According to a new report by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, texting among American teenagers has exploded over the past years, with 14-to-17-year old girls averaging over 100 sent and received per day.

Overall, over 30 percent of all those surveyed sent 100 per day while 50 percent send over 50.

As of September 2009, 54 percent of teenagers sent at least one message daily, an increase from the 38 percent figure in Pew's data taken a year before.

Teenage boys only averaged 20 per day.

Says the report: "They are using [mobile phones] to share stories and photos. They are using them to entertain themselves when they are bored. They are using them to microcoordinate their schedules and face-to-face gather­ings. And some are using their phones to go online to browse the Web, to participate in social networks and check their e-mails."

On the other hand, the report goes into the "darker" aspects of the texting growth saying: "Teens are also using mobile phones to cheat on tests and to skirt rules at school and with their parents. Some are using their phones to send sexts, others are sleeping with buzzing phones under their pillows, and some are using their phones to place calls and text while driving."

The strong growth in texting is thanks to the increasing number of unlimited text subscriptions purchased.

Permalink | Comments

---

According to CVG, the Nintendo 3DS handheld will be released in October, a full six months earlier than previous reports.

The device will be unveiled at the E3 event, and CVG says "UK industry sources" have told them the handheld will hit store shelves in October, right before the holiday season.

All previous reports, including quotes from Nintendo themselves, had said only that the handheld would be launched before March of 2011.

Says one of the sources: "In my experience, you don't launch a product that early to Christmas unless you're confident in it - and going to spend a lot of money on it. We're reassured that Nintendo is going to give it some decent backing in Q4."

The 3DS, which has scant details so far, will give users a chance to enjoy "3D" software without need for glasses, and the system will be backward compatible for DS titles.

Nintendo also says the system will not just be a minor reiteration of the DS (like the DSi, and the XL) but instead a brand new console.

Permalink | Comments

---

A few of America's larger universities have banned the Apple iPad from their campuses, saying the tablet device causes problems with their wireless networks.

For example, Princeton University recently blocked 20 percent of the iPads on campus because of "malfunctions that can affect the entire school's computer system." The University says the iPad is the root of DHCP client malfunctions, meaning it causes interference for other devices on the school's network.

In another situation, George Washington University said: "Our current authentication system isn't supported by the iPhone or the iPad." That means the devices aren't banned, but cant log in to the network.

Princeton said it is actively working with Apple to solve the problem, GWU said it will likely not be fixed until next year.

On the other hand, rival Ivy League school Cornell says they have about 80 iPad's connected to their network, with no problems whatsoever.

The news comes after the entire country of Israel decided to ban the device, citing a conflict in Wi-Fi standards used.

Permalink | Comments

---

Intrepidus Group, a firm specializing in security and risk, has found an exploit for Palm WebOS firmware version 1.3.5, with the researchers sending a specially formatted SMS message that contains malicious HTML used to execute commands.

Says the group: "The security team was able to send SMS messages that would automatically open webpages and dial numbers to shut off the handsets radio . They say the reason the attacks are possible is because the OS is essentially a web browser written in javascript and HTML."

It is important to note that the exploit is for 1.3.5, and the newly released 1.4 fixes the vulnerabilities, although not all carriers have offered the new firmware OTA.

Palm has been struggling, with the company putting itself up for sale, with the company's software chief leaving, and retailers slashing prices just to get the phones off the shelves.

Permalink | Comments

---

Comcast has denied today that is has any connection to RightNetwork, a start-up venture that will launch in the Republican states and will "reflect and reinforce their perspective and worldview."

The large ISP had been identified as a key partner, and The Huffington Post went as far to call the new venture "Tea Party TV," alluding to the extremist anti-tax protesters.

Comcast vehemently denies: "The blog reports that Comcast is an investor in, or partner of the RightNetwork are inaccurate. We have no partnership with this venture and have no plans to launch or distribute the network," says Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury.

Khoury does admit that they met with RightNetwork reps.

RightNetwork has since taken down the quote that they have partnered with Comcast, but the independently owned media company will debut sometime in 2010.

You can check some trailers of the programming here: http://rightnetwork.com/

Permalink | Comments

---

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been responding to customer emails a lot lately, but his latest email has made the headlines, probably because it involves pornography.

When asked by customer Matthew Browning about Apple's role in being gatekeepers, Jobs responded: "We do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone."

This is the second time in the last month that Jobs has made a public connection between rival operating system Android and porn. At a Q&A after the unveiling of OS 4.0, Jobs had said: "You know, there's a porn store for Android. You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That's a place we don't want to go – so we're not going to go there."

Apple and Google are just in the beginning stages of what should end up being the biggest rivalry in the smartphone market, and it seems for now Apple is trying to make some subtle slights at Android.

Here is the email back-and-forth, through TechCrunch:

Permalink | Comments

---

Yesterday, Gizmodo broke what promises to be the most popular story of the next few weeks, revealing what they believe to be a prototype of Apple's upcoming "iPhone HD/4G," the fourth generation model of the extremely popular smartphone.

Today, Apple has made it abundantly clear that they want the phone back, with Gizmodo's editorial director Brian Lam saying that they have received an official letter.

The phone was found on the floor in a bar in Redwood City, with a case that camouflaged it to look like a current generation iPhone 3GS, and Gizmodo says they paid the guy who found it $5000 for the device. The prototype belonged to Apple software engineer Gray Powell. By the morning, the phone had been wiped using the MobileMe remote service.

Whether or not Apple is mad or not, Gizmodo's $5000 investment has brought them over 6 million page views in under 30 hours, a massive spike even for the largest of sites.

For the full story and pictures of the device please check here: Gizmodo reveals upcoming iPhone model

Here is the letter:

Permalink | Comments

---

Ubisoft has announced this week that it plans to kill off paper manuals for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, "going green" if you will, in an effort that will save up to 2300 trees in the next year.

The publisher will eliminate about six million paper manuals from video game packaging.

"Ubisoft is often recognized for making great games, but it's a special privilege to be the industry leader at saving trees," notes North American president of Ubisoft Laurent Detoc. "Introducing in-game digital manuals is just the latest example of Ubisoft's ongoing commitment to being a more environmentally conscious company."

Instead of the paper manuals, the company will include digitized manuals on the game discs. Last month, Ubisoft switched to in-game digital manuals for PC games.

"We are taking steps to become an industry leader in environmentally conscious packaging," adds Ubisoft vice president of operations Rich Kubiszewski. "This obviously has impacts to the environment and the consumer, both positive. No more losing the manual, and we can provide more robust content."

The first game to ship with the "Eco-Tech" packaging will be "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction," set for release later this month.

Permalink | Comments

---

Microsoft has announced today that Xbox 360 sales have surpassed one million in Australia and New Zealand.

"Reaching the one million console milestone is a great achievement and one that puts us in a great position for the coming year," added Frazer Scott, acting marketing director of entertainment and devices for Microsoft New Zealand. "Since 2006, we've taken the lead in the innovation space and driven the growth in online entertainment. Our online community, Xbox Live, is one of the largest online communities in the ANZ region with more than 525,000 subscribers. We also offer services such as Facebook and Twitter on Xbox Live and movies streamed in HD direct to your television, which really sets us apart from our competition."

As a way to celebrate the milestone, GI.biz says the company will be auctioning off celebrity-designed 360 units, as a way to aid the David Peachey Foundation, named after the former professional rugby player.

A few of the airbrushed units are designed by Russell Crowe, Jennifer Hawkins, Hugh Jackman and Kelly Rowland.

The Xbox 360 recently hit 1 million sales in Japan as well, with about 40 million units sold worldwide.

Permalink | Comments

---