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Eighth Circuit declares RAZR a computer under federal law
There's little doubt that today's smartphones are pocketable computers -- they're equally or more powerful than the desktop PCs of yesteryear -- but what about dumbphones? Well, in US v. Kramer, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals just held that a Motorola Motorazr V3 fits the federal statutory definition for a computer -- and quoted Woz in the opinion: "Everything has a computer in it nowadays." Seems a bit silly to call a RAZR a computer, but courts can only interpret existing laws, not make new ones -- and US law says a computer is "an electronic, magnetic, optical, electrochemical, or other high speed data processing device performing logical, arithmetic, or storage functions." Because this was the first time a federal appeals court had ruled on the issue, the Eighth Circuit set a precedent that other courts are likely to follow. And yes, the court is aware such a definition may include microwaves and coffee makers, and informed Congress that it should change the law if it doesn't like it. Regardless of whether you agree, this interpretation added some jail time for a guy who pled guilty to trying to engage in sexual activity with a minor, so the mild absurdity of it all is fine by us. Somewhere Chris Hansen is smiling.
List of most-recycled phones has two RAZRs at the top, possibly being melted right into CLIQ molds
Remember back when RAZRs were the most amazing thing you'd ever seen and they ran like $400 on a two-year contract? Yeah, it feels like an eternity and a half ago -- and most owners seem to feel that way, too, because they're being recycled en masse these days. Phone recycling specialist ReCellular has released its list of the ten most-recycled handsets of the year, and by 2009 standards, there really aren't any surprises -- the chart reads like a directory of forgettable has-been dumbphones with the possible exception, of course, of the industry-changing RAZRs up top. It'll be interesting to see if or when the first smartphones break the top ten -- what do you think, a Treo or two?
Red Pocket Mobile MVNO for Chinese-speaking Americans launches
MVNO's may not seem like quite the hot thing they once were given today's news, but (thankfully for us) the steady stream of niche-market operators looks to be continuing unabated, at least for the time being. One of the latest to launch is Red Pocket Mobile, aimed at Chinese-speaking customers, which actually soft-launched two weeks ago but is now going after a larger audience. The big news with this one is that it'll give you discounted calls to Asia (15 cents per minute; same as a domestic call), as well as a stylin' RAZR V3 to go with it -- a Motorola C139 is also available if you want to save a few bucks. For those keeping track of such things, this MVNO's piggybacking on Cingular's GSM network. Which means that, like others backed up by Cingular, you can expect this one to be voice-only, since data usage is a no-no for its MVNO buddies.[Via The Wireless Report]
