Cell Geek

DMCA Gets and Update

2012-10-26T18:19:00.000-04:00

The library of Congress has announced that for the next three years there will be a set of provision to allow the circumvention of copyrighted material. General usage will allow the circumvention of these works to assist those with disabilities to enjoy DVD's and E-Books. A more pertinent use of the new rules will allow you to unlock your phone to allow for the compatibility of different software. The rule also overturns a previous ruling that claims unlocking your phone to use it with another carrier. You will no longer be allowed to unlock your phones for use with another company. The phone now must be purchased from the network provider that it is intended to be used on. Unlocking of tablet devices will still be prohibited.

Via Ars Technica

Apple's Wormy $8.2 Billion Disappoints Wall Street

2012-10-26T18:01:00.001-04:00

Apple fell just short of annalists predictions for the Fourth quarter. Predictions were set for Apple to produce $8.3 Billion in profits for the fourth quarter. As expected their stock price dropped to $600 per share on the announcement. The demand for the iPhone 5 is promising to put Apple back on track for the first quarter, as the demand has been larger than expected, and they are having difficulty keeping up with production. Apple has also recently won their Patent Violation lawsuit against Samsung in the United States. The win should prove to put some distance between Apple and Samsung in the market place. Samsung is currently heavily relying on the Android operating system to fuel their smart phone sales. Putting one of the larger manufacturers are arms length can only serve to assist Apple in trying to increase their market share for IOS.

Via Wireless Week

Clearwire Pulls Back on LTE

2012-10-26T17:50:00.003-04:00

Clearwire has announced plans to reduce the amount of TD-LTE sites it will deploy by the summer of 2013. The new number will be 2,000 sites. The halving of their plans comes as their retail sales are lackluster, and their wholesales channels are under-performing. Analysts have made not of their transition away from WiMAX. With reported losses of $320 Million Clearwire wants to realign their capital expenditures with the expected revenues it will receive from Sprint. Sprint just announced their off-beat subscriber growth yesterday. There will be no changes in Sprint's newly bolstered position in Clearwire. The subscriber reduction to one of Clearwire's largest wholesale channels is most likely largely responsible for this announcement.

Via Wireless Week

Sprint Looses Nearly Half a Milion Subs in Q3

2012-10-25T18:49:00.000-04:00

Sprint announced their third quarter results during a conference call this week. The results show that Sprint has lost 423,000 subscribers during this quarter. Sprints focus this quarter has been preparing the shut down the Nextel iDEN network. Sprint maintains that the benefits of the CDMA network vastly outweigh what they would gain by maintaining the antiquated iDEN network. This year 9,600 iDEN sites have already been taken offline, and a complete shut down is estimated to come in the middle of 2013. Sprint recently fortified their position in Clearwire by increasing the their stock position by $100 Million to provide 50.8% ownership of the available stock assets. Clearwire is planning to provide 5,800 TD-LTE sites by mid 2013, that Sprint will use to eschew data from their own network. CEO Dan Hesse did not provide much insight on the offer from Softbank to purchase 70% of the company, but made statements leading some to believe that Softbank may fund their spectrum acquisitions.

Via Fierce Wireless

Cricket PayGO Daily Plans Got Up And Went

2012-10-25T18:37:00.002-04:00

As of October 21st Cricket will no longer be offering their daily PayGO plans for enrollment. The daily plans offered options between $1.50 and $2 a day. The plans were dropped in favor of monthly offerings that are available from the company. Customers that are currently using the daily plans will be allowed to remain on their current plans. I doubt many changes will be allowed to the plans, and you certainly will not be able to get it back if you change. Cricket recently made changes to their monthly rate plans in August, and now offers monthly subscriptions between $35 and $70 a month. Plans are available for standard handsets as well as advanced smart devices.

Via Fierce Wireless

Sprint Starts Rolling Out Jelly Bean (L710VPLJ7 )

2012-10-25T18:30:00.000-04:00

Today in their community forums, Sprint announced a new software update that will be coming to the Samsung Galaxy SIII. The update coded L710VPLJ7 will include Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. The bugs repaired in this software update will include: improvements to both LTE, and exchange systems, increase accuracy of face unlock, improvements to text message notifications, multiple enhancements to the calendar functionality, high resolution photo back up to Google accounts that are logged in, and voice typing without the requirement on an Internet connection. The updates began rolling out today, and are downloadable over the air (OTA).

via Sprint

Dragon Mobile Assistant Comes to Android

2012-10-25T00:34:00.001-04:00

Nuance has expanding the capabilities of their Go! Application, and is now providing users with enhanced voice activated features on their smart phones. Users can send social network messages, texts, calls, sets appointments, and access other information from the Internet all by voice. The software can be activated by waking it up by saying "Hi Dragon." The Dragon Mobile Assistant is available in Beta from Android Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0). More features are planned by the end of the year. You can download your copy in the Google Play Store.

Via Nuance

Lookout for T-Mobile

2012-10-25T00:27:00.004-04:00

T-Mobile will begin bringing mobile security to their Android based devices with Lookout Security. The Lookout app is free, and will come loaded on most of their Android based devices starting in 2013. The security application will turn on with the device, and will actively scan the device from mobile threats. “As we rely more on our mobile devices, for everything from business to social to banking, it is increasingly important that we protect them from threats,” Says John Hering, CEO of Lookout.

Via T-Mobile

Apple Wins Samsung Patent Disputes in United States

2012-10-25T00:21:00.001-04:00

The battle between Samsung and Apple has been long standing, and heated. Apple has claimed that several of Samsung's devices has violated their patents. The United States International Trade Commission issued a preliminary ruling today stating that it finds Samsung guilty of violating several of the patents. Not all of Apple's claims are valid, but most of the patent infringement claims have stuck. Several of Samsung's most popular devices including the Continuum (SCH-I400), Transform, Epic 4G, Intercept, and the Indulge. The importation and sale of these devices in the United State pose a violation of the law within the United States.

Via United States International Trade Commission
Photo Credit: US International Trade Commission Seal.

Isis enabled handsets launch

2012-10-22T23:46:00.001-04:00

Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile release Isis enabled handsets. Isis is a mobile payment venture backed by At&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless. Verizon’s first Isis enabled handset will be the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE. Verizon also expects to release the Razr HD and Razr MAXX HD with Isis in the near future. Users can activate Isis by logging into their account at Verizon Wireless.
T-Mobile users will be looking forward to the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S Relay 4G. Initially the service is only available within the trial markets of Austin and Salt Lake City as announced by Isis.

Isis
T-Mobile
Verizon Wireless

Google Wallet Now Includes MetroPCS

2012-10-22T23:38:00.001-04:00

MetroPCS has now been expanded capabilities to use Google Wallet. Users of the Samsung Galaxy SIII can get their download Here.

Via Twitter

Apple Testing IOS 6.1

2012-10-22T11:05:00.001-04:00

According to BGR, their sources at Apple have indicated they are currently testing viability of IOS 6.1 for US based carriers. The new update will include many miscellaneous bug fixes including problems with the camera flash not operating, cellular data not working, lock screen security fix, improved Wifi support, and a bug that caused horizontal lines to run across the screens. There is currently no official release date.

Via BRG

RIM, Google, and TweetDeck Fire Back at Apple

2010-10-21T11:33:00.001-04:00

After comments made from Apple's CEO Steve Jobs, RIM decided to respond to allegations of not developing outside your comfort zone, and dismissing RIM's products as not being a major part of the market. RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie issued the statement "for those of us who live outside of Apple's distortion field," Jobs comments missed the mark. Balsillie also noted that customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. Balsillie also went on to note that Jobs has completely dismissed the 7 inch touch screen tablet that RIM is releasing as being inferrior to the iPad. RIM wasn't the only company that decided to respond to comments.

Google's VP of Engineering and Android Cheif Andy Rubin used is first Twitter Tweet to respond to Job's allegations that Android is not an open software. In his response he included links to everything needed to anyone to begin development.

TweetDeck CEO Iain Dodsworth came to the aid of Google as well after Job's blew out of proportion that Google's operating platform is a fragmented platform.

"Did we at any point say it was a nightmare developing on Android? Errr nope, no we didn't. It wasn't," he wrote. Later he added, "We only have two guys developing on Android TweetDeck so that shows how small an issue fragmentation is."

Jobs seems to be desperately grasping at anything he can twist to a positive for the die hard Apple supporters. Jobs has obviously started to feel the strain being put on him by Android in recent months, and it has become evident in recent months with the amount of attacking that he has been doing durring speaches in rencent months.

Clearwire Produces 90MB/s LTE Test

2010-10-21T11:06:00.001-04:00

Clearwire has released that in their LTE test bed in Phoenix has seen peak download speeds of 90Mbps The speed is a significant difference between their advertised WiMAX speeds, and their LTE. One fact that needs to be noted about this test is that the test was performed on a test network. This network would not be subject to real world stresses and abuses by users that could cause a reduction in the performance speed. The testing speeds and real world speeds tend to be very different. That being said is the test was performed in a 20x20 Mhz configuration. Verizon Wireless is expecting 5-12Mbps speeds on their real world network, and Clearwire's own WiMAX option runs at 3-6Mbps. Clearwire's recent concentrated efforts with LTE should not be viewed as a play to abandon the WiMAX technology. Clearwire has announced that their WiMAX will cover 120 POPs this year.

Palm Pre 2 Announced for Verizon

2010-10-20T10:20:00.001-04:00

The Palm Pre 2 has been announced from Verizon. The new device will run Palm's revamped WebOS 2.0. The phone will also sport a 3.1" Touch Screen display with a resolution of 360 x 480. The form-factor will remain a slide with full QWERTY keyboard. Wifi support has been expanded 802.11b/g/n. Other features include GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR and A2DP, 5MP camera with LED flash, and support for Adobe Flash Mobile 10.1 and HTML5.

Verizon Customizes Data Plans

2010-10-20T10:11:00.001-04:00

Verizon Wireless has been dropping hints that they would be moving to a tiered data package for their smart phones and PDA's, and have finally release some juicy tid-bits. Verizon believes that the new pricing will offer more flexibility to their customers to allow their phones to work for them without breaking their bank. Pricing is as follows:

Smartphones - $15/ month for 150 MB of data with overage at $0.10/Mb or $29.99 for unlimited.

Tablet Plans - $20 1GB / $35 3GB / $50 5GB Overage will be charged at $10/GB. (all fees are monthly)

Mifi/Five Spot/Notebook Plans - $50 5 GB / $80 10 GB Overage $10/GB

*** The Mifi and Five Spot will have access to the tablet plans as well.

Standard USB modems will remain unchanged, and features phones will still have the $1.99/day pay-per-day option.

The $9.99 option for advanced multi-media devices is going to be eliminated at the same time these new plans are ushered in.

The changes are expected to fall in place October 28th to coincide with the release of the iPad on Verizon.

Blackberry Code-named Style will Release as Oxford

2010-10-11T12:20:00.002-04:00

The Blackberry Style that has emerged lately will be released on October 31st with Sprint, and Will do so under the moniker Oxford. The Blackberry Oxford will be a flip style with a full QWERTY. The device will operate of Blackberry OS 6, Wifi Capable, 5 MP Camera, and Stereo Bluetooth.

The phone can be yours for $99.99 after $100 mail in rebate.

App Market Gets a Face Lift

2010-10-11T11:44:00.002-04:00

The Android Application Market will get a facelift for users who are using Android 1.6 or above, Not including Froyo (2.2). The improvements won't be all cosmetic, as additional functionality will be available for the market such as bulk update, and the ability to auto-update downloaded applications. The updates will include a new tabbed browsing interface. The application will update without notice.

T-Mobile Lands the HD7 Windows 7 Phone

2010-10-11T11:39:00.003-04:00

HTC has released an apropriate evolution to their HD2. The HD 7 will be the first T-Mobile device with Windows 7. New feature in Windows 7 Integrates parts of the playbook from Verizon's failed KIN One and Kin Two devices, wich allow you to quickly see what family and friends are up to. The device will include a 4.3" Touch display, Quad-band GSM/EDGE radios, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, Wifi and FM. The phone will also endorse the standard 5 MP camera with duel LED Flash, and the 1 Ghz Snapdragon Processor. The phone will also support HD video recording. Netflix, Xbox Live, Zune, and Slacker Radio is just a taste of the bundled software for the device. In addition to the 16Gb of internal storage for entertainment related functions, T-Mobile is touting a new application called "Family Room". The family room application will allow families to improve the flow of communication and manage schedules. The device will officially be available mid November. Price information is not yet available.

Verizon To Get Talking and Surfing at the Same Time

2010-10-11T11:32:00.002-04:00

Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brian Higgins announced that the company is examining ways to allow their customers to talk on the phone and text, or use data at the same time. Verizon believes that this will be of limited us to a majority of its customers, but competitors like At&t are touting this as a major network factor in their advertisements. The fix for their current CDMA network will most likely to work with CDMA enhanced. The CDMA enhanced version will allow customers to work with both at the same time. It is currently unknown whether the network enhancement will be backwards compatible with older devices, or if it will remain an advantage in new devices moving forward. Either way, the enhancement is expected in the first half of 2011. I hope At&t is working on a new ad campaign.

LightSquared Gets Manufacturers On-board

2010-10-08T15:57:00.002-04:00

Hot of the heels of an $850 Million round of financing for their network
build out, LightSquared gets Nokia and Qualcomm on board for device
production. Qualcomm will be introducing the MDM9600 Multi-Mode LTE
Chipset. Qualcomm will also be introducing a new interface technology
called EGAL (enhances Geostational Air Link). This new interface will
allow mobile devices to operate on the satellite link. Nokia is also
jumping into the ring by providing branded data devices to the company.

Verizon Releases LTE Plans

2010-10-08T15:29:00.002-04:00

Verizon Wireless has finally unleashed their 4G LTE plans upon the
United States. President and COO Lowel, McAdams announced the LTE
network will support an average data rate of 5-12 Megabits per second
with a network latency of 30 milliseconds. Verizon had already announced
that they would release 35 metro markets in the US with the initial roll
out, and have surpassed that mark. Verizon has announced a list of 38
markets, and 60 commercial airports. (See list below) Despite what At&t
has eluded to in previous weeks, LTE devices will begin to arrive at
Verizon as soon as the beginning of the year however, specific devices
have not been mentioned. McAdams did note that the gamut would include
handsets, USB modems, and tablets. Verizon is dedicated to taking their
network away from the classic walled garden approach that has dominated
the cellular industry, and will open up their resources to third party
developers. Verizon recognizes the importance of the 4G experience being
driven by forces from outside the company, and has already begun work
with companies like Google and Skype to create the "building blocks of
the future". Further, Verizon will also be opening the network as a
shared resource to rural operators. Agreements are in place with 5 such
operators, and underway with more than 200 others. The company president
refused to comment on the up coming availability of the iPhone for
Verizon, but noted that a device like that could benefit from the data
speeds that will be available with LTE. Based on this statement, with
little else known about the elusive device, the new Verizon iPhone may
well be an LTE version of the device. In addition to the 38 other
markets and 60 airports, Verizon has been working with Purdue University
to create a wireless campus utilizing the 4G technology.
LTE City list:
Akron, Ohio
Athens, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Baltimore, Maryland
Boston, Massachusetts
Charlotte, North Carolina
Chicago, Illinois
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colorado
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Houston, Texas
Jacksonville, Florida
Las Vegas, Nevada
Los Angeles, California
Miami, Florida
Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota
Nashville, Tennessee
New Orleans, Louisiana
New York, New York
Oakland, California
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Orlando, Florida
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Phoenix, Arizona
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Rochester, New York
San Antonio, Texas
San Diego, California
San Francisco, California
San Jose, California
Seattle/Tacoma, Washington
St. Louis, Missouri
Tampa, Florida
Washington, D.C.
West Lafayette, Indiana
West Palm Beach, Florida
Airports:
Austin-Bergstrom International, Austin, Texas
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshal, Glen Burnie, Maryland
Bob Hope, Burbank, California
Boeing Field/King County International, Seattle, Washington
Charlotte/Douglas International, Charlotte, North Carolina
Chicago Midway International, Chicago, Illinois
Chicago O'Hare International, Chicago, Illinois
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, Covington, Kentucky
Cleveland-Hopkins International, Cleveland, Ohio
Dallas Love Field, Dallas, Texas
Dallas/Fort Worth International, Fort Worth, Texas
Denver International, Denver, Colorado
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
George Bush Intercontinental/Houston, Houston, Texas
Greater Rochester International, Rochester, New York
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta, Georgia
Honolulu International, Honolulu, Hawaii
Jacksonville International, Jacksonville, Florida
John F. Kennedy International, New York, New York
John Wayne Airport-Orange County, Santa Ana, California
Kansas City International, Kansas City, Missouri
La Guardia, New York, New York
Lambert-St. Louis International, St. Louis, Missouri
Laurence G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts
Long Beach/Daugherty Field, Long Beach, California
Los Angeles International, Los Angeles, California
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, Metairie, Louisiana
McCarran International, Las Vegas, Nevada
Memphis International, Memphis, Tennessee
Metropolitan Oakland International, Oakland, California
Miami International, Miami, Florida
Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nashville International, Nashville, Tennessee
New Castle, Wilmington, North Carolina
Newark Liberty International, Newark, New Jersey
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International, San Jose, California
North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Orlando International, Orlando, Florida
Orlando Sanford International, Sanford, Florida
Palm Beach International, West Palm Beach, Florida
Philadelphia International, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, Mesa, Arizona
Pittsburgh International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Port Columbus International, Columbus, Ohio
Portland International, Portland, Oregon
Rickenbacker International, Columbus, Ohio
Ronald Reagan Washington National, Arlington, Virginia
Sacramento International, Sacramento, California
Salt Lake City International, Salt Lake City, Utah
San Antonio International, San Antonio, Texas
San Diego International, San Diego, California
San Francisco International, San Francisco, California
Seattle-Tacoma International, Seattle, Washington
St. Augustine, Saint Augustine, Florida
St. Petersburg-Clearwater International, Clearwater, Florida
Tampa International, Tampa, Florida
Teterboro, Teterboro, New Jersey
Trenton Mercer, Trenton, New Jersey
Washington Dulles International, Dulles International Airport, Washington, D.C.
Will Rogers World, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
William P. Hobby, Houston, Texas

Verizon iPhone Rumors Surface Again

2010-10-07T18:43:00.002-04:00

According to the Wall Street Journal, sources that are close to
negotiations between Verizon and Apple, claim that Apple has begun
production of a new iPhone made exclusively for the largest carrier in
the United States. While all companies involved refuse to comment,
sources claim that the CDMA exclusive iPhone will be manufactured by
Pegatron Technology Group, a sub company of Asustek. The move by Apple
to end exclusivity with At&t would be a smart decision with additional
pressure in the US market mounting from the storm of sales by Android
handsets. Android is currently being used by 10.9 Million users in the
United States which is upwards of 866,000 from a year ago August. At&t
however, has begun to bolster its line up with Android devices the last
couple weeks in anticipation of the leaving of the iPhone exclusivity.
While no official announcements have been made the handset is expected
to be very similar to the iPhone 4, and be sold early next year.

Verizon Adds Two More Android Phones

2010-10-06T11:26:00.002-04:00

Verizon Wireless announced they have added two more devices to their
smart phone line up. You guessed it.... MORE ANDROID! The devices come
from two different sides of the Android Spectrum. The Droid Pro
(pictured bottom-right), another evolution in the successful Motorola
Droid/ Droid 2 line up improves on the features that made the original
successful . The device is business focused and IT friendly. This time
around the device will include world capabilities, 3.1" Touch display, 1
Ghz processor, and Android 2.2 including the long awaited Adobe Flash
Player 10 will be pre-installed. Coming the first week of November, the
device will include advanced password support, device management
options, and exchange security features. The Citrus (pictured Top-Left)
however, is being billed as a "first smartphone" type device. The phone
will be running Android 2.1, and will be a slab style form factor. The
price on both handsets was not immediately available.

Qualcomm Calls it quits with Media FLO

2010-10-06T11:17:00.001-04:00

Chip manufacturer Qualcomm has announced that they will be suspending
consumer sales of Media Flo. The service allows customer to watch live
TV from mobile devices. Qualcomm does see continued interest in the
Media Flo service, and the spectrum that it operates on, but is still
intending on discontinuing the service. Qualcomm has agreed to continue
support for existing Media Flo devices until Sping of 2011. Should the
service close early Qualcomm intends to issue appropriate refunds.