Techno-News Blog

By JOHN MARKOFF, NY Times

A just-completed report from a presidential advisory committee urges President Obama to adopt new computer technologies to make better use of a huge swath of the radio spectrum now controlled by federal agencies. The shift, which could be accomplished by presidential signature — and without Congressional involvement — would relieve spectrum congestion caused by the popularity of smartphones, and generate far more revenue for the federal government than auctioning spectrum to wireless carriers, according to the authors of the report. Making better use of the spectrum for cellphones would allow for more services, more competition and possibly lower prices for consumers using cellphone data services.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/technology/presidential-panel-urges-better-use-of-spectrum.html

by ERICA KOCHI, TechCrunch

In less than three decades, the mobile phone has gone from being a status symbol to being a ubiquitous technology that facilitates almost every interaction in our daily lives. One month after the world’s population topped 7 billion in October 2011, the GSM Association announced that mobile SIM cards had reached 6 billion. A 2009 study in India illustrated that every 10 percent increase in mobile penetration leads to a 1.2 percent increase in GDP. Yet patterns of mobile phone use in developing countries are vastly different from what you see on the streets of New York, San Francisco, and Berlin. This is a market underserved by technologists and startups. This is where the majority of future growth lies, and Silicon Valley has yet to realize the huge economic opportunities for network operators, handset developers, and mobile startups. Where are these opportunities?

http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/27/mobile-developing-world/

by Bill Ready, TechCrunch

Every day there is a new headline about mobile payments focused on using a mobile phone to pay at retail locations. Paypal, Google and other industry giants are racing to provide new in-store mobile payment solutions. Large merchants, such as Wal-mart and Target have contemplated their own mobile payment solutions. The debate about whether NFC will be the preferred technology to enable mobile payments rages. However, despite all this press and efforts by industry giants, there is stunningly little traction to use a mobile device to pay at retail locations. This is largely because the solutions offered by industry giants thus far don’t solve a meaningful problem in the daily lives of consumers or merchants. Few things in life are easier for consumers than swiping a credit card at checkout and in-store payment systems are as easy and ubiquitous as dial-tone for merchants.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/27/mobile-online-shopping-holds-the-real-opportunity-in-mobile-payments/

By Taylor Hatmaker, Read, Write Web

Women are the hot new demographic to court in the social space (if you can call half the population a “demographic”), but the fairer sex is catching up when it comes to mobile, too, largely thanks to the iPhone. But is Apple’s gender-blind wunderkind truly more popular with women – or is Android, the iPhone’s defacto rival, just less popular? With 65% of the U.S. population projected to own a smartphone or tablet by 2015, it’s safe to say that the gender differences in mobile are dissolving fast. Women are among the most explosive demographic segments for smartphone ownership, seeing a 13% spike between May 2011 and February 2012. Early adopters still skew male, but these days, the smartphone isn’t a bleeding-edge accessory so much as the gateway gadget for a new cohort of technophobes turned technophile.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why-the-iphones-success-has-women-to-thank.php

By Dan Rowinski, Read Write Mobile

Google now owns Motorola. Chinese regulators followed the U.S. and Europe in clearing the deal earlier this week, removing the last barrier. Although the acquisition opens new territory for the search giant, its most immediate effect could be remaking the existing Android landscape. Will Google use its new arm to pound all competitors, or just Apple?

http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2012/05/what-googles-acquisition-of-motorola-means-for-android.php

by Dylan Love and Kevin Smith, Business Insider

A lot of new and updated apps were released this week. They include an interesting Camera from Facebook that gives us Instagram vibes, Yahoo’s entry into the mobile browser game, an app that analyzes which other apps are using your information, and much more.

http://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-the-best-iphone-and-ipad-apps-you-missed-this-week-26-2012-5