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Freescale’s Internet

BARCELONA, Spain — Freescale Semiconductor, a maker of small processors called microcontrollers, has a tinier new one it hopes will help companies jump aboard the “Internet of things” bandwagon. The microchips used in computers cost tens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars. But the Kinetis KL03 is an entirely different class for devices that aren’t …

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Pure LiFi transmits data using light (video)

Now playing: Watch this: Pure LiFi transfers data using light 1:25 BARCELONA, Spain — Transmitting wireless data using radio waves is so old fashioned — in the video above, you’ll see the technology that sends data via light, and could stream Internet video to your TV from a light in your ceiling. The system works by attaching an Ethernet-wired ceiling-based …

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No Nirvana? Is Asus rethinking Android

Is a dual Android-Windows device just a pipe dream? And are these devices doomed in general? We don’t have an answer to that yet, but there are signs that not everything is copacetic. A report last week from Asia claimed that Asus may be “forced” to give up the Transformer Book Duet TD300, a novel laptop-tablet hybrid that can instantly …

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Motorola wants in on the smartwatch game, too

BARCELONA, Spain — Motorola Mobility may be a lame duck waiting for Lenovo to take the reins, but that doesn’t mean it can’t make a little noise. Motorola, for now still a unit of Google, said Tuesday that it will build a smartwatch for later this year. The product will “solve real user problems,” will be treated more like an …

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HTC exec: We want to make a difference this year

BARCELONA, Spain–The last thing you would expect someone to do would be to jump ship from Apple to HTC, but that’s what Jack Yang, the former head of the Apple’s iPhone business in Southeast Asia, did. And when he did, he leapt straight into the action. The new boss of the South Asia market, which includes Southeast Asia, India and …

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Isis CEO: Foundation is here for mobile payments

BARCELONA, Spain — When Michael Abbott took the job as chief executive of mobile payments venture Isis, his mother demanded that he make the service easy enough for her to use. After giving it a go during last year’s trials, she put her stamp of approval on the service, Abbott said during his keynote address during the Mobile World Congress …

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What mattered at Mobile World Congress, day 2: BlackBerry, Samsung’s Galactic dominance, and plucky Kazam

BARCELONA, Spain — Hard to believe it’s only day 2 of Mobile World Congress, which already feels like it’s been going on for months. The CNET team is now fluent in Catalan, cannot remember any food that isn’t tapas, and has renounced all other religions for that of Lionel Messi. With most of the main announcements out of the way, …

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Dolby to bring Atmos cinema sound to mobile

BARCELONA, Spain — Want cinema-like audio when you play video games or watch a movie on your smartphone or tablet? You may be able to get it soon. Here at Mobile World Congress, audio company Dolby gave me a demo of its Atmos technology running on a tablet. I listened to four different video clips via an ordinary passive headset …

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