NewsFactor – With cell-phone use skyrocketing in the United States, consumers enjoy prices that are 50 percent lower than a decade ago, but smaller carriers face severe obstacles to gaining a foothold in the market, says a government report made public on Thursday.

PC World – Your Gmail account sends e-mail, allows video and online chat, and now can call your contacts in the United States and Canada for free.

AFP – Google on Wednesday began adding Internet telephone capabilities to its free Web-based email service in the United States.

The Dell Streak tablet, which goes on sale Friday in the United States, is a sturdy device just daring you to drop it. But if you do need to take it apart and fix it, that’s not a problem, according to iFixit, which this week tore the device open for peek inside.

AP – Udoay Ghosh sat sipping coffee before an early morning flight from Dubai International Airport, looking with affection at his two — yes, two — BlackBerry smart phones laid out in front of him.