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The World Trade Organization has upheld a ruling that China violated trade rules with restrictions on the export of “rare earths,” the minerals used in mobile phones, hybrid cars and other high-tech products. […] China has about one-third of global deposits of rare earths but accounts for more than 90 percent of production. In 2009, it alarmed foreign companies by limiting rare earth exports in an attempt to boost its domestic manufacturing base. …

Have you ever been frustrated with using your GPS system on your phone or in your car and found that the accuracy was often a block or more off? Or worse, in rural areas the streets may not even be shown at all. It might surprise you to learn that the 911 tracking system used by first responders to find people who are in the midst of a dire emergency may be even more inaccurate. Attempts to improve the 911 system to ensure that people needing emergency attention from police, fire or other first responders can be located quickly are...

A bill to permit the practice of "unlocking" a cell phone--meaning a consumer could use the same phone on different carriers--was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama. The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act passed with wide bipartisan support and was sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) in the House and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in the Senate. Unlocking a phone without the wireless carrier's permission was legal in the U.S. until a 2012 decision by the U.S. Copyright Office. That decision resulted in a grassroots campaign...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday filed a complaint alleging that T-Mobile US failed to remove unauthorized charges on its customers’ phone bills. The charges stem from text-message scams that send content like celebrity gossip to mobile devices. According to the complaint, T-Mobile received 35% to 40% of the total amount charged to users for the subscription, which costs $9.99 a month. T-Mobile continued to bill customers for those services years after becoming aware of the fraudulent charges, the FTC said. The nation’s fourth-largest wireless carrier received a high number of consumer complaints as early as 2012. In a...

In a rare unanimous Supreme Court decision yesterday, all nine Justices agreed that, yep, searching your phone without a warrant is indeed illegal. So if a police officer ever does try to dig through your digital dirt unlawfully, this is what you need to do. The often controversial Chief Justice John Roberts summed the whole thing up with a few delightfully biting lines in the court's decision:

Looking to get Android cell phone on T-Mobile, maybe Google Nexus 5. Any thoughts about T-Mobile network reliability or Nexus 5? Thanks.

Can cops simply take your cell phone and browse through it to their hearts’ content after they arrest you? Today, in Riley v. California, a unanimous Supreme Court answered that question with a resounding “no.” It’s not only a victory for digital privacy, but an example of the kind of judicial engagement that we desperately need to protect our liberties from unreasonable government interference. In Riley, the Court addressed the question of whether the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement applies to cell phone searches. In two separate cases, individuals were arrested and searched by police. The police took their cell phones...

(Regarding Cellphones) The Supreme Court has handed down a unanimous decision in Riley v. California, and it's good news for digital privacy advocates. The Court decided that once someone is arrested, the police may not search the person's phone without a warrant. The ruling stated that "the term 'cell phone' is often misleading in shorthand; many of these devices are in fact miniature computers that also happen to have the capacity to be used as a telephone. They could just as easily be called cameras, video players, rolodexes, calendars, tape recorders, libraries, diaries, albums, televisions, maps, or newspapers." Before just...

<p>In a major statement on privacy rights in the digital age, the Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled that the police need warrants to search the cellphones of people they arrest.</p> <p>Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the court, said the vast amount of data contained on modern cellphones must be protected from routine inspection.</p>

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that police cannot go snooping through people’s cell phones without a warrant, in a unanimous decision that amounts to a major statement in favor of privacy rights. Police agencies had argued that searching through the data on cell phones was no different than asking someone to turn out his pockets, but the justices rejected that, saying a cell phone is more fundamental. The ruling amounts to a 21st century update to legal understanding of privacy rights. “The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the...

http://live.scotusblog.com/Event/Live_Blog_of_opinions__June_25_2014

US pushing local police departments to keep quiet on cell-phone surveillance technology. ... One well-known type of this surveillance equipment is known as a Stingray, an innovative way for law enforcement to track cellphones used by suspects and gather evidence. The equipment tricks cellphones into identifying some of their owners' account information, like a unique subscriber number, and transmitting data to police as if it were a phone company's tower. That allows police to obtain cellphone information without having to ask for help from service providers, such as Verizon or AT&T, and can locate a phone without the user even...

Well, this is a bombshell. The terrorists who attacked the U.S. consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 used cell phones, seized from State Department personnel during the attacks, and U.S. spy agencies overheard them contacting more senior terrorist leaders to report on the success of the operation, multiple sources confirmed to Fox News. The disclosure is important because it adds to the body of evidence establishing that senior U.S. officials in the Obama administration knew early on that Benghazi was a terrorist attack, and not a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islam video that had gone awry,...

The terrorists who attacked the U.S. consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 used cell phones, seized from State Department personnel during the attacks, and U.S. spy agencies overheard them contacting more senior terrorist leaders to report on the success of the operation, multiple sources confirmed to Fox News. The disclosure is important because it adds to the body of evidence establishing that senior U.S. officials in the Obama administration knew early on that Benghazi was a terrorist attack, and not a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islam video that had gone awry, as the administration claimed for...

A suspected burglar was arrested after a San Ramon woman used an app to track her stolen phone and located the suspect as he was heading to her house, police said Wednesday. Cheryl Hurd reports. A suspected burglar was arrested after a San Ramon woman used an app to track her stolen phone and located the suspect as he was heading to her house, police said Wednesday. Police said the woman returned to her parked car near a walking trail in West Contra Costa County on Sunday afternoon to find that her purse, cellphone, wallet and information identifying her home...

WASHINGTON — Confronting a right-to-privacy question in the new world of smartphones, the Supreme Court justices sounded closely split Tuesday on whether police officers should be free to search through the phone of any person who is arrested. Justice Elena Kagan, the newest and youngest member of the high court, urged her colleagues to insist on protecting privacy. “People carry their entire lives on their cellphone,” she said during the argument involving a San Diego case. If there are no limits, a police officer could stop a motorist for not having seat belt buckled and download a huge amount of...

So named 'Stingray', because, well, it is a sting.

I have found the issue that can bring America together. Republicans and Democrats, urban hipsters and country folk, corporate scions and infrequent fliers -- they all seem to agree: The federal government must not allow mobile phone use on planes. If the Federal Communications Commission allows airlines with properly equipped planes to open the cellphone gates on commercial flights, even Washington agrees there will be revolts in the friendly skies. On Tuesday, by a bipartisan voice vote, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a bill, the Prohibiting In-Flight Voice Communications on Mobile Wireless Devices Act, to the House floor....

TAIPEI— Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. 2317.TW -0.12% , which assembles gadgets for Apple Inc. AAPL -1.82% and other global technology firms, is evaluating a plan to build an advanced display manufacturing plant in the U.S., its chairman said. Terry Gou, speaking to reporters at the company's 40th anniversary gathering on Sunday, said Hon Hai, also known by the trade name Foxconn, plans to relocate capital-intensive and high-tech manufacturing to the U.S., its largest market....

What the net-neut obsessives refuse to recognize is that anticompetitive intent isn't worth worrying about if an anticompetitive result isn't possible. If AT&T were "double-dipping," or charging sender and recipient for the same data, as some allege, its rivals would quickly copy its innovation and compete away any excess revenues. If AT&T were to degrade websites that don't pay up, its rivals would pounce and steal AT&T's dissatisfied customers.