MOBILE

Payphones will soon be a thing of the past and in their place Telstra will be releasing public internet kiosks. Dubbed the "21st century upgrade for the payphone" these kiosks will allow customers to surf the net, pay bills online and even make phone calls.

Nokia's woes continue to grow as it was dislodged from the top of the smartphone market for the first time in fifteen years. Apple and Samsung Electronics vaulted over Nokia to gain the first and second rankings respectively at the smartphone sales rankings, according to Strategy Analytics this Friday.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., announced during the week that Samsung GALAXY S II (Model: GT-I9100) has passed the 5 million global sales milestone.

Are dumb birds of the same feather flocking together in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer -- a study says that users of other Web browsers smarter than the people who use Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

The latest report by Telstra, Mobile Innovation – The Next Frontier for Growth and Productivity for Insurers, launched in conjunction with the Financial Services Council, has identified new opportunities for the insurance industry to better use mobile phone technology in delivering services.

Should Australia have tighter privacy laws to avoid a similar phone hacking scandal involving the media? Treading on press freedom and creating policies to protect individual privacy are delicate issues that government authorities and law makers are assessing amidst the phone hacking issue in the United Kingdom involving News Corp owned by Rupert Murdoch, serving as a test case for media organizations in the country.

The success of American retail giant Costco in the suburbs of Sydney's Auburn has prompted the warehouse store chain to explore opening a second shop in Canberra.

The largest union representing Telstra (ASX: TLS) employees has come out swinging regarding the offshoring of Telstra jobs and customers’ personal information to India.

It is now looking more like th eApple iPhone 5 will be released in September as subcontractors of the leading American phone manufacturer have confirmed to be gearing up for the said date of release, reports said.

In Washington, online retail giant Amazon plans to unveil a tablet computer before October in a bid to carve out a slice of a growing market dominated by Apple's iPad, the Wall Street Journal and the AFP reported on Wednesday.

A research team from North Carolina State University headed by professor Xuxian Jiang discovered early this month a trojanised app called Fast Racing, hiding malware which it called 'Golddream'.

Rupert Murdoch will shut down Britain's biggest selling Sunday newspaper, the News of the World, in a startling response to a scandal engulfing his media empire.

The Winklevoss Twins are set to continue their endless legal fight with Facebook. Why do you think they persist with court action after court action? Because Facebook has only just got started and they know that.

MARKET CLOSE - CommSec Report (4.30pm AEST)The Australian sharemarket has managed to end higher by the most modest of margins for the third time this week despite being around 0.4 pct lower at one point this morning.

As the national broadband network overhauls Australia’s telecommunication industry, so is the largest telco in the country, Telstra Corporation, which announced on Wednesday consolidation on its services and reorganization on the firm’s leadership functions.

Hackers hit FoxNews.com's Twitter account to send fake messages that U.S. President Barack Obama had been shot dead at a restaurant in Iowa. Nokia Oyj has cut its smartphone prices in Europe by as much as 15 percent to boost sales. Zynga, maker of "FarmVille," "CityVille" and other games played on Facebook, is aiming to raise $1 billion in an initial public offering.

The Social Network, a film about Mark Zuckerberg's founding of Facebook and the resulting lawsuits, was a worldwide box-office hit last year. With Facebook's 700 million active users and other and the coming of its most serious rival yet, Google+, social networking sites are generating massive traffic. Another movie about a social network would certainly generate interest from audiences around the globe.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland today released new research which shows nearly one in six Australians have been a victim or known somebody who has been a victim of identity theft or misuse in the past six months.

A consortium comprised of entities like iPhone maker Apple Inc., Blackberry vendor Research in Motion Ltd., operating systems giant Microsoft Corp. is paying $4.5 billion in cash to buy 6,000 residual patents belonging to Nortel Networks Corp., outbidding Google Inc. and others.

Nokia's ten year reign on top of the Australian phone market is now over thanks to Apple and Android phones.

Mobile phone calls to Lifeline made from anywhere in Australia will no-longer be charged starting 1 July under a new deal made between the three major phone carriers.

As world-wide fans give much regard to their virtual farms, pets, mafia gangs, game creator Zynga has deemed it necessary to cast $1 billion international public offering (IPO) tomorrow, 30 June.

The International Olympic Committee has encouraged athletes and other participants at the 2012 London Games to post comments on social media platforms or websites and tweet during the Olympics, but noted that athletes may be sanctioned or barred from competing if guidelines are not followed.

MasterCard Inc., operator of the second-largest electronic payments network, with card brands MasterCard MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus, temporarily lost service on its website due to a cyber attack from hackers backing whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks.

The iPad has been dominating the tablet market for some time now and any new tablet released would have to go up against the Apple giant. The new Toshiba AT 100 better known as the Toshiba Tablet and the Thrive in the US proves that there are other tablets just as good as Apple's iPad.

Like a mythical creature the iPhone 4S has been talked about but not seen. Now according to a report from the Apple Insider that fabled iPhone 4S could be surfacing this September alongside the much anticipated iPhone 5.

Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei and Norwegian network operator Telenor have erected the world's northernmost LTE tower in Longyearbyen on the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Circle.

Despite a 5% year-on-year dip in the overall market, iPhone shipments soared 13% quarter-on-quarter, with Apple becoming the top mobile device vendor in Australia for the first time, with nearly one third market share, Research firm International Data Corp.'s Q1 2011 Mobile Device Tracker revealed.

Diesel, the maker of jeans for hot girls, has released an app that allows you to slack off at work without having your boss catch you on Facebook. Diesel's new "Be Stupid at Work app" makes Facebook appear to be an Excel spreadsheet, which means you can update your status and read updates all you want without the guy who shares your cubicle or your boss noticing. Download the app at http://www.bestupidatwork.com/