NEW ORLEANS–If you’ve got a mischievous pet with a habit of stepping out, you may be interested in Tagg, a pet-tracking system that uses GPS, data, e-mail, texting, and a handful of apps to help you keep tabs on your tabby. The $99 starter kit comes with a passive tracking attachment for the collar, and …

Amongst the minutiae of dental schemes and tax adjustments in the 2012-13 Budget lies a gem for anyone who’s a fan of the country’s multicultural broadcaster SBS: a funding boost, and a takeover of the existing indigenous broadcaster NITV. SBS, which has been suffering under tight financial circumstances, will receive an extra AU$158 million over the next five years from …

Here’s something we noticed today whilst browsing the Australian iTunes store: we Antipodeans can now opt for TV series in HD. Individual episodes are being offered for AU$3.49 each. SD episodes are priced at AU$2.99, and, as per usual, there’s a slight discount for buying an entire season. By way of comparison, individual HD episodes in the US store go …

The hotly-tipped Apple TV is real, and comes with Siri built-in. That’s according to an inside source who has seen Siri make a video call on an actual prototype. Cult of Mac reports that the iTV prototype looks like one of the aluminum LED Cinema Display monitors currently sold by Apple, only bigger — previous rumours suggest the Apple telly …

T-Mobile USA’s Bobsled, an Internet-based calling and messaging service, has become the little engine that could. In a little more than a year, Bobsled has exceeded 1 million users. That’s an impressive benchmark considering the service gets practically no marketing support and has little consumer awareness. “The popularity and continued growth of the Bobsled service is testament to consumers’ desire …

Now playing: Watch this: Meet the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE 1:38 NEW ORLEANS–Ladies and gentlemen, behold the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE, the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone rumored to step into the light at CTIA 2012. Well, here it is. Calling it a variant of the HTC One X or One S would be a simple way …

NEW ORLEANS–Today, I caught a glimpse of CTIA 2012 one day earlier than most and roamed around the show floor before its set to kick off tomorrow. Among all the construction and chaos, as companies in the mobile phone industry scurried to finish building their booths, I came across LG’s splice of convention real estate. CTIA 2012: Behind the scenes …

If you don’t care for an iPhone, but are due for a new smartphone this year, then chances are that you’re tossing up between the flagship phones from Samsung and HTC. This is a very difficult decision to make, but let’s see if we can pick a winner between them. HTC One X Samsung Galaxy S III Screen 4.7-inch 1280×720 …

NEW ORLEANS–Omnilink, a company that provides industries such as fleet owners, construction companies, and law enforcement with location-based solutions, announced today that along with its long-time partner, Sprint, it will be releasing three new devices to help enterprise companies track their valuables. These products will be able to locate and monitor assets such as bank bags, ATMs, and cars. Even …

NEW ORLEANS–Think there are too many digital wallets out there? MasterCard would disagree. The No. 2 payments processor today unveiled PayPass Wallet Services, its own take on the digital wallet. Initially, it will pop up in the form of a payment icon at merchant Web sites. The wallet will allow users to store all of their cards, and MasterCard plans …

SAN FRANCISCO — The  jury in the Oracle v. Google trial rendered a partial verdict, favoring Oracle, in the copyright phase of the trial. Yet a question the jury failed to decide prompted Google to call for a mistrial, and could sharply limit damages even if the verdict stands. The five male and seven female jurors failed to deliver unanimous …

Now playing: Watch this: AT&T Digital Life protects your home, turns on lights 2:58 NEW ORLEANS–AT&T is proposing some serious branching out with its new services for securing your home, and managing its appliances remotely from your smartphone or tablet. At CTIA 2012, AT&T showed off its concept with a demo house equipped in the Big Easy’s lovely Garden District. …

Now playing: Watch this: Verizon HomeFusion Broadband 1:37 NEW ORLEANS–Need a fast broadband connection but live where cable or other wired data solutions are scarce? Not to worry says Verizon, that is if you by chance dwell within its 4G LTE footprint. The new HomeFusion Broadband service latches onto nearby LTE wireless signals and funnels them down into the home. …

Even the time-honored tradition of hole-punched train tickets is subject to Apple’s wave of change. A program that began its training last November for a few select Amtrak routes will expand to include 1,700 train conductors across the country by late summer, according to the New York Times. The new, iPhone-based system will allow Amtrak customers to print tickets or …

Now playing: Watch this: HTC One V 3:09 NEW ORLEANS–In addition to the Droid Incredible 4G LTE that HTC just announced at CTIA, the phone maker will also show off its HTC One V, an Android smartphone first introduced at Mobile World Congress. Although the One V is the most entry-level of the HTC One phones, it fits into the …