And several companies had concept and prototype devices that envisioned digital cameras and global positioning system expansion devices that would fit into the SD card slot.

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In 1993, NTT DoCoMo, Japan's principal mobile-phone carrier, opted for a technical standard called Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), which was incompatible with the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the standard adopted by most of the rest of the world.

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Today, they've been supplanted even further by digital compasses that use electronic sensors and devices that take readings from Global Positioning System satellites.

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The minivan he's slowly touring through the cul-de-sacs of suburban Detroit is painted bright orange and its roof rack bristles with electronics: a global positioning system antenna, a laser measuring system and 14 digital cameras.

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"Apple welcomes an objective examination of the US corporate tax system, which has not kept pace with the advent of the digital age and the rapidly changing global economy, " the company said in testimony released Monday.

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