With everyone all "EV-DO" this and "HSUPA" that these days, there doesn't seem to be a lot of love for our old friend EDGE anymore (the wireless data protocol, not the U2 guitarist). Well Ericsson has just announced plans to upgrade the long-in-the-tooth spec to a zippy 1Mbps by 2009, citing EDGE Evolution as a feasible stopgap solution that will squeeze a few more years (and a few more dollars) out of those legacy networks. Basically a software upgrade to existing hardware, Evolution allows the network to operate more efficiently and consequently deliver two to three times the bandwidth of plain jane EDGE. It's not clear, however, if current handsets can be modified to take advantage of the higher speeds, so while it would be great to wake up one day with a supercharged phone, we're not holding our breath.

You probably thought it was pretty silly when you heard that Korea's second largest wireless carrier, KTF, began offering a service last year that can supposedly discern your dog's emotions from a few barks into the phone. Well the "doggy translation" service has proven so popular, that not only did the top Korean carrier roll out its own implementation, but SK Telecom is now offering a premium version of the service that seems to give users access to a sort of pet lovers' mobile community where they can query veterinarians, make a homepage for their little bundle of fur, or purchase pet-related items online at a discount. The core service will remain the same, continuing to offer two-way translation (yes, your voice can be converted into barks as well) for about 55 breeds of dogs, although cat lovers must continue to gauge their pet's mood by the intensity of his/her hissing and scratching.

[Picture credit: Telecoms Korea]

In what seems like a complete 180 for a company fond of disabling dial-up networking and simultaneous WiFi and voice usage on their handsets, Verizon has apparently enabled the OBEX Bluetooth profile in the recently-released 0.1.15.04 RAZR V3c firmware update. As RAZR owners are well aware, the previous two firmware updates had disabled and then completely removed OBEX, which gives customers a free way to transfer their files to a PC, most importantly their pictures. The new firmware not only enables OBEX, say HowardForums users, but actually allows pic transfers over a wired USB connection as well using the Motorola Phone Tools software. Having seen Verizon has take such a shocking step following their change of heart on DUN, we're expecting reports anytime of Apple opening up the iPod, Sony dumping the MemoryStick, and the HD-DVD and Blu-ray camps coming to a super-last-minute compromise.