Smartphones

Scanbuy announced on Wednesday their free Scanlife barcode reader for iPhone called ScanLife. The software allows for scanning an EZcode using the iPhone's camera then instantaneously executing an individual action that the code is associated to, such as launching a Web site without you having to remember its URL and typing it on the phone's browser.

I tried ScanLife on my new iPhone 3G to launch a few Web sites, and it worked very well most of the time, even when the code is not on the center of the photo. A few times when the photo was … Read more

MyCaption, a member of the BlackBerry Alliance, introduced on Tuesday a new way BlackBerry users can work with e-mails on their smartphones: by speaking.

Actually, this is not exactly a breakthrough, as voice recognition technology has been out there for a long time and can be found in the Voice Command or Voice Dialing features of many smartphones. However, this seems to be the first time you can use it for more than simple sentences, such as, "Call Johnny at the office."

MyCaption claims that its new application is sophisticated enough that people can compose, forward, or reply … Read more

Global IP Solutions, a company well recognized for its media-processing expertise in IP communications, announced on Monday its SDK, which enables Voice over IP applications to be made for Apple's iPhone.

This means that developers can now use GIPS' VoiceEngine Mobile, to create real-time VoIP applications, such as games, social-networking applications, and, of course, applications for making calls to regular phone lines over the Internet. Soon enough, you will be able to use instant messenger to voice chat with friends on the iPhone, just like you've been doing on your computer for ages now.

Though this is exciting … Read more

Obviously, it's been convenient to operate plug and play bus-powered peripheral devices that use USB and FireWire connections, since all you need is the device itself and one data cable that, once plugged in, also draws juice from the computer to feed the device. However, admittedly, that definitely is less convenient than no cable or plugging at all.

A consortium was established on July 17 in Tokyo to promote a radically new and exciting close-proximity wireless technology, called "TransferJet." This new technology enables a high speed data transmission rate of 560Mbps (by comparison, USB 2.0 has … Read more

So last Friday (7/11, "iPhone day") I'm getting ready to do some performance testing on the iPhone 3G. Well, if by "getting ready" I mean stealing pizza and pop (hey, I'm from Chicago) from the poor saps--I mean fellow CNETers that were in the office since 4 a.m. that day to cover the second coming of the Second Coming. Don't hate. This is how I roll at CNET, and my colleagues respect me for it. I mean, why else would they suggest I do First Look videos like this?

Anyway, my … Read more

So the iPhone 3G is coming out tomorrow. Are you ready? OK, that's more of a rhetorical question that those who've been lining up in front of Apple and AT&T stores in NYC and San Francisco would call me crazy just for asking. (Though, in fact, it's they who are crazy). The real question is if AT&T is ready. And it looks like it is.

It's only fitting that AT&T announced today that it offers the nation's fastest 3G network, by a significant margin. The claim was made based … Read more

Motorola's Good Technology group hopes its latest update will eliminate the moment of terror experienced by a traveling salesperson who realizes the slide deck got left back at the office.

Good 6.0 will now allow Windows Mobile smartphone users to access corporate applications and their companies' shared network resources over the same secure connection that delivers their e-mail. This would eliminate the need for VPN (virtual private network) software on smartphones, said Dan Rudolph, director of product marketing for Good.

Good's software allows Windows Mobile and Palm users to get their corporate e-mail on their handhelds, as … Read more

Nvidia is doubling down on its budding processor business for the next generation of mobile computers.

This week at Computex, Nvidia plans to show off its new Tegra brand for mobile application processors. Earlier this year, the company unveiled its first processor for smartphones, the APX 2500. It's now adding two processors to its Tegra brand, with plans to target the emerging Mobile Internet Device category, according to Mike Rayfield, general manager of the company's mobile business.

Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors, of course, but has been taking steps toward a mobile future since its … Read more

CORONADO, Calif.--It's the mid-1990s for the mobile industry: lots of walled gardens, lots of fragmentation, and lots of promise.

We've been writing about the future of mobile computing for years now, and it's no surprise that panelists at the Future in Review conference are eyeing the same space. There's a clear shift going on toward mobile computing, seen both in the PC space, as notebooks overtake designs, and in the evolving handheld/subnotebook space with a surge in interest in smartphones and things like the Eee PC.

The current mobile situation reminds Jonathan Bulkeley, formerly … Read more