Palm Pre Gets Big Thumbs Up

(NEWSER) - Palm unveiled a new smartphone today, the Pre, which it hopes will compete with the iPhone and restore the company’s place in the market, the New York Times reports. Industry experts say it won't be easy. The Pre has a touchscreen, 8 gigs of storage, and a new operating system designed for fast websurfing. Palm says it will “redefine the center of your access point to the Internet.” More»

Grandfathered in, you say? Well you're now capped at 3GB

(NEWSER) - Amid growing controversy over data "throttling" —in which smartphone users on so-called unlimited data plans risked seeing their speeds slowed dramatically—AT&T is taking a simple step: It's effectively ending unlimited data. The company is setting a cap of three gigabytes' usage, beyond which "unlimited" users will face throttling. The move narrows the difference between AT&T's unlimited plan and its tiered plan, which requires payment for use beyond three gigs, the Wall Street Journal notes. More»

Passes Symbian; iPhone at No. 3

(NEWSER) - Google’s Android is now the world’s most popular smartphone platform, having edged past Nokia’s Symbian in the fourth quarter of 2010. Vendors shipped 33.3 million Android-based phones that quarter, beating Symbian’s 31 million, a report out today finds. That’s good news for Android phone vendors LG and Acer, who saw sales volume boosts of 4,127% and 709% from Q4 of 2009—and for Samsung and HTC, who together shipped nearly 45% of all Android phones in the period, reports CNET . More»

Finnish cell phone maker alleges copyright infringement

(NEWSER) - Nokia, the world's biggest cell phone maker, is suing Apple in US federal court for alleged copyright infringement, saying it has 10 claims on the technology used in the iPhone. The Finnish company said Apple used "fundamental" patented technologies concerning wireless data, speech recognition, security, and encryption. It has reasons to be concerned: This week Apple posted a blazing 47% jump in quarterly profits, while Nokia swung to a loss. More»

Cell phone bill out of control? Here's how to save

(NEWSER) - Your cell phone plan sounded pretty good when you got that nifty handset, but if you aren't vigilant, carriers can hit you with fees and charges that will bleed you dry. PC World lists five ways wireless companies gouge you, and how to avoid them.

1. Texting fees: Go over your limit and you'll be charged shocking fees; send just a few and you're burning money. Make sure you have a plan that reflects your actual use of texts, and kill single word texts like "OK."