The technology is called HzO. There is a lot of interest from most of the major manufacturers and at the forefront of all this, as always, is Apple. here’s a video of the HzO technology in action:

So if your one of those forgetful Apple enthusiensts who likes to launder their devises there might be some upgrades coming for 2012/13 which will make your life a little easier and your gadgets a little more impressive.

[Source: gigaom.com]

At CES, XPAL Power revealed the SpareOne cell phone that can run for up to 15 years on standby mode. It does through XPAL Power’s patented battery technology. The phone will be mostly reserved for emergencies and allows the user to pre-program important phone numbers for easy access to visitor, travel and emergency services.

“SpareOne’s breakthrough technology provides an unprecedented lifeline during dire situations that require an emergency response,” Alan Cymberknoh, SpareOne Project Director at XPAL Power, said. “By operating on a single AA battery, SpareOne solves so many daily issues, serving as a simple back-up phone you can carry without worrying whether it’s charged or not. It can be left in a car for emergencies, used by hotels who want to pre-program concierge numbers for guests, passed to your children or parents to maintain an open line of communication – it’s essentially designed to make and receive the most important calls, no matter what.”

SpareOne is a dual band GSM cell phone that offers 10 hours of talktime and the aforementioned 15 years if left unused. The device will use pre-paid minutes.

The phone can be used for emergencies with a built-in emergency flashlight and the ability to automatically transmit its location via the cell ID. People in the travel industry can offer the phone to customers as an alternative to the in-room phone for calls and pre-program them with numbers to local attractions such as restaurants and theaters.

Corporations can customize bundle packages to encourage employees to buy a smartphone and receive a SpareOne for free. SpareOne will also offer options to brand and customize designs and colors for special events and occasions.

Lastly, parents can give a SpareOne to their children to keep in touch with their families. In the same vein, outdoor enthusiasts can keep in contact with civilization in the case of an emergency. As long as there is cell phone coverage, SpareOne can make calls.

SpareOne will come equipped with an Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA battery and a Micro SIM card when it launches in Q1 2012 for $49.99.

After having seen their profits decline in the last year, equipment makers are expected to begin to rebound following a spending blitz from both AT&T and T-Mobile to start out the new year (lord knows that AT&T could stand to start making money again after that giant $3 billion break up fee).

From an article earlier today:

Jeff Kvaal of Barclays Capital said equipment makers close to base station vendors would benefit most because AT&T had halted “spending around September, mostly around mobility.”

“The largest vendor beneficiaries should be AT&T’s incumbent 4G base station vendors, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent. T-Mobile’s 3G suppliers are Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks,” Kvaal said.

The article goes on to cite the jump in stocks of equipment manufacturing companies, such as Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson, following the demise of AT&T-Mobile. Add to this the speculation that capital spending is expected to improve over the next year and you’re probably looking toward sunnier days if you build cell phone things.

See? That AT&T-Mobile fail isn’t bad news for everybody.

The blackout came over the weekend after the president of Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency after the death of at least 10 people in a clash Friday involving police and protesters. TechieInsider describes the mayhem:

The Kazakhstan government has shut down cell towers and Internet access in the oil city of Zhanaozen as the president decreed a state of emergency after riots erupted in the southwest part of the country. The state of emergency allows authorities to issue a curfew, blackout radio, tv and other communications, which are said to have been down since Friday. A group of hackers is working hard to keep Internet connections open to citizens in areas that have been affected by the blackout.

Reuters has been following the unrest reporting on Friday that fired oil workers and protesters clashed with police during a Kazakh independence day celebration, which resulted in at least 12 deaths after police opened fire. Protests have now spread to other parts of the country including the nation’s capital.

Human Rights Watch has demanded that the Kazakh authorities “immediately restore communications with Zhanaozen and ensure an investigation into clashes there between police and civilians is independent.”

Meanwhile, according to activepolitic.com, hacktivist group telecomix has provided instructions for setting up a dial-up network so that people inside of Zhanaozen will at least have some Internet access, however limited it may be.

Given that this tactic of shutting off all communication has had a success rate of 0% so far, Kazakhstan’s authorities should probably use this thing called “the Internet” and do a little research before going on communications blackout like this. These sorts of things tend to piss people way off. Just ask Mubarak how well that ended for him.

Mobile carrier Sprint is hoping to help some of these people this holiday season through its Assurance Wireless program. The program provides a free cell phone and 250 minutes of free wireless service each month for eligible participants.

Although the qualifications for eligibility vary from state to state, the program is designed to help those involved in government-assisted programs or those with low-incomes.

Jack Pflanz, a spokesperson with Sprint, told WebProNews that the mobile carrier hopes the program will help those who are struggling reduce their costs and also communicate with potential employers in order to find jobs.

“So many people are out of work, and so many people are struggling to make ends meet,” he said. “It’s a way for us to be able to assist folks who are trying to find ways to save money and for folks that are trying to find work.”

Assurance Wireless is part of the Universal Lifeline program, which is supported by the Universal Service Fund. Pflanz explained to us that each carrier is required to contribute but can create their own variation of a program.

At this point, Assurance Wireless is available in 31 states with the most recent addition of Kansas. However, Pflanz said the program hoped to expand further going forward.

For those who do not qualify for Assurance Wireless, Pflanz also told us about another option that could help people out. As he explained, payLo by Virgin Mobile is geared toward people who just need a simple phone for making phone calls and texting. This service offers rates as low as $0.20 per minute.

“What we’re trying to do is provide quality, reliable phone service to those folks who are having a real hard time in this economy and can’t necessarily afford phone service,” said Pflanz.

He went on to say that Sprint expects both programs to grow and that it would continue to provide the very best service to its users.

The radiation monitoring app is available on Blackberry, Android, and now jail-broken Apple devices. Tawkon has gone underground, and is now available on the Cydia store.

Upon its release, Tawkon was rejected from the app store. This led to discussions with Apple execs, eventually leading to an email correspondence with Steve Jobs.

Not to mince words, here’s the email Tawkon posted on their blog…

The reaction to Tawkon’s exclusion from the app store has led to a wide variety of opinions. Ranging from “Apple needs to stop deciding what I can and cannot download” to John Brownlee of CultofMac.com, who states “Tawkon’s launching on Cydia instead, which is fine, but I’m with Steve on this one: given that the iPhone has no native radiation-detecting mechanism (and therefore isn’t accurate), combined with the fact that there is no medical basis for fearing cellphone radiation exposure and the heightened fears about radiation both domestically and abroad, this just isn’t an app that needs to be on the App Store.”

Brownlee provides an interesting point, as Tawkon doesn’t directly monitor radiation. However, Tawkon explains how their app works with this YouTube video:

The argument between radiation exposure in cell phones has been going back and forth for as long as the devices have been available. One group points to research to validate their claims, while the other group has their research as well. Unfortunately, there’s no long term research available to validate or refute either claim. CNet has a great report, providing information about what we do know concerning cell phone radiation.

Though they’ve been rejected, Tawkon isn’t giving up on the fight. They have a petition posted on the front page of their site, which let’s people email Apple to let them know they want the app.

Depending how you feel in regards to cell phone radiation will more than likely determine your stance in the Tawkon app dilemma. Was Jobs and Apple justified in turning down Tawkon, or does the developer have a valid monitoring app?

Whatever your opinion, there’s no denying the humor of Job’s short and to the point email response.

The two products they’ve announced are the C905a Cyber-shot camera phone and the W518a Walkman phone, both of which are coming to AT&T.

Feel free to vent your Rachael frustrations in our comments section.

Original Article: Sometime today Sony Ericsson will be announcing a few new products via their company Twitter and Facebook accounts. They sent out the following tweet yesterday informing their followers:

Now the question is, what will the product announcements be? Tell us what you think.

Browsing around Search.Twitter it seems that most Sony Ericsson fans are hoping the announcement will be the Rachael (XPERIA).

For those of you that may not have heard about Rachael it is an Android-powered smartphone. The phone features a Snapdragon processor, an 8-megapixel camera with auto focus, and 3D graphics capabilities. Sound interesting to anyone?

Below you can check out some renderings (via Boy Genius Report) and a video of the UI.

Under the proposal, Microsoft and Verizon would share ad revenue generated by cell-phone Web searches, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the talks. The Journal is a sister publication of MarketWatch.

Verizon would also be guaranteed payments of about $550 million to $650 million over five years – about twice what rival Google offered. In addition, Verizon could agree to use Microsoft’s mobile operating system in more of its phones, generating additional payments.

Verizon is apparently still in talks with Google, which, if history repeats itself, suggest there’s a possibility Google would make a higher bid, just to block Microsoft.

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Nielsen Mobile detailed the new report, which sees purchasing of goods and services via mobile phones on the rise. And guess which gender likes spending more via their mobiles. Wrong – it’s men. 4.9 million men vs 4.3 million woman indicated they have made a purchase via their phone.

In the US, of the 40 million active users of the mobile web, 5 million of them visited shopping and auction websites (e.g eBay) during April 2008 – That’s up 73 per cent from April 2007.

Nielsen’s report also highlighted an increasing willingness to make purchases via text messaging , with apparently 6.5 million users already utilizing sms based purchasing.

Mobile is definitely asserting itself as the next frontier for retailers and online businesses.

Just this weekend, i turned to good old Google Maps on my Blackberry to find a local "fish and chip" shop. The only thing missing from the experience was the ability to order online via my phone rather than having to call up (tip of the week for would-be restaurant entrepreneurs).

If your business is targeting local markets or is suited to low involvement online purchasing – then mobile is definitely increasing the relevance of search engine advertising to your company. It might even be worth exploring a mobile friendly version of your website. 9 million users in the US alone are ready to buy!