Could Using Your Gadgets in Mid-Air Really Bring Down the Plane?

Believe it or not, that’s what an industry study has found. According to the study, uncovered by ABC News, interference from electronics is suspected in 75 incidents from 2003 to 2009.

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IBM Survey Says Mobile Apps Will Dominate Enterprise

Consumers love tablet computers and smartphones and are finding novel uses for the many applications that run on them. But the devices are catching on in a significant way in the business world as well, according to a new survey from International Business Machines Corp., the company responsible for building and running much of the country’s enterprise computing systems.

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IPod to IPhone on the Cheap in China

Apple’s sluggishness in China has forced impatient Apple fans to get creative. Years before the iPhone officially hit the Chinese market, Apple fans purchased them from grey-market sellers. Some go overseas themselves to bring the devices back, and can pay just a little more than $10 to have them unlocked. Users without the necessary dual-currency credit cards have purchased iTunes gift cards at discounts online in order to buy iPhone apps, and enabled third-generation data services on their grey-market iPads by physically cutting SIM cards in half to fit the tablet’s smaller card slots.

Multiplicity: China Begins Cranking Out iPad Clones

With the iPad, Apple hopes to create a new category of device, one that, in the words of CEO Steve Jobs, is “more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone.” And though the iPad is unproven at market, some Chinese electronics manufacturers are betting that it will succeed in doing just that. And they’re cloning the hell out of the device.

The Mysterious GPhone Unveiled: A Slideshow History

Journey through a series of photos documenting the long march to the announcement of Google’s Nexus One phone. It has been, as you will see, a very long and winding road to the phone’s unveiling today in Silicon Valley.

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Almost Famous: Elemental Technologies' Sam Blackman

This week: We caught up with Sam Blackman, CEO of Elemental Technologies at the San Francisco NewTeeVee Live conference. Elemental Technologies hopes to become a major player in the future of online and over-the-air video through its high-performance encoding technology.

Kara Visits TEDMED (Featuring Synthetic Skin and Heart-Scanning iPhones!)

Can your cellphone check your blood sugar? What does a wireless BandAid do? Is my pill networked? Can a videogame cure cancer? Will a robot care for my mom? Can an iPhone save my life? And, of course, does synthetic skin feel gross? The answer to the last question is yes, but it is also pretty astonishing to touch, as noted in one of the many tech-heavy talks at TEDMED, the medical and health-care conference, which has returned after a five-year hiatus, to Hotel Coronado near San Diego.

Liveblogging Yahoo's Third-Quarter Conference Call: Bartz "Came Down With Something," and CFO Carries On (and On and On and On)

Uh-oh, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was expected to appear on the Internet giant’s third-quarter earnings call, but she apparently “came down with something,” according to CFO Tim Morse. BoomTown is sending over chicken soup right now, but let’s hope she gets her vaccinations tout de suite! Thus, no sassy quotes or cursing, but a very earnest Morse, who sounded like he was once a Boy Scout.

The Chips Are Up

Could the global semiconductor industry be heading for a much anticipated recovery? It’s starting to look that way. Chip sales rose in July for the fifth consecutive month on a month-to-month basis, according to the trade group, Semiconductor Industry Association. Which is not to say sales are robust; down 18.2 percent year-over-year, they’re abysmal, but they are showing continuing signs of recovery.

BillShrink's Pham Speaks About the T-Mobile Deal, the Econalypse and More!

Last week, BoomTown paid an economically-minded visit to the Redwood City, Calif., offices of BillShrink, a Silicon Valley start-up aimed at helping consumers find cheaper prices on gas, cellphones and plans and credit cards via a Web-based comparison and alert system. Launched about a year ago and armed with about $9 million in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners and Trinity Ventures, it has aims of moving into a range of other money-saving arenas too. But today, it got a major boost in its existing business by inking a deal to be part of a huge national advertising campaign by T-Mobile aimed at boosting price awareness among consumers, an apt message for these econalyptic times.

Dell Mulling SmartDumbphone?

Viral Video: Cellphone Popcorn Party