Poll: What iPhone OS 4 feature do you want most?

What iPhone OS 4 feature do you want the most?answers Tomorrow’s the big day: At 10 a.m. (PT) Thursday, Apple will give the world a sneak peek at iPhone OS 4. Exciting, no? Earlier today, CNET’s Erica Ogg offered her take on what’s in store for OS 4, including both expected additions like multitasking and …

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Get a text of your voice mail

MetroPCS announced Tuesday a new feature that will deliver text messages of your voice mail messages straight to your cell phone. When a caller leaves a voice mail, the message will be converted to text format and sent to your messaging in-box. Users still can access the audio version of the message in the normal manner, but they’ll also get …

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Dialed In 121: Microsoft and Apple fight for our attention (podcast)

Both Microsoft and Apple have events coming up in the next week. Apple will have its iPhone OS 4 announcement on Thursday and Microsoft will reveal why “it’s time to share” next Monday. Plus we dish about new Android phones (the HTC Incredible anyone?), cheaper Palms, what we think about cell phone radiation, and more. Now playing: Watch this: Dialed …

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BDXL Blu

The whole Blu-ray format’s been a mess from the very beginning. We can’t, therefore, quite suppress a derisory smirk at the announcement of two new Blu-ray disc specifications, neither of which will work with your current player: BDXL and IH-BD. BDXL discs will more than double the existing 50GB capacity of Blu-ray discs. Write-once BDXL discs will allow up to 128GB of data to be stored, …

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On Call: Cell phone radiation? There’s no easy answer

Last December, just as I returned from covering the first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Seattle, I learned that a longtime friend was diagnosed with brain cancer. He had collapsed that day at work and was in the hospital awaiting immediate removal of his tumor. Needless to say, it was a distressing few days, but the surgery was …

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Netflix app coming to iPhone, iPod Touch

CNET’s Dan Ackerman called Netflix for iPad “one of the best reasons we can think of to sign on to Apple’s new device.” And I believe him. That’s why I’ve been battling the green-eyed monster since iPad launch day. The surprising news of streaming Netflix movies and TV shows was almost enough to get me to stand in line and …

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Is Net neutrality dead? (FAQ)

A federal appeals court decision against the Federal Communications Commission has left many people wondering if the open Internet’s days are numbered. On Tuesday, a three-judge panel in a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. unanimously tossed out an FCC cease-and-desist order against cable giant Comcast. The FCC said in 2008 that Comcast had illegally slowed its customers’ Bit Torrent …

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Freeview HD rolls out to more cities, with Channel 4 HD on board

Today is the official marketing launch for Freeview HD, so expect to see a big fanfare. Maybe a parade. There’s a £6m marketing budget to spend, so don’t count out sky-writing, a zeppelin and Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge renamed the Freeview HD Stadium. The service technically launched last year, but so far it’s only been available in select regions and to …

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Prepaid wireless outpaces contract services

Cash-conscious consumers are flocking to prepaid month-to-month wireless phone service in lieu of contract-based plans. A study released by the New Millennium Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, last week said new prepaid wireless customers exceeded the number of new contract subscribers that signed up for service in the fourth quarter of 2009. This is the first time that …

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iPad reportedly overheating in the sun

You know the story from Greek mythology about Icarus, and how his father Daedalus told him not to fly too close to the sun with the wings he made for him out of feathers and wax. Icarus didn’t listen and fell into the sea. Well, according to several reports, Daedalus might want to warn iPad owners not to play too …

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iPad to support Dvorak, other keyboard layouts?

While most people use the standard QWERTY keyboard layout, one of the most used alternative layouts is Dvorak. Some people believe Dvorak is more efficient for various western languages since it places vowels and the most commonly used letters right under your fingertips. iPad owners who are used to this layout may find it disappointing that the iPad does not …

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3D TV has arrived, but glitches remain

Aside from Apple’s new iPad, 3D TV could be the next big thing in consumer electronics. But it’s still early days, and that means consumers might want to wait for the technology to mature before jumping on the bandwagon. There’s no question that 3D TV was the biggest thing going at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year …

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Android 2.1 officially rolling out to Droid owners

After a very limited release, all Motorola Droid users are finally getting their Android 2.1 updates. Moto said the official rollout to Verizon customers began on Friday and will continue over the next few weeks in batches. Droid owners will receive a notification on their phones when Android 2.1 is ready for download. You can find the official release notes …

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Vampires, The Sims, Star Wars, and more: New iPhone games of the week

As I mentioned in last week’s write-up of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, not all the hot gaming action these days is on the iPad. Developers continue to crank out some mighty slick titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch, as evidenced by these five compelling newcomers: 1. Above Jumping games (like the terminally addicting PapiJump) are ideal when you’ve …

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10 things Netbooks can learn from the iPad

The iPad just might do to Netbooks what the iPhone did to smartphones. James Martin/CNET After a weekend of immense enthusiasm and even wide-eyed utopian futurism regarding the debut of Apple’s iPad, a bit of dust has settled. Perhaps Apple has hit the nail on the head of a new trend in future computing; perhaps this is just a bump …

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