Recent Cellular News

Fandango starts offering paperless tickets to the movies
March 17, 2010
One of the great traditions at the movie theater is presenting your ticket and having it ripped in half by some minimum wage-earning kid in a suit. But, like so many traditions, technology has taken over and starting today in 8 cities, Fandango is offering movie-goers the chance to use paperless tickets to gain entrance to the motion picture show. After paying for your ticket using the Fandango app on your smartphone, a 2D barcode or QR code is sent to your screen. The ticket taker uses special equipment to scan your phone (while you're standing there praying that he doesn't drop your brand new handset). Because a special scanner is required, only a few theaters currently accept the service.

In New York City, the service is available at City Cinemas 1,2 & 3, Angelika Film Center, E. 86th Street Cinemas, Village East Cinemas, Beekman Theater, The Paris Theater. In New Jersey, the Manville 12 plex will accept your paperless ticket. In Houston? Try the Angelika Film Center to use the Fandango system. In Dallas/Plano, the paperless ducats are accepted at the Angelika Dalls and the Angelika Plano. On the West Coast, San Diego theaters accepting the barcodes are the La Mesa Grossmont Center and the Clairemont Town Square Stadium. Bakersfield movie-goers can use their phone at the Valley Plaza 16. In Sonoma Country, the Rohnert Park 16 will scan the code. Finally, if you're lucky enough to be in Hawaii, why the heck are you going to the movies? But if you are, the paperless tickets will be accepted at Ward Stadium, Kahala Stadium, Kapolei 16 and Mililani Stadium. The paperless program has advantages. It's harder to lose your cellphone than it is misplacing a paper ticket, it saves the trees, and it is quicker to scan a phone than a ticket. One disadvantage: it's harder to rip a cellphone in half. Fandango isn't the only company working on paperless tickets as MovieTickets.com has a similar program undergoing testing.

Source: (www.phonearena.com)
AT&T Asks Customers to Give Up Paper Bills
March 17, 2010
AT&T is challenging all its customers -- including wireless, wireline and U-Verse subscribers -- to eliminate their paper bills and switch to online billing. AT&T said it will plant a tree for each customer who chooses to go paperless, and will plant up to one million trees. AT&T says that if a million customers make this move, it will help save 400,000 pounds of paper, avoid 6 million pounds of greenhouse gases, and prevent 4 million gallons of wastewater from discharging into lakes, streams, and rivers in a year. Customers will be able to choose from several areas across the U.S. needing reforestation in which to have their tree planted. There is no cost to the consumer to switch to paperless billing.

Source: (www.phonescoop.com)
Unlimited streaming music coming soon to iPhone and Android from MOG
March 17, 2010
MOG has announced that early next quarter, it will be offering an app for both the Apple iPhone and Android OS that will allow a user to stream music over his handset. For $10 per month, MOG will provide a listener unlimited streaming from over 7 million tunes that it has in its catalog. The price includes accessing the service from your desktop computer. Other features allow you to listen to any song from any artist on-demand, in unlimited amounts. You also will have the ability to listen to MOG Radio which will play a never ending stream of music based on a track or artist, with you in control of how many similar artists are in the mix. A unique slider control allows you to choose from "Artist" only radio or add in similar Artists into your list. Songs can be made into a "local cache" so that the music never stops, even if you are out of Wi-Fi range and your 3G connection is off. Songs can be downloaded at 64kbps, or in HQ which will download the tune to a bigger file with better audio quality.

Rhapsody also made an announcement today, saying that offline playback support for the iPhone is coming, but the updated app must first meet with approval from Cupertino. With a $15 per month price tag, we could start to see some battles going on amongst music providers. Usually in a price war, the consumer is the winner as prices drop.

Source: (www.phonearena.com)
4 out of 10 BlackBerry users plan on switching to iPhone when their contracts expires
March 17, 2010
While 4 out of 5 dentists recommend chewing Trident, as we've been so informed over the years on television, 4 out of 10 BlackBerry users plan on switching to the iPhone once their contract expires. That is based on a survey done by Crowd Science and posted by ars technica. The market research firm has some other stats that explain this finding. While the 'Berry is known for being tops among the pinstriped set, one in three iPhone users are using the device strictly for personal use versus 16% for 'Berry users. Just 1% are using their iPhone for business use only. That means that 66% are using Apple's touchscreen smartphone for both business and pleasure. Only 7% of BlackBerry owners are using the handset for business reasons only and that leaves a whopping 75% using BlackBerry for personal and business use. With RIM's devices struggling on the multimedia side of the equation right now, you could see why many BlackBerry owners would like the iPhone for personal use. And yes, BlackBerry users will be soon getting a new WebKit based browser, but that is just one piece of the puzzle. Those 40% willing to change phones seem to believe that the Apple handset can handle their business needs while giving them the fun things on the personal side that they cannot get on the BlackBerry device.

The survey also shows that 32% of BlackBerry users would trade in their device for an Android flavored Nexus One at contract expiration. "These results show that the restlessness of BlackBerry users with their current brand hasn't just been driven by the allure of iPhone," says Crowd Sciences' CEO John Martin who continues, "Rather, BlackBerry as a brand just isn't garnering the loyalty seen with other mobile operating systems." To put an exclamation point on that quote, 90% of Android and iPhone users said that they would stay with their current OS when it is time for them to upgrade their handset.

Source: (www.phonearena.com)
Report finds that people can be allergic to cell phones
March 11, 2010
There have been many stories pointing out the negative effects that cell phones have on the human body – from the accusations of it causing brain cancer to other health issues, cell phones are intricate pieces of technology that constantly output cellular waves. According to a new report, it seems like it can even cause some people to become allergic to the radio waves that are coming out of it – approximately 250,000 people in Sweden were diagnosed to be allergic. The condition known as electro-hypersensitivity clearly points to some physical reactions some people go through when they are exposed – such as dizziness, nausea, headaches, breathing problems, heart, palpitations, and fainting. Not to just point all the fingers at cell phones, other electronic devices like computers and televisions can produce electromagnetic radiation as well. So the next time someone actually tells you that they're allergic to cell phones, you might want to take it seriously as opposed to laughing it off.

Source: (www.phonearena.com)
Next iPhone OS to have more gestures?
March 11, 2010
Web site 9to5Mac found a couple of new gestures in the Apple 3.2 beta 4 SDK that weren't in previous versions of the software. In the Gestures library folder was “3Tap.plist” and “LongPress.plist". Currently, triple tapping on the iPhone screen does nothing. On the other hand, a long press on the handset's screen brings up a contextual menu to "Cut" and "Paste". Developers will get to use these two gestures for whatever app they are working on, and we could even see these new gestures on the iPad. Will these now also be covered by existing patents or will Apple have to get Jacoby and Meyers on the phone to make an addition to the current filing?

Source: (www.phonearena.com)
iPhone 4.0 OS to bring multitasking?
March 11, 2010
Apple has come a long way to make up for some of the shortcomings of the iPhone. One major function that the handset cannot do is multitask, but with the release of the 4.0 OS, that might no longer be a problem for users. Tipsters with a track record of being on target in predicting Apple's technological advances are saying that Apple has developed the technology to allow for simultaneous running of third party apps. The Cupertino based firm has developed a method to handle things like security, memory and battery life in a way to make multitasking feasible. Part of the solution is being lifted from the Mac OS X operating system. The word is that the iPhone 4.0 OS still has a way to go before being ready for the handset and more workneeds to be done before the software is released..

The current iPhone OS prevents third party apps from running in the background. This is why the phone cannot multitask. Apps that come bundled with the device can run in the background while another app is running. The problem is that the iPhone OS' security model is designed to close open programs whenever the user returns to the home screen or answers a phone call. This prevents malware, spyware or viruses from running without the user knowing about it. Of course, it also prevents the phone from multitasking. In the past, other OS upgrades were rumored to contain a multitasking function, but it never came to fruition. Perhaps this time will be the charm.

Source: (www.phonescoop.com)
American Airlines Expands Mobile Boarding Pass Option
March 11, 2010
American Airlines today announced 19 new airports participating in its mobile boarding pass service. The new airports include Houston George Bush, New York La Guardia and Phoenix Sky Harbor, among others. Fliers can use any cell phone or smartphone with e-mail capabilities to receive a 2-D barcode, and then check in with the barcode image at their gate. Passengers with baggage can check in at self-service kiosks by scanning the barcode image.

Source: (www.phonescoop.com)
Unreal Engine 3 Scores a Headshot on Palm WebOS
March 11, 2010
On the official Palm Blog today, the company announced that Epic games has demonstrated the Unreal Engine 3, the gaming back end that drives Unreal Tournament 3 and Gears of War, among other titles. Licensees of the Unreal Engine 3 will be able to use the engine to build games for Palm's WebOS, though no specific titles were announced. The recent build of Unreal Engine 3 on Palm WebOS was made possible by the adoption of OpenGL ES 2.0 in the recently announced Palm PDK.

Source: (www.phonescoop.com)
Verizon Adds 2.2 Million Subscribers, But Posts Loss
March 9, 2010
Verizon said it added 2.2 million wireless subscribers, showing resilience in the face of tougher consumer spending, despite posting a fourth-quarter loss due to its shrinking landline business.

The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based carrier said it added 2.2 million customers -- up from the 1.4 million added last year -- for a total of 91.2 million subscribers. However, it posted a $653 million loss in the quarter, much of it due to a $3 billion charge related to layoffs in its landline sector.

"We focused on expanding wireless data and set the stage to deploy a nationwide 4G network later this year," said Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon's Chief Executive. "We're facing some more significant headwinds than we thought we would face from the economy."

The company has struggled to keep up with rival AT&T, which has exclusive rights to the popular iPhone, despite pushing the Motorola Droid as an alternative during the holiday season.

But analysts speculate that AT&T may lose its exclusive hold on Apple's popular handset, and Verizon might sell a version of the device, later this year.

Regardless, competition between the two companies has heated up in recent months with a barrage of commercials accusing each other of misleading viewers with TV ads.

Last week, Verizon slashed the price of its unlimited voice service to $70 a month from $100. AT&T quickly followed suit.

Source: (www.mobiledia.com)
Microsoft to Sell Own Smartphones for Verizon This Summer
March 9, 2010
Microsoft is aiming to launch two smartphones for Verizon in May or June, targeting teenagers who use social network sites.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company said the new phones, developed under the code name "Project Pink," are designed with keyboards for sending texting with a focus on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

But most likely, they will run Windows Mobile 6.5 instead of its new mobile platform.

These new "Pink" phones are developed entirely by Microsoft, which like Google and its new Nexus One device, challenges the delicate relationship with wireless operators and handset makers as it attempts to release its own devices.

The software giant, which competes in the wireless industry by selling its Windows Mobile software to handset vendors, is hoping to regain lost market share from rivals Apple's iPhone, newcomer Google's Android devices and others.

Microsoft said the devices will be made by Sharp, which also makes its Sidekick phones, and carry both Microsoft and Verizon brands.

Source: (www.mobiledia.com)
Rapid Rise of Children With Cell Phones Concerns Researchers
March 9, 2010
The number of children using cell phones has nearly doubled since 2005, an increase driven by more kid-friendly phones, concerning many researchers who warn that young adults are more vulnerable to the potential risks from electromagnetic radiation.

Market research company Mediamark said that while girls still have more handsets than boys -- 21.8 percent compared to 18.3 percent -- that gap has shrunk by half as both genders increasingly use wireless devices.

"This large increase in cell phone ownership, particularly among boys, comes as more wireless providers are targeting parents through feature-rich, kid-friendly phones," said Anne Marie Kelly, an executive with Mediamark.

The research firm said 20 percent of children, aged six to 11 years old, now own handsets.

While the potential risks of tumors from electromagnetic radiation have been hotly debated, researchers agree that children should keep wireless usage to a minimum, since their brains are still developing.

"Some countries are already banning cell phones over health concerns, with France saying children in elementary schools can only use them for texting," said Lloyd Morgan, a director of the U.S. Brain Tumor Registry. "Cell phones can be used appropriately and have a certain usefulness, but I fear we will see a tsunami of brain tumors, although it is too early to see that now, since the tumors have a 30-year latency."

Earlier this month, lawmakers in Maine held a hearing to require handsets sold in that state to carry warnings, informing buyers of the potential hazards of handset usage, much like cigarettes have labels about smoking and lung cancer.

Last year, the U.S. Senate Health Committee started an investigation into the wireless industry, concerned that studies disproving the brain tumor connection may be similar to the cigarette-lung cancer case that was denied by tobacco companies for decades.

For a list of radiation emissions, including rankings for the lowest and highest rated handsets, visit our site at CellRisk.com.

Source: (www.mobiledia.com)
Facebook to Become Location-Aware in April
March 9, 2010
Starting next month, the more than 400 million Facebook users could begin seeing a new kind of status update flow through their news feed: the current locations of their friends.

Facebook plans to take the wraps off a new location-based feature in late April at f8, the company’s yearly developer conference, according to several people briefed on the project, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss unannounced services.

In preparation for the introduction, Facebook updated its privacy policy last November. The new policy states: “When you share your location with others or add a location to something you post, we treat that like any other content you post.”

At that time, the company also offered some foreshadowing of the new feature: “If we offer a service that supports this type of location sharing we will present you with an opt-in choice of whether you want to participate.”

Facebook has been working on a location-based tool for close to a year, but decided to wait until the product was completely ready for mainstream adoption before announcing it, said the people with knowledge of the project.

Meredith Chin, a Facebook spokeswoman, said Tuesday that the company wasn’t ready to discuss any possible location-based features. “We’re constantly experimenting with new things around here, but we don’t have any details to share right now,” she said in an e-mail message.

The new location feature will have two aspects, according to the people familiar with Facebook’s plans. One will be a service offered directly by Facebook that will allow users to share their location information with friends. The other will be a set of software tools, known as A.P.I.’s, that outside developers can use to offer their own location-based services to Facebook users.

In the past, the company has relied heavily on its strong developer community to create innovative content around new tools and features. This community has also been instrumental in spreading Facebook Connect, which allows smaller Web sites to give their customers the option of signing in using Facebook and tapping their existing social networks.

Of Facebook’s more than 400 million users, about 50 percent log in to the site at least once a day, and 100 million people access the service from mobile devices. That makes the location feature an area of strong focus for the company.

The staggering number of users on the site has also brought a heightened level of internal scrutiny to the project, according to the people familiar with it. Facebook has been trying to figure out how to add location data to its service without raising potential privacy concerns or negative feedback from its users, as it has in the past with new features and redesigns.

One of the people familiar with the project said that the company was not trying to beat the smaller location-based social networks, such as Loopt, Foursquare and Gowalla. Instead, Facebook wants to go head-to-head with Google in the fight for small-business advertising. Facebook redesigned its business pages last year, with the hope of offering more features for small-business owners. According to Facebook, the Web site currently hosts more than 1.5 million local businesses from around the world.

In 2009, Google started Google Latitude with the pitch to let users “See where your friends are right now.”
Twitter, another Facebook competitor, has also added an option to include location data with messages

Source: (www.nytimes.com)
NFL Mobile Touches Down on Verizon Wireless
March 9, 2010
The NFL and Verizon Wireless today announced a four year deal that will bring NFL Mobile programming and the NFL RedZone channel to Verizon Wireless phones. Specific phone and pricing information for the new service will be available in August, close to the start of the next NFL season, but Verizon's new service will be live in time to offer coverage of the NFL Draft on April 22-24. Subscribers will be able to watch NFL games live on Sunday and Thursday night, and will have access to live radio broadcasts of every regular season and playoff game from both home and away teams. Sprint representative Mark Elliott says Sprint passed on extending the NFL sponsorship because the high price tag had the carrier questioning its return on investment. Sprint will still offer some sort of football application that will provide professional and college football coverage. Verizon Wireless notably used the announcement opportunity to tout its upcoming 4G network launch, saying the NFL Mobile experience will become increasingly rich as the LTE network launches in 25 to 30 markets this year. With today's announcement, Verizon Wirleess will also become the official wireless service sponsor for the NFL.

Source: (www.phonescoop.com)
AT&T Says 'No' to Texting While Driving
March 9, 2010
AT&T today announced a campaign aimed at curtailing the unsafe practice of texting while driving. The carrier hopes to raise awareness about the risks of texting and driving and remind all wireless consumers, especially youth, that text messages can, and should, wait until after driving.

The national campaign features true stories and the text message that was sent or received before someone's life was altered, or even ended, because of texting and driving. By featuring real stories, the campaign will demonstrate how insignificant a text message is compared to the potentially dire consequences of reading or responding while driving.

In one of the television spots, the text "Where u at?" flashes on the screen and a mother says, "This is the text my daughter was reading when she drove into oncoming traffic." The ad also includes the message "No text is worth dying over" and the campaign's tagline, "Txtng & Drivng ... It Can Wait."

"We explored several campaign concepts but we didn't have our 'aha!' moment until we asked one of our focus groups to take out their devices and read the last text they received," said Cathy Coughlin, senior executive vice president and global marketing officer for AT&T, in a statement. "When we asked if that particular message was worth the potential risk of reading while driving at 65 mph, you could have heard a pin drop. That's when we realized the message 'it can wait' was effective in educating consumers about the dangers of texting while driving."

The new campaign will roll out in the coming months and will span print, radio, TV and online advertising. In addition, parents, high school educators and youth can now visit AT&T's online resource center. The site includes downloadable information about texting while driving, as well as parent-teen pledges, a brochure and safety tips.

Source: (www.wirelessweek.com)
iPad Debut: April 3, 2010
March 5, 2010
Put all the rumors of shortages and massive production delays to rest, the iPad will indeed cometh, if a few days later than originally announced.

Cupertino today said that both versions of the iPad – Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi+3G – will be up for pre-order beginning March 13. The Wi-Fi only version will be available in the United States on Saturday, April 3. Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April. The company had originally said the iPad would be available by the end of March.

Additionally, the company said all models of the iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K. in late April.

Beginning a week from today, on March 12, U.S. customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple's online store or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

"iPad is something completely new," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in a statement. "We're excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

No change on pricing for the device was announced. According to a press release, the iPad will be available in Wi-Fi models on April 3 in the U.S. for a suggested retail price of $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB. iPad will be sold in the U.S. through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores and select Apple authorized resellers.

Source: (www.wirelessweek.com)
AT&T CEO Warns That Metered Pricing On the Way
March 5, 2010
Comments made by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson during a recent investor conference indicate that metered data pricing is likely in the firm's future. Stephenson didn't say exactly how data pricing would be altered, nor when any change would take place, but he did say that the company will charge heavy users of its mobile data network more than those who use it infrequently. Stephenson also said that Apple's iPhone will be a key product for AT&T for "quite some time," which calls to question just how long the exclusive distribution agreement will last between Apple and AT&T. Stephenson reiterated that the company is taking measures to shore up its existing 3G network and believes HSPA will serve for several more years. "We're not in a tremendous hurry on LTE," Stephenson said. Competitor Verizon Wireless plans to trial two LTE markets late this year, with preliminary launches taking place in 2011.

Source: (www.phonescoop.com)
Sony Developing PlayStation Phone
March 5, 2010
Today the Wall Street Journal reports that Sony is going to develop "a smartphone capable of downloading and playing PlayStation games" in order to combat Apple's growing hold on the mobile gaming market. The smartphone (along with a second multimedia device alo in development) will be able to connect with Sony's online gaming and media platform, which will go live in the U.S. later this month. The Sony Online Service will offer much of the same content being offered by Apple's iTunes Music Store, but Sony believes that it can differentiate by permitting a range of devices (not just phones) to access its catalog of games. Sony says the games will mostly include older games that are compatible with the original PlayStation. Sony is working more actively with Sony Ericsson to develop the handset, which is expected to launch later this year. Sony has indicated that smartphones are going to play a much more strategic role in the company's future. Details about the smartphone, such as price and features, weren't shared.

Source: (www.phonescoop.com)
Motorola Backflip Ditches Google Search for Yahoo
March 2, 2010
AT&T's first Android handset is the Motorola Backflip. AT&T has removed all the embedded Google search widgets and apps that are part of the Android platform and replaced them with Yahoo instead. The Yahoo search widget leaves out some major features that are included in Google search. First, there is no voice search of any kind. The Backflip also provides no way to alter the way the Yahoo search app behaves. Google's search app lets users fine-tune how searches are conducted across the web and the device itself. AT&T spokesperson Warner May explained to Phone Scoop, "Yahoo is the default search engine on the Backflip. However, you are of course free to access and use Google search if that is what you prefer. Google doesn’t currently make available a widget or app that would let you do Google search directly from your phone’s home screen." The Backflip's Android browser also defaults to Yahoo search, and doesn't offer Google, Bing or any other alternative within the browser software. The only way to perform Google searches are by directing the browser to Google.com and then performing a normal web search from the Google Mobile home page. AT&T wouldn't comment if its future Android devices will also include Yahoo search in favor of Google Search.

Source: (www.phonescoop.com)
Motorola admits to the CLIQ update that turned some units to bricks
March 2, 2010
There were some unhappy campers after the latest Motorola CLIQ update went live – it caused some people to find their usually happy smartphone turn into a worthless paper weight; expensive one actually. In any case, these bricked Motorola CLIQ handsets were probably the last thing that most owners expected to see. It seems that Motorola has gone on the record to finally acknowledge the problems that occurred with the CLIQ 1.3.18 update. Now that the damage is done, Motorola is setting their eyes on making things right for the affected owners. Let's just hope that future updates from Motorola are smoother with less headaches as we've seen recently. The following statement from Motorola was made available to the blog These Are the DROIDS:

Last week, the CLIQ 1.3.18 over-the-air software update began rolling out to consumers. While the vast majority of updates were successful, a very small number of consumers reported a date error and found that, after factory resetting their device, their phone was not functioning properly. We have identified a workaround solution for these consumers, which can be found on the Motorola support forum (http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/us/support/tmo/index.html).

"To our consumers, we apologize and are working swiftly to reconcile the situation. We are also revising the over-the-air software update so that this workaround solution is no longer needed. Consumers will be notified on their device when the revised update is available.
If you would like to provide more guidance to your readers, below is additional information for consumers:

To our consumers who downloaded the update and their device is working properly, no further action is needed. To our consumers who never received a notification to download the update, please do not take further action. You will be notified on your device when the revised update is available to you. To consumers who received an error or whose device date reads December 31, 1969, please visit the support site listed above for assistance."

Source: (www.phonearena.com)