Mobile Tech » AT&T Goes All or Nothing With Text-Messaging Plans

New AT&T customers will soon have fewer options in front of them when choosing an SMS text-messaging plan. They can either pay $20 per month for unlimited SMS service or be charged by the text. The carrier's parring down its options just as SMS use is beginning to flatten out -- and as smartphone apps put new, cheaper communication options into users' hands. Wireless giant AT&T (NYSE: T) is reportedly planning to scale back its SMS...

Mobile Tech » The Plight of the Android App Wallflowers

With just a handful of popular Android apps dominating users' attention, what's a developer to do? It's all about discovery, says Nielsen's Don Kellogg. "How can you make it easy for people to find your app? How can you ignite positive word of mouth? How can app stores and other aggregators improve the consumer experience to make it easier for consumers to discover a broader range of quality apps?" Android device users spend more time on their...

Internet » Facebook Envy Could Trip Up LinkedIn

Earlier this week, I logged in to LinkedIn and was presented with three articles about Abercrombie & Fitch asking the guy known as "The Situation" from the "Jersey Shore" reality TV show to stop wearing its clothes. I don't watch reality shows on TV, and I don't want them creeping into my online world -- especially in a place where I'm expecting to have strictly professional discourse. As the one major social networking 6 Ways to Use Social...

Computing » PartedMagic: A Swiss Army Knife for Hard Drive Resuscitation

PartedMagic does so much more than just partition hard drives. It is a specially crafted Linux distro designed to diagnose and repair broken stuff short of replacing hardware. With PartedMagic as a complete solution to work with GParted, I have a relatively safe and reliable tool to partition a fresh disk or repair a broken partition table on a working computer. I started out looking for a handy disk partitioning tool to repair a colleague's ailing...

Computing » Shelter for Linux in the Software Patent Storm

"The USPTO has allowed US businesses to descend into a depressing state of paranoia and mindless violence," said blogger Robert Pogson. "The USPTO has issued thousands of worthless patents that can do $millions of damages per patent in legal fees and blocking commerce. ... [Patents have] warped into weapons of mass destruction in the hands of corporations." Patents, patents, patents. Such a to-do about software patents! The news this week has...

Computing » IBM Makes Brainy Breakthrough in Computing

Researchers at IBM have created computer chips that behave more like actual brains when processing information. Systems built with these chips will be called "cognitive computers" and won't be programmed the same way as traditional computers. Cognitive computers are expected to learn through experiences, find correlations, create hypotheses and remember. IBM (NYSE: IBM) researchers unveiled a new generation of experimental computer chips Thursday....

Computing » Will There Be Life After HP for WebOS?

HP put the future of the webOS mobile operating system in serious jeopardy Thursday with the announcement that it's discontinuing its lines of webOS-based phones and tablets, some of which were released very recently. HP's webOS products largely failed to gain traction in the market, and now the OS' future may depend entirely on whether anyone out there cares to buy it soon. HP (NYSE: HPQ) on Thursday shook the mobile devices world in announcing...

Computing » If HP Sells, Who's Buying?

HP is considering selling off its PC business. If it decides to go that direction, who are some of the more obvious and not-so-obvious potential buyers? Lenovo wrangled a similar deal half a decade ago with IBM -- could it try again with HP? Names like Dell and Samsung are also being floated around, as are dark-horse longshots like Vizio, a company best known in the U.S. as a TV maker. HP (NYSE: HPQ) on Thursday shared some eyebrow-raising news...

Computing » SMBs, the Cloud and the Difference Between Disaster and Disaster Recovery

The cloud is increasing the effectiveness of small businesses. For example, companies are calling on efficient Web-based services and applications to manage such critical tasks as accounting, customer relationship management, document creation and communication. In addition, cloud storage can simplify a company's data-protection process in a number of ways. Many small-business owners may not realize that the cloud plays a big role in their business...

Computing » The Lonely Life of WebOS

HP has cut development of webOS hardware like the Pre and TouchPad, effectively taking away the only home the mobile operating system has. With nothing else to run on and no other companies using it, the OS will linger on ice unless and until a buyer or licensee comes along. Meanwhile, Google reaches out to Motorola, AT&T juggles SMS rates, and the Verizon strike takes some ugly turns. While the iPad remains king of the tablet market in terms...