smartphones - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• A brief history of Palm

  With iPhones and BlackBerrys everywhere, and Google Android devices on the rise, it's easy to forget that Palm was the company that made it all happen.

• Who should own your smartphones?

  It's time for IT to face facts: The great corporate barrier against employees using personal smartphones has been breached.

• The BlackBerry-to-iPhone Switch: Converts Speak

  Chances are, you've read a number of iPhone/BlackBerry comparisons over the past couple of years--I even penned a few of them myself.

• Five Trends Influencing the CIO Smartphone Agenda

  I've spent most of 2009 meeting with CIOs and their IT organizations to understand their concerns and challenges about managing and securing mobile phones. In my conversations with people across the country and across industries, it became clear that smartphones are now finally on the CIO agenda and, in fact, one of the most difficult topics.

• Is 2010 the year of location-based services?

  Dr Giles Nelson, director of strategy at Progress Software, says 2010 is the year location-based services finally become mainstream.

• Smartphones: Office Shackles or Tool for Work-Life Balance

  Any and all executives or managers looking to get more productivity from their information workers--and, really, what company isn't shamelessly espousing a "more with less" philosophy these days?--might want to pay attention to the following strategy: Set your workers free from the office.

• Mobile's future: Outrageous but possible predictions

  'Tis the season of mobile predictions. As this year comes to an end and a new decade begins, Mobclix, which operates a mobile ad exchange network, has gazed into its crystal ball and foreseen 10 mobile trends-many of which are, in fact, pretty outrageous.

• Google phone: Why I could care less...for now

  So. It seems the oft-rumored and--until recently--never-pictured, "Google Phone" exists.

• Digital Gear: Android tablets charge ahead

  As users eagerly await tablets from companies like Apple and Microsoft, Fusion Garage jumped ahead with the demonstration of JooJoo, a handheld Internet and entertainment gadget with a 12.1-inch touch screen. Tablets are a new category of handheld devices with large screens for users to surf the Web and watch videos. JooJoo is due for release in a few months but could be held if a lawsuit is filed by TechCrunch, which originally partnered with Fusion Garage to develop the device under the name Crunchpad.

• What's Stopping Mobile Apps From Taking Next Step?

  With the arrival of the Motorola Droid and the Apple App Store milestone of surpassing 100,000 apps, the buzz around mobile apps has never been louder. All of this, mind you, in a little more than a year since the App Store launch.

• RIM BlackBerry Storm2: Launch week round-up

  After months of device-leaks, "pre-reviews" and all-around speculation, BlackBerry-maker RIM last week decided to finally take the wraps off its worst-kept secret of the year, the BlackBerry Storm2 9520/9550. Shortly thereafter, U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless announced that it would start selling the new device this week.

• MS Pushes for Business Customers to Use 'Windows Phone'

  Microsoft on Wednesday announced the availability of a number of handsets running its brand new mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5. While most of the new features and enhancements are aimed at consumers, the company says it isn't overlooking the enterprise.

• Windows Mobile 6.5: New features worth tapping into

  The release of Windows Mobile 6.5 is not the complete overhaul that users have been demanding. For that the smartphone-using public will have to wait for Windows Mobile 7, scheduled to release in the last quarter of 2010.

• Five Things That Drive iPhone Users Crazy

  While the Apple iPhone is known for its great simplicity, some apps drive users absolutely crazy. The problems stem largely from the poorly designed ways that certain apps manipulate the iPhone's touch features, as well as confusing button placement.

• Paperless boarding passes for smartphones hit SFO

  San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is the Bay Area's first airport to employ a secure barcode-scanning system for paperless boarding passes so travelers with Internet-connected smartphones, like BlackBerrys and iPhones, can check-in using their handhelds. The system, which is currently being used on an experimental-basis, has the potential to save airlines money on printing costs and reduce paper-waste, as well as relieve potential stresses to travelers of misplacing boarding passes.