Most of us probably don’t give much thought to the digital encryption systems that keep our personal information, well, personal. If you do, you probably know more about it than I do. That said, the news that encryption keys can be stolen from smartphones by would-be nefarious hackers using only a nearby AM radio sets off all sorts of alarm bells in my head. Fortunately, no one has fallen victim to this technique, and the exploit’s discoverers at Cryptography Research hope to keep it that way.

Hey, remember that bearded dragon what was surprisingly good at playing the game Ant Crusher? Well, it turns out that bearded dragons are not the only insectavores with a penchant for the game. A new video, featuring an African bullfrog, shows that amphibians can get a taste of that sweet, sweet digital ant action. Only it might do well to keep your fingers out of their line of fire. Just a suggestion.

See the video, after the break

Nielsen’s third quarter survey of mobile users reveals that a whole load of people are adopting smartphones. Not too shabby a number, 43 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers have a smartphone. Though the number is a minority, it is only eight percent away from being the majority, which is an impressive feat considering smartphones can be both complicated and are fairly expensive. As one may expect, the majority of the younger mobile market (under the age of 44) owns a smartphone, with 62 percent of smartphone owners being aged 25 to 34. On top of that, the smartphone penetration rate for those aged 18 to 24 and 35 to 44 is 54 percent. As for the age groups younger and older, 40 percent of those aged 12 to 17 have a smartphone, while 40 percent of those aged 45 to 54 have one as well. Only 30 percent of those aged 55 to 64 have a smartphone, though the percent of ownership for that age group is quickly rising, and is the second fastest-growing smartphone penetration age group.

Android is the most widespread smartphone platform, holding 43 percent of the U.S. market, while Apple holds 28 percent.

Cell phones have changed college life for sure. I mean, back in the day, people used to actually have hardwired phones in their dorms and stuff. Right? I don’t even know. I’m not that old. In any event, there’s no arguing that among people who are using their phones to the fullest extent possible, college kids are right up there. But what exactly are the using them for? This infographic from HackCollege jumps right into that.

As it turns out, a whopping 94% of college students are texting everyday, 97% of those with smartphones are using them for social networking and 88% regularly text in class. Of course, there are some exceptions to these rules. The one I find the most confusing is that apparently only 75% of college students sleep with their phones next to them. How is that not 100%? Where else would you keep a phone at night? Does anyone actually still use dedicated alarm clocks? I guess so, but I find that pretty hard to believe.

Full infographic after the jump.

Motorola announced the relaunch of the Razr brand, everyone’s first ridiculously (at the time) thin mobile phone, except now, it’ll be aligned with the current trend in phone gadgetry and will be what Motorola is touting as the world’s thinnest 4G smartphone. So, instead of those slick buttons the old flip Razr had, it’ll have a slick screen.

The Droid Razr is 7.1mm thick, sitting in a chassis with a stainless steel core, protected from behind with a woven kevlar back. The Razr sports a Super AMOLED 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass screen, a type of glass that we found out from a drop test is actually pretty sturdy. Sitting between the screen and woven kevlar back is a 1.2GHz processor along with 1 GB of RAM, double the RAM found in the iPhone 4S. Supposedly, the battery will deliver 12 and a half hours of talk time and around 9 hours of video playback, but we all know not to believe any kind of announced battery numbers for any device unless they’re unimpressive. The phone will feature an 8 megapixel camera on the rear capable of taking 1080p high-def video, while also sporting an HD camera on the front.

One of the biggest problems with touchscreen devices — and mobile devices in general — is that you keep them in your pocket, but they’re constantly alerting you to things that require you to take them out of your pocket. I know, I know, first world problems. Still, if someone could just create a mechanism by which one could interact with their touchscreen device via a series of simple gestures through the fabric of one’s pants or jacket, that’d be pretty cool, right? Microsoft is working on it.

The PocketTouch uses a custom sensor placed on the back of a smartphone that can detect multitouch strokes through a variety of fabrics. In order to enable the touch function, the user first uses an unlock swipe which serves not only to unlock the PocketTouch functionality but also to tell the phone which way is up, so that it doesn’t have to be sitting in your pocket in any particular way.

Starting this past Thursday, unlimited data plan users on the Verizon network who use huge amounts of data will see their speeds dropping. The new policy will only affect those people on 3G smartphones with an unlimited data plan, and only those who are within the top 5% of data consumers while they move through areas of data congestion. The company’s 4G LTE service will not be included in the data restriction plan.

In their statement, Verizon apparently claims that this policy is not really throttling. The company points out that other data providers, namely AT&T, restrict connection speeds for an entire billing cycle. Verizon, on the other hand, says it uses a “smart” approach by only restricting speeds when heavy data users are in particularly congested zones.

High-volume users looking to avoid speed reductions are advised by Verizon to switch to a 4G LTE plan, use WiFi more often, or opt out of the unlimited data plans and switch to a tiered plan. Users who fall into the top data consumption category and are included in the speed reduction plan will be informed via their monthly bill, though it’s likely that they’ll notice on their own.

(Verizon via DroidLife)

We’re getting to the point where smartphones can do everything PCs do and more. They play and store media, let us read emails, surf the web, take pictures, so why not give them another challenge and let them help us drive our cars? A new technology, SignalGuru, is aiming to do just that and the results are looking promising, according to researchers from MIT and Princeton.

The main thing SignalGuru tries to do is help you pace yourself so that you can time traffic lights perfectly, just like you do out of sheer luck every now and again. SignalGuru, through the use of a smartphone’s camera, GPS and traffic signal data, might be able to make this an everyday occurrence by anticipating when a dumb (fixed interval) light will change with a margin of error around two-thirds of a second and when a smart (varies based on traffic flow) light will change with a margin of one to two seconds.

]Before you head happily off into the weekend, we’ve got some sour news for those of us grandfathered in to AT&T’s unlimited data plan for smartphones. Starting on October 1st, the top 5% of AT&T data users will have their connection speeds greatly reduced.

According to AT&T’s press release, this move is a response to their networks being overtaxed by the proliferation of streaming video, music, and gaming on mobile devices. Once the new plan kicks in, the users who suck down the most data in a billing cycle will find their speeds reduced. AT&T assures users that this will not affect any of the tiered plan users, and most (95%) of the unlimited data users will be unaffected. They also promise ample notice prior to throttling, and a grace period, presumably to let you change your wicked ways.

Far from a total lock-down, this plan is surprisingly nuanced.

Fierce Wireless is reporting that the rumors are true and Verizon will be ditching the unlimited data plan for its phones starting July 7. From Fierce Wireless:

Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney told FierceWireless that new smartphone customers will choose from one of three options: $30 for 2 GB, $50 for 5 GB or $80 for 10 GB. There will be an overage charge of $10 per GB of data. Verizon will also charge $10 for 75 MB per month for feature phone users.

The report goes on to say that Verizon will begin charging for use of the LTE mobile hotspot service. Existing users can pay $30 per month for unlimited use, new users can pay $20 per month for an additional 2GB for hotspot or other data usage. Existing Verizon customers will have their unlimited plans grandfathered for at least one smartphone upgrade after the changes are made.

(Fierce Wireless via Gizmodo)