Ottawa’s emergency operators dealt with some 27,000 inadvertent 911 calls in 2009, representing 12% of all emergency calls and resulting in many unnecessary police attendances, according to a recent report.

Many of these accidental calls result from cell phones being dialed in callers’ pockets or handbags, which is especially likely to happen when ’911′ is placed on speed dial, and a high percentage of the inadvertent callers immediately hang up.

“The most intuitive reaction when you accidentally call 911 is hang up and hope that nobody realizes that 911 was called,” commented Ottawa police Staff Sgt. Sandra McLaren. “In actual fact, it’s that reaction that will cost us a lot of time.”

When a 911 call is terminated, operators must follow a procedure of calling back and asking the person a series of questions to ensure that there isn’t an emergency. If such calls go unanswered, police are deployed, McLaren explained, noting that the best thing for mistaken 911 callers to do is remain on the line.

“We can get to the bottom of this much more quickly than if the person hangs up,” she explained. “Every minute we can save in a 911 environment is a very precious minute to everybody.”

Wind Mobile has announced plans to offer the BlackBerry Bold 9780 at an outright cost of $450, about $50 cheaper than other Canadian carriers such as Telus Mobility and Bell.

The newest BlackBerry Bold devices boasts a 2.4-inch display, QWERTY keyboard, and new-and-improved 5-megapixel digital camera, as well as an upgraded BlackBerry 6.0 operating system.

Wind Mobile is currently offering a promotional rate of $25/month for unlimited province-wide wireless calling, or $40/month for unlimited Canada-wide calling with a mobile data component.

Thousands of iPhone 4 users around the world inadvertently slept in today and yesterday due to a New Year’s software glitch affecting the device’s alarm clock function.

Since midnight on New Year’s Eve, single alarms set on the iPhone simply haven’t gone off, according to angry bloggers and Twitter users, many of whom have been late for work, church, or travel arrangements.

“We’re aware of an issue related to non-repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2,” confirmed Apple spokeswoman, Natalie Harrison, without giving an exact reason for the glitch.

The problem will be fixed by January 3, the first Monday of 2011, Harrison promised.

LG Electronics is working on what is thought to be the world’s slimmest smartphone, according to a leak on the mobile technology blog, Phandroid.

The “LG B,” as the new device is codenamed, will be slimmer and its screen brighter than that of the Apple iPhone 4 or Samsung Galaxy S, according to leaked photographs. It is expected to feature a 4-inch LCD display and Android operating system.

Availability and pricing details for the LG B are not yet available, but the device is likely to be formally unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2011.

‘Apple iPad’ and ‘Google Android’ were among the most ‘tweeted’ terms this year, holding the fourth and fifth place spots on Twitter’s annual trends list.

“Twitter Trends are a window into what the world is talking about,” commented Twitter spokeswoman, Jodi Olson. “These Trends indicate the things that are most meaningful in our lives. Each day on Twitter, people tweet about news, sports, entertainment and cool new technology — and everything else in between.”

References to ‘Apple iOS,’ ‘Apple iPhone,’ and ‘HTC’ were also plentiful on Twitter throughout 2010, a year when demand for multi-function smartphone devices reached new highs around the world.

Not surprisingly, however, the ‘Gulf [of Mexico] oil spill,’ was the most tweeted topic of the year overall.