It took him 500 hours, but 17-year-old George Hotz figured out how to unlock his iPhone from the AT&T networking and use it on T-Mobile. "He posted his 10-step hack on his blog Thursday, along with a video illustrating it on YouTube; by early Friday afternoon, his video had been viewed by some 130,000 people," TechNewsWorld reports. Fortunately for Apple and AT&T most people won't "try this at … [Read more...] about Teen’s hack unlocks iPhone
mobile
Oz parents don’t want phone ban
In spite of some incidents of phone-based bullying, parents in New South Wales, Australia, don't want schools to ban cellphones, Australian IT reports. In a six-month period to April this year, NSW government schools filed more than 25 reports to police about serious incidents [of violence] filmed by [students using] video-equipped phones." Still, the education minister there said that "such cases … [Read more...] about Oz parents don’t want phone ban
Cellphone socializing takes off
Mobile social networking is taking off. "Mobile user-generated content will generate revenues of over $5.7 billion in 2012, compared to $572 million this year. And of that 2012 total, 50% will be accounted for by social networking services," TechDigest.tv reports, citing Juniper Research numbers. And mobile research firm M:Metrics just released a "snapshot" of worldwide mobile social-networking: … [Read more...] about Cellphone socializing takes off
Friends on phones
Switching cellphone carriers can really be hard on teens' relationships these days. "What was set up as a purely business strategy [encouraging customers to talk to people in the same network] is having an unintentional social effect" for better or worse, the New York Times reports. "It is dividing the people who share informal bonds and bringing together those who have formal networks of … [Read more...] about Friends on phones
Canadians’ digital connections
They're "fast becoming a culture of technological chatterboxes," the Toronto Star reports. A recent national survey of nearly 1,100 Canadians by Angus Reid Strategies found that only 18% of people in Canada do not own a cellphone but, at the other end of the spectrum, 18% couldn't live without their mobile phone. As for email, 64% check it at least daily, and 31% "can't resist the temptation" to … [Read more...] about Canadians’ digital connections