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Tips for deduping Android contacts

The contacts app on your phone is the most boring, neglected app ever created. I don't care how much you love your phone -- the only reason you're reading a blog post about contacts right now is because things have gotten out of hand.

Are there people listed in your phone three or four times? Do you have 500 contacts, but only 10 of them have phone numbers? Well, then, it's time to take out the garbage.

The video above has all of my best advice, but I'm going to use this blog post to distill … Read more

NTP settles e-mail patent suit with Google, Apple, Microsoft and others

NTP, which some say held the mobile world hostage with its e-mail patents, has signed an agreement that will let companies including Google, Apple, and Microsoft use its patent for allowing e-mail services on handsets.

The company announced today in a press release that it has reached a mutual resolution with 13 companies, including wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile; smartphone manufacturers Apple, HTC, Motorola Mobility, Palm, LG, and Samsung; and e-mail service and software providers Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo.

As a result, all pending litigation between NTP and the companies will be dismissed, the … Read more

Google snatches up Sparrow team to work on Gmail

Google has acquired e-mail software startup Sparrow in a move that brings its team to work on Google's Gmail product.

Sparrow's chief executive Dom Leca announced the news on the company's site and Twitter account this morning, as well as in an e-mail to existing Sparrow users.

Leca says that the company will continue to make Sparrow available, and keep it up and running with support, however the two versions of the product will not gain any new features.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Citing sources, The Verge suggests the deal came in at &… Read more

Jay-Z, are you reading me?

Sadness and hope often hold hands, but the latter can never decide whether she can make the former happy.

This story is either sad or strangely hopeful. Either way, it's also missing a couple of facts.

For this is the story of David Johnson, who believes that Jay-Z reads his emails.

In a moving telling to BuzzFeed, Johnson says he has sent at least 262 e-mails to Jay-Z and that he believes Jay-Z is reading them.

At least, he thinks he's sending them to Jay-Z.

Johnson, who once campaigned mightily to get a chance in the NBA -- … Read more

Password-protect e-mail on your iPhone and iPad

After last week's post describing two apps that keep your iPhone and iPad data private, a reader posed this question:

Is there any app that allows you to use it like the 'mail' app on an iPhone etc., but has a password lock facility? Else children will be reading all my mail.

I'm sure Apple had a reason for not allowing iPhone and iPad users to require a passcode to access the device's mail app, but I don't know what that reason was.

I came up with a free workaround that requires creation of a send-only … Read more

iCloud users to get @icloud.com e-mail addresses

Apple's online services have undergone several transitions since their debut in 2000, from the original iTools, to the .mac service, and finally to the most recent me.com domain for MobileMe. Apple's latest transition to iCloud brings with it the use of the new iCloud.com domain; however, so far people have had to sign in with their old me.com accounts. Today Apple revealed it is starting to transition and allow users to use the icloud.com domain for their accounts.

In the changelogs for today's release of iOS 6 beta 3 to developers, MacRumors noted … Read more

So the FDA spied on scientists' e-mails? Surprised?

Being a boss can lead to a paranoid life.

You think you know who's on your side. But do you? After all, in order to become a boss, you did have to betray a couple of people along the way. How can you tell who's doing it to you?

Thankfully, technology has offered you more than one easy option.

Today's revelations in the New York Times that the FDA spied on its scientists' e-mails offers a picture of large-scale prying into not merely work correspondence but personal matters too.

The Times' discovery shows a systematic level of … Read more

Restore contacts on Android after the Facebook e-mail sync

Still sorting out the Facebook e-mail sync kerfuffle that happened upon your defenseless contacts list? Luckily, Gmail will allow you to restore your contacts within 30 days of changes made to them. Google is known for having handy tools like this, but sometimes they're not in the most obvious place.

Here's how to get your contact e-mail addresses back from the cyber abyss:

Step 1: Make sure Facebook contact sync is now off!In the app, it will be under Menu > Settings > Sync Contacts. If you don't see the option, go back to your Home … Read more

Mozilla's Thunderbird not dead but sort of on life support

Reports of the death of Mozilla's Thunderbird may have been greatly exaggerated. But the e-mail program is no longer on the company's priority list.

Responding to news items that his company was dumping Thunderbird, JB Piacentino, managing director of Thunderbird, tried to clarify the future of the software in a Mozilla blog.

Thunderbird users can look forward to upgrades down the road, with versions 14, 15, 16, and 17 on the horizon.

Mozilla also plans to support the application at least until the second half of 2013, according to Piacentino, and is trying to determine how to support … Read more