AP Technology NewsBrief at 3:15 p.m. EST

(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) New data: 40 percent in US lack home broadbandWASHINGTON (AP) _ Roughly 40 percent of Americans do not have high-speed Internet access at home, according to new Commerce Department figures that underscore the challenges facing policymakers who are trying to bring affordable broadband connections to everyone. The Obama administration and Congress have identified universal broadband as a key to driving economic development, producing jobs and bringing educational opportunities and cutting-edge medicine to all corners of the country.
Verizon to allow Skype calls over wireless networkSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Verizon Wireless will let customers use the Internet phone service Skype to make free calls on some phones, an application that wireless carriers have been slow to allow. Under a deal announced Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress trade show, users of some Verizon phones who have a voice and data plan will be able to download a free Skype application in late March. That will let them call or instant-message other Skype users for free or call regular phone numbers outside the United States for a fee paid to Skype. These calls would go over Verizon's network and would not use up minutes on a cell phone plan.

Google demonstrates phone that translates textBARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ Stumped by foreign languages when you're traveling? Google Inc. is working on software that translates text captured by a phone camera. At a demonstration Tuesday at Mobile World Congress, a cell phone trade show in Barcelona, an engineer shot a picture of a German dinner menu with a phone running Google Inc.'s Android software. An application on the phone sent the shot to Google's servers, which sent a translation back to the phone.

Microsoft replays Zune design for phone comebackBARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ Apple Inc. rocked the wireless business by combining the functions of a phone and an iPod. Now, more than two years later, Microsoft Corp. has its comeback: phone software that works a lot like its own Zune media player. The software, which was unveiled Monday at the Mobile World Congress, is a dramatic change from previous generations of the software that used to be called Windows Mobile. But Microsoft is, for now, sticking to its model of making the software and selling it to phone manufacturers, rather than making its own phones.

Wireless carriers unite on mobile apps projectBARCELONA, Spain(AP) _ The world's largest mobile phone carriers say they're joining forces to make it easier for software developers to write apps that will run on as many phones as possible. The "Wholesale Applications Community" announced Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is an attempt to retake the initiative from phone makers like Apple and Nokia, which have applications stores of their own.

Samsung unveils new smart phone with own softwareBARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ Samsung Electronics Co., the largest maker of cell phones for the U.S. market, on Sunday revealed the first phone running Samsung's own "smart" software system, bada. With bada, Korea-based Samsung is taking the TouchWiz system used on its touch-screen non-smart phones and making it the basis of a smart phone platform to take on Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry. Samsung also makes phones based on other competing smart phone systems: Android, created by Google Inc., and Symbian, of which Nokia Corp. is a major backer.

Now Tweeting: White House press secretary GibbsWASHINGTON (AP) _ White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has a new way to communicate directly to people _ Twitter. President Barack Obama's chief spokesman ventured into the Twitter world on Saturday with his first 'tweet' or Twitter message on his official White House account. Gibbs wrote: "Learning about 'the twitter' - easing into this with first tweet - any tips?" Google tweaks Buzz social hub after privacy woesNEW YORK (AP) _ As it introduced a new social hub, Google quickly learned that people's most frequent e-mail contacts are not necessarily their best friends. Rather, they could be business associates, or even lovers, and the groups don't necessarily mix well. It's one reason many people keep those worlds separate by using Facebook for friends and LinkedIn for professional contacts, or by keeping some people completely off either social circle despite frequent e-mails with them.

Justice Dept. wants phone locales without warrantPHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Should the government be allowed to track a person's movements based on cell phone records, without evidence of criminal wrongdoing? A showdown on the issue unfolded Friday in a federal appeals court in Philadelphia, as the Justice Department battled electronic-privacy groups.

Seeking comeback, Microsoft to show phone softwareNEW YORK (AP) _ Microsoft Corp. is expected to announce a major revamp of its phone software Monday, in an attempt to regain momentum in a crucial market where it's been overshadowed. CEO Steve Ballmer will be speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the world's largest cell phone trade show, and analysts expect him to reveal Windows Mobile 7. The software could be in phones by late this year.
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