A study released this week found 30% of U.S. airline passengers accidentally left their tech devices on flights in 2012.

The study was conducted by the Airline Passenger Experience Assn. and the Consumer Electronics Assn. as a way to aid the Federal Aviation Administration's review of its ban on the use of electronics during flight takeoffs and landings. The FAA in August said the review was coming as a result of "widespread consumer use of portable electronic devices."

Besides finding how often passengers leave their devices on the plane, the study also found that nearly all, or 99%, of passengers brought some sort of electronic device on a flight. Of those, 69% said they used their devices during a flight.

PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013

“Airline passengers have come to rely on their smartphones, tablets and e-readers as essential travel companions,” said Doug Johnson, vice president of technology policy at CEA, in a statement. “Understanding the attitudes and...

Say "delight" in Silicon Valley, and most people will immediately think of Apple. In a Column One story today, I note that much of the valley's current obsession with the word can be traced back to Steve Jobs' embrace of it. 

But there's another company in the valley that has also come to embody the word: Intuit. While the Mountain View maker of financial software such as TurboTax and QuickBooks hasn’t quite had Apple-like success (but then, who has?), its growth in recent years has been remarkable enough to give the delight movement a big credibility boost.

STORY: Cold, hard data meets squishy delight in Silicon Valley

In 2007, Intuit adopted "design for delight" as its product development philosophy. The process began under then-Cheif Executive Steve Bennett and accelerated under Brad Smith, who has been chief executive of Intuit since January 2008.

"A great first use experience is the front door to powering growth for a new or existing product," Smith wrote recentlyon a ...

Need Wi-Fi? Then "check in."

A feature introduced Thursday by Cisco and Facebook allows businesses to give customers access to their Wi-Fi networks when they post that they are at the retail location, or "check in," on the social network.

The idea is simple: Rather than charge customers for Internet access, businesses can instead trade their wireless connection for some exposure on Facebook.

"Essentially, Facebook Wi-Fi gives people a simple way to access Wi-Fi at local businesses, and it gives local businesses a way to connect with their customers," a Facebook spokeswoman told The Times.

PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013

The new feature is found on Cisco's Meraki routers, which can be used by businesses, such as coffee shops or restaurants, to provide Wi-Fi for customers. Cisco announced a slew of new features for the routers on Thursday; the Facebook login ability was one of the highlights.

Meraki users can choose to have their customers log in through Facebook to gain Wi-Fi or...

Nokia and Verizon Wireless are teaming up to launch the Lumia 928, a variation of the Finnish phone maker's flagship smartphone.

After a few days of teasing users with vague ads like one that ran in a recent issue of Vanity Fair, the company officially announced the expected device Friday morning through a blog post. And as many expected, the Lumia 928 appears to be very similar to the Lumia 920, a phone that launched last year exclusively for AT&T.

Nokia said the Lumia 928 features a 4.5-inch OLED HD screen. The device also features an 8.7-megapixel camera that comes with Nokia's PureView technology, which is supposed to help fix blurry pictures and video and take high-quality shots in low light. A key difference between the Lumia 928 and the Lumia 920 is that the new device also features a xenon flash, which is much bigger than the one found on the older version of the phone. In its blog post, Nokia says users can leave their DSLR cameras at home thanks to the xenon flash.

VIDEO:...

Mother's Day is only a couple of days away but -- wouldn't you know it? -- you have no gift, no card and no time! If you're just now scrambling to put something together and trying to make it work, remember, Mom deserves better than that. After all, we love our moms -- and yours too.

To improve the gift-giving experience, we have a few “tech-centric” sentimental ideas to help save your Mother's Day. Put your smartphone to work and use it to make Mom feel extra special this Mother's Day.

Cards: The first thing every mom needs is a card. Even if you don't have time to find your mom a present, sending her a card (through postal mail or e-cards) should be a priority. What you decide to write in the card is up to you.

The FeltiPad app lets you create handwritten cards, which it then mails for you. You can select the design of your choice, as well as the ink color to craft your handwritten message.The app then handles the rest by sending out a card printed on “premium...

In a move cheered by consumer advocates, a group of bipartisan legislators has introduced a bill in Congress that would ensure that users have the ability to unlock their smartphones and tablets in order to switch carriers.

The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 (H.R. 1892) is co-sponsored by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park) and Jared Polis (D-Colo). 

"This bill reflects the way we use this technology in our everyday lives," Lofgren said in a news release. "Americans should not be subject to fines and criminal liability for merely unlocking devices and media they legally purchased. If consumers are not violating copyright or some other law, there’s little reason to hold back the benefits of unlocking so people can continue using their devices."

VIDEO: Samsung Galaxy S 4 review

The bill would amend the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to make it clear that unlocking phones or tablets does not violate rules against modifying...

The app for Android smartphones has a two-star rating in the Google Play store. And the HTC First phone -- the first to come preloaded with the Home software, which is available in the U.S. through AT&T -- was recently slashed from $99 with a two-year contract to 99 cents.

Facebook previewed some upgrades to Facebook Home during a small gathering of journalists Thursday at the company’s Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters. The upgrades were designed to address the chief complaint from users: that Facebook takes over the phone at the expense of every other app on it.

Facebook's director of mobile engineering, Cory Ondrejka, said about 1 million people downloaded Facebook Home, which represents Facebook’s most ambitious bid yet for the hearts and minds of users on mobile devices. He would not say how many of those 1 million are actively using Home. But he...

The campaign led by Web cartoonist The Oatmeal to buy Nikola Tesla's last laboratory and turn it into a museum honoring the scientist has succeeded in purchasing the property.

Matthew Inman, the artist behind The Oatmeal, put up a comic strip announcing the purchase to his readers on Thursday, saying Tesla's former laboratory on Long Island, N.Y., had been successfully saved. He said the Tesla Science Center, a nonprofit group, had managed to purchase the property for $850,000. His announcement also managed to crash the group's website, which failed to upload Thursday afternoon after seemingly receiving large amounts of traffic from The Oatmeal's readers.

The campaign began last August on crowdfunding site Indiegogo, which managed to raise more than $1.37 million from more than 14,000 people.

PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013

"This campaign wasn't about crowd-funding a video game or financing a start-up or creating a fancy new gadget," Inman said in his comic strip announcing the...

In an effort to expand beyond the world of online retailing, Amazon.com is reportedly working on a high-end smartphone that would feature a 3-D screen.

The device would allow users to see 3-D images without having to wear glasses, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites unnamed sources in a report Thursday.

Using a retina-tracking technology, the smartphone detects which way the user is looking at the device to adjust the image so it appears to float above the screen, according to the Journal's report.

PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013

The rumored device, which has not been confirmed by Amazon, is part of a bundle of technology being developed by the company. The report says Amazon is also working on another smartphone, a TV Internet-streaming box and a device that would stream audio-only.

The report says Amazon hopes to launch the devices sometime in the coming months, but that it could also decide to stop the projects for a variety of reasons, including performance or...

Lyft, a ride-sharing service known for the pink mustache on the grill of its drivers' cars, is set to begin operating in Chicago this weekend.

Chicago will be the fourth city where riders can use Lyft to get around the city. Lyft launched last year in San Francisco and expanded to Los Angeles and Seattle earlier this year.

Using the Lyft smartphone app, users can call a driver to their location for a ride. The driver uses his or her own personal car for the service, and Lyft suggests how much a rider should pay. But the rider can choose to donate more or less than the suggestion.

PHOTOS: The top smartphones of 2013

The service will launch in Chicago on Saturday, and riders can use it until 3 a.m. during the weekend and 1 a.m. on weeknights.

Logan Green, co-founder of the company and a Los Angeles native, told The Times he was excited about the Chicago launch because it would mark the first time the service is available beyond the West Coast.

"It's a big launch for us," Green said. "We...

Much has happened to the planet since 1984, and now Google has come up with a way to have a spectacular, bird's-eye view of the changes.

In partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA and Time magazine, Google has put together a website that features high-quality satellite pictures of Earth for every year since 1984 for every part of the world. Users can locate any spot on the planet and then watch the tool cycle through images taken between 1984 and 2012.

"Today, we're making it possible for you to go back in time and get a stunning historical perspective on the changes to the Earth’s surface over time," Google said in a blog post. 

PHOTOS: Google Street View images of the highest points on the planet

The images were taken by Landsat satellites as part of a joint mission of NASA and the USGS. According to Google, the Landsat satellites have been taking pictures of Earth from space since the 1970s.

Google said it went through more than 2 million pictures -- 909 terabytes of...