Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category
Verizon gets top marks in call quality
Another day, another cell phone study from J.D. Power and Associates. This time, it’s not customer service–T-Mobile, Alltel, and Verizon Wireless tied for that honor earlier this month–but a survey of the all-important call quality.
Just like last year, Verizon was the overall winner this time around. The carrier ranked highest in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest regions. According to the study, Verizon had particular success with limiting dropped calls, failed initial connections, and late or failed text and voice messages.
In the Western region, Verizon tied with Alltel and T-Mobile (in its press release, Verizon identified T-Mobile only as “one other carrier”–meow). T-Mobile performed well in reducing the number of problems with echoes and distortion, and Alltel performed well in limiting the number of late or failed messages.
U.S. Cellular rated highest in the North Central region. It had fewer customer-reported problems with initial connections, static or interference, and late or failed voice message notifications.
AT&T rated near the bottom in all regions but the Mid-Atlantic and North Central. Sprint rated in the middle or at the bottom in all regions. See J.D. Power’s chart for the full rankings.
So what do you think? Does Verizon deserve its award?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10319592-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Android apps show big potential for growth
Android, iPhone and iPod Touch users are all highly engaged with applications and frequently download them to their devices, according to a new survey from AdMob.
However, Android has a much smaller base of devices and thus has more upside ahead.
AdMob, a company that tracks mobile Web and application usage, found that Android and iPhone users download nine to 10 apps a month and iPod Touch users download 18 a month. More than half of the Android and iPhone users spend more than 30 minutes a day using apps, according to the survey results released Thursday (PDF).
That’s some serious engagement and a lot of runway for Android. Why? Android-powered devices–T-Mobile’s MyTouch is the headliner–are hard to come by. However, that’s changing as Motorola will be taking Android handsets to large carriers like Verizon Wireless in the fourth quarter.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10319403-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Once again: Do cell phones cause brain tumors?
A collaborative of international electromagnetic radiation (EMR) watchdogs, including Powerwatch and the EMR Policy Institute, sent a paper to government leaders and media Tuesday detailing several design flaws in a major but oft-delayed telecom-funded Interphone study.
Now consumers get to wonder yet again whether the message behind the paper, “Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone,” is legitimate or the result of overzealous conspiracy theorists.
The paper’s main conclusions are: There is a “significant” risk of brain tumors from cell phone use; EMR exposure limits that have been used by governments and supported by industry are based on the false premise that EMR has no biological effects except for heating; and design flaws of the Interphone study including selection bias, insufficient latency time to expect a tumor diagnosis, unrealistic definition of what makes a “regular” cell phone user, exclusion of children and young adults from the study, exclusion of many types of brain tumors, and exclusion of people who had died or were too ill to be interviewed as the result of brain tumors.
Read the full report here (PDF), as well as CNET’s cell phone radiation level chart (a few Motorola models top the list, with several Samsungs coming in lowest).
Source :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27083_3-10318075-247.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Google patches severe Chrome vulnerabilities
Google has fixed two high-severity vulnerabilities in the stable version of its Chrome browser that could have let an attacker remotely take over a person’s computer.
With one attack on Google’s V8 JavaScript engine, malicious JavaScript on a Web site could let an attacker gain access to sensitive data or run arbitrary code on the computer, Google said in a blog post Tuesday. With the other, a page with XML-encoded information could cause a browser tab crash that could let an attacker run arbitrary code within a Chrome protected area called the sandbox.
Chrome 2.0.172.43 (click to download for Windows) fixes the issues and another medium-severity issue. Once Chrome is installed, it retrieves updates automatically and applies them when people restart the browser.
Google won’t release details of the vulnerabilities until “a majority of users are up to date with the fix,” Engineering Program Manager Jonathan Conradt said in the blog post.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10317320-264.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Go social with these WordPress plug-ins
With the help of plug-ins, you can extend the functionality of your WordPress blog far beyond what’s available to you when you add it to your server.
One of the best ways to get the most out of your blogs is through social plug-ins. These simple plug-ins can be added to your blog to help you connect socially with both your readers and their friends. They offer a fine way to build traffic to your site.
Full Story :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10316017-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Source :
CNETNews Go social with these WordPress plug-ins http://bit.ly/11o187