The cell phone sales slump may soon be over. The global cell phone industry captured mild gains in the third quarter, with total shipments reaching 287.1 million units, according to a report released Friday from IDC. That number marked a 6 percent decline from the same quarter in 2008 but a 5.6 percent jump over …

Boost your photography skills with Nikon’s free iPhone app. I’ve owned a dSLR camera for years, but it spends most of its time on Auto mode. That’s because I can’t wrap my brain around things like aperture priority, ISO, and f-stops. Unsurprisingly, most of my shots bite. I’ve tried reading enlightening books like How to Do Everything with Your Digital …

Could Motorola’s new smartphone, the Droid, be the company’s next Razr a la 2010? Judging from the hype surrounding the new smartphone, which is the first device to use the Google Android 2.0 operating system, there is a good chance the Droid could be the breakthrough device that helps Motorola rise from the ashes. But it will likely take more …

Editors’ note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes’ bio below. I’ve managed to slog through the 107-page “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” (PDF) issued late last week by the Federal Communications Commission. Let me save you the trouble of reading the 185 numbered paragraphs, 310 footnotes, and three appendices, including separate statements from each of the five commissioners: there’s …

Apple released iTunes 9.0.2 today an update that included additional improvements to app sorting for the iPhone and iPod Touch. In early September, we offered a bug fix for arranging apps on iTunes after the release of iTunes 9.0 and later that same month Apple released iTunes 9.0.1. Progress was made in squashing some of the bugs we found, but …

Besides a slew of new LG phones, the biggest news out of the Federal Communications this week is the approval of the Palm Pixi. In light of its November 15 release date, the Pixi’s appearance here is not surprising. We also spied the Google Android-equipped LG GW620. Because the FCC has to certify every phone sold in the United States, …

Initial response to the new Motorola Droid smartphone on the Verizon Wireless network have been very good, thanks in large part to the updated Android 2.0 operating system. A look at how multiple accounts are handled in the contact list of an Android 2.0 phone. Google The new updated version of the open-source operating system offers new Android phones a …

Last night, London’s BT Tower went mental. Twitter posters reported that it looked like it was about to explode or take off. But don’t fear. It’s not the end of the great phallus of Noho — it’s just a new lighting system. You know the lovely lights that gently lit up the BT Tower in a cycle of colours? Well, …

Editors’ note: That’s it for our live review! Over the next few days we will continue to test the Droid, including the GPS and battery life, and add in final results. For now, here is our full review of the Motorola Droid for Verizon Wireless. Hooray! We finally have the Motorola Droid in our hands. Though it’s much too early …

Cricket and LG announced the LG Helix Wednesday, making it LG’s first AWS-capable handset. It’s a pretty basic phone with a 2-inch color display plus a small external display. It has a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and voice commands. The Helix will be available in silver or pink at a suggested retail price of around $139.99 without a contract.

Josh Miller/CNET On Wednesday, Verizon Wireless officially announced that its first Google Android device, the Motorola Droid, would hit streets on November 6 with a price tag of $199.99. Of course, to get that price, you need to sign up for a two-year contract and deal with a $100 mail-in rebate; however Best Buy Mobile is making things just a …

Updated 8:32 a.m. PDT with information from the conference call. Sprint Nextel is still losing customers, the company said Thursday as it reported a third-quarter loss. Sprint’s losses widened to $478 million, or 17 cents a share, during the quarter that ended September 30, from a loss of $326 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell …

Do you consider the iPhone’s app-sorting option tedious? Tired of fussing with app sorting in iTunes 9 because the number of apps you have exceeds the display capacity of your iPhone? If you answer yes to either of these questions and you are using a jailbroken iPhone, keep reading. According to a iClarified, you might want to take a look …

On Thursday, Sprint hosted an online chat with its customers and its vice president of consumer marketing, David Owens, who revealed some of the carrier’s plans for upcoming smartphones. During the hour-long session, Owens answered questions on a variety of topics, ranging from service plans to community to, of course, future products. Regarding the latter, Owens said there will be …

If you think Robocalypse is fun solo, try playing it online against live humans. Solitaire is fine once in a while, but usually it’s more fun to play games with other people. Same goes for iPhone games: There’s only so much mano-a-Bejeweled a person can take. Fortunately, there are some terrific apps that let you compete in real-time against other …