mobile

Who needs a pencil to track a golf game when you've got a finger? Seasoned swingers will benefit from a finger-friendly iPhone app that stores course, par, and game information. The free iGolfScorecard lays it all out in an attractive interface.

Like many mobile apps, the simplicity here is refreshing. Bookmarking the site and creating an account are the hardest parts. Once that's ingested, you can immediately start entering course names and scores for 9-hole and 18-hole greens. iGolfScorecard tracks the par and stroke count for up to four players per game.

After the last swing, iGolfScorecard shows your overall scorecard and game statistics, including the total par and average. Once saved, you can in theory review statistics from a previous game. The scorecard I saved for my 9-hole game didn't immediately show up, which is disappointing, since the user experience up to this point had been blissfully smooth.… Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--One area where Sun Microsystems' Java caught on was in mobile phones, but a leader of the project is working to eventually replace the mobile-specific version of the software.

Java Standard Edition (SE), geared for desktop computers, will gradually supplant Java Micro Edition (ME) as technology improvements let more computing power be packed into smaller devices, said James Gosling, the Sun vice president often called the father of Java.

"We're trying to converge everything to the Java SE specification. Cell phones and TV set-top boxes are growing up," Gosling said at a Java media event here … Read more

Yes, you read that right. After what seemed like ages (heck, this video shown here was taken way back at CES 2007), Verizon Wireless today officially announced the availability of the Samsung SCH-i760 smartphone.

A bigger, badder version of the Samsung BlackJack, this Windows Mobile 6 (Professional Edition) device adds a slide-out QWERTY keyboard with an external dial pad, a touch screen, and integrated Wi-Fi. If that weren't enough, it also serves up EV-DO, Verizon's V Cast services, Bluetooth with A2DP support, and a 1.3-megapixel camera.

Of course, all this goodness comes with a cost. The i760, … Read more

Virgin Mobile has been selling the Kyocera Wild Card since October 7, but it's finally making the phone available to its retail partners like Best Buy, Target, and RadioShack.

Also known as the Kyocera M1000, the Wild Card is exactly the same as Cricket's Lingo except for a few services that only Virgin Mobile offers.… Read more

Finally, here's a phone plan that allows you to switch from the U.S. government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network to the Unclassified but Sensitive Internet Protocol Router Network with a single keystroke.

The National Security Agency has authorized military and government personnel to order up a bunch of General Dynamics' Sectera Edge secure, wireless smartphones, which will not only allow them to make secure calls but also to e-mail and Web-browse in either classified or unclassified mode.

The phones will still operate right along with everyone else on the existing high-speed Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), … Read more

Typically when we talk about Web 2.0 and food, we're either talking about the snack selection at a launch party or the virtual food fights that certain Facebook apps have made possible. Not this time. Gomobo, a New York-based start-up that allows you to order and pre-pay for food at participating restaurants on your cell phone or computer, plans to announce a new feature on Thursday that will allow you to connect your Twitter account to the service.

As a result, when you order pick-up food from Gomobo, it'll automatically send a message to your Twitter feed … Read more

Taiwanese handset maker HTC is expected to ship about 50,000 cell phones by the end of this year that use a mobile operating system from Google, according to a Fortune article that cites a report from a UBS analyst.

The phones won't be for sale until next year; the initial shipment will go to developers, says analyst Benjamin Schachter. Google is likely talking to other handset manufacturers, he says.

Google has declined to comment on rumors of its phone plans. Google is hosting an analyst day on October 24, and Schachter expects the company to talk about its … Read more

Google unveiled Google Docs mobile this morning. It's a smaller, lightweight version of Google Docs and Spreadsheets, which lets you browse any stored documents, spreadsheets, or presentations on your mobile phone.

Like the mobile version of their calendaring service, Google has spent a considerable amount of time optimizing Docs for the iPhone--making items larger, and more finger friendly. iPhone users are also the only group who gets mobile access to the freshly launched presentations service, which shows up in thumbnail form with simplistic back-and-forth controls. Both services share a similar lack of editing options, as you can't go … Read more

Today, Sprint officially announced its plans to offer the HTC Touch smartphone with availability starting on November 4 for $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. If you'll remember, we reviewed an unlocked version of the Touch back in June, which made headlines for its all-touch-screen interface--pre-iPhone release. Though we had major issues with the poor text entry input methods (or lack thereof), it didn't seem to bother too many CNET readers, garnering an average 8.5 user rating.

The Sprint HTC Touch features some enhancements and carrier-specific services not found on … Read more