Verizon’s simplest global roaming phone is a little too simple for us. While the Motorola Z6c is an attractive slider with a decent set of features, its relatively high price and lack of data services overseas cause us to recommend other solutions for Verizon users who trot the globe.

The Z6c looks and feels a lot like the Motorola MOTORIZR Z6tv, Verizon’s sliding mobile TV phone. Like the Z6tv, this device is a smooth, rectangular slider, with a nice little plastic bar at the bottom of the screen that lets you slide the body up to reveal the keypad. The keys are small, but they sport raised rubber guides to prevent misdialing. The smallish, 2-inch, 320-by-240-pixel screen is bright, and there’s a flashless 2-megapixel camera on the back. Read more…

Want a flashy handset and a low-cost contract? There is a way, says James Daley

Not so many years ago, mobile phones were almost exclusively the preserve of the wealthy or the spivvy. Most people swore that they would never need one, and even as prices came down and their popularity exploded, many were slow converts to the revolution.

Today, even the hardest cynics seem to own one, and many families now shell out hundreds of pounds a month on their bills – a cost that they simply regard as a necessity, not a luxury. Children as young as three and pensioners as old as 90 are all in on the game, and most people would now tell you they simply can’t be without their phone. Read more…

Is a blackout of Blackberry and some other e-mail enabled communication devices in India on the cards for security reasons?

This fear looks real if mobile telephony player Tata Teleservices’ experience is anything to go by.

According to Tata Tele managing director Anil Sardana, the company’s application for Blackberry service was rejected by the government recently. Reason? The ministry of home affairs (MHA), which vets all value-added services of telcos, told Tata Tele that the Blackberry service does not allow for “lawful interception”. Read more…

An illegitimate iPhone-PSP lovechild?

Reports unearthed in the listings of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website have revealed that Sony Ericsson filed for a patent in early 2006 on a mobile gaming phone featuring touch-sensitive haptic technology quite similar to that of Apple’s iPhone. The device is described as multi-role mobile communications device with gaming, phone, digital camera, web, and MP3 player modes. The patent suggests that operation of the device’s multiple functions will be regulated solely to the touchscreen display–including gaming. The attached patent illustration depicts a PSP-style control configuration, complete with thumbstick, D-pad, start, select, and polygonal enter keys. Read more…

Sun Microsystems Inc (JAVA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to introduce software and hardware to create “virtual” Windows and Linux personal computers that can be accessed via desktop machines, laptops and cell phones, a company executive said on Friday.

“We are going to announce (it) soon,” said Steve Wilson, a Sun vice president involved in the project.

Companies will host the PCs on server computers at data centers using software that Sun has developed. They can be accessed via a $200 desktop hardware package from Sun, which includes a monitor, he said. Read more…

Using a cellphone behind the wheel causes some of the same kinds of errors that can occur under the influence of alcohol, say scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Nor are cellphones the only danger in the car. DVD players, onboard navigation systems and iPods can all have the same effect.

The scientists say in a new study that brain imaging shows that listening to anything reduces by 37 per cent the amount of brain activity associated with driving, causing motorists to potentially steer out of their lane. Read more…

AAA TourBook Guide Travel Information, Navigation, Member Roadside Assistance, Now Available for BlackBerry 8830 and 8130 Through Downloadable GPS Application Powered by Networks In Motion

AAA, today announced that AAA Mobile is now available for download on the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition and BlackBerry Pearl 8130 smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM) — the first smartphones compatible with the award-winning navigation and local search application from AAA. Read more…