When does a mobile phone become a computer? Although the question might have seemed ludicrous only a few years ago, advanced microprocessors have begun to appear in the newest phones significantly blurring that once distinct line. As a result, response times for such functions as touch menus, Internet access, and downloadable music, movies, and other data are improving dramatically.

University researchers designed a type of memory that can store data thermally. Today's computer memory is stored electronically by maintaining a certain voltage. The heat memory concept, which relies on advances in nanotechnology, maintains temperature, not voltage, for a new breed of storage devices.

Engineers often rescue friends and relatives when they encounter computer snafus, but CrossLoop software lets you do it long distance. After you click the download button and install the client application on your PC (see video), the person you're helping clicks a Share tab and reads an access code that you type into the client. Click Connect, and you can control the other computer to solve problems or to install software.

Once, manufacturers considered software to be a free (and therefore valueless) accompaniment to the hardware products they sold. Projects routinely involved three or more hardware engineers for every software person. Testing software even in those primitive days rarely identified every problem. Despite the fact that software engineers today outnumber their hardware counterparts, the adage "every program more than three pages long contains at least one bug" remains painfully true. This EDN Blog entry calls again for product developers to expend more energy and resources to ensure that software works as its designers intend.

Because green is good, Motorola has introduced a cell phone made from recycled plastic bottles. It uses 20% less energy to produce the phone. Also, up to nine hours of talk time is possible, reducing charge time and energy use. Even the phone's brochure is green, made from vegetable-based inks on 100% recycled paper.

...the wristwatch phone is here and now, if the model demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is anything to go by. Meanwhile, another manufacturer paraded a flexible, high resolution display small enough to fit on a wrist band. Granted, at CES, as with car shows, exhibitors often display prototypes nowhere near commercialization, but these devices do provide a snapshot of how display technology is advancing. Besides, they're wicked cool.

One single cell phone that operates on multiple bands may in reality contain seven or more radios: for Bluetooth, GPS (global positioning systems), 3G cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMax, and others. The solution for the future appears to be "ad hoc device-to-device communications." Here, all radio functions are built into one module using a low-power, software-defined architecture, a concept being recently developed by multiple research projects.

Bright handset displays are nice, but hard on batteries. Developers are introducing alternatives to liquid crystal displays (LCD) to improve power consumption and readability. Energy-efficient bulbs use 75% less power than LCDs. Another uses natural light, and even less power. MP3 players will be first to feature new lighting.

Here's a chance to contribute to solar R&D by adding your computer to the World Community Grid. Unused computing power from your machine will be used to help IBM and Harvard University analyze thousands of materials to determine which would make the best thin film cells and concentrators. This research can take two instead of 22 years, and registration is complimentary.

What Will You Do with Windows 7?

Microsoft is preparing its new Windows 7 with a migration path that requires starting with Vista. How do you plan to respond? What has been your experience with XP and Vista? What criteria will you use to make your decision?