Looking at the iPhone now, it’s hard to think how it was originally conceived. How do you go about asking a team to come up with one of the world’s most iconic gadgets? Steve Jobs didn’t mention apps, or media, or even a touchscreen. “His [charge] was simple,” former iPhone product marketing manager Bob Borchers …

For every new iteration of mobile phones, it’s easy to assume that products are getting pricier because the insides are getting just as expensive. A Samsung LTE and Via Telecom CDMA chip ABI Research I mean, it makes sense that as technology gets better and faster, manufacturers and consumers are paying top dollar to get their hands on it, right? …

Teaming up with Nuance, U.S. Cellular just unveiled a voice-mail-to-text solution that unfortunately is not free. In the Chicago-based carrier’s defense, the big boys like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile all charge for the privilege of using their visual voice mail software, typically $2 to $3 a month. U.S. Cellular’s product is right in line with the market, and expects …

As Facebook prepares for its $5 billion initial public offering here in the U.S., European representatives are meeting with student activists from Austria regarding complaints the group has filed over how the company handles private information. On Monday, Richard Allan, Facebook’s European director of policy and a former member of Parliament in Britain, and another California-based Facebook executive are meeting …

According to a report from AppleInsider, oil field services provider Halliburton has decided to drop Research In Motion’s BlackBerry platform in favor of Apple’s iOS for its workforce. An internal newsletter outlined the plan for the nearly 70,000 employees who work for Halliburton in more than 70 countries. “Over the next year, we will begin expanding the use of our …

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is set to launch in May — and could be the world’s thinnest smart phone. That’s according to reports suggesting the hotly anticipated Android powerhouse will measure just 7mm thick. The frequently reliable OLED-display.net quotes a Korean report from ETnews that the S3 will be just 7mm thick. Samsung has worked out how to make the …

Google has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to use an undisclosed, mystery “entertainment device” across four major cities over the next six months. Described as having both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, the FCC application was initially submitted in December and recently discovered by GigaOm. Although the details of the device are unclear, it stands to reason that …

Simplexity MVNO Services announced today that it will enter into a multi-year partnership with Sprint to launch a third-party branded wireless service slated for spring 2012. Simplexity Under the agreement, Simplexity will become a direct wholesale customer and vendor of Sprint’s wireless and data network. This means that Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) who do not want a direct relationship …

Here’s something for Google’s senior vice president of mobile Andy Rubin to tweet about — shipments of Android smart phones grew a phenomenal 250 per cent in the last three months of last year, accounting for 52 per cent of all handsets shipped that quarter, according to market analysts Canalys, The Wall Street Journal reports. Over the year as a …

commentary This may sound like sacrilege to the throngs of faithful HTC fans out there, but it’s time for a massive overhaul of the company’s iconic Sense user interface. Sense, instantly recognizable by its retro flip-clock widget, is starting to feel a little long in the tooth. If HTC is really going to shake things up with its planned “product …