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MetroPCS on Friday launched what's claimed to be the first smartphone in the U.S. offering mobile digital TV access The Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G is available at US$460 at MetroPCS stores and at the company's website....

A company's reputation is based on the customer's experience. Fixing or preventing problems is half of the service equation; communicating with customers is the other half. Customer service is as important, if not more important than the immediate resolution of the problem....

We watch citizens overthrow governments and assume the same thing couldn't happen here. But we have had one big civil war in the U.S., and several states -- including California, where I live --have been talking about getting out of the U.S. for decades. What appears to keep us together isn'tthe political structure; I think you could argue the USSR's was actually stronger, and it fell. It is theappearance that the government is representative. What if a majority, or even a massive minority,believed it wasn't -- much like what happened in the Civil War?...

Some folks' answer to wallet security is chaining it to their belts. Google's is to chain it to the cloud The Search Giant added some security features to its Google Wallet product last week intended to make it safer for consumers to use. For example, credit card information no longer resides in the Google Wallet mobile app. Its new home is in the ...

It's been a busy summer for Microsoft and chief executive Steve Ballmer In recent weeks, the software giant released customer previews and ship dates for the newestversions of its flagship Windows and Office products; purchased Yammer, a cloud-basedenterprise social networking company; hosted its annual Worldwide Partners Conference (WPC)in Toronto...

On Friday Microsoft abruptly rebranded its Windows 8 interface, which has been known as "Metro" since it was introduced for Windows Phone 7. Instead of the simple "Metro," the tile-based interface will now -- and according to online reports, forever -- be known as "Windows 8 style UI." At the root of this change is a potential trademark dispute wi...

It is hard to remember that only a few months ago, the market was greedily speculating about how high Facebook's stock might go. Fast-forward to one IPO debacle, several negative research reports, the departure of several top executives, and a lukewarm earnings report, and the question is now fearfully being asked in reverse. How low can Facebook go?...

AT&T announced plans to buy NextWave Wireless in a US$600 million deal aimed at boosting its spectrum holdings as the company attempts to meet skyrocketing demand from smartphone and other mobile device users If the agreement is approved, AT&T will acquire NextWave's Wireless Communication Services (WCS) and Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) bands, w...

AT&T announced plans to buy NextWave Wireless in a US$600 million deal aimed at boosting its spectrum holdings as the company attempts to meet skyrocketing demand from smartphone and other mobile device users If the agreement is approved, AT&T will acquire NextWave's Wireless Communication Services (WCS) and Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) bands, w...

Facebook, which has seen its share prices fall since it went public in May, has disclosed that its user base may contain as many as 83 million illegitimate accounts Facebook made the disclosures in its 10-Q form, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 31....

When Google withdrew from China, it didn't send out a press release or hold a press conference. Instead, it announced the news on its corporate blog. This move proved to be a "milestone event for corporate blogging," said Lou Hoffman, CEO of The Hoffman Agency "Even though the Google corporate blog mainly covers Google-centric issues, they offer fr...

If you mention a certain brand of lower-priced, assemble-it-yourself furniture ofScandinavian heritage, you stand a pretty good chance of getting a response thatdwells at some length on how hard it is to put it together. I've never felt that way-- in reality, I actually like putting stuff together. Thus, I am often summoned byfriends when they're flummoxed by an item of furniture that boasts an umlaut in itsname...

Instapaper, an app from Mobelux, is available for US$2.99 at Google Play.Instapaper is finally available on the Android platform. If you're unfamiliar with theiPhone-originating app, it's an offline reader with a difference....

The most common complaint that people have about their computers is slow performance -- screens that seem to loadmore slowly, emails that seem to "hang" before opening. Too many users are frustrated by seeing their expensivemachines become bogged down by factors that are hard to identify, making the machines less efficient long beforethey've grown obsolete...

Twitter has launched the Twitter Political Index, also called "Twindex," which serves up what its users feel about the candidates in the upcoming United States Presidential election The index was created together with Topsy, as well as pollsters the Mellman Group and North Star Opinion Research....

The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it wasconsidering new rules to protect children's privacy online. Regulatorscalled for tougher privacy protections to make it harder foradvertisers and social networks to collect information about childrenwithout permission from the parents The newly proposed rules would require third-party part...

The mobile payment system Google Wallet now works with all major credit cards and will begin transitioning to a cloud-based model The service allows users to tap their smartphones to pay at a retail checkout location, rather than having to swipe a credit card or shell out cash. It uses near-field communication (NFC) technology that allows a user's ...

Samsung ranked as the top smartphone in the U.S. for the three-month average period ending in June, claiming 25.6 percent of mobile subscribers, according to the comScore MobiLens service. LG followed, with its 18.8 percent share Apple ranked third in the OEM market, claiming 15.4 percent of mobile subscribers. Next came Motorola with 11.7 percent...

As Apple and Samsung continue to fight out their patent dispute in court, Samsung has opted to publicize information that the judge refused to allow jurors to see, according to an AllThingsD report The high-profile trial started Monday in San Jose, Calif., and will determine whether Samsung copied Apple's designs for its smartphone and tablet devic...

Last week, Google started selling a very high-speed Internet and television service in Kansas City. This service stands a good chance of blowing customers' minds and changing expectations. The question is, will Google get into this business and compete with cable television and phone companies? Or is it doing this just to make a point? Only time will tell. Even Google doesn't know yet...