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Pregnant women should probably add cellphones to the list of things they need to avoid, along with alcohol, sushi and cat poo. A giant study that surveyed over 13,000 children found that women who used mobile phones when pregnant were more likely to give birth to kids with behavioral problems.

The study, conducted by UCLA and Aarhus University in Denmark, found that using cell phones just two or three times a day would raise the risk of their babies developing hyperactivity and emotional disorders by the time they enter Kindergarten.

The scientists responsible for the study say that the results were “unexpected,” and that they haven’t discovered what biological mechanisms causes the problems. But the results stayed the same even when they accounted for other possible causes—such as smoking, family psychiatric history or socio-economic status.

But before everyone freaks out and buys a MummyWrap, the scientists stress that the results “should be interpreted with caution” and affirmed by other studies. In the meantime, maybe tell Mommy-to-be to limit her cellphone use a little bit, just in case. [The Independent via Textually]

Original post by Elaine Chow

Seriously guys, you just can’t make this stuff up. A 23 year old Canadian college student was killed when a crashing helicopter struck and dragged him as he was walking to his mailbox. Apparently eyewitnesses noticed that the youth was completely unaware of his impending doom and a friend told reporters that he often listened to music through earbuds underneath the hood of his sweatshirt. Naturally, reaction was swift. If he had not been listening to music perhaps he could have nimbly sidestepped the helicopter and gone about his business as if nothing had happened. After all, this sort of crap happens everyday right?

While I completely agree that listening to music too loudly can inhibit your ability to recognize and react to a potentially dangerous situation around you, I can’t help but find it completely baffling that this story sparked a debate about the dangers of headphone use while completely glossing over the fact that this dude was hit by a HELICOPTER. In fact, no concrete evidence was given that he was even wearing headphones at the time. At any rate, this fiasco has really struck a chord with me. From this day forward I will not wear headphones while traveling on foot just in case a meteor, satellite, or charging rhino should be barreling towards me. [Globe and Mail via Headphone Info]

Original post by Sean Fallon

Danger fans Hiptop3.com have managed to get a screenshot of the Sidekick Aspen/Gekko, the company’s replacement for the teen-friendly iD. It seems like the newest addition to the Sidekick family will be a cheaper option to the more upmarket LX, and will feature web browsing, a 2-megapixel camera with video capture mode, and “highly customizable features.” It’s not completely clear what “highly customizable” means, but looking at the picture, it might have to do with the ability to switch colored bumpers. Also not clear: why there were two different release dates for the Apsen and Gekko if they turned out to be the same product. [Hiptop3 via Crunchgear]

Original post by Elaine Chow

In a Q&A with the Sidekick maker Danger’s CEO, Financial Times asks him about what he’s got in his pocket. Surprisingly, Hank Nothaft tells.

A prototype of the next Sidekick (mobile-cum-internet device). It’s thinner and less wide but has a bigger keyboard. Now I no longer keep it on a belt, I’m always losing it. I was known as the “absent-minded professor” as a student.

Bigger keyboard, thinner and less wide? Sounds like a winner to us. If you’re really a Sidekick fanboy, head over to FT for the rest of the interview. There isn’t a whole lot of pertinent Sidekick detail, but you can get some insight into their leader. [FT - Thanks tipster!]

Original post by Jason Chen

It looks like Microsoft’s acquisition of Sidekick-maker Danger is complete and official. Whether or not this is good news or bad news for fans of the Sidekick has yet to be seen, but we’ll try to stay positive and keep an open mind. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Microsoft Completes Acquisition of Danger, Incorporates Company Into Premium Mobile Experiences Group New business group strengthens company focus on innovative mobile consumer experiences.

REDMOND, Wash. — April 15, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. has completed its acquisition of Danger, Inc., the company announced today. Danger’s expertise in building great, intuitive client software for mobile handsets connected to powerful hosted back-end services fosters rich consumer experiences in communication, media sharing, entertainment and personalization. The combined force of Danger and Microsoft strengthens the company’s ability to provide innovative mobile experiences to more consumers.

Danger will become a part of the new Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) team, a group within the Mobile Communications Business (MCB) of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. The PMX team focuses on consumer-facing mobile projects and is led by Roz Ho, corporate vice president of Premium Mobile Experiences, reporting to Andy Lees, senior vice president of the MCB. Danger co-founders Matt Hershenson and Joe Britt will join the new organization, reporting directly to Ho.

“We imagine a mobile experience that embraces sharing and celebrating relationships and personal moments,” Ho said. “Combining Danger and Microsoft talents together in the Premium Mobile Experiences team is how we’re going to deliver cool, new, fun mobile experiences to consumers. We want people to smile every time they look at their phone.”

The Danger mobile Internet platform, which connects people to their social circles and other rich content, is an integrated end-to-end solution that enables people to interact with their friends, social communities and content through the Internet and Internet services.

“At Danger, we created a fun and easy-to-use mobile experience for today’s Internet-savvy consumer,” Britt said.

Hershenson added, “As we combine our team and technologies with Microsoft, we see a clear path to evolving that experience and delivering it to an even broader group of consumers.”

Danger employees will continue to work from their current offices. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

[Microsoft via Boy Genius]

Original post by Adam Frucci

A PSP residing in the pocket of a Michigan elementary school student caught fire in the kid’s pants and caused burns to the boy’s inner leg. The boy escaped serious harm, only being treated for minor burns at the hospital. But maybe Chen should start considering what he puts or doesn’t put in his pants. [Click On Detroit via Kotaku]

Original post by Adrian Covert

Filed under: Cellphones

While we can’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside whenever a manufacturer owns up to defects that originated on its end, it’s even better when affected customers are looked after for their troubles. According to GigaOM, users dealing with a malfunctioning Sidekick Slide can swap their unit for a shiny new Sidekick LX free of charge, and if for whatever reason that doesn’t get your juices flowin’, you can opt to exchange it and put the purchase price towards another handset. If you’re dead set on just keeping your current Slide, you can simply wait things out until a fix is announced, but you won’t find us passing up on any offers to upgrade gratis.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph

Sneaking a peek at a patent application by Nokia shows the company slipping into me-too territory, doodling an application to the U.S Patent Office that looks surprisingly like a T-Mobile Sidekick. Supposedly sidestepping any danger of patent infringement is one notable difference: an odd crank-like device on the side that must be turned to open up the screen, with a half-turn revealing the QWERTY keyboard nestled underneath. Too much like a sidekick to be a separate patent? Nokia knows what it’s doing, but this could still end up more as a court decision than an actual product. [Unwired View]

Original post by Charlie White

Filed under: Cellphones

So, first the bad news: T-Mobile and Motorola have confirmed that “some” Sidekick Slides are turning themselves off when the display is opened or closed. Now, the good: they’re doing something about it. Slide sales have been suspended as of this evening while Moto works to identify just what the heck’s going on; meanwhile, existing owners who’ve experienced problems can call T-Mobile or head into a store to “discuss available options.” For what it’s worth, neither of T-Mobile’s other Sidekicks in the current lineup — the LX and the iD — are affected, so Sharp might see a nice little sales spike here as Slide owners look for an alternative. Follow the break for T-Mobile’s full statement.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

We’re no QA experts here, but if your product is called the “Slide,” isn’t the slide mechanism the one thing you’d test the dickens out of? Alas, folks are discovering that Motorola’s Sidekick Slide for T-Mobile has shipped with a devil of a flaw: actuating the display’s slide periodically causes the phone to spontaneously reboot or to simply turn off and stay off. We’ve tested the claim on our own Slide, and yeah, it happens. Granted, it only happened twice out of thirty or so slides of the screen, but by standards of modern electronics engineering, we’re pretty sure that’s two times too many. As Boy Genius Report points out, to make matters even worse the power cycle is a hard reset, meaning your data’s kaput unless you’re within range of a T-Mobile signal to download everything from Danger’s servers again. An ever-so-slightly loose battery seems to be the culprit here, but seriously, Moto, how did this defect ever leave a factory floor en masse?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Chris Ziegler