What do 3G hot spots and firearms have in common? They’re both banned from the London 2012 Olympic games. Personal wireless access points and 3G hot spots are among the list of restricted items for the games, which start Friday. Visitors are allowed to bring smartphones and tablets, but are not able to use them …

Samsung is rolling out an update for its international Galaxy S3 smartphone that disables on-device search functionality. According to Android Central, the over-the-air upgrade currently rolling out is described as a “stability” update and, although it brings system improvements, it also strips out the local search functionality from the device’s built-in Google Search app. Consequently, when S3 owners conduct a …

Apple’s Mountain Lion operating system is packed with improvements, but home theater enthusiasts have been patiently waiting for one feature in particular: AirPlay mirroring. That’s because AirPlay mirroring solves the question I’m most often asked: how do I stream any Web video from a laptop directly to your TV, wirelessly? With an Apple TV and a Mac running Mountain Lion …

Screenshot by Geoffrey Morrison/CNET CNET Reader R. Savoy asks: I recently purchased a 60-inch plasma and used your recommended picture settings. Question: I have my picture settings set to Screen Fit instead of 16:9 and on some stations when they go from hi-def to 4:3 I get a white flickering line right above the top of the picture. This problem …

AT&T posted a modest increase in its second-quarter profit even as it sold 3.7 million iPhones in the period. AT&T The Dallas telecommunications giant posted a profit of $3.9 billion, or 66 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $3.6 billion, or 60 cents a share. Year-earlier results were helped by the its advertising unit, which no longer …

Qualcomm’s first quad-core Snapdragon chip has arrived in a tablet — but only for those with $1,300 burning a hole in their pockets and developers. The tablet packs an APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 quad-core chip — one of the most highly-anticipated quad-core ARM processors. Why? Because Qualcomm S4 silicon — currently dual-core — can be found in popular mobile devices, including …

The new iPhone is getting a smaller socket on the bottom — which is bad news for your cables, docks and speakers. Fortunately iMore reports that Apple plans a special adaptor to save your docks. Leaked photos reveal the new iPhone is expected to feature a new 19-pin connector port in the bottom for charging and connecting to your computer …

What happens when you sign a two-year contract with a carrier and you soon discover that network is painfully slow? Unfortunately, you may be stuck with that service. In this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer some advice on what one Sprint customer can do to get out of his contract without paying a hefty early termination fee. I also …

Xamarin, a company that provides developer tools to hundreds of thousands of mobile app developers, has received $12 million in first-round funding, the company announced today. The financing comes from Charles River Ventures, Ignition Partners, and Floodgate, and will be used to expand the company’s software and build a sales and marketing team, according to a press release. The desire …

The HTC Desire HD isn’t getting Ice Cream Sandwich after all. HTC has officially cancelled the software update for the popular phone, leaving owners stuck on Gingerbread. HTC has led Desire HD owners a merry little dance in recent weeks. It was Canadian phone network Telus that first revealed the phone would not get Ice Cream Sandwich, a claim publicly …