consumer electronics - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Google sends out Android 2.2 to Nexus One phones

  Nexus One owners have begun to receive version 2.2 of the Android software, codenamed Froyo, as an over-the-air update to their phones, Google said in a blog post on Monday.

• Another Apple iPhone 4 Flaw: A Glitchy Proximity Sensor

  It happened to me on my first phone call with the new <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/545030/review/apple_32gb_iphone_4.html">Apple iPhone 4</a>: The display screen flashed on during the call, and I managed to inadvertently put the call onto speaker. Twice.

• Apple sells 1.7M iPhone 4s amid short supplies

  Apple today announced that it and its carrier partners had sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the first three days of the new smartphone's availability.

• MIT app uses mobile phone to determine eyeglass prescription

  MIT Media Lab researchers have developed a mobile-phone application that, coupled with a small plastic device held over the screen, can determine users' eyeglass prescriptions. Called NETRA or near-eye tool for refractive assessment, the system asks users to align lines on the phone's screen while looking through a small plastic cube.

• You Are Here: Scary New Location Privacy Risks

  Location-based services on a mobile phone are terrifically helpful when you need to find a nearby business or directions to the freeway.

• US trade panel to investigate S3 complaint against Apple

  The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has launched a formal investigation into four patent complaints filed against Apple by computer graphics hardware maker S3 Graphics, which asked the agency to block Apple from importing the iPhone, iPad and other products into the U.S.

• NFC sees light at end of the tunnel with transit projects

  Short range communication using NFC (Near Field Communication) circuitry embedded in mobile phones has had a difficult journey to market, but it may soon see light at the end of the tunnel with increasing adoption for city transit projects, according to analysts.

• Motorola Droid X: The Best of the Droids

  The follow-up to Motorola's wildly popular Droid on Verizon, the Droid X ($US200 with a two-year service contract from Verizon; available July 15) is one of the hottest phones to debut this summer. Its specs outshine those on the other Droid phones available on the network, but it falters a bit when it comes to performance. Nonetheless, the Droid X is one of the top phones to debut this summer, on a par with both the HTC EVO 4G and the iPhone 4.

• iFixit strips iPhone 4 down to bare metal

  The iFixit.com team has put the screwdrivers to Apple's new iPhone 4 and taken it apart. As usual, they haven't uncovered anything earth-shakingly new in the smartphone but the exercise in gadget voyeurism is, as always, pretty fascinating.

• Motorola Droid X released in US, Android 2.2 open sourced

  Verizon on Tuesday introduced the newest Droid and the second from Motorola, but some Android fans may be disappointed to learn that it won't ship with the latest operating system or the newest Flash Player.

• Skype CEO: SkypeKit aimed at onslaught of new gadgets

  Skype launched a new software developer kit on Wednesday to help electronics makers embed Skype into any new device they're working on.

• Chip giants establish Linux group for phones, TVs

  A group of chip makers including IBM, Samsung Electronics and Texas Instruments on Thursday unveiled Linaro, a new software-engineering foundation dedicated to improving Linux distributions, including Android, MeeGo and Ubuntu, used in consumer devices.