photo credit: Cuffed While Texting

Authorities in Iowa City, Iowa, reported that a man was arrested for “liberating” a cell phone from a gym and sending unauthorized text messages from the stolen device. In the 18 hours the alleged thief had the phone, he sent 500 text messages. That equates out to sending a text message every 2 minutes. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Google’s Nexus One

Apple, Google, BlackBerry, Nokia and Palm are all fighting for the number one spot. With more and more demand for content rich apps on Smartphones, the very competitive market is the driving force for these companies. So how is the Smartphone war going? Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: ITU Mobile Usage Chart

An unbelievable 2/3 of the planet’s population uses cell phones. At the end of 2009, 4.6 billion people were cell phone subscribers. This is up from 1 billion users in 2002. Even in developing countries the number of cell phone users was up to 50% of the population.

67% of all people on Earth use cell phones!

The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) predicted we would reach 5 billion cell phone subscribers by the end of 2010. (See my blog 5 Billion Cell Phone Subscribers in 2010.) And according to the ITU, the cost for cell phone service has become less expensive, dropping by about 15% globally between 2008 and 2009.

Also included in this report were statistics for Internet usage. While cell phone subscriptions are rising rapidly, Internet access is not rising as rapidly. At the end of 2009, 25.9% of the population had broadband Internet access. Compared to the 67% using cell phones, Internet access isn’t spreading as quickly. The exception to these statistics is China, which accounts for about one third of people in developing countries with Internet Access.

I have said it before. The trend is for people to ditch their land line phones in favor of only having cell phone service. With the dropping prices from the major cell phone service providers, it only makes sense to keep the mobile phones over the stationary land lines. (See my blog New MagicJack for Cell Phones.) And with the growing popularity of Smartphones that provide effective Internet access, I see the numbers of cell phone subscribers rising even more rapidly.

photo credit: 5 Billion Cell Phones

5 billion cell phone subscribers by 2010 was the announcement made last week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the industry’s biggest trade show. We had 4.6 billion in 2009, so the prediction isn’t a wild guess. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Jammed Cell Phone

The FCC not only regulates cell phone signal boosters, but also regulates the cell phone signal jammers. The way the law reads now, jammers can only be sold to federal authorities. In October, the US Senate passed the Safe Prison Act, allowing prisons to apply to deploy a cell phone jammer to block wireless coverage in the prison. This holds true for state prisons as well as federal prisons. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Cell Phones Suck Your Money

Cell phone service providers have figured out ways to bilk their customers of billions of dollars! They hire experts to figure out which bundles will suck the most money out of the customer’s pockets. People are catching on, however, and fighting back with prepaid phones and other work-arounds. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Stalker Note

The new Android app, Recognizr, would allow you to use your cell phone camera to snoop out someone’s identity. You could take a photo of someone’s face, and then know that person’s name, schedule, profile, and latest tweets. Created by the Swedish development company, The Astonishing Tribe, the new app in development would bring a whole new level to the lack of privacy. It uses a 3D modeling and facial recognition software. James Bond has come to the real world. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Intel+Nokia=Intokia

Nokia just rolled out its new Maemo phone, after 5 years in development. It combines their Linux Maemo software platform with Intel’s Linux based Moblin to create the new platform, MeeGo. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Is the DOJ monitoring your cell phone activity?

The US Department of Justice wants carte blanche to monitor your cell phone activity. The DOJ told an appeals court last week that it doesn’t feel it is necessary to get a warrant to monitor your cell phone history. The information they would gather would be dates, times and call duration, and which cell towers the calls used, effectively disclosing every move you make. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Bad Apple

24 of the world’s largest cell phone companies have joined forces to fight Apple’s domination of cell phone applications. The consortium is made up of big names like Sprint, Vodafone and China Mobile. The Wholesale Applications Community announced its intentions last week in Barcelona, Spain, at the Mobile World Congress. Read the rest of this entry »