When it looks like your phone is about to run out of battery, you actually have plenty of juice to spare. The Voltmaker is a device that allows you to make use of that reserve energy in order to charge your phone — all with the flick of a wrist.

A hidden rod that is normally secured to the body using a magnet can be released using a spring-loaded mechanism. Once you release it, you can spin the rod by shaking the device like a rattle — a movement that allows your smartphone to harvest kinetic energy.

By keeping up your enthusiastic rattling for a few minutes, it’s possible to generate enough power to make a quick phone call, play a couple of songs or light the way using an LED torch attachment that fits into the USB port at the opposite end. Read more…

Read More »

Recent headlines about PRISM, the U.S. government program that allows security officials to spy on people's Internet activity, confirm what conspiracy theorists have long been foretelling: Big Brother is watching.

But is the government the only entity keeping tabs on what you search for, watch and discuss with friends? The truth is, there are others out there — businesses, advertisers, scammers — hoping to line their pockets by collecting your personal data.

And they have a variety of tools at their disposal to gather the information they need — tools you might even have with you right now. That's right: Everything from the smartphone in your pocket to the television in your bedroom can potentially be used to spy on you.

Here are some ordinary gadgets with serious spy potential. Read more…

Read More »

Samsung's stock price dropped 6% on Friday, erasing $12 billion in marketing value as investors fretted about the company's smartphone strategy.

In particular, Samsung's decision to offer stripped-down versions of its Galaxy S4 worried analysts and investors who think the move may eviscerate profit margins. Sales of the S4, initially Samsung's fastest-selling smartphone, have also fallen off since the device's introduction in April.

"Sales of high-end handsets are lagging behind expectations, while low- to mid-end handsets are selling briskly worldwide," Kim Young-chan, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp., told Reuters. "As the portion of low- to mid-range handsets is expected to increase in Samsung's overall mobile phone business, this has also sparked concerns about thinning margins and lower growth."

J.P. Morgan analyst J.J. Park also told The Wall Street Journal that third-quarter sales for the S4 would likely "disappoint," and that "supply chain checks show monthly orders have been cut 20%-30% to 7 to 8 million units (from 10 million) starting July."

Another analyst, Kim Hyun-yong, at E*trade Securities, told the Journal that since Apple is expected to announce a trade-in program for older phones and a new cheaper iPhone, "overall growth prospects for (Samsung's) smartphone business have dimmed."

Samsung's stock price finished trading on Friday in Seoul at its lowest level in four months.

Image via June Yeon-Je/Getty Images

Read More »

Last week, Facebook introduced a "Share" button on its mobile site and apps.

At long last, smartphone and tablet users can post links from their News Feed directly to their own pages with the touch of a button. It's taken the social media giant years to take this step and move mobile closer to the desktop Facebook experience. If you're (understandably) excited to start sharing but aren't sure exactly how, check out this step-by-step guide. Read more…

Read More »

A friend of mine, Sam, recently listed his Nokia Lumia phone for sale online. After making arrangements to meet a buyer, he went to the AT&T store to have them wipe his phone of personal data. Unfortunately, the process killed his phone. He let the buyer know, who then, apparently angered by the cancelled deal, began sending weird texts to Sam's new iPhone.

How could Sam have avoided the hassle? He could have used Burner, an app that lets people create disposable numbers that they can give out in place of their real number. Burner released an app for Android phones and a major update for iPhone.

The software takes the place of burner phones, cheap mobiles that can be picked up at a local convenience store with no identifying account information associated with them. Burner offers similar anonymity without the need for another phone. Instead of tossing the phone, you delete the phone number the app generated.

Disposable numbers aren't only for drug dealers — just ask Sam. In fact, anonymous numbers come in handy for a variety of activities, such as getting quotes on a service when you don't want follow-up calls, first dates when you're really not sure if there will be a second one and, as in Sam's case, whenever you sell something online. Read more…

Read More »

Someone in the U.S. loses their cellphone every 3.5 seconds, which adds up to more than $30 billion in losses each year. Not to mention the losses associated with mobile security theft, password hacks and so on.

To help consumers protect mobile devices and ward off security threats, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is stepping in with a new tool called the "Smartphone Security Checker." The checker — which is in partnership with organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, Sophos and Lookout — includes tips for Android, iOS, Windows and BlackBerry users on setting passwords, backing up data, wiping data on an old phone and how to avoid stolen devices. Read more…

Read More »

Simon Tian says he has in-hand a working prototype of something nearly unprecedented in consumer electronics: a smartphone the size of a watch. Not just a smart watch, but an actual, fully-featured smartphone running Google’s Android software that straps onto your wrist. Along with his team of nine at the Montreal, Quebec-based startup Neptune, he’ll be unveiling it in mid-April. Tian is only 18 years old—the founder and youngest member of Neptune.

Apple, meanwhile, is rumored to be working on a smartwatch that could act as an accessory to the iPhone, and may already have a team of 100 product designers working on prototypes of its own in its Cupertino, California headquarters. But unless Apple is going to surprise the world by unveiling an “iWatch” at an event anticipated this spring, Neptune is going to beat it to the punch.

Whenever Apple does get around to releasing an iWatch, it will face many of the same design, engineering and manufacturing hurdles that Neptune is currently wrestling with. That makes Neptune both an ambitious startup with an intriguing story of its own and a preview of the smartphone watch future that’s just over the horizon.

Neptune’s founder is an interesting story unto himself. Typically in Quebec, students go to a year of pre-college preparation in lieu of their final year of high school. It was during his time at this “college” that Tian started dreaming of skipping the rest of his education and starting a business instead. By May of 2012 he had founded a company, and operations commenced that October. So far, his funding has come entirely from family and friends.  Read more…

Read More »