The healthcare segment is embracing the benefits of mobile technology, as evidenced in the new Minder device by Cambridge Consultants. The Minder uses 3G technology to allow healthcare professionals to monitor patient vital signs remotely. Remote treatment has big cost benefits over hospitalized care. Read more »
Samsung has kick-started the Android tablet space with the Galaxy Tab, the first Android tablet considered to be a genuine competitor to the iPad, due to its hardware configuration and build quality. See how it stacks up against the larger iPad in this video. Read more »
A website has launched that puts popular smartphones through a series of controlled stress tests to see how they fare. Gadgetstress.com takes smartphones and puts some serious hurt on them, then ranks them so consumers can tell how each phone stacks up against the competition. Read more »
Making sure elderly parents living alone are all right is now easier with the release of the Sonamba monitoring system. Sonamba is a 7-inch digital picture frame that monitors motion and sound in the surrounding area to determine if the elderly resident is in distress. Read more »
The folks at Verizon are excited about the first tablet handled by the carrier, and sent over the Samsung Galaxy Tab for me to give a spin. It’s only been here a few hours, but I can share my first impressions of the 7-inch Android tablet. Read more »
If I asked you for your Gmail login credentials, would you give them to me? Probably not, because those credentials are the keys to your email, and you don’t want me poking around. Unfortunately I’ll bet you have given them to other folks you don’t know. Read more »
The netbook is not dead if HP’s release of the Mini 1103 is an indication. The Mini 1103 is a netbook aimed at the enterprise, and starts at the low price of $299. The 10.1-inch netbook has the ability to run applications without booting up Windows. Read more »
Contrary to popular belief Google is apparently getting the Nexus S ready for sale at Best Buy this holiday season. The retailer leaked an ad that was spotted before being pulled. The Galaxy Tab is arriving in time for the holidays, and was unboxed on video. Read more »
Mobile Tech Manor is my home office where all sorts of gadgetry is always arriving. In this column, I look back at the week in the Manor and recount the happenings and lessons learned. I love sharing my weeks with you, so welcome to the Manor. Read more »
The only thing I don’t like about Instapaper is the lack of a native Android app for my phone, as often that’s the device at hand when I have time to catch up on some reading. That’s where Hard Copy Pro comes to my rescue. Read more »
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is the first Android tablet considered to be a genuine competitor to the iPad, and developers are already releasing apps optimized for the 7-inch display. The Tab will soon be available on major U.S. phone carriers with integrated 3G connectivity. Read more »
Starting next year, the NYT will extend Best-Seller lists to include the top-selling e-books, a validation of how significant the digital publishing business has grown. This validation is fitting given a recent report that e-books have seen a growth in sales of almost 190 percent. Read more »
Android phone owners who have taken the step to root their phone can do things not possible otherwise. ResToggle is an app for rooted Android phones running Froyo (Android 2.2) that provides the ability to change the display to higher resolutions than originally supported. Read more »
The mHealth Summit is winding down in Washington, D.C., and the mobile healthcare initiative gained some financial backing as major organizations have announced donations to the cause. Three donations of $1 million will assist the mHealth Alliance in advancing mobile technology in healthcare. Read more »
As our new Cord Cutters feature makes clear, many folks are trying to ditch expensive paid TV in favor of alternatives that give users more control over what they watch. Sprint smartphone owners have the free Sprint TV service, as shown in this video. Read more »
Mobile hotspots, devices that share a mobile connection with other devices, will approach $500 million in revenue this year according to a report. This is a combination of the sale of mobile hotspot devices and the fees that networks charge for the service. Read more »
Mobile technology has the potential to make a huge contribution for advancemetns in global healthcare, but incorporating it is not without significant challenges. The mHealth Summit is currently underway in Washington, D.C., where healthcare experts have come together to address these challenges. Read more »
The folks at Evernote have rolled out version 2.0 of the Android mobile client, a major update that lets premium users keep notebooks on the phone for access without network connectivity. Premium account holders can now download notebooks to the phone for access without the web. Read more »
Google released Instant Search for Android this week, and it works as well as on the desktop. A Galaxy S smartphone was the first to receive certification for the Wi-Fi Direct standard, making peer-to-peer connections a possibility. These Android stories and more were covered this week. Read more »
Augmented reality is one of those technologies that has always appealed to me, but without a practical application I can use. That changed since installing Lookator for Android, a Wi-Fi hotspot detector that uses AR to show the location of the hotspots in the real world. Read more »
Mobile Tech Manor is my home office where all sorts of gadgetry is always arriving. In this column, I look back at the week in the Manor and recount the happenings and lessons learned. I love sharing my weeks with you, so welcome to the Manor Read more »
Twitter is perfect for the mobile platform, as it lends itself well to quick sessions on the go. A new version of the official Twitter app for Android was recently released, and we’ve been tweeting with it ever since. It has some welcome new features. Read more »
Jawbone, famous for Bluetooth phone headsets, wants to help you jam with the new Jambox wireless speaker. The portable system delivers the full audio spectrum to provide realistic sound when listening to music or playing games. The device functions as a high-quality hands-free conference call system. Read more »
LG is teaming up with Microsoft to help kick-start Windows Phone 7 through a promotion that will provide 10 free apps every 60 days. The promotion is a move to help push the newly released WP7 in a crowded smartphone market currently dominated by Android. Read more »
The iPad is so thin it’s a shame to bulk it up with a case. The Dooble has a wireless keyboard embedded in a fake leather case that turns the tablet into a typing machine. This video demonstrates all aspects of the case, including its shortcomings. Read more »
HP’s webOS with its revolving task manager is just plain cool. Interacting with the cards that represent running apps is intuitive and fun; it’s too bad other platforms don’t use a similar method to work with tasks. Android phone owners have one available, and it’s free. Read more »
A charge often levied against Android is the fragmentation that resulted from releasing so many versions of the OS in such a short time. That concern is lessening as the latest numbers shows that 77 percent of all Android devices are running Android 2.1 or 2.2. Read more »
Viewsonic has announced the release of two touch tablets in North America, the ViewPad 7 and 10. The first has a 7-inch display that puts it in competition with the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and the second has a 10-inch screen running Windows ad Android. Read more »
Parents of children with special needs are finding an unexpected way to communicate with their kids that is changing their lives in a dramatic fashion: the iPad. The iPad is a recognized tool of therapy for folks with medical causes that hampers their ability to communicate. Read more »
Breaking down the Galaxy Tab into a list of components shows the 16-GB tablet carries an estimated price tag of $205 to make. This compares to the iPad’s estimated cost to build of $264, a difference due to the iPad’s larger screen and form factor. Read more »
Many companies are riding the wave of Android’s popularity; Sprint as much as any. The company’s popular Android smartphones have netted it a record number of subscribers. Barnes & Noble is riding the wave too, as its new NOOKColor is essentially an Android tablet. Read more »
The recent appearance of the Firesheep plugin for Firefox has raised concerns over the lack of security for browsing sessions that are conducted at public hotspots, so the release of Fireshepherd to stop digital eavesdropper is welcome news. Hotspot sessions are more vulnerable than many realize. Read more »
Mobile Tech Manor is my home office where all sorts of gadgetry is always arriving. In this column, I look back at the week in the Manor and recount the happenings and lessons learned. I love sharing my weeks with you, so welcome to the Manor. Read more »
The FCC proved it does indeed have consumer’s backs by handing out a $25 million fine to Verizon for charging its customers spurious fees over a period of years. The fine was the result of a 10-month investigation into the carrier’s billing practices. Read more »
The spooky Halloween season is upon us and to get you in the spirit, we’ve collected fun resources to deck out your phone for the occasion. These sights and sounds will haunt your smartphone and make you the life of the party. Read more »
Portable keyboards are nothing new, I’ve used them for years. Many mobile gadgets rely on onscreen keyboards for text entry, but for writers that is often not good enough. I needed a keyboard and investigated the options, and chose the Freedom Pro Keyboard. Read more »
Hellotxt is a way to keep track of and interact with a boatload of social networks in one place. The hellotxt Android app launched today, and since I’ve been using it for a while thanks to the folks at hellotxt, I can share my thoughts. Read more »
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is poised to hit all of the major carriers in the U. S., and today we learned T-Mobile will have it first on Nov. 10. The carrier states the Tab will be available as low as $399.99 with a qualifying 2-year plan. Read more »
Research in Motion isn’t keeping the BlackBerry 6 love to just the Torch; today it announced the BlackBerry Bold 9780 with the new OS. The Bold has been a very popular handset for RIM, and this updated model adds features to the line. Read more »
Charging gadgets without wires has been a dream for a long time, and it is finally becoming reality with the Powermat Wireless Charging System. The small charging mat couples with a special charging back on the EVO 4G in the video to charge the battery wirelessly. Read more »
