Personal communications

They say they're targeting seniors, children, and the vision- and hearing-impaired, but Just5's new mobile phone line is really best explained as a talking device for Luddites.

"We want to open mobile phones to specific populations that may have difficulty using the latest and greatest mobile gadgets, especially the current generation of 'baby boomers' who need a safe, reliable phone," Alex Petrov, vice president of operations at Just5 Americas, said in a news release.

Here's the setup. Just5 phones boast big buttons. They can be turned up louder than the average celly. An emergency SOS … Read more

Android users who want to to keep tabs on their Yahoo mail and learn more about their favorite movies should welcome the addition of a couple of new apps to the growing mobile marketplace.

Yahoo announced Thursday the launch of Android apps for its Mail and Messenger programs topped off by a new mobile-search widget. Available free at the Android Market, the new apps support Android 2.0 or higher and are optimized for the Motorola Droid, HTC Incredible, and Google Nexus One, according to Yahoo.

The Yahoo Mail app offers a variety of enhancements optimized for Android, said Yahoo. … Read more

And just like that, Hewlett-Packard is a relevant smartphone company again.

The world's largest PC maker now has a mobile operating system of its own after completing its previously announced acquisition of Palm for $5.70 a share, which works out to roughly $1.2 billion. Jon Rubenstein, the former Apple executive who was charged with bringing Palm back to prominence as its chairman and CEO, will report to Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's personal systems group.

HP has sold smartphones with the Windows Mobile OS for several years, but that operating system has lost considerable … Read more

So, which is more secure to use, the iPhone or the Android?

Neither, according to security experts who say the two fastest-growing smartphone platforms are different but comparable.

The main difference is that Apple must approve all apps distributed via the Apps Store, which is the only way to get apps on the iPhone unless it is jail broken so it can run whatever software an owner wants. Android apps are not vetted by Google or anyone prior to distribution.

Another big difference is that the Android user is informed about what data and resources an app will have access … Read more

Google has started sending out Android 2.2, aka Froyo, to those with its Nexus One phone.

"Starting today, Nexus One users will begin to receive the Android 2.2 (codenamed Froyo) over-the-air software update on their phones," according to a Monday blog post about the Froyo update. "This update will be rolled out gradually to phones--and most users will receive the notification by the end of the week."

Froyo adds better performance; the ability to turn the phone into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot other computers can use to access the Internet; better support for Microsoft'… Read more

The White House is hoping to come up with a comprehensive strategy to better protect people in cyberspace and is asking the public for help.

Releasing a draft of the potential new National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (PDF) last Friday, the government is aiming to set up a system that would let people voluntarily create trusted identities to use in online transactions.

The goal, as described in a blog post by White House cybersecurity chief Howard Schmidt, is to secure and protect transactions in cyberspace through use of a special ID--a smart card or digital certificate--that would prove … Read more

Google has remotely removed two free apps from several hundred Android phones because the apps misrepresented their purpose and thus violated Android developer policies, according to a company spokesman.

This marks the first time Google has used the Remote Application Removal Feature that allows the company to delete apps for security reasons that have been installed through Android Market.

The apps were proof-of-concept programs designed to test the feasibility of distributing a program that could later be used to take control of the device in an attack, according to Jon Oberheide, the developer who wrote and distributed them.

The one … Read more

Despite years of investment in its Symbian operating system, Nokia has picked the Linux-based MeeGo instead to go head to head with Apple's iPhone and other higher-end smartphones.

The Nokia N8 will be the last of the flagship N-series smartphones to use Symbian, Nokia told CNET Australia, and confirmed the move in a Reuters interview. "Going forward, N-series devices will be based on MeeGo," a Nokia spokesman said, though it will continue to offer Symbian lower down the product line.

Years ago, Nokia was the dominant phone maker, but it's struggled to reclaim its past glory. The N-series change indicates the company's bets on Symbian--including Nokia's acquisition of full Symbian control from other partners and its subsequent release as open-source software--weren't sufficient to make the operating system a top-end competitor.

In contrast, the iPhone 4 appears to be increasing Apple's considerable clout in the mobile market, and application developers' products also run on the iPod Touch and iPad devices that also use the iOS operating system. At the same time, Google has been making steady gains with its Android operating system, with 160,000 new Android phones activated daily, and various partners plan Android-baesd tablets and other devices. … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Robert J. Shapiro's bio below.

The familiar, one-size-fits-all flat monthly fee for Internet use is likely headed for the technology junk pile--and it's a good thing for most consumers.

One fee for unlimited broadband access--and the same fee for everybody signing up for a particular service--helped drive the extraordinarily rapid spread of broadband, especially as those fees declined over the last decade. But broadband has changed the Internet, particularly by enabling the spread of bandwidth-intensive video and voice applications.

New analysis shows that as Internet providers ramp up their … Read more