Le Mans
– Audi R18 e-tron quattro on the two top spots – Eleventh success in total for Audi at Le Mans 24 Hours – Audi R18 ultra completes one-two-three win of Audi Sport Team Joest AUDI AG has achieved another technological milestone in motorsport. On the 80th running of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours, a […]
Helping superconductors turn up the heat
Researchers from the University of Miami (UM) are unveiling a novel theory for high-temperature superconductivity. The team hopes the new finding gives insight into the process, and brings the scientific community closer to achieving superconductivity at higher temperatures than currently possible. This is a breakthrough that could transform our world. Superconductors are composed of specific […]
Verizon rebuts spectrum warehousing claims
Verizon Wireless continues its effort to convince the FCC to approve its $3.9 billion purchase of AWS spectrum as the clock ticks down on the deal. A regulatory affairs executive and a member of its legal team met with wireless bureau chief Rick Kaplan this week to rebut claims that Verizon will hoard the spectrum […]
Disney rolls out more live TV apps with Comcast
Disney rolled out three more apps that enable pay-TV subscribers of Comcast to watch live TV on the go. Pay TV distributors like Comcast and media companies are adding mobile and Web access to TV channels to convince people to keep paying for their TV subscriptions. The new mobile offerings can’t be purchased separately and […]
Communal Clearwire? Meet Karma.
A new start-up is chucking the conventional approach to data plans in favor of plans that require users to share access to their Wi-Fi hotspots. Customers with Karma’s hotspots, running on Clearwire’s WiMAX network, pay $14 per gigabyte, as first reported by The Verge. The hotspots offer open Wi-Fi access, and when a new user […]
UK reopens investigation into Google Street View
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s data regulator has reopened its investigation into Google’s Street View, saying that an inquiry by authorities in the United States raised new doubts about the disputed program. Steve Eckersley, enforcement chief of the British Information Commissioner’s Office, said Google Inc. had questions to answer about Street View, an attention-grabbing project which […]
New device powers gadgets through walking
The device, unveiled this week in the July issue of the journal Smart Materials and Structures, is designed to be worn on the knee and harnesses the energy produced by walking. The journal said it could be used by the military to reduce the number of heavy batteries — each weighing up to 10 kg […]
Liu Tang draws cheers as first Chinese woman set for space voyage
Liu Yang, a 33-year-old fighter pilot, will join two other astronauts aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft when it lifts off from a remote Gobi Desert launch site on Saturday evening. They will attempt a manned docking for the first time with the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module, launched last September and part of China’s exploratory […]