Yep, you’ll be able to get unlimited data with the upcoming Verizon iPhone, carrier execs have confirmed. Meanwhile, word has it that Verizon may nix a cheaper, capped 3G data plan, Yahoo News reports. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam finally confirmed the news to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, adding that he hoped the all-you-can-eat 3G plan could tempt more current iPhone users who were grandfathered into AT&T’s old unlimited data plan…
…Read MorePodcast Series: Innovations in Education
Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
More WebOS tablet rumors: cloud storage, ‘Touchstone’ charging, shipping in March?
Looks like the rumor floodgate has finally opened for HP/Palm’s long-awaited WebOS tablet–or tablets, as the case may be. The latest word is that the new slates may ship as early as March with Flash support and tons of cloud-based storage, reports Yahoo News. We’ve been hearing about the tablets, powered by Palm’s WebOS platform, for months now, and execs at HP (which gobbled up Palm last April) have announced that there will be a WebOS press event in San Francisco next month. But we’d heard precious few details about the tablets, rumored or otherwise, until Tuesday, when an Engadget tipster provided purported promo images as well as the scoop that two WebOS slates–a 9-incher code-named “Topaz” and the 7-inch “Opal”–might not ship until September…
…Read MoreRumors point to dual-core processors, improved graphics for new iPad, iPhone
Even as the tech world came to grips with the troubling news Monday that Steve Jobs will take his second leave of absence in just two years, the iOS rumor mill continues to grind, with new, dual-core versions of the iPhone and iPad still expected to arrive in the coming months, Yahoo News reports. The latest word has it that new versions of the iPhone and the iPad are in line for a souped-up, dual-core version of Apple’s A4 system-on-a-chip, with AppleInsider reporting that the new chipset will boast far more processing and graphics power than the original — perfect, it would seem, for powering a new 2048-by-1536 iPad display (as per MacRumors), not to mention 1080p video and HDMI support for the iPad and iPhone, and perhaps even for a third-generation Apple TV…
…Read MoreKindle won’t play nice with eBooks purchased from Google’s eBookstore
One of the main benefits of Google’s just-launched eBookstore is that you can read your free and for-pay eBooks on a wide range of devices, ranging from the iPad and the Nook to a laptop or any phone with a modern mobile browser. Don’t count on reading any purchased digital volumes from Google on your Kindle, however, reports Yahoo News. The long-awaited Google eBookstore finally opened its doors Monday, boasting hundreds of thousands of titles from big-name publishers like Penguin, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon and Schuster, and Hachette Book Group, as well as thousands of independent and individual book publishers. Prices for bestselling books typically fall between $9.99 and $14.99, about what you’d expect to pay on Amazon’s Kindle store, iTunes, or Barnes & Noble’s online Nook storefront. Millions of free eBooks are also available.The big difference between Google and its competitors, though–well, besides the fact that Google won’t be selling its own dedicated eReader (unless, I suppose, you count Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab)–is that you can read free and purchased eBooks on just about any device with a Javascript-enabled web browser, from basic “feature” phones to laptops and desktops. Google is also releasing custom eBook apps for iOS devices, such as the iPad and the iPhone, as well as for Android handsets (naturally)…
…Read MoreFive questions–and answers–about Facebook Groups
Another week, another Facebook controversy — this time, over the site’s just-relaunched “Groups” feature, which lets you create instant private or public spaces for your friends, co-workers, fellow hobbyists, you name it, says Ben Patterson, technology writer for Yahoo! News. (Also read “Facebook ‘Groups’ could boost privacy, collaboration.”) By designating smaller circles of friends within your overall list of Facebook pals (which, for some online social butterflies, can easily run into the thousands), you can post updates, photos, videos, and URLs to your individual subsets without bothering everyone on Facebook with the minutiae of, say, your breakfast menu, or how quickly you crossed the finish line in your latest half-marathon. But it didn’t take long for a controversy to flare up: namely, the fact that your Facebook friends can add you to any group they so choose–as long as they’re already members of said group–without your permission.
So, here are five questions–and answers–for how to weather the current Facebook Groups storm…
The iPod Shuffle: Would you miss it?
It’s cute, it’s tiny, and it’s the cheapest iPod you can buy, Yahoo News reports. But if Apple were to squeeze the $59 iPod Shuffle out of its iPod lineup in favor of, say, a new (and smaller) iPod Nano, as one Wall Street analyst is suggesting … would you miss it? Apple’s annual (though not yet announced) music event is probably just a month away, and naturally we’re expecting a series of revisions to Apple’s iconic (if commercially stagnant, compared with skyrocketing iPhone and iPad sales) iPod line. Among the predicted unveilings: a revamped iPod Touch, plus various tweaks to the Nano, Shuffle and Classic players. There’s also a fair amount of buzz surrounding a leaked squarish touch display that’s just 1.7 inches across the diagonal (and you thought 3.5-inch touchscreens were small!), possibly signaling the arrival of a new little brother for the Touch…
…Read MoreAndroid sales outpacing iPhone
For the first time ever, sales of Android handsets have outpaced those of the Apple iPhone, reports Yahoo News. According to Nielsen, Google Android phones now account for 27 percent of U.S. smart-phone sales among new phone buyers, eclipsing the 23 percent share held by the iPhone. The numbers cover a rolling six-month period and are reported quarterly. Android popularity reportedly has skyrocketed in the last year, from a mere 6 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2009 (when it was half of even Windows Mobile’s small market share) to 27 percent today. The iPhone slipped from 34 percent in that quarter to 23 percent. That said, the top spot remains—as it has been for over a year—occupied by Research in Motion and its BlackBerry, which holds a 33-percent share of smart-phone buys. As GigaOm notes, the phenomenal rise of Android—up 886 percent worldwide since a year ago—is a rare occurrence in the tech business, because the platform is now two years old and reaching a maturity level that should actually indicate a period of slowing growth…
…Read More‘.xxx’ porn domain arrives
At long last and after heavy debate on both sides, the “.xxx” top-level domain has been formally and officially approved, reports Yahoo News. The idea is that the .xxx would replace the .com suffix for sites that register these domains–so you’d visit majorpornoperation.xxx instead of majorpornoperation . com. Existing .com domains would remain in place. Any adult reader of this column should understand what it is that .xxx is designed for: pornography. And while the Internet is positively crawling with porn–one statistic holds that a quarter of all Internet searches are for adult terms–the creation of a so-called online ghetto for pornography has been controversial…
…Read MoreKindle to expand beyond Amazon?
It’s a tricky little issue: What if you designed a piece of hardware and were also the only one who sold the software for it? Yahoo News reports that you’d basically have to work twice as hard at sales to get the job done. That’s the problem Amazon is now grappling with regarding the Kindle. While Amazon is a huge retailer (it just hit #100 on the Fortune 500), it’s still a dwarf compared with the big mainstream retail outfits like Walmart, and with no physical stores where people can actually try out the device, its clout is ultimately limited. To make the Kindle into a hit, Amazon’s got a lot of heavy lifting to do, promoting both the reader and the eBooks for it, both of which can only be purchased at one place. That may be about to change: Amazon may soon begin selling the Kindle through other retailers, particularly Target. (I’ve heard Best Buy mentioned in whispers as well.)…
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