Dell: Yes, Our Android Smartphone is Coming Stateside
Rumors have been swirling about a Dell smartphone for what feels like an eternity. Sure, the Round Rock crew managed to launch a smartie over in China at the end of the summer, but until last week, a US-bound device was still more vaporware than fact…until now.
Acer introduces new ‘Liquid’ Android + Snapdragon smartphone
Starting all the way back in December of 2008, Acer let it be known that it was working on a self-branded smartphone. Then, this past June, Acer up and joined the Open Handset Alliance and said that it would release its first Android device by Q4 of 2009. Well what do you know. Q4 is here and Acer has actually put its money where its mouth was with the announcement of its first Android-based, Snapdragon-powered smartphone, Liquid.
U.S. Senate: It’s cool to jam cell phones in prisons
Oh, U.S. Senate. Just when we thought you had turned your collective attention to the plethora of incredibly important issues to tackle (read: healthcare, 2 wars, global warming, education, etc), you go and pass the Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009.
The Act, or SPCA09 as we like to call it around here, provides state governors and/or the Federal Bureau of Investigation the power to have cellular signals blocked (or jammed, as the kids like to say) inside prisons. Why do they need this authority? Well, apparently smuggled cell phones have become quite an issue in our lovely prison system. This has in turn created increased security threats, i.e. allowing inmates to conduct crimes from the comfort of their cell (zing!).
More specifically, SPCA09 allows prisons to petition the FCC to use jamming devices so long as they don’t cause interference with legitimate communications. Luckily for the rest of us, the Act also requires the FCC to be fairly specific about where and how signals can be blocked, so law enforcement officials won’t, in theory, be able to overly abuse this new “power.” Nothing is set in stone yet, well, at least until the bill is ratified by the House and signed by the Pres.
[via Phone Scoop and WSJ]
Toshiba makes those yet-to-be-commercialized mini fuel cells smaller
Fuel cells, those electrochemical conversion devices, which are supposed to make the lives of gadget freaks easier, are still a hot topic in the alternative energy sector even though the technology hasn’t penetrated the mass market yet. Toshiba, for example, has been experimenting with fuel cells for quite some time now. And the company has now announced the development of a fuel-cell based cell phone that’s just 22mm thick.
The main achievement here is that this prototype is about 50% thinner than Toshiba’s previous one (which you see in the picture), marking another step towards commercialization in the future. The phone runs on methanol and doesn’t need to be charged.
This new prototype features a fuel cell that can be replaced with conventional lithium ion rechargeable batteries when needed (the earlier model ran on a non-detachable fuel cell). It can be filled with 3.5ml of methanol, which is enough for 320 hours of standby.
Toshiba has worked together with KDDI, Japan’s second biggest mobile phone carrier, in the development of the prototype. KDDI has already said it’s not yet ready to really sell fuel-cell-powered cell phone to end consumers, but this could change very soon. The companies already said they intend to push down the prototype phone’s thickness to 20mm or less, about the same as cell phones that are on the market right now.
Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]
Palm defies USB authorities, restores iTunes compatibility for Pre
Oh dear – it’s on now.
Either Palm’s making a stand — or they’ve stepped in it big time.
