Mobile Phones

Got an old Nokia 1100 sitting around? You may be sitting on a fortune... albeit with a catch. Certain circles are said to be paying upwards of $32,000 for the handsets, at least those made in Nokia's Bochum factory in Germany. Why? According to reports, the criminal underground has found a way to hack into the phones' firmware to allow for illegal bank transfers by reprogramming the phone number on the handset.

Nepal Telecom, a service provider of prepaid and postpaid PSTN, ISDN, CDMA, and cellular mobile phones in Nepal. plans to expand its mobile phone services to the top of Mount Everest, benefitting climbers on the world's highest mountain, a company official said on Thursday.

Hundreds of climbers, who go to the 8,850 meter (29,035 feet) Mount Everest every year, depend on expensive satellite phones to speak with their families as the remote Himalayan region does not have communication facilities.

"We are going to set up mobile towers in Thakdin, Manjo, Pheriche and Gorak Shep, which will bring the summit of Mount Everest within the network coverage," Anoop Ranjan Bhattarai, director of the satellite service wing of Nepal Telecom, said.

It seems that Microsoft is on its way to launch the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system as soon as May 11. The Redmond giant’s TechEd 2009 conference in Los Angeles kicks off on that day, and Stephanie Ferguson, GM (general manager) of Business Experiences at Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business will open the launch presentation of Windows Mobile 6.5, as stated on the Windows Mobile Team blog. “This TechEd 2009 session focuses on one of the biggest launches in the history of Windows Mobile – Windows Mobile 6.5. It is targeted at both IT Professionals and Developers, with a cool demo and an outline of great stuff to come.