Filed under: Cell Phones, Green TechYesterday, the New York Times Magazine ran a fairly comprehensive piece on the life cycle and environmental impact of mobile phones. The story detailed how many phones are reused, how many others are broken down and "mined" for useful metals such as silver and gold, and how still others - most others, in fact - end up in heaps of discarded electronics, left to leach often dangerous ingredients into the earth, water supply, kids' blood streams, etc.Some businesses and watchdog groups are doing their darnedest to offset this problem, or at least delay the inevitable discarding of the dead phone, but the report overall is a sobering one.The main point raised: Despite our love affair and attachment to our mobile phones, we still use, discard and then buy new ones at an alarming rate, with little regard for the environmental impact. Such eco-carelessness isn't limited to mobile phones and e-waste is not a new issue to the consumer electronics industry. But while mobile phones aresmall compared to old CRT TVs and computer monitors, they are in use everywhere. In some African nations, where landlines are difficult to build and maintain, mobile phones are the only way for someone to have reliable communications.As the reporter notes, "There is no heaven for cellphones."From The New York Times. Related Links:Apple Getting GreenerEarth Day's Tech LosersHow to Recycle Dead Gadgets Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, TVKids do the darnedest things sometimes. Take the 14-year-old from Lodz, Poland, who hacked a television remote control to manipulate his city's tram system, thereby derailing four trams, and injuring 12 people. Little rapscallion, what can you do?Apparently charge him with endangering public safety and drag him before a juvenile court. Or at least that's what the court in Lodz did in the case of its teenage resident, who managed figure out how to interfere with the infrared pulses that control the tram system's switches. In effect, the boy modified a television remote and turned the city's public transportation system in to his own personal Lionel set -- is that brilliant, or just plain wrong?From Boing BoingRelated Links:Teens Caught on Video Throwing Hot Sauce at Fast Food WorkerHackers Turn Tables on 'Dateline' Operative Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, TVThe digital television revolution is upon us. If you're still using good ol' fashioned rabbit ears to get reception, you should probably start thinking about how you're going prepare for the end of analog terrestrial broadcasts on Feb 19, 2009.The government is handing out coupons to save you $40 on the price of the digital converter box you'll need if you want to keep your old TV, but consumer advocacy blog the Consumerist has identified five major problems with the coupon program.You cannot combine the coupons toward the purchase of a single box (each will cost between $50 and $70 approximately).The coupons expire 90 days from their mailing to you, and expired coupons will not be replaced.There are only 22.5 million coupons unless Congress authorizes 11.25 million more.Only a few boxes have been approved by the FCC (who have to approve every radio based device, including televisions and cell phones, for sale in America) so far, so you don't have much of a choice.Many if not most retailers do not have the boxes in stock yet.So check with your local retailer before rushing out to register for a coupon, it may expire before you can even get your hands on a converter box.From ConsumeristRelated Links:Report Says Government Has No Plan for Digital TV Switch-OverHow to Watch TV Online for FreeSync TV Offers Pay-Per-Channel Subscriptions Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesWhen a child loses a parent's cell phone, he or she shouldn't be surprised that said parent might be upset. It certainly deserves punishment -- a night without television or video games, perhaps. Maybe even a firm scolding if cell phone loss has happened before. However, when Tiffany Fraser, 26, put her 7-year-old son in a hot oven as punishment for losing her wireless device, she clearly went way too far. The incident happened in July, but is just now making headlines because a day care center found the burns on the child. In October, after another incident at the day care center, the child took off and didn't want to return home. Police then uncovered the sad chain of events and have taken Fraser downtown. We don't blame the kid for taking off, and we wouldn't be surprised if he never wants to see another cell phone as long as he lives.From Poughkeepsie JournalRelated Links:Top Tech Toys for TotsUntraceable Cell Phone Terrorizes 911 CenterToddler Dials 911 from Cell Phone 287 Times Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesWe've covered a number of stories about crazy cell phone bills. Usually they're due to misunderstandings about what's included in "unlimited" data plans or frequent travelers making a few too many calls while overseas. This one, though, had nothing to do with the user. At fault was the cell phone, which sent 4,700 text messages in one night.A woman in China set down her supposedly high-end cell phone on December 31 and went to sleep. She signed off for the night, but her phone didn't, and went haywire by sending out the nearly five thousand messages overnight. It wasn't until the next morning that the phone's owner discovered the problem. Thankfully, though, the bill here wasn't as bad as many of the others we've reported on. The woman was out only about $42 for the experience, but she did have to pay for a new phone as hers was out of warranty.From textually.orgRelated Links: Man Gets Slapped With $85,000 Cell Phone Bill Man Gets $4,190.76 iPhone Bill Girl Videotapes 300 Page iPhone Bill  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Editor's Picks, iPod, Switched Video, Home Audio, Home Video, Cellphone, CES 2008Robots are everywhere. Especially at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show last week. But here's the good news -- you'll be able to buy many of the robots you'll see talking, posing, and rolling around in the above exclusive Switched video. Check it out. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersWarning -- a new virus is making its way around the Internet. The virus, dubbed Mebroot, lodges it self in the Master Boot Record (MBR), a part of the hard drive responsible for loading the operating system, where it is out of the reach of most anti-virus software. The virus itself doesn't actually harm a PC, but it does load other software on the computer, including key-loggers that are triggered when a user visits any of 900 financial institutions' Web sites. The virus then captures the user's log-on information and sends it back to the virus writers, who specialize in stealing confidential information.The virus is classified as a root kit, meaning it hijacks the administrator functions on the computer and evades detection by normal scanning methods, in this case by hiding in the MBR. Few anti-virus programs can detect the virus, and none can remove it. Because of its location in the MBR, the virus cannot be removed once the computer has been booted.That said, an independent company GMER has developed software that can scan for and remove the rootkit.From The BBCRelated Links:iPhone Gets its First VirusMalicious Websites Trick Google, Infect ComputersE-Mail Security Hole Found in Apple's OS X Leopard Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: ComputersIf you're a Facebook user, chances are you've been inundated with an endless string of application-install requests from friends. Every day there's some new app launched on Facebook, another enhancement for your wall, some new viral zombie or vampire thing, or another way to show your friends what book/music/video game you're into at the moment. They're the modern equivalent of the chain letter.If you're the type who installs every Facebook app that comes your way, then you're probably running out of room on your profile page . Good news for you, then: Facebook has announced it'll soon be adding "extended" profiles, which should give users a little more online real-estate.The extended profile will let you participate in all the games and spam and what not with your friends that you like, but will relegate those second-tier apps to another profile that friends will have to make an extra click to see. It sounds like a good modification for users, but the question is whether the developers of those applications will dig this change. Application developers can make a little money, or at least gain some prestige, if their apps take off, but perhaps not so much now that the fruits of their labor will end up on a secondary page.Regardless, this is nothing but a good thing for the users from a site that's recently taken some hits for being perhaps a little too advertiser-friendly ...From ReadWriteWebRelated Links: Facebook Ads Raise Privacy Concerns New Facebook App Is Actually Spyware In Disguise Females Flock to Facebook to Post Pictures of Their Drunken Antics  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesWell, apparently you can put a price on freedom. The same telephone companies that had no problem providing the government with unfettered access to voice and data passing over its networks in a series of questionably legal wiretaps will apparently tell the FBI no when it doesn't pay its bill on time.An international wiretap was shut off by an unnamed company due to a delinquent bill, and may have resulted in the loss of evidence. This is not the first time the FBI has suffered interruptions in its surveillance due to late payments. Two things make this story incredibly disturbing. The first is that the FBI, our nation's premier law enforcement organization, is so disorganized that it can't pay it sphone bills on time. And the second is that it took a late phone bill, not something like, say, the Constitution, for a phone company to finally deny the government a wiretap.From TextuallyRelated Links:FBI Gets Caught Digging Too DeepGetting Off of Government Watch ListsThe FBI's Spyware: Is it Watching You? Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesThe Axe deodorant "get you laid" advertising campaign has been one of the most successful in recent memory. Now, the company behind it, Unilever, is launching a parallel digital campaign.A host of cell phone applications have been developed to aid the Axe target market (read: 18-24 year-old dudes) in their quest to get some action.Most absurd is the "Fit Girl Finder" -- a soundboard app (a simple application that plays back digital sound samples) that can be used, for example, to play the sound of a car being unlocked while the user is standing next to a shiny new Benz. Once the party comes back to your place, another app converts a phone into a mobile "Spin the Bottle" device, and another contains a soundboard that lets guys turn their cell phones into harmonicas or "body-piercing scanners" (whatever that means). For the desperate, insincere booty-chasers, the apps can be downloaded at www.lynxeffect.com. From TextuallyRelated links:Spray-On Condoms Ready for ProductionTop 11 Cell Phones for Ladies Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, Cameras, MySpace, YouTube, CES 2008Hot on the heels of the announcement that the Eye-Fi Wi-Fi enabled SD memory card won the Yahoo! Last Gadget Standing Award at CES comes the joint announcement that T-Mobile and Panasonic will release a Wi-Fi enabled digital camera that can directly upload to Google's Picasa Web Albums. The new wireless Panasonic LUMIX will allow you to wirelessly transmit digital photos from the camera to your personal computer as well as directly to a file sharing website by utilizing any open Wi-Fi hotspot or T-Mobile hotspot (at 8,500 locations, or free for the first 12 months) to upload your photos directly to your web album. This is a similar setup to what Kodak has had with its EasyShare cameras for a few years. By utilizing Google open APIs(Application Programming Interfaces) the LUMIX will be able to upload to specific Picasa Web galleries depending on user settings and can then send the gallery URL to friends immediately via cellular text messaging or e-mail. With a little bit of time and perhaps some hacker help we'll see the same sort of ease-of-use for uploading to Flickr, Facebook, and other photo and social networking sites in the coming months.From CNNRelated Links:Wi-Fi Memory Card Makes any Camera WirelessJust Tell Me What To Get: Digital Camera Under $300Man Charged for Using Cafe's Free Wi-Fi Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell Phones, Editor's Picks, Top Lists, Slideshows, CES 2008  In the beginning, Bluetooth headsets were a bit off-putting. You stuck one in your ear, called a friend on your mobile phone, and watched as people on the street looked on as you had a conversation -- seemingly with yourself. But things have changed drastically since then. These small, wireless gadgets are now ubiquitous, gracing the earlobes of everyone from the guy on the next treadmill to your grandma in her car. So what are the coolest, most innovative we saw at CES that'll find their way to store shelves this year? Take a look at our five favorites:BlueAnt Wireless V1: Forget playing with buttons, checking on blinking lights or messing with your cell phone when you want to make a call. The BlueAnt V1 is the first completely voice controlled Bluetooth headset and it's superneat. With just one button to activate it -- all you do is talk and it will talk right back. Want to call the operator? Just speak and your wish is its command. Speed dial has never been so easy, either. Using advanced Voice Recognition and Voice Synthesis technology, the V1 also has dual microphones and proprietary Voice Isolation Technology, which allows the headset to hear you clearly and provides amazing noise reduction, echo cancellation and even protection from wind. Small and lightweight, the V1 gets up to six hours of talk time or 200 hours of standby with one battery charge. And all this for just $119. (Image by way of MobileWhack.com) Next >>  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Cell PhonesThe early results are in. No, not for the next presidential primary. It's Thumplay's list of the top mobile phone ringtone downloads thus far for 2008. At $2.99 a pop is it worth it to you? Give them a listen and decide for yourself.DJ Khaled ft. T Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross and PliesI'm So HoodFergieClumsyPlayaz Circle ft. Lil' WayneDuffle Bag BoyShop BoyzParty Like A Rock Star (Totally Dude)The DreamShawty Is Da...(10)J. HolidayBedRihannaHate That I Love You (Rihanna Chorus)Timbaland ft. OneRepublicApologizeRihannaShut Up And DriveSoulja Boy Tell 'EmSoulja Girl Related Links:Ringtones To Help Keep Your New Year's Resolutions Five Annoying Things About iTunes' New Ringtone Service Force Your Ringtones on Friends  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

  Filed under: Audio/Video, TV, CES 2008The market for HDTVs is flooded with competing technologies and not to mention perplexing acronyms and abbreviations -- DLP, LCD, OLED, Plasma, SED. Now you can add Laser TV to your list of display technologies to know. Mitsubishi unveiled a 65-inch laser television at an event during this week's CES -- and people at this week's CES show were buzzing about the incredible color and contrast.Mitsubishi isn't revealing details about exactly how it works, but we do know it is based on a rear projection system, meaning that this is never going to be as thin as those sexy OLEDs on display. And who knows what the future holds for big and bulky projection TVs, whose stars are falling almost as quickly as those of HD-DVD. But the laser TV does have a leg up in the image quality department. Apparently, colors were so intense and contrast so dramatic that Greg Adler at PC World described it as "artificial" looking.Pricing isn't available, but Mitsubishi plans to have the displays on the market by fall of 2008.From EngadgetRelated links:Hands-On With Philips' New Dream HD LCD TV Samsung's 31-Inch OLED-TV Makes Jaws Drop Video: Alienware's New Curved, Wrap-Around Display  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments