Optus announced the newest member of its tablet computing range last week, the Motorola Xoom, and its pricing plan for the tablet. Australia’s number two telco will sell the Xoom on either a 12-month Data Cap Plus plan with an upfront hardware cost, or a 24-month contract with subsidised payments spread out over each month …

Telstra is rolling out the first stage of its Foxtel on T-Box service from Sunday, 26 June. Available initially to BigPond cable broadband customers in Foxtel metro areas*, it is expected to be more widely released to ADSL households in two months’ time. Though it doesn’t have all the HD content of the full Foxtel service, there will be 43 …

The iPhone is unlocked and set free in the U.S. So does this mean that T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel customers, who have been awaiting an iPhone to call their own, will finally get their hands on one? In this week’s Ask Maggie column I answer this very question. I also offer some advice to another reader about whether he should …

Earlier this week Nortel postponed the bankruptcy auction for its collection of 6,000-plus wireless patents by seven days, citing a “significant level of interest” in them. Now the source of that interest has been identified: Intel, Ericsson AB, and patent risk solutions provider RPX, who’ve all been accepted as qualified bidders in the June 27 auction. Also qualified as a …

The Desire will see a stripped-down version of Sense as part of the Gingerbread update. HTC HTC Desire owners had a slight scare this week when HTC stated via its U.K. Facebook page that the popular smartphone would not get an Android 2.3 Gingerbread update. Considering the Desire is barely a year old, the news came as a surprise to …

Sure, you know enough to steer clear of Nigerian princes (hopefully), but what about when the hotel desk calls your room because of a problem processing your credit card? Would you know better than to give the “receptionist” your number? That’s just one of the 350-plus scams exposed and explained in Scam Detector for iOS, an informative fraud database that …

The Panasonic Toughbook Android tablet Panasonic Panasonic is creating a 10-inch Android tablet under the Toughbook brand, due out in the fourth quarter of 2011. Panasonic’s aim is to create a tablet for commercial and government use that is both secure and durable. Pricing has yet to be announced. The exact specs detailed in Panasonic’s press release are a little …

The best competitor to the Apple iPad 2 so far, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Josh Miller/CNET I posted a full review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 last week. Today, the tablet finally goes on sale nationwide. On Thursday, I posted a comparison blog and video featuring the Tab 10.1 and the iPad 2. Sure, that’s a lot of …

Three of the top wireless providers in the U.K. are joining forces to speed up the deployment of mobile payments that will allow shoppers to pay for things with their cell phones, according to Reuters. Thursday the news service reported that Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile, Vodafone and Telefonica’s O2 have agreed to create a mobile …

Apple wants to help you meet new people — by sharing what’s on your iPhone. The company has filed a patent for a method of “ad hoc networking based on content and location” which, simply put, allows you to contact complete strangers nearby based on your shared interests and phone usage. Apple wants to ease the awkwardness of meeting like-minded …

D Day is upon us, for both veteran and fairly new fathers who love their tech gadgets. From the “Daddy Tech Tandem” Scott Stein and Joseph Kaminski, here are iPad apps our kids love. Why the iPad? Currently, for both of us, it’s our sons’ gadget of choice. Joe’s son’s apps now populate more than an entire page on his …

Samsung’s TouchWiz user experience is in its fourth major iteration and, as with most computer software, it now has a few nifty tricks and tweaks buried beneath the surface. We came across a post on the XDA Developer’s Forum, where users were sharing these hidden gems with one another, so a big thanks to the forum members there for the …

Apple’s next iPhone could have an improved flash unit for its camera according to industry rumours that suggest the company has reduced orders for the iPhone 4‘s current LED flash, AppleInsider reports. There has been plenty of speculation about the iPhone 5 getting a camera upgrade. While the iPhone 4’s 5-megapixel camera is much better than the crappy webcam-like snapper …

T-Mobile has never been one to rest on its laurels when it comes to offering exciting smartphones, specials, and services, and that has remained true despite a proposed merger with rival carrier AT&T that’s picking up steam among government lobby groups and states. We knew T-Mobile was adopting an approach of business as usual, and a brisk business it’s been, …

The LG Optimus 3D may finally be on its way to Blighty this July, as a number of online retailers offer up release dates and prices, Know Your Mobile reports. The trouble is they’re not consistent, and none of the UK networks have chimed in with their plans either. It looks as if the smart phone will be available to …