INRIX names top 10 worst traffic cities (and tells drivers how to avoid gridlock)

Traffic jam (epSos.de photo)

It’s getting easier to travel on the nation’s roadways, but traffic congestion is still eating up plenty of time for frustrated drivers in major cities like LA, San Francisco, New York and Seattle. A report out today from INRIX found that traffic congestion declined by 30 percent last year, with 70 of the top 100… Read More…

Sidecar: A mobile app that’s trying to reinvent the phone call

Rob Glaser

RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser, who helped usher in the era of online video and audio, now wants to reinvent the phone call as we know it. “Basically, if you think about the phone call, it has been the same thing for 50 years,” said Glaser, noting that the first preview of the touch-tone phone was… Read More…

Motorola rulings put Google and Microsoft on a collision course over Android

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Microsoft has so far been waging its patent battle against Android indirectly, striking deals and going to court with makers of Android devices, not challenging Google itself. But it’s getting harder and harder for the two companies to avoid a direct fight over the issue. Here’s why. Authorities in China this weekend gave Google the… Read More…

T-Mobile also adding 550 jobs, cushioning blow of cuts

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A day after announcing plans to cut 900 jobs as part of a restructuring, T-Mobile USA this afternoon issued a clarification to say that it will also be adding 550 jobs in other parts of its business — resulting in a net reduction of 350 positions overall. The company isn’t giving specifics about exactly where… Read More…

Microsoft stuck behind Samsung Bada in smartphone sales

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Microsoft is aiming to make Windows Phone a strong No. 3 in the smartphone market, behind Android and iPhone, but first it has a different rival to overcome: Samsung’s Bada smartphone operating system. Not to mention RIM and Symbian. The Redmond company remained in sixth place in smartphone operating system sales in the first quarter,… Read More…

Where ‘Where are you?’ is: The future of location and discovery

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“There’s a graveyard of geo experiments,” says Amber Case. She’s the CEO and co-founder of Geoloqi, a company that helps mobile developers integrate, track and measure their users’ location data, and she was a panelist at the Location & Discovery discussion at the Privacy Identity Information conference (pii) in Seattle. And she’s right. As smartphone market… Read More…

T-Mobile USA plans 900 job cuts as ‘rebuilding’ continues

Philipp Humm

Updated with details on job cuts. T-Mobile USA will be going through another round of job cuts as part of an ongoing restructuring following AT&T’s failed attempt to acquire the Bellevue-based company. A company representative says in a statement, “With these changes, some jobs will be eliminated, some outsourced and some created. In total, approximately… Read More…

Startup to bring cell phone charging stations to sports stadiums, airports, conferences

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At the Consumer Electronics Show last year, Seattle area entrepreneur Leigh Hunt struggled to keep his cell phone charged as he bounced between exhibits, talks and parties. Realizing that other people we’re likely encountering the same troubles at the week-long geek fest, Hunt decided to do something about it. The result of that frustration is… Read More…

Privacy: Facebook and Google baking it in, but will startups follow the recipe?

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High-profile privacy breaches have increasingly been making headlines, putting the issue further onto the agenda of the tech industry. But the message hasn’t necessarily reached those aspiring entrepreneurs who are collecting user data as they try to develop the next blockbuster app. That was one of the messages this morning at the Privacy Identity Innovation… Read More…

New technology turns Seattle fire trucks into mobile hotspots

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Firefighters rely on real-time communication when responding to emergencies, so having a robust wireless system could mean the difference between life and death. Working in conjunction with In Motion Technology, the City of Seattle Fire Department has rolled out a new onBoard Mobile Networking System that’s designed to improve response times to incidents. (The Seattle… Read More…