Technology News: iPhone: Rubbing Users Raw With Handcuffed Devices

On the plus side, the U.S. system gives Americans super-cheap phones. Contracts help stabilize carrier revenue; that, in turn, helps keep monthly service prices cheap. On the downside, U.S. cell phones are not as feature-rich as phones in other parts of the world, says Muzib Khan, vice president of management and engineering for phone maker Samsung Latest News about Samsung. To keep costs low, manufacturers tend to "build to the lowest common denominator" for the U.S. market. That's why there isn't much variety here, he says. To blur the lack of features on U.S. devices, carriers tout ring tones, face plates and slim design -- "things that one could say probably aren't very useful," Kahn says. Because U.S. consumers pay so little for their phones, Khan says, they aren't as "motivated" to learn how to use them properly. As a result, he says, they don't get all the benefits. "It's an endless loop," Samsung's engineering chief says. "Until some changes are made, (U.S. consumers) will be in that loop forever."

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N.J. Teen Unlocks iPhone For Use On Other Carriers

wcbstv.com - N.J. Teen Unlocks iPhone For Use On Other Carriers

CBS) GLEN ROCK, N.J. A New Jersey teenager's accomplishment is getting major play in the tech and business world.

He managed to unlock the wildly popular iPhone, freeing the unit from its exclusive relationship with cell phone carrier AT&T.

New Search Engine Ranks Tables By Title, Document Content, Text Reference

New Search Engine Ranks Table

Penn State researchers have developed a search engine — TableSeer —
which not only can identify and extract tables from PDF documents but
also can index and rank the search results using factors including the
table’s title, text references to the table, and date of publication.

The engine’s innovative ranking algorithm, TableRank, also can
identify tables found in frequently cited documents and weigh that
factor as well in the search results, said Prasenjit Mitra, an
assistant professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences
and Technology (IST) and one of the lead researchers in the development
of the search engine.

Netizens Blast AT&T for Jamming Pearl Jam's Bush Bashing

Netizens Blast AT&T for Jamming Pearl Jam's Bush Bashing

Attendees of the Lollapalooza music festival this week may have heard Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder sing a few Bush-bashing lyrics during the band's set -- but those watching the show live on AT&T's Blue Room webcast didn't. The audio cut out at a rather suspicious point in the performance, prompting accusations of censorship that bring up the issue of network neutrality.