GizmoWhiz.com

Droid 4 Launches on Verizon (ContributorNetwork)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:48:18 +0000

ContributorNetwork – The Verizon Droid line of smartphones has been the carrier’s flagship since its launch in 2010. With “Droid Does” commercials, which emphasized the things an Android-powered smartphone could do that the iPhone couldn’t, it turned the gadget made by Motorola into one of Apple’s first real competitors.

[Source] ContributorNetwork

Apple’s iOS surpasses Mac OS X in web traffic (Appolicious)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:48:18 +0000

Appolicious – Apple’s mobile devices apparently have been taking a bite out of the larger PC market, but they’re plus eating up some of Apple’s own computer market share, a new web traffic study suggests.

[Source] Appolicious

Toymakers gear up for year of the “AppCessory” (Reuters)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:48:18 +0000

Reuters – Having found this holiday season that they cannot beat iPad, iPhone and iPod, toymakers have decided to join them, lining up a host of playthings that come to life when hooked up to the devices, gadgets that kids love to play with.

[Source] Reuters

When Facebook Friends Become Real Life Enemies (ContributorNetwork)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:48:17 +0000

ContributorNetwork – COMMENTARY | Social networkers used to nag about who they friended on Facebook; after today’s news of an unfriending that escalated into murder, concern about unfriending is taking center stage. [Source] ContributorNetwork

The Hidden Tax on Every Smartphone and Tablet You Buy (ContributorNetwork)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:48:16 +0000

ContributorNetwork – COMMENTARY | You weren’t charged it when they rang your smartphone up at the register, and your receipt won’t have any mention of it. But whether you bought an Android smartphone in the last year or so, odds are you paid Microsoft $5 for the privilege of using Android, according to Citi analyst Walter Pritchard as quoted in Business Insider. Meanwhile, Google stands to gather about a billion dollars a year from Apple on detail of humans who buy the iPhone, according to John Paczkowski of AllThingsD.

[Source] ContributorNetwork

Google working to patch Wallet defense holes (Appolicious)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:46:33 +0000

Appolicious – One of the big pushes Google is making for the future of its Android mobile platform is in Google Wallet, the near-field communication software that lets users assemble purchases in brick-and-mortar stores using only info stored and broadcast by short range by their smartphones.

[Source] Appolicious

BlackBerry out at U.S. climate agency, iPhone in (Reuters)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:46:32 +0000

Reuters – Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphone has struggled to win by U.S. consumers but the Canadian company has towering been able to rely on the loyalty of corporate and government clients who depend on its secure e mail. No more. [Source] Reuters

Facebook Death — Be Careful Who You Defriend (ContributorNetwork)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:46:32 +0000

ContributorNetwork – COMMENTARY | As a Facebook user, I have been known to “defriend” public. Who hasn’t? We all might want to be careful about who we defriend in the future, though. According to Reuters, this seemingly harmless act of deciding who you no longer want to share your photos and status updates with could lead to violence.

[Source] ContributorNetwork

Google Wallet hacked twice: Here’s how to keep your phone (and money) safe (Digital Trends)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:46:30 +0000

Digital Trends – Anything that only requires a physical tap to take money away from you always sounds ripe for exploitation. It certain may be convenient, but with the Google Walletâs PIN system cracked twice in the past two days, compromised by both rooted and unrooted Android phones, safety is going to have to come before convenience.

[Source] Digital Trends

AG: Pa. man’s Facebook ‘surfer’ page lured teens (AP)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:44:32 +0000

AP – A married father used phony Facebook profiles to pose as two different Florida surfers to solicit sexually graphic messages and photos from seven teenage girls in western Pennsylvania, and two of the girls eventually agreed to meet for sex with the surfers’ middle-aged “friend” — yet another fake persona he used, the state attorney general said Friday.

[Source] AP