Today at BoingBoing, Maggie Koerth-Baker has a fascinating Q&A with communications engineer and entrepreneur Brough Turner about how mobile-phone networks respond to sudden spikes in call volume, as occurred April 15 in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. Mobile phones are everywhere, but beyond spotting the odd cell tower here and there, few of [...]

When Samsung hinted at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a few months ago that there is more to the world of smartphones and tablets than Apple’s iOS, it was also referring to Google’s Android operating system, which runs on Samsung’s most popular devices. Now, just days after introducing its newest marquee Android smartphone—the Galaxy S4—Samsung [...]

LAS VEGAS—The emergence of mobile devices and the apps that make them tick has opened opportunities for entrepreneurs not seen since the height of the Internet bubble nearly 15 years ago. A panel discussion here on Tuesday at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) spotlighted four startups—i.am+, Bump Technologies, ZocDoc and Rockmelt—banking on the [...]

SAN ANTONIO, Texas—So much of our information from—and interaction with—the world is now mediated by computers, cell phones and tablets that health experts have been practically running themselves ragged trying to find ways to use these conduits to help people make healthier choices. Great success stories have come out of parts of the developing world, [...]

Most people will say they’re good drivers when asked. But that confidence doesn’t keep them from wanting new automobiles loaded with the latest in driver-assist technology for avoiding accidents. Ford Motor Company presented these findings Tuesday at a press conference to talk up the 2013 Fusion mid-size sedan and its abundance of new driver-assist features. [...]

AUSTIN, Texas—Just two companies—Verizon Wireless and AT&T—control 60 percent of the U.S. wireless market. Four companies control 90 percent. A thriving marketplace this is not. And while the lack of competition partly explains why cell phone service in the U.S. is slower, less reliable and more expensive than in other developed countries, a perhaps more [...]

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and other instant communication platforms have helped to fuel riots and find missing persons this week in some major UK cities. But these events are only the most recent example of how new technology has greased the wheels of social change.   From the horseback ride of Paul Revere—and for millennia before—people [...]

MIAMI—Before a government reports a disease outbreak, cases must usually be counted, verified and assessed—a process that can take days, weeks or months. This delay creates a tension, however, as faster responses are the best hope for keeping a local outbreak from becoming an epidemic or even a pandemic. Overall, bureaucratic diligence and even political [...]