Ever since mobile electronics became a reality the FAA has banned passengers from utilizing these devices during critical times, such as takeoff and landing. Fortunately today the FAA officially accepted a new set of policies that will essentially allow passengers to leave their electronic devices on during the entire flight. This is great news for anyone that flies regularly because in many cases electronics like a phone or tablet are a great way to stay entertained or relaxed on a flight.

The FAA announced a few months ago that they were going to begin considering the possibility of allowing electronics and today they finally announced that it is going to become reality. It will still take time for airlines to implement the new rules but it is definitely a step in the right direction. As a whole the response has been overwhelmingly positive for this change which is definitely good news. The FAA is hoping to have their policy implemented by the end of the year at the latest, but each airline will still be able to decide whether or not to allow electronics based on their own policies. It is also important to note that cell phone calls will still not be permitted during a flight, at any time.

This week Google announced a new feature for Android that will bring relief to millions of Android users, the feature is essentially a way to locate lost or stole phones and it is about time that Google got this set up. For years now Apple has had a “find your iPhone” service that allowed users to quickly and easily locate their device, Google’s service is expected to be very similar to Apple’s.

Essentially the idea is simple, by registering your Android device you will be able to remotely access it for number of functions. First and foremost it will be possible to turn on GPS to help locate the phone. Google has also made it clear that they’re going to make it possible for users to completely wipe all personal data remotely, that way if they suspect the phone has been stolen it will only take a few clicks to remove any sensitive information.

All of this is absolutely great news for anyone with an Android phone because Google is planning to support basically all versions of Android. The new feature is expected to become publicly available in the coming weeks and odds are it will be a huge hit with everyone.

Android OS is available on thousands of different phones around the world. Ranging anywhere from the ultra cheap to the incredibly expensive they do in fact come in almost any shape or size. Fortunately now Boeing is going to step up and fill a void that nobody really knew about, the ultra secure smartphone world.

Boeing, the company known for defense products and aircraft, is now stepping up to create the most secure Android phone on the market. According to Boeing the phone should be available in the next 6 months, but don’t be surprised if you never see it on shelves. As with any secure device, it will only be available to certain companies or users and it will be very expensive. Boeing is however hoping to make this the most inexpensive phone in the secure world which shouldn’t be too difficult since current options cost around $10,000.

The good news is that this will in fact bring security to the smartphone world. Security has been lacking for quite some time and if this development works as planned the technology will eventually trickle down to consumer grade phones. Security has been lacking in Android phones for quite some time so this is a much needed improvement for many users. It is unclear when or where this technology will be implemented for average users but the fact that it is becoming a very real possibility is absolutely amazing news.

Technology has been both a blessing and a problem for a number of years now. As technology became more and more important to everyone’s lives it also became somewhat of a privacy concern and over the past few months it has become increasingly clear just how much of a privacy concern mobile technology poses. The good news is that privacy online and mobile privacy are both soon to become hot items politically so we should see some improvement in a number of areas.

Various states and cities around the United States have already begun pushing for increased privacy regulations which would protect users and as more and more areas begin to push for these rules the movement will simply gain momentum. This is great news because it means the era of advertisers and search engines selling user data will likely be coming to an end. Cell phones currently collect thousands of pieces of information daily and through a variety of sources this information is used by advertisers, under newly proposed privacy laws this would be banned and legally impossible. Obviously the procedures needed to actually enforce this type of law are somewhat complicated and very difficult but if any sort of significant privacy law such as this begins to spread we will likely begin to see a nationwide movement towards increased privacy in nearly every sector of the technology market and that is truly good news for anyone and everyone connected to the internet.

Google has been waiting for approval on their attempted buyout of Motorola’s mobile division for a few months now and today we have received word that it has officially been approved. This is absolutely great news because it will likely bring all sorts of technical advancements to the industry and many analysts feel it will even help cut the price down in many ways.

This merger is going to be huge for the industry given the fact that it involves two of the largest companies in their respective markets. Google and Motorola Mobile have been working together on Android devices for quite some time so it only makes sense that they would merge into a single company at some point. Obviously we don’t know when the merger will be finalized or when Motorola Mobile and Google will begin working together but it is great news that they have in fact received the official approval.

Google has publicly announced how happy they are that the merger was approved, and depending on how things work out this may also benefit other major companies producing Android phone as well as Motorola. Keep an eye out for Google’s big plans in the future as it will likely affect the consumer market in a major way and if things go how Google wants it will bring all sorts of great news to consumers all around the world. Analysts are hopeful that Google and Motorola will begin working together as soon as possible now that it has been approved.

Texting while driving and even talking on the phone while driving have been proven to be very dangerous, despite all of the science behind it millions of people continue to do it every single day. Fortunately today the National Transportation Safety Bureau stepped up and made it clear where they stand by announcing that they hope to find a way to ban cell phones entirely while driving.

This would be a major step in the right direction according to analysts because currently laws are scattered and random; certain states and cities have outlawed cell phones or texting but there is no standard currently. Under the NTSB’s proposed plan using a cell phone would be illegal all across the country while driving.

The only drawback to the announcement is that the NTSB does not actually have the ability to make this happen. With the NTSB’s advice there will surely be plenty of lawmakers trying to create a national bill to prevent cell phone use while driving but unless a decent plan is agreed upon it will be quite a while before texting and using a cell phone is illegal while driving all across the country. Still, for now it is simply good news that someone in the government is finally beginning the process to outlaw cell phones while driving in order to save thousands of lives each and every year; many analysts are hopeful that a law will be in effect sometime in the next year as well.

Tech Genius Working to Bring Internet to the Poor

Umar Saif received a very coveted award this week from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his groundbreaking project to bring internet access to those who cannot otherwise afford it. Saif’s project is centered primarily around poor families in his home country of Pakistan where many people are struggling to afford food; let alone a computer and internet access. Saif says that he hopes his revolutionary project will unite the people with the one technology they all have; cell phones.

Like so many revolutionary projects Saif says he got the idea following the earthquake disaster in Pakistan in 2005; ever since then he has been working on this internet style communication system for cell phones all around the world. The idea may not have brought full internet to the people of the region but he says it will likely be able to save thousands of lives by connecting everyone to a unified source of information.

The project is remarkably simple as well; which is part of why he received the away from MIT. Saif’s project is simply a computerized system that allows users to join the network using a cell phone number; should an emergency or other major issue break the computer will be able to easily and quickly communicate important information to anyone who has joined the cell phone social network. The best part is that the entire system works with even the oldest and most out of date phones so Saif hopes that everyone will eventually be able to benefit from this potentially life saving device.

Study Confirms Cellphones Are Not A Cancer Risk

For quite some time doctors and medical officials have believed that the radiation from cell phones would in some way cause cancer in children and young adults as the use of cell phones became more widespread. Fortunately today the most advanced and in depth study yet has confirmed that cell phones are in fact no risk to children’s health.

Previous medical studies have focused almost entirely on the affect cell phones have on adults in terms of radiation, this is the first extensive study that focused on children. The results were not incredibly shocking to some though it is still good news to know that the world is safe from a once unknown threat.

According to the European research team cell phone usage in children and teenagers showed absolutely no link to any development of cancer in the brain. This is once again proof, according to the researchers, that while cell phones do emit a small amount of radiation they are not causing cancer in any way. Of course multiple follow up tests are scheduled in order to confirm with absolute certainty the results of this test but for now medical officials are happy to report that children of the world are safe when using cell phones. Even more important is the fact that the study showed that the amount of usage is not important as well as prolonged use did not show any increase or decrease in results as far as the research was concerned.

FDA Proposing Medical App Regulation

Since the explosion of smartphones and other technological devices the number of medical themed or medicine based apps available has grown significantly. These medical apps vary greatly in what they do, say, or recommend but today the FDA announced that they will begin looking into regulations for these in some way or another.

The FDA is planning to impose these regulations for two main reasons; first of all the FDA wants to limit or prevent false information from being spread to general consumers. More importantly the FDA wants to begin regulating how and when medical apps can be used by healthcare officials when treating or dealing with patients. This is a big step because currently some doctors are using a variety of smartphone or tablet apps without any real regulation.

Current regulations on the use of apps are pretty much nonexistent so most analysts say that adding some regulations is a great idea. No exact word on how restrictive the regulations will be and it will likely be quite some time before the FDA has anything concrete put in place as well. A final step that the FDA is hoping to include is the implementation of regulations on add on hardware for smartphone and tablet devices that will allow them to be used as precise medical instruments. The hardware is already in the works by many companies so adding some actual regulations should help speed the process and eventually help revolutionize the way technology in healthcare works.

Driving While Distracted Laws Successful

In the past year many cities, counties, and states have begun implementing and enforcing laws which make it illegal to talk on the phone while driving or text while driving. A report released today indicates that not only are these laws effectively reducing the number of accidents, they are also successfully reducing the number of people who participate in these distracting habits while driving.

The report indicates that in many areas the number of people talking on the phone while driving dropped as much as 70% while the number of people that text while driving dropped close to 80% or more. Both of these statistics are surprising and yet at the same time they are great news for lawmakers and the public as a whole.

Prior to many of these distraction bans a significant amount of car accidents were blamed solely on these distractions. Today however there has been a dramatically large decrease in accidents caused by cell phone distractions which means the driving while distracted laws are clearly successful when it comes to reducing accidents.

Following in the wake of successful laws many analysts believe that there will likely be a jump in the number of laws related to this sort of incident in the coming year. Many states were hesitant to issue cell phone bans due to the fact that there were no proven results but this study has all but confirmed that banning the use of cell phones while driving does effectively increase safety.