by Lorraine Luk, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
China Mobile Ltd., the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, is pinning its hopes on new third-generation services such as mobile television and mobile readers to drive growth amid increasing competition and falling voice revenue.
Washington policy makers, long concerned about how marketers use consumers’ personal data to their guide sales pitches on the Internet, have stepped up scrutiny of the increasingly sophisticated ad-targeting techniques used in other media, ranging from mobile phones to TV commercials to the ads consumers get in their mail boxes.
by Scott Austin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
I remember my brother showing off a new device in the late 1990s that let him navigate the Internet on the television. Back then, there were no dogs riding skateboards on YouTube or NBC dramas on Hulu, but the technology from WebTV appeared to be a breakthrough in the convergence of the two mediums.
Federal regulators are considering whether the government should take greater control of the Internet and ask consumers to pay higher phone charges in order to provide all Americans with cheaper access to broadband Internet service.
by Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
As the temperature drops, some cold-weather commuters are trying out an iPhone app that lets them climb in to an unlocked, pre-heated car.
Directed Electronics, the company that sells the Viper car-alarm system, has developed an accompanying app called SmartStart that lets customers use their phone to lock or unlock the car, or turn the alarm on and off.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Matching a recent move by Wal-Mart, Amazon.com has unveiled a new promotion on Research in Motion BlackBerry phones, giving buyers of certain models who sign up for new 2-year plans free $100 “e-gift cards.”
by Yukari Iwatani Kane, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
The biggest concentration of developers for Apple’s iPhone is in Northern California, as a story in The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco Bay Area section points out. But the ubiquity of the Internet makes it possible for a software developer anywhere in the world to make apps.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Google plans to buy back $750 million of its common stock to offset dilution from shares to be issued in the pending all-stock acquisition of AdMob, CEO Eric Schmidt told Bloomberg yesterday.
Statistics tell us that there are already more than two million iPhones in China, and the number is expected to rise (at least a little) following the recent official launch of Apple’s iPhone 3G in the country through local telecom carrier China Unicom.
by Marisa Taylor, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
The Council of the European Union has approved new legislation that would require Web users to consent to Internet cookies.
Cookies, small programs that can be used to track Web movements, have come under fire as consumer groups, including the Federal Trade Commission, have sought to regulate companies that engage in targeted behavioral advertising.
Verizon began advertising its 3G coverage against AT&T’s in a series of ads poking fun at Apple’s “there’s an app for that” iPhone commercials, presenting coverage maps of its own 3G CDMA/EVDO network in red against much more limited 3G service coverage maps for AT&T’s 3G network presented in blue.
Nearly lost amidst the breathless anticipation of all things wireless–whether it’s the latest smart phone, free Internet hot spot or GPS navigation system–is the potential impact these gadgets may have on scientific instruments that likewise need access to the electromagnetic spectrum.
by William M. Bulkeley, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Is a computer with no disk drive and no applications software still a computer?
Litl LLC, a small Boston company, says its eponymous Litl device is the future of personal computing. Litl is a Web computer with a full keyboard and an operating system designed for people who use online software like Google Docs and store their photos on Flickr or Shutterfly.
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