Mobile & Wireless

Google on Wednesday launched a Chrome Remote Desktop app for Android, which lets you remotely control your computer using your smartphone or tablet. You can download the new app now directly from Google Play. The app’s description says you can “securely access your computers from your Android device” but doesn’t elaborate on the security features. Continue Reading →

Instagram is dealing with a minor headache right now — cleaning up the junk you don’t want to see. The Facebook-owned photo-sharing service is purging old, inactive and spammy accounts, the first time it has done so across its entire user base. I was tipped off late last night after opening the app, when I Continue Reading →

With several states and municipalities considering various mandatory “kill-switch” laws for mobile devices, the wireless industry announced a voluntary commitment to include new anti-theft technology on phones starting next year. The commitment, announced Tuesday, has the backing of the five largest U.S. cellular carriers as well as the key players in the smartphone device and Continue Reading →

Google ditched its invite-only approach to Google Glass for a single day when it made its wearable device available to the general public in the US on Tuesday, and the company has revealed that its allocation of devices is now sold out. Google isn’t saying exactly how many devices and spots on the Google Explorer Continue Reading →

Google’s ambitious modular smartphone concept, an attempt to disrupt the market dominated by Apple and Samsung, could be available in January 2015 for as little as $50. Paul Eremenko, Google’s Project Ara head, told attendees of its developer conference that the modular device is scheduled to go on sale in January next year and will Continue Reading →

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sat down with The New York Times’ Farhad Manjoo to discuss Facebook and its future, and much of the discussion centered on Creative Labs, the new internal initiative at Facebook that’s playing more with products outside the core social networking site, or spun out from that experience. Creative Labs is about Continue Reading →

If you use Windows Phone 8 and want to get the new Windows Phone 8.1 hotness and give Cortana a spin before it rolls out officially—and you do, it’s really great—then don’t despair. Although the early access is a “developer preview,” you don’t actually have to write any code to get your hands on it. Continue Reading →

Today’s fastest 802.11ac routers deliver throughput speeds on par with hardwired gigabit-ethernet connections. That might seem slow by next year, when Quantenna Communications launches its new Wi-Fi chipset. Most wireless chipsets on the consumer market today can send and receive three spatial data streams simultaneously (these are known as 3×3 MIMO chipsets). Current 3×3 802.11ac Continue Reading →

The catastrophic Heartbleed security bug that has already bitten Yahoo Mail, the Canada Revenue Agency, and other public websites also poses a formidable threat to end-user applications and devices, including millions of Android handsets, security researchers warned. Handsets running version 4.1.1 of Google’s mobile operating system are vulnerable to attacks that might pluck passwords, the Continue Reading →

Android’s position as the most dominant smartphone platform worldwide is also having an impact on mobile app download growth, and now, increasing revenue. Google’s app marketplace, Google Play, saw 45% more downloads that Apple’s iOS App Store in Q1, according to a new report out this morning from App Annie. However, Apple continues to still Continue Reading →