Researchers have released two tools that can be used to exploit a vulnerability in a protocol that makes it easier to set up secure home Wi-Fi networks. Stefan Viehbock, who first reported the vulnerability to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, released a tool that can crack a home Wi-Fi network in two hours. And …

For a slow holiday news week, there’s been plenty of chatter over the last few days about Windows Phone 7. It all started Tuesday when several tech blogs posted editorials on why Microsoft’s operating system was failing, a fact that Mobile Burn’s Dan Seifert wryly pointed out on Twitter. And then, almost as if in response, a leaked memo on …

Verizon Wireless’s new $2 “convenience fee” for paying a bill online has outraged consumers, and today the Federal Communications Commissions said it will look into the fee. “On behalf of American consumers, we’re concerned about Verizon’s actions and are looking into the matter,” the FCC said in its statement. The FCC isn’t providing further information about its investigation. The New …

A year after it made smartphone history by introducing the dual-core Optimus 2X at CES 2011, LG is set to do it again at the upcoming 2012 show. According to a report published today in the Korea Times, LG will use its time at CES in two weeks to introduce the first Android smartphone running on an Intel chipset. Though …

Verizon has had a busy month repairing network glitches. The carrier confirmed early this morning via Twitter that it has resolved the latest outage, which hit many of its cellular data customers yesterday. In tweeting the news, Verizon Wireless said that the 4G LTE issue was resolved overnight. 3G connectivity, as well as calling and texting, had been unaffected, the …

Verizon Wireless plans to charge subscribers a new $2 fee every time they pay their wireless bills online or directly over the phone. Verizon A leaked memo from the company first reported by Engadget, showed some of the details of the new plan. And the blog Phone Scoop got confirmation from a Verizon representative on Thursday of the change. The …

Mark Hurd, Hewlett-Packard’s former CEO and now the current president of Oracle, lost his fight in court this week to keep confidential a letter alleging sexual harassment. Oracle President Mark Hurd, who was formerly Hewlett-Packard’s CEO. Oracle A Delaware court ruled yesterday that Hurd had not established “good cause” to keep the letter under wraps. (Here’s the court record uploaded …

Will AT&T be the first carrier to offer 4G LTE Microsoft Windows Phones? That’s what Paul Thurrott of the WinSupersite blog reported Thursday. Thurrott didn’t name sources for this information. But he was very specific about the devices and launch dates for the new Windows Phone LTE devices. And he was very clear that AT&T and not Verizon Wireless, which …

Did you get a Kindle for Christmas? I did. And apparently so did millions of other people. Amazon reported Thursday that it had the best holiday season ever for its Kindle e-readers. The online e-commerce giant didn’t offer specific sales figures, but it did offer a few tidbits of information. Throughout December, the company sold well over 1 million Kindle …

As promised by HTC CEO and president Peter Chou, all HTC Android devices launched after September 2011 can have their bootloaders unlocked. The bootloader is a program that controls the startup process for a device. Unlocking the bootloader is a key step in customizing Android to make a phone do things its manufacturer (or carrier) never intended. That’s something most …

Christmastime is a time of giving. So it’s natural that if you got a shiny new smartphone, you’d want to give your old one away to a friend or family member. But be careful to whom you bestow this present. If the lucky recipient of your generous gift doesn’t already have a smartphone and a smartphone data plan, you may …

Editor’s note: The headline and story have been updated to reflect the latest news. The New York Times is now saying that a believed-to-be bogus e-mail that told millions of subscribers that their subscriptions had been canceled actually did come from the newspaper company. But the e-mail, which was meant for only 300 recipients, was instead sent to more than …

Will they or won’t they? That’s the question Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab customers are asking with respect to whether Samsung will offer them the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update. Samsung will likely not update those devices to ICS, but older Galaxy owners may not be entirely out of luck. There is apparently still a chance that Samsung …

Verizon’s network has once again been hit with downtime in the U.S., with customers reporting that their phones are unable to get a data connection. Droid Life, which picked up on the outage, says that customers have been having issues connecting to Verizon’s 3G and 4G LTE networks in various major cities across the U.S. including New York, San Francisco, …

Microsoft aims to help Windows Phone owners safely store their personal data on its servers as part of a future service. An software engineering job listing picked up by WMPoweruser seeks someone to join its “Windows Phone Backup, Migrate, and Restore team.” “Our goal is to ensure that no matter if someone loses their phone, drops their phone in a …