Mobile calls and texts made on any GSM network can be eavesdropped upon using four cheap phones and open source software, say security researchers. … more

Breaking a promise is not illegal; neither is violating the trust of a loved one — at least in the normal, everyday ways that we lie and cheat one another in our private lives. And this is certainly a good thing: the law is not intended to enforce morality but to provide for the public good, and to use the law to regulate, moderate, and enforce good faith and respect in our personal matters would certainly make our lives worse, even if it did provide legal remedy against lying, cheating jerks. … more

Personal Technology columnist Walt Mossberg takes a look at the challenges and opportunities facing some of the major players in consumer technology in 2011. … more

Keeping a smartphone fully powered could soon be easier as manufacturers back common standards for chargers. … more

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion has hit back at reports that it is ready to allow Indian authorities access to customers’ highly-secure corporate emails. … more

Without definitive laws defining data privacy rights, Apple and other companies involved in developing mobile applications are likely to be targeted by consumers turning to the courts for protection. … more

A powerful virus targeting smart phones in China running Google Inc’s Android operating system may represent the most sophisticated bug to target mobile devices to date, security researchers said on Thursday. … more

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 21% of likely U.S. Voters want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the Internet as it does radio and television. Fifty-four percent (54%) are opposed to such regulation, and 25% are not sure. … more

Chinese regulators are clamping down on Internet phone services that aren’t provided by the country’s two state-owned telecommunications companies, according to state media, a move that could make services like Skype SA unavailable in the world’s most populous country. … more

Google’s Android Market now has more than 200,000 apps, according to the third-party app tracking service AndroLib. This marks another big milestone in the breakneck race to the top with Apple’s App Store but Google has not confirmed this achievement yet. … more