phones

To peck away at the vast lead that rivals Google and Apple have in the mobile phone market, Microsoft is tapping its vast research unit to help improve speech recognition for folks who speak their text messages or use their voice to search the Web.

Microsoft researchers say they have come up with a novel approach to boost the accuracy of speech recognition and rev up the speed in which it's rendered by creating a computation model that mimics the way the brain works. By applying so-called deep neural networks to speech recognition, Microsoft researchers claim that users in … Read more

AT&T announced that it is rolling out wireless emergency alerts to all of its U.S. customers that have an iPhone 5 or 4S.

This means that anytime there is a government-issued safety announcement, like when there's natural or man-made disaster, a presidential alert, or an Amber alert for a missing child, a message will pop up on users iPhones explaining what's happening.

Such alerts are critical for getting information out to people who aren't immediately tuned into a television or radio, and would have been helpful during disasters such as the floods from Hurricane … Read more

The U.S. government searched for detailed information on calls involving fewer than 300 phone numbers last year, according to an unclassified document circulated Saturday.

The paper said such searches -- part of two controversial U.S. intelligence gathering programs -- led to two men allegedly plotting to attack New York City's subway system, Reuters reported. The data, which the Associated Press reported is destroyed every five years, thwarted terrorist plots in the U.S. and more than 20 other countries.

The document, which has reportedly been circulating within the government by intelligence agencies, is an apparent attempt by … Read more

If your kid is using an iPhone, iPod, or iPad to blast music at unsafe levels, you should consider setting a limit on their maximum volume. I mean, they'll hate you for it -- but they'll also hate having tinnitus in their 20s, right?

In the above video, I'll walk you through the steps of lowering the maximum volume limit on any iOS device, as well as locking that setting in place using a password of your choosing.

If the video doesn't appear above, try going directly to the video on CNET TV or pay a … Read more

Smartphone thieves beware. If you steal an iPhone, the owner can track you. That's what a California man did when robbed of his laptop, iPhone and iPad, according to a recent court case.

Three men accosted Enner Mendoza, a resident of Anaheim, Calif., last year. They pressed a hard object to the back of his neck and demanded his belongings. After taking his messenger bag, which contained his tech valuables as well as his watch and wallet, the thieves got in their gold sedan and drove away, laughing.

But, it seems Mendoza got the last laugh.

He quickly returned … Read more

You wouldn't expect high-end features in a simple phone, and you're not going to get them with the Envoy II. Not only is the low-resolution screen hard to look at from certain angles, you also won't get video recording, a flash, or any expandable memory.

True, like its predecessor, this handset is geared toward people who are mostly interested in making calls. But given that, call quality should have been better than it was.

Frankly, for a prepaid price of $49.99 and a contract price of $69.99, I'd want something more. Fortunately for U.… Read more

AT&T has a new set of options for its prepaid customers.

The Dallas telecommunications company introduced three tiers of prepaid plans, replacing an older set of plans it had deemed too complicated. Starting June 21, prepaid users with a compatible phone also can jump on the faster 4G LTE network.

The most expensive plan is $60 a month, and includes unlimited calling and text messages and 2 gigabytes of data. Additional data is $10 for each 1GB. It's a better deal than the previous $65 plan, which only included 1GB of data.

There's a $40 monthly … Read more

Microsoft inched a bit closer today to bringing the one app to the iPhone that's long been missing: Office.

The software giant on Friday released Office Mobile for iPhone in the iTunes Store. But don't get too excited, Office fans. While it's a free download, Office Mobile for iPhone will only work for subscribers to Microsoft's Office 365 Home Premium and ProPlus service. And it's optimized for the iPhone, not Apple's larger iPads.

"We don't view this as a standalone app," said Chris Schneider, a marketing manager in Microsoft's Office … Read more