As we close the book on 2009 and ready for 2010, a legal settlement takes us back to 2007 and 2008, when Comcast got into trouble with customers and the feds for throttling peer-to-peer traffic on its network. Comcast has agreed to pay $16 million to end to a class action lawsuit alleging the broadband …

Today, the BBC Trust announced it’s given the go-ahead for Project Canvas, the joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, BT and Talk Talk that aims to create an equivalent of Freeview for Internet TV. So what is it, and why should you care? Here’s a handy primer. What’s it all about? Project Canvas is a service mooted …

Ford cars are about to become true mobile hot spots. The carmaker announced Monday the next generation of its Sync system designed to let Ford owners plug a USB modem directly into a car’s built-in Wi-Fi, creating broadband Internet access to all passengers. Those in the car can jump online through any Wi-Fi-enabled device, from smartphone to laptop. Credit: Microsoft …

We have a sneaking suspicion that Bada is a term you’ll hear us use a lot in 2010, so before the next year overwhelms us with awesome new phones let’s take a look at what to expect from Samsung’s new mobile operating platform Bada. Screenshots from the Bada user interface. (Credit: HDblog.it via Engadget) This year proved that the battle …

Vodafone will be dropping down chimneys right after Santa to deliver the iPhone to good little boys and girls on 14 January. It has also announced its iPhone contract prices, which we’ve put into a handy table for you. Like Orange, Vodafone isn’t trying to compete on price — check out our in-depth comparison of the iPhone on Orange versus …

Tesco has announced how much it’s going to ding us for the iPhone, with two contracts and a pay as you go option available. One of our favourite details is its fair-use policy for surfing the Web on your phone — one delicious terabyte each month. Compare that to Orange’s paltry 750MB limit, or O2’s mysterious possibly-8GB limit, and it …

Along with Beeker and Fozzie Bear, Animal ranks among my favorite Muppets characters. So it’s great not only to see him starring in his own iPhone game, but to report that the game’s a blast. At first blush, The Muppets Animal Drummer from Disney looks like something out of Rock Band: you’ve got five drums that light up and change …

Welcome to the 411, my Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I’m stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at [email protected]. …

This post was updated on 12/21, 1:17 p.m., PT with information about a second version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 getting FCC approval. The FCC has given the green light to Sony Ericsson’s first Google Android phone, the Xperia X10. Filed documents show that the quad-band GSM smartphone supports T-Mobile’s 3G network, though it remains to be seen whether …

O2, the mobile arm of Telefonica Europe, appears to be the winner of a bidding war for voice over IP start-up Jajah, according to a report on TheMarker that Reuters is citing. O2 is expected to buy Jajah this week for $200 million, according to a report on the Hebrew language news site. Cisco Systems and Microsoft were rumored to …

Verizon’s letter to the FCC FCC A few weeks after the FCC sent an inquiry about its early termination fee (ETF) increase, Verizon has replied back with a seven-page missive of its own in defense of the fee hike. If you recall, Verizon increased its ETF from $175 to $350 specifically for “advanced devices,” which we assume means smartphones like …

Since Apple introduced iTunes 9 several months ago, we’ve received a fair number of complaints about two particular bugs. So far no one, not even the first and second levels of Applecare support, has been able to resolve them. iTunes password-saving problem iTunes won’t remember your password–even when you check the box asking it to do so. Previous versions of …

Remember the Simpsons coin-op arcade game? It’s about to get the iPhone treatment. EA Mobile is soon to release The Simpsons Arcade, which it calls “a throwback to the actual arcade game from the early 90s.” How soon? EA swore us to secrecy for some reason, but let’s just say you won’t have long to wait. Update: The game is …

Josh Miller/CNET On Thursday, Sprint revised a tweet it sent out last week regarding an Android update for the Samsung Moment and HTC Hero. Both smartphones won’t be getting an Android 2.0 update; instead, they will get Android 2.1. (Pause for applause.) The carrier made the announcement via its Twitter account, but unfortunately didn’t provide any more specific details as …

As 2009 ends, CNET honors an annual tradition of collecting the best cell phones of the year. Unlike the list we published last week in which we covered your favorites of 2009, this gallery includes the cell phones that we liked best. The following 10 handsets scored the highest ratings out of the 168 handsets that we reviewed this year. …