Though wireless is probably better positioned to weather a historically weak economy than many other industries, it's not bulletproof by any stretch of the imagination -- and following years of double-digit year-over-year growth, a slowdown of some sort is all but inevitable. The extent of the slowdown is a subject of endless debate among analysts, with some suggesting year-end contraction as low as 3.5 percent and others saying the market could slow down by as much as 10 percent or more, but one thing everyone seems to agree on is that smartphones are best positioned to continue to grow. Interestingly, the changing economic picture seems poised to entrench the big players like Nokia and Samsung and put the little guys even further behind, with Nokia -- despite its forecast of negative growth in '09 -- possibly adding to its already immense share of the global market. Sucks to hear that mobile sales are going downhill along with everything else, but hey, at least smartphones are continuing to win big, and 2009's shaping up to be another breakout year.

Face it, kids. You missed the best time to be a teenager by around five or so years. As it stands now, technology is cutting into that adolescent fun, with device like Ford's MyKey and this one here ensuring that you're actually safe behind the wheel. In all seriousness, the terribly named Key2SafeDriving is a fine concept (at least in the parent's eye), as it fuses a cellphone jammer (of sorts) into a key fob in order to put the kibosh on freeway conversations. Essentially, the signal blocking kicks into action anytime the "key" portion is flicked out, connecting to a handset via Bluetooth or RFID and forcing it into "driving mode." No actual jamming, per se, is going on; it's more like a manual override of the ringer. Anyone who phones / texts you while you're safely driving will receive an automated response informing them of such, though we are told that handsfree devices can be utilized. Researchers at the University of Utah are hoping to see it on the market within six months via a private company "at a cost of less than $50 per key plus a yet-undetermined monthly service fee."

[Via Gadgets-Weblog]