photo credit: Thermal Imaging Cell Phones

The US Department of Defense is soliciting developers for thermal vision in cell phone cameras and PDAs. According to an article posted by Tuan Mai, Wired, Darpa, the research and development office for the U.S. Department of Defense, sent out the solicitation request on January 24th, with the intention of filling a shortfall for a cheap and efficient, individualized and mobile form of heat vision to detect enemies in low visibility environments. For those of us who are not savvy about these kinds of things, it’s based on infrared camera technology. Firms have until March 9 to respond to DARPA’s RFP for the LCTI-M program. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Facebook Phone

In late January, FoxNews.com/Gadgets reported there would be a new HTC Facebook phone launched this month. FoxNews obviously didn’t do their homework. Not only did they announce that the new Facebook phone would be launched this month in Barcelona, but the photo they shared was a mock-up of an iPhone rather than the HTC phone they reported would be launched. (See photo.) After doing some more thorough research, FoxNews posted another story the very next day stating the Facebook phone rumors were false. (Guess they had a bit of egg on their face…) Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: India Wants to Monitor Email

Just weeks after reaching an agreement with RIM BlackBerry, India wants to change the rules. The Indian government still wants to spy on emails through the BlackBerry system. According to Zack Whittacker, ZDNet, India wants to intercept communication systems to combat terrorism, a problem it continues to suffer from with tensions with its neighbours Pakistan and the southern Arabian Peninsula. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Internet Dark in Egypt

First the Egyptian government blocked social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Now rumors have it that the Egyptian government has blocked Internet connections countrywide. According to an article by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, ZDNet, his sources (Renesys, an Internet analytics firm) confirmed that Egypt has really blocked the vast majority of its Internet connections. Essentially, this has cut off the Egyptian people from the Internet. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Uncle Sam is Watching

You most likely carry a tracking device everywhere you go. For those of us with GPS enabled cell phones, our locations (even when the phone is powered off) are being tracked by cell phone towers. Law enforcement wants to access this information without showing probable cause, however may have to obtain your private records by showing “probable cause” standard. At least this is what the 3rd US District Circuit Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania ruled in September 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Cell Phone Search

Your texting is subject to police search. Earlier this month the Supreme Court of California granted police the right to search a suspect’s cell phone without a warrant. The 5-2 ruling from the Court about the Diaz case stunned the California people. Many feel this ruling is an invasion of privacy and that we are becoming more of a police state reminiscent of Nazi Germany. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle’s SF Gate, Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar noted that the decision permits police “to rummage at leisure through the wealth of personal and business information that can be carried on a mobile phone or handheld computer merely because the device was taken from an arrestee’s person.” I can hardly wait to see what the civil liberty groups make of this ruling. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: 911 Cell Phone Donations

Free 911 cell phones have been given to residents of a mobile home park that was ravaged by fire this week. After fire swept through a mobile home park in Orange County, California, AT&T landline phone service was unavailable. This posed a serious problem for many elderly residents who needed a way to contact 911. The solution came when the city of Lake Forest gave the residents cell phones from their Cell Phones for Life program. This is a nonprofit organization whose mission, along with the city, is to provide free cell phones and batteries to seniors to call 911.

“We have this program available and we want to make sure they get out to the people who need them,” Gary Magill, director of community services for the City of Lake Forest, said. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Rare Earth Elements

An integral part of that cell phone you can’t live without is neodymium. Neodymium is used in magnets for computers, audio speakers and of course cell phones. Another rare earth mineral, Holmium, has the greatest magnetic strength of any element and is used in medical and dental lasers. In addition, many technologies and US military weaponry rely on a group of these rare earth minerals. So what you may ask? The big deal is that we rely on China for most of these rare minerals. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Android SMS Bug

Are your SMS messages going to the right person? Have you been sending messages to one phone number, only to have it received by someone totally different? Apparently this has been an ongoing bug in the Android SMS App system for about 6 months. As of today Google still hasn’t fixed the problem. Read the rest of this entry »

photo credit: Verizon iPhone

Verizon is rumored to make the big iPhone announcement tomorrow. According to ZDNet and countless blogs, Verizon has scheduled an announcement tomorrow which includes Steve Jobs (Apple) as a speaker. The much anticipated Verizon iPhone is expected to be announced tomorrow, with availability as soon as the end of the month. This announcement is scheduled for 11:00 am EST on 1/11/11. Hmm… Read the rest of this entry »