Wireless Internet access will no longer be available at Washington’s highway safety rest areas due to a lack of consistent users. Part of the problem was that there was no information posted in the rest areas about how to use the system, and many travelers gave up when they couldn’t make it work.  read more »

Nokia announced at the end of September a shift in its strategy by discontinuing development and marketing of its own behind-the-firewall business mobility solutions. The company no longer offers its Intellisync software and instead said it would work with leading enterprise vendors.

Gig Harbor-based Perlego Systems Inc., which developed a competing software suite called Horizons, said following the announcement that it would offer former Nokia Intellisync business customers and partners a seamless conversion to its system. read more »

While Apple’s iPhone remains a popular cell phone on the market, there are plenty of other phones — and less expensive ones — on the market that are not too shabby. Ready to change again? Here are some of the latest or upcoming releases:

Nokia 6212 Classic, to be released during the third quarter of ‘08, integrates Near Field Communication. NFC allows phone users to share their content such as audio files and downloads by connecting two phones. It will allow users to buy airplane tickets, make payments etc. The phone has a 5-megapixel camera with Xenon flash and geotagging. read more »

LG Dare When Apple announced earlier this summer the release of its second- generation iPhone, it was love at first sight, take 2, for Apple fans. The slick iPhone 3G is heavier on the cool techy stuff and lighter on the pocketbook.

Unlike its predecessor, which took the world by storm last year despite the hefty price tag, the 3G has GPS-assisted features, supports Microsoft Exchange Server and third-party applications, has theoretical double speeds for data download , and it’s as hip a phone as has ever been made. And with exclusive carrier AT&T back on the subsidizing idea, the phone is only $199 or $299 for new customers or existing ones eligible for an upgrade, with a two-year agreement.

Still, those who can live without an iPod-slash-phone or without AT&T may be able to settle for acceptable alternatives, especially if they have to have features the iPhone hasn’t embraced yet — such as video recording, voice dialing or sending photos over SMS messaging. read more »

Last June, Intuit Inc., the makers of QuickBooks, QuickBooks Point of Sale, Turbo Tax and many other products, announced the layoff of over 150 Tucson-based employees. This included the entire U.S. call center for QuickBooks Point of Sale, leaving only the India-based call center. Intuit stated that more customers are going to the web to get answers to their questions and incoming call volume had dropped. Some of the best agents in the Tucson call center got together and created their own company — ASAP Business Solutions, LLC.  read more »