Update 5/14/12 – MSNBC’s Rosa Golijan is reporting that the hype surrounding the “texting while walking” ban highlighted below is false. It seems a snowball started rolling down a hill, a word was added here, changed there and…viola. Internet hype. As it turns out, the jaywalking fine for not paying attention whilst walking is only issued if allowing yourself to be distracted and jaywalking. Simply walking without a care in the world, nose...

For those of you that thought type that SMS or e-mail on your smartphone was hidden from the masses, you are wrong. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed screen spy software that can tell what you are typing from up to 200 feet away. Jan-Michael Frahm and Fabian Monrose are the geniuses behind this little gem. They wondered if modern computer vision technologies threatened mobile phone privacy, so they created a program to steal text...

Trouble could be brewing for T-Mobile UK after claims that the carrier is stiffing SMS service providers out of nearly £50,000 (£47,245 to be exact) in unpaid fees. According to Raptor SMS Ltd, T-Mobile has used, charged customers for, and already collected revenue from the use of various SMS shortcodes for services paid for by premium rate SMS. Even more insulting, however, is that when the unpaid services were reported to T-Mobile UK via Raptor SMS Ltd’s Richard...

In the never-ending assault on our wallets, taxes swoop in to pummel us when we’re done and spitting up blood. Though, given the current economic climate it’s certainly understandable governments are trying just about anything and everything they can to make a buck. With that said, one popular solution that has been proposed in several countries around the world before is a tax on SMS/Text messages. The latest person to call for such a thing — the UK...

Think email is dead? Facebook does. There announcement today didn’t unveil a traditional email service. What they announced is far more “real-time” and engaging. Facebook calls it a “Social Messaging System”. “It’s not email”, says Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg. Instead, it’s a real-time, location and device agnostic service that aims to seamlessly integrate your life’s conversations. It ties...