Lithium Cells Banned from US Mail. Batteries Deny Charge.

The United States Postal Service has banned overseas shipments of lithium cell batteries.

This means batteries coming into the USA as well as batteries going out. And there's no exemption for military addressees, so we hope our brave troops can find room to stow a Super Holiday Mega Pack of Duracells.

Why? Blame it on whiny pilots who can't handle a little in-flight fire, plus the actions of some nanny state UN bureaucrats. Apparently, they find the charming nighttime scene depicted here a little disturbing...

Siri Says: Lumia 900 'Best Cell Phone'

"Whoops...did I mistakenly print that to screen?"

Well, we guess it's official: Nokia's Lumia 900 is 'best cell phone'. Apple's Siri says so.

Despite arranging her (its?) program so that Siri has snappy comebacks to dozens of clever questions, looks like the know-it-alls in Cupertino forgot one. Whoopsie...

No More Tweets from Windows Phone?

'Windows Live' falls, can't get up.

Probably a sad day for some marketing people in Redmond.

Their latest Windows Phone firmware signs tweets 'via Microsoft', dropping the 'via Windows Live' signature they've been using since Windows Phone's introduction, in 2010...you know, way back when Microsoft had a sense of humor about WP.

Paper Touchpad Is Flexible, Disposable

(image: RSC)


MobilePhonesFan will never look at bottled beer the same way, again.

Chemistry World reports that a team of US and French researchers have developed a capacitive touchpad interface made from foil-coated paper.

They say the paper is an inexpensive, industry-standard material. By using a laser cutter to create tiny, bridgeable gaps in the foil, they can produce a simple, flexible touch-interface suitable for even disposable applications.

Disney Magic Turns Water into Touch Screen

What if the water could tell who is touching it?

Disney Research: any electrically conductive material can a be touch-interface.

Watch this video demonstration, in water...

FREE CoPilot GPS for Android, iPhone

Hoping to avoid extermination at the hands of no-cost competitors Google Maps and Nokia Drive, ALK Technologies have decided to follow the old if you can't beat 'em, join 'em rule.

That's why CoPilot GPS navigation is now free for Android and iOS devices. More accurately, CoPilot GPS is being offered as a freemium app, with a list of free features plus some noteworthy 'premium' options available via handy, in-app upgrade...

White HTC One X, Looking Kinda Blue...

MobilePhonesFan's argument against matte-finish plastic.

Ok, this won't take long so listen up...

Remember when you first saw your pristinely new, white HTC One X?

Well, this is your pristinely new, white HTC One X ...on bluejeans dye.

Any questions? A matte finish is a terrible thing to waste.


via: Reddit

Nokia N96 Banned in Britain ...Yes, the N96

Finnish phones giant Nokia has lost their appeal of a 2011 court decision finding them in violation of a patent held by Germany's IPCom. As a result, IPCom has been granted relief in the form of a United Kingdom sales-ban on the infringing Nokia phones.

But it's not so easy as all that. This case is full of ups and downs...

UK Phone Boxes to Offer Free WiFi?

Download speed of 5th-generation WiFi (artist's conception)

Wireless operator Spectrum Interactive has launched a unique marketing scheme for London area retailers. They plan to leverage their network of 1,800 WiFi hotspots -- all of which are discretely located in phone-boxes they purchased from BT -- for use in a location-based advertising service.

Nokia Dev City (Rack City parody)

Catch a falling phone and put it in your pocket...

n.b.: Some links have changed. Be sure to read our updates, at the end.

To help spread the word that their Windows Phone platform desperately needs 3rd-party developers (developers, developers, etc.), Nokia and Microsoft are sponsoring a whirlwind tour they're calling the Ready.Set () {Code} Challenge.

It's a series of fourteen hackathons in 13 North American cities, beginning in Ohio this Saturday (12 May) and finishing with a date in Vancouver (BC), mid-June. Each event will last ~12 hours, with winners announced same night.

To kick things off, the Nokia Dev Forum offers a parody of Tyga's hit song Rack City. With the subtitle 'Nokia Lumia Rap', it turns the subject from Las Vegas (AKA: 'Rack City') to...well, developing for Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile OS...

Ripped: Android Flipboard APK ...No Waiting!

(Be sure to read the latest updates, at the end of this article.)

Here it is, the long-awaited Flipboard for Android APK from Samsung's Galaxy S III.

Released in 2010, Flipboard was originally an iPad exclusive but proved so popular it was later developed for iPhone, too. For nearly two years, then, Flipboard has been available only on Apple hardware. So, those of you who don't own an iOS device may be asking yourselves, 'What the heck is it?'

"Apple, You're Doing It Wrong", Says Jobs' Guru

And then I'll grab Rubin by the nose and pull it through here...

Harvard Business School's Clayton Christensen is best known as the author of The Innovator's Dilemma ...cited by Steve Jobs as a work which 'deeply influenced' him.

In his book, Christensen describes what he considers a fundamental lesson from the long history of commerce: even the most powerful and profitable companies can suffer a rapid and catastrophic fall, losing much of their market share to more nimble, upstart firms that promote radically new ideas, products or technologies.

Twitter Sees Future in Feature Phones

The keys to Jack Dorsey's retirement fund?

Looks like Twitter, the social network is search of a profitable business plan, has decided to go mass-market. And for 'mass' read: massive. Think 'developing world'; places where the population is fairly bursting at the seams, but where cash is scarce and you'd be lucky to find a free power outlet, much less a Starbucks with free WiFi...

Google Buys Gold's Gym...Revenge of the Nerds?

Do Larry and Sergey have interns lift the weights for them?

BloggerJason Stern reports that Google has inked a deal to buy Gold's Gym.

Yes, that wacky crew of Silicon Valley propeller heads will soon own the world's most famous monument to sweat and muscles. But they didn't buy the Venice, California, icon as a going concern. Instead, Stern says they bought Gold's for the real estate...and possibly because they drove past it every day.

Is Comcast Cheating on FCC Net Neutrality Rules?

First, they came for the net neutralists...

Is cable TV giant Comcast competing unfairly, giving their own content bandwidth-priority over 3rd-party services?

According to a recent report, the answer is, 'probably'...