Sprint cell phone accessories for Sprint Phones

Credit Card Processing Leader, BluePay, Announces Launch of New Website

2009-05-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

BluePay, a Leader in the Credit Card Processing Industry, Has Recently Launched a New Website to Help Merchants Acquire Quick, Easy Payment Solutions and Process Their Transactions Securely and Efficiently
Launching their new website in early April 2009, BluePay's goal is to stay connected with merchants in search of a fast, reliable payment processing company. BluePay.com allows merchants to accept all major credit cards with two simple options, BluePay Go! and BluePay HQ.

"BluePay.com makes it easy for merchants to accept credit cards, including Visa, Discover Network, MasterCard, and American Express, and can incorporate less commonly used payment methods to make the purchase process even more convenient for both the merchant and the customers," says Kristen Gramigna, Director of BluePay.

BluePay Go! is designed for merchants who need service now. The site allows merchants to browse through products and services all while getting them started fast. BluePay Go! provides a complete lineup of credit card processing solutions to meet the complex and changing needs of a growing business. They make accepting payment for services or products easy, fast and secure. They also offer their service while maintaining incredibly low credit card processing rates. BluePay Go! helps businesses get started accepting credit cards, debit cards, and ACH payments. Additionally, BluePay Go! assists companies in streamlining their payment process for easier transactions.

Intuit unveils mobile phone credit card processing

2009-05-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

Chances are you’ve seen wireless payment terminals, those handheld devices being used by the clerk at the Apple Store or the flight attendant who pours a cocktail at 35,000 feet. The devices allow for instant payments to be processed simply by swiping a credit card into it.

Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks software for small businesses, is announcing a new service today, called Intuit GoPayment, that will put credit-card processing technology into most cell phones, paving the way for electricians, tow-truck drivers or any other mobile workers who normally depend on sending a bill, collecting a check or sticking to a cash-only model to collect immediate payment.

But the system does more than just allow mobile workers to collect payment. It also allows users to tap back into their Quickbooks accounts to input different types of information, such as invoicing or estimate information and synchronize it with the Quickbooks data back at the home office.

In some cases, that involves a mobile Web connection. But the company said that it’s also enabling other features with familiar tools such as SMS text messaging to quickly look up a quick price or maybe estimated delivery day, information that might be found in Quickbooks.

The new service is part of Intuit’s mobile strategy for small businesses. A survey by the company found that overdue payments in the Account Receivables file is a growing concern. In addition, nearly 40 percent of the respondents said they saw an increase in sales after giving customers the option to pay by credit card.

The company is also offering optional Bluetooth equipment that will connect to cell phones wirelessly, allowing users to swipe a credit card, instead of just inputting in the information, and even print a receipt.

Cell phone record subpoenas cost

2009-05-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

For at least a short while, those facing prosecution in Lee County may find it less likely to have information about their cellular phones submitted as evidence in court.

Cell phone service provider U.S. Cellular recently informed County Attorney Mike Short the company has begun charging for information about its subscribers.

It has become increasingly common for the county attorney's office to request cell phone records for crimes such as harassment, Short said.

"We give out subpoenas to cell phone companies by the hundreds. ... Every crime, we're checking cell phone records," Short said Tuesday during a Lee County department head meeting following the regular Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.

U.S. Cellular began charging May 4, Short said.

For the short term, the attorney's office doesn't have the funds budgeted to pay for as many subpoenas as it has requested in the past.

"Considering the volume we have done, it could run into some real money. Obviously for the short term, it's not in budget," Short said. "Which means I'm probably not going to do as much or I'm going to come back later and say (to supervisors) I'm going to need a little more money."

When Short protested the charges, U.S. Cellular cited a 2005 court case, Ameritech Corp. V. McCann, in which a U.S. District Court judge in Wisconsin ruled cell phone companies can reasonably bill for information, Short said.

U.S. Cellular charges for a variety of information ranging from $5 for each monthly bill to $40 for specific call information, Short said.

A handful of other companies, including Virgin Mobile and Verizon, also charge for such information. Short expects AT&T and Sprint soon will be sending him bills, too.

Short noted that I-wireless, an affiliate of T-Mobile, does not charge.

Sprint Releases Eco-friendly Accessories

2009-05-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

Sprint’s new cell phone charger has an integrated solar cell to allow for “mobile charging,” as the photovoltaic solar cell is capable of charging a lithium ion battery using just the sun’s rays.

The SOLIO Mono Hybrid Charger takes about 10 hours to charge directly through sunlight, with peak charging times between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The charger is compatible with many phone models, as well as digital cameras and other portable electronics.

Sprint is also offering cell phone carrying cases made out of 100 percent recycled PET, which are manufactured by Nite Ize. The new accessories are part of Sprint’s environmental priority to “promote an environmentally-sound supply chain.”

Another of Sprint’s priorities is to encourage cell phone recycling, as the company has set a 90 percent recovery rate goal by 2017. The company currently recycles about 34 percent of its phones.

“Sprint customers will continue to see more eco-friendly options, whether through our products and services or our business practices,” said Ralph Reid, vice president of corporate social responsibility for Sprint. “Sprint’s eco-friendly products will help consumers conserve natural resources and reduce their carbon footprint.”

If not so pricey, Nokia phone could hurt Palm Pre

2009-05-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

Palm is fortunate that the Nokia doesn't yet have any U.S. carrier partners for its N97 smart phone. The phone, which was unveiled on stage at D: All Things Digital conference has some very impressive features. But, because the phone isn't subsidized by a carrier, anyone who wants one will have to pay $699. The soon-to-be-released Palm Pre will cost $199 with a two-year cell phone contract. The 8 GB iPhone also sells for $199.

At the moment, Palm is getting a lot of attention ahead of its June 6 release of the Pre, which impressed me and a lot of other people when it was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. If the N97 was competitively priced, it might have put a damper on early Palm sales but at three and a half times the price, the new N97 is a nonstarter.

Nokia didn't allow D attendees to try out the phone so all I know is what I saw during the demo. My impression could change once I actually get my hands on one but--based on what I saw--it looked quite good. The GSM phone is likely to work on the AT&T and T-Mobile networks in the U.S. as well as most networks in Europe and other parts of the world.

Like the Palm Pre, there is both a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard. The iPhone only has a touchscreen. The N97 comes with a whopping 32 gigabytes of internal memory plus a microSD slot for those who want even more memory. The Palm Pre has only 8 GB while the current iPhone maxes out at 16 GB.

The N97 has a 5 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeis lens. Most important, the lens has a cover to protect it from being scratched or soiled by coins, keys and pocket lint.

Nokia, which acquired Navteq in 2007, incorporates Navteq's mapping technology which includes turn-by-turn directions and a point of interest data base that's dynamically updated with such things as gas prices.

One possibly useful feature is a text to speech engine that can read your e-mail out loud. Like most text-to-speech software, it speaks in a robotic voice that many people find annoying but it does make it possible to listen to your e-mail while driving. Of course, you still have to configure it, which could require you to take your eyes off the road, but once you press the play button it can read all of your recent messages.

It also has a built-in FM transmitter to stream audio to a car radio.

Sprint Surpasses Recycling Goal, Sharp Adds Solar Cell Phone

2009-05-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

As one major cell phone carrier labors to recycle obsolete units, a manufacturer is bringing into play a phone that charges itself by the sun.

Earlier this year, Sprint set a goal to recycle 250,000 cell phones during April, coinciding with the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Cell Phone Recycling Week. The company collected 279,524 phones for recycling in April, according to a press release.

Sprint says it leads the wireless industry in recycling efforts, with more than 16 million units diverted from landfills for reuse or recycling since 2001.

Cell phone manufacturer Sharp, meanwhile, has introduced a solar cell phone.

The Solar Phone SH002 requires a 10-minute exposure to direct sunlight to deliver one minute of talktime or two hours of standby, according to CNET.

If left outdoors long enough, the cell phone should be able to charge up to 80 percent of capacity, according to the article. The cell phone also is waterproof.

Like most nifty electronics, the cell phone is only available in Japan for now.

Sprint offers a separate solar charging unit for cell phones.

How to Buy a Cell Phone

2009-05-29T06:02:00.000-07:00

With hundreds of handsets to choose from, it can be tough to find the right one. Here's what you need to know to dial up the perfect phone.

These days, smartphones get all the buzz, but the vast majority of handsets sold in the U.S. are actually feature phones: camera phones, music phones, rugged phones, messaging phones, or just plain voice phones.

Unlike smartphones, feature phones are a matter of "what you see is what you get." They don't receive magical software upgrades or run thousands of additional apps, as does the iPhone, for example. That doesn't mean they only make calls, though you can find phones that only make calls, if a basic phone is what you want. But most feature phones include some combination of a camera, a basic Web browser, e-mailing and text messaging apps, and music and video players.

Feature phones are typically less expensive than smartphones. They're available in a much wider range of shapes and sizes, and on a broader range of plans, including prepaid options. Monthly service fees for feature phones are generally cheaper too, which can make a multipurpose feature phone a good bet.

Ready to find your phone? Here's what you should consider before you start shopping:

First, Choose Your Carrier

Because all the national carriers sell a wide variety of phones, choosing your service provider should be your first move. Here's a quick rundown of what each of the primary U.S. carriers offers:

AT&T boasts nationwide coverage and a terrific selection of phones, particularly for texting. But some folks, especially in the Northeast, complain that AT&T's coverage isn't all it's cracked up to be when it comes to reliability and quality.

Cricket and MetroPCS are new "unlimited" carriers that offer much lower rates than their competitors and don't require contracts. But they aren't available everywhere, and they have a somewhat limited selection of phones.

Sprint is relatively inexpensive, and offers some neat media services and a solid high-speed network. It also has the most open approach to third-party apps, running the best e-mail software and letting its subscribers add a wide range of Java applications to their feature phones.

T-Mobile offers cutting-edge phones at relatively low monthly rates and enjoys a reputation for good customer service. But its nationwide coverage isn't as complete as AT&T's or Verizon's.

Verizon Wireless is famed for its excellent network quality and good customer service. Its prices, however, can be higher than the competition's, and the carrier is typically slow to offer new handset features, like 5-megapixel cameras. But when it comes to voice quality, many Verizon phones excel.

Virgin Mobile is a nationwide prepaid carrier that uses Sprint's network but can undercut Sprint's rates. Virgin has relatively few phones on its roster, and those it does offer are mostly low-end.

You may also see unlocked phones on the market that work with GSM networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile but aren't sold by the carriers. These handsets are often imports. Because they're generally more expensive than carrier-approved-and-subsidized phones, few are sold in the U.S.

Next, What Are Your Feature Priorities?

Because feature phones do almost everything, you should decide what capabilities you need or want most. Start narrowing down your choices by first ranking the five major categories of features in order of importance: voice, messaging, camera, media playback, and Web/GPS/games/miscellaneous. Once that's done, you'll be able to concentrate on a filtered-down selection of feature phones.

If you're big on text messaging, you want to focus on messaging functionality. If you've got a small child, a camera is probably important. If you want to ditch your iPod, keep an eye out for good media features.

Since it's a given that you want your calls to sound good, you may feel you should focus mainly on voice rather than other features. You don't need to worry too much about that. The vast majority of phones sold today have solid voice capabilities. Paying attention to the other features you like, and then double-checking to make sure the phone you choose delivers on voice quality, makes it easier to sift through a long list of handsets.

Sprint offers two new unlimited service plans

2008-03-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

Sprint Nextel today ups the ante in the wireless wars.

Reeling from a poor financial performance in 2007 and projecting another bad year, Sprint is trying to lure cord cutters, cell phone junkies, business professionals and other high-dollar wireless customers.

In the process, Dan Hesse, Sprint Nextel’s chief executive, is hoping to take the uncertainty out of monthly wireless bills.

The company today begins offering two new unlimited service plans offering more value for the money than those unveiled by their competitors.

A $99.99 “Unlimited Everything” plan includes voice calls, text messaging and a laundry list of Internet-based data services. An $89.99 “Talk/Message/Connect” plan offers unlimited voice calls and text messaging, but charges extra for access to the Internet or other data services.

The rates undercut competitors AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile by as much as 40 percent. None of those companies offers unlimited access to the rapidly growing wireless data market, which includes services as diverse as phone-based TV and turn-by-turn navigation.

Hesse called the Sprint plans “bold” and “unprecedented.”

“To us, this is the beginning of a new era in wireless,” Hesse said.

According to surveys by organizations ranging from Consumer Reports to the University of Michigan to AARP, problems with mobile phone bills are one of the leading consumer complaints nationally.

After selecting plans that provide a set number of minutes for a set price, customers complain that add-on charges for navigation, Web browsing and text messaging bulk up their bills.

“Wireless today is about much more than just voice,” Hesse said. “It is about data services — texting, e-mail, video, pictures, music, navigation, surfing the Web and more. Customers want these applications, but without complexity and without having to worry about their bill.”

Wall Street, however, was less than impressed.

“I’m not seeing anything here that’s going to change the trajectory much,” said Timothy Horan, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co.

Horan noted that T-Mobile has a plan that offers 1,000 minutes of talk, 1,000 text messages and e-mail for $55.

John Garcia, Sprint’s acting chief marketing officer, said services offered by Sprint and T-Mobile aren’t comparable.

“They are still in a fairly slow network and their data offering is primarily just text and e-mail,” Garcia said during a call with investment analysts. “And anything else you try to do is, like I said, slow.”

Some type of move by Sprint on unlimited calling plans was expected. The company’s three leading rivals announced unlimited service plans last week.

The announcement was the lone positive note Thursday in a cacophony of bad news released as the Overland Park wireless company announced its quarterly and annual financial reports.

Sprint wrote off $29.7 billion in the fourth quarter and said the company will lose 1.2 million postpaid customers during the first three months of this year.

Hesse said Sprint’s plan differentiates the company from its competitors while offering customers simplicity.

In some ways, Hesse is going back to the future.

While with AT&T’s wireless division in 1998, Hesse introduced one-price calling for cell phones, eliminating different charges for local and long distance calls. At the time, consumers were charged extra for cell phone use outside their home region or for long distance calls.

Before the plan was introduced, Hesse said, only about 16 percent of wireless consumers regularly used their phone in areas that would bring extra roaming charges.

“We penalized any customer who actually wanted to use the mobility function,” he said. “You didn’t take your cell phone when you traveled and you didn’t make long distance calls on your cell phone. The market was small because the wireless industry made sure it was small.”

The plan to standardize rates is a whole new revolution, Hesse said.

“At our rates, we feel we have struck a very healthy balance between fiscal responsibility and a broader reach, which will grow the wireless data market,” Hesse said.

William Power, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., said the plan puts Sprint in a competitive position for the most lucrative customers. But, in a report to investors, he included a caveat.

“That is a relatively small piece of the overall market,” Power said.

Power noted that Wall Street had been concerned Sprint would start a wireless price war.

“On the whole, the pricing actions do not appear to be as aggressive as some had feared,” Power said. “The lack of a stronger lower-priced offering could be positive for the industry.”

Hesse conceded that only a small percentage of current customers are coughing up $100 a month for mobile phone service.

“It’s correct that today a small percentage of users spend $100 a month on wireless,” Hesse said. “But that could change. It could be that it’s because we make it difficult for users, or really very expensive, for users to use broadband capabilities on the phone.”

Roger Entner, vice president of the communications sector for IAG Research, applauded Sprint’s plan.

“It’s enough to give them differentiation, but not enough to make everybody freak out and start a price war,” Entner said.

Entner said Sprint’s plan also offers another benefit overlooked by other wireless companies in their unlimited plans — families.

Sprint’s plans give families a $5 incremental discount for each line on a family plan. A second line costs $94.99; a third, $89.99.

“It’s on the right path,” Entner said of the plan.

Sprint goes unlimited

$99.99
Unlimited voice and data, including texting, Web browsing, push-to-talk, navigation, TV, radio and other services.

$89.99
Unlimited voice calls, push-to-talk and texting, but no free access to other data services.

$89.99
Unlimited data, including texting, Web browsing, navigation, TV, radio, push-to-talk and other services, and 900 minutes of talk time.

$69.99
Unlimited texting and push-to-talk, and 900 minutes of talk time.

$49.99
Unlimited texting and push-to-talk, and 450 minutes of talk time.

Source

Wireless Price War a Boon to Enterprise Mobility

2008-03-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

Top-tier providers roll out fixed-price plans, as workers gain service leverage.

The fixed-rate war raging between wireless service providers could benefit enterprises that aim to save money and gain even deeper data and Internet services for mobile workforces.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile ignited a pricing battle two weeks ago when all three announced fixed-price unlimited calling plans for $99.99. T-Mobile even added unlimited texting.

Sprint Nextel remained eerily quiet until yesterday when it rolled out unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, Web access, GPS service, as well as Sprint TV, Sprint Music, and Direct Connect and Group Connect options in one plan for the same price.

In a statement, Dan Hesse, Sprint president and CEO, said the plan reflects the sea change in cellular services and users' data needs.

"Wireless today is about much more than just voice. It is about data services. Customers want these applications," he stated. Sprint says the move to unlimited plans that include data signifies an industry turning point.

"Nationally accepted measures of voice quality now show very little, if any, difference among the top wireless providers," the provider acknowledged in its statement.

And that simple statement is exactly why enterprises are in a great position when it comes to shoring up data services at more economical prices, say industry experts.

The price battle proves "data is the new voice" and that "today's cell phone is tomorrow's smartphone," Carmi Levy, senior vice president of strategic consulting at AR Communications, told InternetNews.com. Both trends, he said, bode well for corporate mobility needs.

Enterprises should call their providers and begin negotiating better price point and data service plans.

"It's time to crack open that existing deal and realize some cost savings. IT leaders should be asking their providers 'what are you going to do for me?' And they should be prepared to jump to another carrier as it could prove very cost-effective," said Levy, who expects prices to keep dropping.

"IT needs to be proactive and get the biggest bang for their technology buck. Mobility is a critical business tool," he said.

But whether data services become a fixed price option anytime soon is up to the carriers. Verizon Wireless recently announced a new "unlimited" data plan that has a maximum cutoff at 5GB. Users who go beyond that will pay 49 cents for every megabyte of data over the limit and could get their throughput reduced.

Levy compares this type of strategy to the initial ISP approach when the Web came into play. At that time most ISPs offered minutes-based pricing plans. The industry, Levy said, finally realized that charging per minute wasn't the best business strategy.

"That was a ridiculous approach -- using a meter to charge people -- and it's the same now with data minutes," he said. "Providers need to offer an 'all you can drink' data plan for the enterprise."

And given Sprint Nextel's "brilliant" marketing move, the analyst expects such changes could come quick.

"Competitors can't afford to stand on the sidelines at this point," Levy said. "They all have to balance marketing efforts with better data plans and expanded coverage as mobile workers expect to have service wherever they are."

Source

U.S. Stocks Decline on Economic Concern; AIG, Sprint Retreat

2008-03-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

U.S. stocks tumbled, capping the market's fourth-straight monthly drop, after a report showed business activity fell to the lowest level since 2001 and UBS AG said losses in credit markets may top $600 billion.

American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer, declined the most in two weeks after posting the widest quarterly deficit in its 89-year history. Sprint Nextel Corp. slumped to an almost six-year low on concern more customers will defect from the third-biggest U.S. wireless carrier. All 10 industries in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index retreated, led by banks and phone companies.

The S&P 500 fell 37.05 points, or 2.7 percent, to 1,330.63, its biggest drop since Feb. 5. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 315.79, or 2.5 percent, to 12,266.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 60.09, or 2.6 percent, to 2,271.48. Eleven stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

``There is certainly no shortage of negative news out there,'' Michael Magiera, senior analyst at Manning & Napier Advisors, which manages $17 billion in Fairport, New York, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

The S&P 500 extended its February decline to 3.5 percent after the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said its business barometer contracted as production and employment weakened, boosting concern the worst earnings slump in six years will continue. The four-month losing streaks for the S&P 500 and Dow are the longest since 2002.

Global Slump

Shares in Europe and Asia retreated on concern that the U.S. economy is tipping into recession. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index retreated 1.4 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.2 percent. The MSCI EM Latin America Index dropped 4.5 percent, the most in almost six weeks.

Profits at S&P 500 companies fell 23 percent on average in the fourth quarter of 2007, and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect a 3 percent drop in the first quarter followed by profit growth of 13.7 percent for the year. Two months ago, the forecasts were for increases of 4.7 percent in the first quarter and 15.1 percent for the year.

AIG tumbled $3.29, or 6.6 percent, to $46.86 after posting a fourth-quarter net loss of $5.29 billion, or $2.08 a share, following an $11.1 billion writedown on investments linked in part to subprime mortgages. AIG said it expects more writedowns this year.

``Fridays are tough days'' because investors don't want to be long stocks in case more bad news is reported over the weekend, said David Goerz, chief investment officer of Highmark Capital Management, which oversees $22 billion in San Francisco. ``The news with AIG just put everybody in a foul mood.''

Citigroup Inc., the largest U.S. bank, slid $1.30 to $23.71. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the biggest securities firm, fell $7.07 to $169.63.

`Cancer in the Market'

Credit-market losses will climb to at least $600 billion from about $160 billion written down so far as investments funded with borrowed money are unwound, UBS credit strategist Geraud Charpin wrote in a note to clients.

``Leveraged risk positions are a cancer in this market and the sooner it is treated the better,'' Charpin wrote. AIG's writedown ``is also the clearest indication that banks are not the only ones to suffer potential losses.''

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. fell after Deutsche Bank AG analyst Michael Mayo forecast further writedowns of subprime assets and lowered first-quarter profit estimates for the firms. At least five other analysts have cut their first-quarter analysts for banks and brokers in the last two weeks. Lehman fell $3.69 to $50.99. Bear Stearns lost $4.36 to $79.86.

September 2002

Financial shares in the S&P 500 fell 4 percent today and tumbled 11 percent in February, the steepest monthly loss since September 2002.

Ambac Financial Group Inc. fell 66 cents to $11.14 after CNBC reported that a deal to boost capital at the second-largest bond insurer hit a snag Feb. 27. The group of banks engaged in the bailout will come back with another proposal to keep Ambac together, the financial news network reported. CNBC cited people familiar with the situation.

MBIA Inc., Ambac's larger rival, decreased $1.09 to $12.97. The company is writing ``very little'' new bond insurance business as borrowers balk at buying a guarantee from a money- losing company without stable AAA credit ratings. MBIA said losses on mortgage-backed securities will probably increase this year and expand beyond subprime mortgages.

Subscriber Losses

Sprint slid 98 cents to $7.11. The company said it will likely lose 1.2 million subscribers in the first quarter. That was triple the number Stanford Group Co. analyst Michael Nelson in New York had forecast and represents 2.2 percent of Sprint's wireless customers.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. fell as crude oil retreated from a record and natural gas declined from a two-year high in New York. Exxon lost $2.37 to $87.01. Chevron tumbled $2.36 to $86.66.

Novell Inc. posted the biggest gain in the S&P 500, adding 91 cents, or 14 percent, to $7.45. The second-biggest seller of Linux operating-system software in the U.S. reported a fiscal first-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates after cutting costs by eliminating jobs and changing sales tactics. The company raised its full-year sales forecast.

Gap Inc. rose 72 cents to $20.17. The largest U.S. clothing retailer said fourth-quarter profit advanced for the first time in three years and forecast further gains this year after it sold more full-priced sweaters and jeans during the holiday season.

3Com Buyout

3Com Corp. jumped 38 cents, or 13 percent, to $3.29. Bain Capital LLC and Huawei Technologies Co. plan to reapply within several weeks for U.S. approval to acquire the networking systems and services provider for $2.2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Today was the most active trading day on the NYSE since Feb. 1, with 1.76 billion shares changing hands. Over the past three months, average daily volume has been 1.59 billion shares.

The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said its business barometer dropped to 44.5 in February from 51.5 a month earlier. Figures less than 50 signal a contraction.

Consumer spending in the U.S. rose more than forecast in January, reflecting a jump in prices that is eroding buying power. The 0.4 percent rise in spending followed a revised 0.3 percent gain in December, the Commerce Department said. The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation climbed 0.3 percent, the most in four months.

Treasury Yields Fall

Yields on Treasury securities slid, sending the two-year note under 1.7 percent for the first time since April 2004, as investors increased bets on interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Interest-rate futures indicate traders for the first time assign a higher probability to a three-quarter-point cut than to a half-point cut at the Fed's next meeting on March 18. The odds of a three-quarter point cut implied by futures prices rose to 70 percent from 36 percent yesterday and 2 percent a week ago. The remaining bets are on a half-point cut.

The central bank has lowered its target for the overnight lending rate between banks five times since September, most recently to 3 percent on Jan. 30.

``The market has been of the belief that the Fed's aggressive easing action would relieve the pressures,'' said Henry Herrmann, president of Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., which manages $65 billion in Overland Park, Kansas. ``The complications are not diminishing, they're growing.''

Economic Slowdown

Stocks slid yesterday after slower-than-forecast economic growth, rising jobless claims and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's warning of possible failures among smaller banks deepened concern that the economy has tipped into a recession.

U.S. equities, as measured by the S&P 500, fared the worst among the world's 10 largest markets in February on concern that a recession is inevitable. Japan posted the second-biggest decline, with a drop of 1.6 percent in the Topix index.

Six of the 10 biggest markets have fallen more this year than the S&P 500, which is down 9.4 percent in 2008. Canada's Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index has lost 1.8 percent and Brazil's Bovespa fell 0.6 percent.

The S&P 500 trades at less than 14 times expected earnings, the lowest valuation since October 1990, reflecting investors' lack of confidence in profit estimates.

Financial companies and telephone stocks posted the biggest drops among 10 S&P 500 industries in February, declining 11 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively.

The Russell 2000 Index, a benchmark for companies with a median market value 22 times smaller than the S&P 500, dropped 2.8 percent today to 686.18. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Index, the broadest measure of U.S. shares, fell 2.6 percent to 13,455.96. Based on its decline, the value of stocks decreased by $450.9 billion.

Source

Sprint and Samsung Release M520 Slider Phone

2008-02-20T18:04:00.000-08:00

Sprint and Samsung (News - Alert) Mobile have unveiled a new phone: the M520 by Samsung. It is described as the first slider Power Vision phone, and is packed with communication and entertainment features including Web access, live TV, location services, song downloads, texting and GPS.

The M520 comes in a slim, slider form factor. It’s designed for multi-tasking so, for example, users can play music in background mode while sending text messages, playing games or browsing the Web.

The Samsung M520 will be supported by the Sprint Mobile Broadband network. The phone will offer access to exclusive services and multimedia content from Sprint. These include:

Sprint Navigation - a Telenav-powered GPS service that offers audio and visual driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and over 10 million local listings.

Live Search for Sprint - A Microsoft (News - Alert) service that offers voice-enabled access to directory information while on the move, GPS-enabled directions, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access.

Sprint Music Store – A virtual store where users can browse and download songs wirelessly to their phone. Users can select from over 1.8 million songs for just 99 cents each

Sprint TV – offers over 50 channels of live and on-demand video and audio

Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE) - the industry’s only made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network.

For all downloads, standard data charges apply.

In addition to the above, the device also offers a wide array of other features, such as Web access, SMS voice and text messaging, Phone as Modem, picture caller ID, Wireless Backup, a MicroSD slot that supports 4GB of memory (64MB card enclosed), stereoBluetooth with audio caller ID that helps users to identify callers with a spoken voice while listening to music, and a 1.3 megapixel camera that offers 2x digital zoom and camcorder functionality.

The device is now available in all Sprint retail channels and through its Web site. It is priced at $49.99, with a $50 mail-in rebate and a 2-year contract. The phone measures 4.01” x 2.04” x 0.5” when closed, and weighs less than 2.8 ounces.

Source

Sprint (S) To Give Away Cell Phone Calls For Free

2008-02-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

Now that its rivals (AT&T NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless have gone to $99.99 a month unlimited calling plans, Sprint (NYSE: S) needs to get it in gear. It has had trouble adding new wireless subscribers for the last two years while the two larger companies have put on more customers every quarter over the same period.

Sprint's merger with NexTel killed its subscriber service reputation which has done damage to the company's revenue and operating income. A recent study by the University of Michigan showed it in last place for customer satisfaction among US wireless providers The company sacked its CEO and has added an activist investor, Ralph Whitworth, to its board, an action it probably would have liked to avoid.

According to Reuters "Sprint has yet to respond (to its competition), but analysts say it could be considering an unlimited calling plan for as low as $60 a month in a bid to stem customer defections."

With its stock down from over $25 less than two years ago to just over $8 now, it may have to give its service away to get new customers.

Source

Verizon Sales Miss Estimates as Home-Phone Users Fall

2008-01-29T18:08:00.000-08:00

Verizon Communications Inc., the second-largest U.S. phone company, reported fourth-quarter sales that missed estimates as home-phone users defected to cable rivals and wireless service.

Net income climbed 3.9 percent to $1.07 billion, or 37 cents a share, from $1.03 billion, or 35 cents, a year ago, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Revenue rose 5.5 percent to $23.8 billion, less than the $24 billion average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg's plan to spend $23 billion over seven years to offer TV service and higher Internet speeds hasn't yet stemmed customer losses to cable companies. Investors are worried that an economic slowdown could cause more phone-line losses for Verizon and larger rival AT&T Inc., said Jeff Brimhall of National City Private Client Group.

``They both face a little bit of a challenge because they obviously have significant exposure to the consumer,'' the Cleveland-based analyst said in an interview. His firm manages $34 billion, including Verizon and AT&T shares. ``Line loss to wireless and to cable is a concern going forward, but the macroeconomic situation just adds uncertainty.''

Profit, excluding items such as severance pay for fired workers, was 62 cents a share, meeting the average estimate of 21 analysts in the Bloomberg survey. The wireless unit's operating margin, the percentage of sales remaining after deducting the costs of providing service, expanded to 26.2 percent from 25 percent a year ago.

Line Losses

Verizon rose 35 cents to $38.11 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock is little changed in the past 12 months.

Verizon lost 875,000 phone lines in the quarter, including 476,000 primary home-phone lines, as customers switched to cable voice plans or began using wireless service exclusively. Some of those mobile users are Verizon Wireless customers. Total phone lines dropped 8.1 percent from a year ago to 41.4 million, accelerating from an 8 percent drop the previous quarter.

AT&T also reported fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of analysts' estimates. While San Antonio-based AT&T blamed the results on shutting off service to nonpaying customers, Verizon pointed to competition from cable companies such as Comcast Corp.

U.S. retail sales fell last month, unemployment climbed, and factory production has slowed. The Federal Reserve cut the benchmark lending rate Jan. 22 in its first emergency reduction since 2001. President George W. Bush is working with lawmakers to pass an economic stimulus package to avert a recession.

Growth Concerns

After a 17 percent gain in 2007, Verizon shares have fallen 13 percent this year amid investor concerns about economic growth. AT&T said a slowing economy cost it about 100,000 of the 656,000 primary home-phone customers it lost last quarter. Verizon hasn't detected a similar trend, company president Denny Strigl said.

``Whether they face a challenge or not, investors are concerned by the fact that they are going to,'' Brimhall said.

Verizon continued to trim jobs. The company recorded a charge of 16 cents a share in the fourth quarter for severance pay to fire 9,000 phone-line workers from last quarter through the end of this year. Verizon has about 235,000 employees.

``It's not related to any kind of economic trend,'' Chief Financial Officer Doreen Toben said in an interview. ``When lines go down, when you have less lines, you have less need for force.''

Selling Businesses

The company is awaiting regulatory approval for a $2.72 billion deal to hand over about 1.6 million phone lines in the northeastern U.S. to FairPoint Communications Inc. Verizon spun off a directories unit and sold assets in the Dominican Republic, incurring expenses of 22 cents a share in the quarter.

Verizon added 226,000 TV subscribers to its fiber-optic network, fewer than the 234,000 projected by UBS AG analyst John Hodulik in New York. The company also recruited 245,000 fiber Internet customers, missing Hodulik's 284,000 estimate.

The fiber-optic network, called FiOS, is now available in parts of 17 states, the company said today. Verizon plans to make it available to 18 million homes by the end of 2010, about twice last year's total. Customers are less likely to cut phone lines when they order TV and fiber-based Internet services, Toben said.

``It sounds like, as video continues to roll out, the retention should improve,'' said Jonathan Atkin, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco. He said he expects the shares to perform in line with the broader market.

Verizon's capital expenses in 2008 should fall below the $17.5 billion it spent last year, Toben said.

Wireless Customers

Verizon Wireless, jointly owned by Verizon and Vodafone Group Plc, added 2 million customers, including 1.6 million on long-term contracts. Subscribers who sign contracts are more profitable because they're more likely to stay with the company over time than those who pre-pay for service.

Verizon Wireless took subscribers from smaller rival Sprint Nextel Corp., which lost 683,000 contract customers last quarter. AT&T, owner of the biggest U.S. mobile-phone service, added 2.7 million users in the quarter, including 1.2 million on contracts.

Wireless customer turnover, or churn, narrowed to 1.2 percent from 1.3 percent in the previous quarter. The company has kept users by spending to maintain the quality of its network, said Todd Rosenbluth, an equity analyst at Standard & Poor's in New York.

``It was a strong quarter, driven by wireless,'' Rosenbluth said. He had estimated Verizon Wireless would add 1.5 million subscribers. ``They continue to be the most efficient operator out there.''

Source

AT&T Reverse Cell Phone Directory - Does it Exist?

2008-01-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

AT&T was part of the U.S. cell phone collective that was developing the now defunct Wireless 411, the national wireless directory. The official Wireless 411 is now an after thought because of public outrage and government pressure. So no official AT&T directory or reverse directory exists. However, if you are in need of finding the owner to an AT&T number, you can get help from a reverse phone resource (more on that below).

There is no other cellular network that can claim the success of AT&T; not only has it become the largest provider of service within the United States but it offers one of the most diverse set of benefits found within any company. From residential uses to plans tailored for businesses, AT&T is known for its wide variety, multiple products and reliable service.

But, of course, not even the giant of the cellular industry can manage what so many of its clients want: a listing of numbers for easy explanations over unknown calls. AT&T might have the strongest listing of extras but it falls short of perfection with this one area. We believe that can be forgiven, though, since there are other options to be found. You are not being withheld any information; you merely have to seek it elsewhere.
Getting back to reverse phone searches, a reverse phone book works with limited incentives. It allows you to type in an unknown number and see where it is located and, in many cases, to whom it belongs. While the typical phone book relies on names and other essential pieces, this idea works within the concept that, sometimes, you simply do not have enough to tell. You do not have the answers so you can´t ask the proper question.

Reverse phone search companies will help you find the owner to any phone number. Many are paid searches or paid subscriptions. Here is one that will walk you through your free reverse phone search options before you decide to pay a fee. This page essentially provides you with a reverse phone book.

Source

Pink BlackBerry Pearl Coming to Verizon Wireless

2008-01-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

Perfect for the fashion-forward professional on-the-go, the BlackBerry(R) Pearl(TM) 8130 in pink makes it easy to perform essential tasks away from the office, such as managing e-mail, and connecting instantly to the Internet. It also lets customers take pictures, listen to music, watch videos, and much more. The BlackBerry Pearl 8130 in pink also includes built-in navigation to support the location-based application, VZ Navigator(SM), that offers customers audible turn-by-turn directions to wherever they want to go. (PRNewsFoto/Verizon Wireless)

Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation's most reliable wireless
voice and data network, and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX:
RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, announced today the
availability of the BlackBerry(R) Pearl(TM) 8130 smartphone in pink. Coming
to Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at
http://www.verizonwireless.com tomorrow, the pink BlackBerry Pearl is packed with
the same powerful communications features and wireless broadband
connectivity as the original, but it comes encased in a new pink finish
that's chic and sophisticated.

8130 in pink makes it easy to perform essential tasks away from the
office, such as managing e-mail, and connecting instantly to the Internet,
and it also lets customers take pictures, listen to music, watch videos,
and much more. With built-in navigation to support the location-based
application, VZ Navigator(SM), customers can get audible turn-by-turn
directions to wherever they want to go. The BlackBerry Pearl 8130 also
offers the following features and capabilities:



   --  Wireless broadband (EV-DO) connectivity for high-speed data transfers,
       perfect for fast Web browsing
   --  Premium phone features including Voice Activated Dialing,
       speakerphone, and noise and echo cancellation technology for clearer
       calls
   --  2 megapixel camera with flash and 5x zoom, able to record video
   --  Advanced media player and enhanced desktop media manager software
       allowing customers to easily manage music, pictures and video between
       their PC and the BlackBerry Pearl 8130
   --  Externally accessible microSD(TM)/SDHC memory card slot
   --  Bluetooth(R) with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets,
       car kits, and other Bluetooth accessories
   The BlackBerry Pearl 8130 smartphone in pink is available Friday for
$199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
An additional $100 credit toward the purchase of the device is available
for customers who sign up for qualifying voice and data plans at the time
of purchase. In addition, Verizon Wireless offers Nationwide E-mail and Web
for BlackBerry customers, which includes unlimited data, for an additional
$29.99 per month on top of a voice plan. The plan provides access to up to
10 supported POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts via BlackBerry(R) Internet
Service.

   For more information on products and services from Verizon Wireless,
visit http://www.verizonwireless.com. Business customers may contact a Verizon
Wireless Business Sales Representative directly at 1-800-VZW-4-BIZ.

   About Verizon Wireless

   Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and
data network, serving 63.7 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless
company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon
Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 68,000 employees
nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:
VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at
http://www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video
footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on
to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at
http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

   About Research In Motion (RIM)

   Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of
innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications
market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and
services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides
platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information
including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based
applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party
developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with
wireless connectivity to data. RIM's portfolio of award-winning products,
services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations
around the world and include the BlackBerry(R) wireless platform, the RIM
Wireless Handheld(TM) product line, software development tools,
radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984
and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America,
Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq:
RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information,
visit http://www.rim.com or http://www.blackberry.com.

   Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to
the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used herein, words such as "intend" and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
Forward- looking statements are based on assumptions made by and
information available to Research In Motion Limited. Investors are
cautioned that such forward- looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, possible product defects and
product liability, risks related to international sales and potential
foreign currency exchange fluctuations, the initiation or outcome of
litigation, acts or potential acts of terrorism, international conflicts,
significant fluctuations of quarterly operating results, changes in
Canadian and foreign laws and regulations, continued acceptance of RIM's
products, increased levels of competition, technological changes and the
successful development of new products, dependence on third-party networks
to provide services, dependence on intellectual property rights, and other
risks and factors detailed from time to time in RIM's periodic reports
filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and other
regulatory authorities. RIM has no intention or obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.

   The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols
are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
RIM, Research In Motion and BlackBerry are registered with the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in other countries.
All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service
marks are the properties of their respective owners. RIM assumes no
liability and makes no representation, warranty or guarantee in relation to
third party products or services.

Source

Verizon Wireless to Purchase SureWest Communications' Wireless Assets In Northern California

2008-01-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless and SureWest Communications announced today they have signed a definitive agreement for Verizon Wireless to purchase SureWest Communications' wireless assets in northern California, operating as SureWest Wireless, for $69.0 million.

The purchase includes SureWest Wireless' spectrum licenses, and network and operations assets in the greater Sacramento area. The licenses, which cover a population of 3.8 million people and overlap with areas currently served by Verizon Wireless, will expand the company's capacity in that area. Verizon Wireless plans to begin serving SureWest Wireless' more than 50,000 customers when the deal is finalized.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2008 and is subject to federal regulatory approvals.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 63.7 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 68,000 employees nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone . Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at
www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
Source

Cell phone bill on the rise? Check your SMS charges

2008-01-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

If you've been paying attention to mobile carriers' SMS pricing lately (and something tells us you haven't) you'd be surprised to discover a fairly disturbing trend amongst providers: price hikes.

Over the past year or so, nearly every major carrier in the US has raised their per-price cost of SMS messages, with Verizon and Sprint jacking up the fee from $0.15 to $0.20 a message, and AT&T and T-Mobile adding another nickel to their $0.10 charge. Of course, this trend of rising prices accompanies a major spike in the use of text messages amongst customers, with some surveys marking a 130-percent jump over SMS use since June 2006 -- and telcos are taking it to the bank.
What's most insidious about the inflated costs is the fact that SMS data is particularly low-bandwidth, and analysts say that the price increases aren't related to higher operating costs -- these companies are simply gouging customers for a service which they have embraced. Companies say the hikes are meant to encourage customers to go for more expensive "bundles," though we're confident they won't mention it when your Mom uses more messages than her plan allows and unwittingly pays a few extra bucks on her bill -- that stuff adds up, you know?

Panel split over ban on hand-held phones in cars

2008-01-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

Sen. Michael G. Lenett is sponsor of the bill to ban use of hand-held phones while driving.
It's talking on the phone, not holding it in your hand, that leads to auto accidents, opponents of a ban on hand-held cell phone use while driving told lawmakers yesterday.

But proponents of the ban - who have been trying for nearly a decade to enact legislation restricting cell phone use while driving - said that handling phones and the increasingly prevalent practice of typing messages on them while behind the wheel increase the likelihood of driver distraction, which accounts for more than a million car crashes a year.

Lawmakers appeared split on the issue during a committee hearing yesterday, and proponents said the measure is within one vote of success or failure.

Gary M. Horewitz, a government affairs representative for Sprint Nextel, said the Maryland law would "lead to greater risk on the highway" because it would encourage drivers to talk on hands-free devices - and that it is the potentially distracting conversation, not the handling of phones per se, that is the real danger.

"The bill will potentially lead to more crashes, not less," he said.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Michael G. Lenett, a Montgomery County Democrat, would allow drivers to use wireless communication devices only with hands-free accessories, such as headphone sets equipped with microphones.

At least five states and the District of Columbia have passed bans on driving while talking on hand-held cell phones, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation. Among them are Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

After yesterday's hearing, Lenett said the proposed ban - variations of which have deadlocked Maryland's legislature since 1999 - faces a tough hurdle in the nine-member Judicial Proceedings committee.

"It's extremely close, maybe within one vote," Lenett said. But he maintained hope that support from Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration as well as a national trend toward similar bans would swing the issue this year.

But Sprint lobbyists and several Republican committee members pointed to accident statistics from the Maryland State Police that list cell phones as causing only one half of 1 percent of all crashes.

Sen. Brian E. Frosh, the Montgomery County Democrat who chairs the committee considering the bill, said he supports the measure but added that it is too early to predict whether his members would vote to send the legislation to the Senate floor for a full hearing.

"It's a very controversial issue, one in which people are going to try and figure out how their constituents feel about it," Frosh said.

If the bill does make it out of committee, leaders in the Senate and House of Delegates said it stands a good chance of becoming law.

Both Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch said yesterday that they would support the ban.

If it passes the Senate, Busch predicted the bill would have a "strong possibility" of support in the House, though he said the law would be difficult to enforce.

"I know it would be a great inconvenience to many, but it's a life-saving measure," Miller said. "I'm sure people will give it a fair shot."

Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican representing Harford and Cecil counties, told members of the Judicial Proceedings Committee yesterday that she believed using a cell phone while driving could actually save lives in some circumstances.

"When somebody's whizzing by me at 100 miles an hour, I'll often call the police and report the license plate," Jacobs said to Lenett during the hearing.

Emergency calls would be exempted from the ban, he responded.

"What about a call from one of your children to you because of what they thought of as an emergency situation?" Jacobs asked.

Amazon Kindle: Save Trees, Support E-Book Readers

2008-01-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

As much as I love to read, turning pages one by one, breaking a new paperback book into a well-weathered memory to trophy in my book case, I realize it is costing some forest, somewhere, a tree.

Although e-books have existed since the 90’s a portable platform designed just for e-books that is truly functional has not been available until recently. I read up on two products out there, Sony Reader, which I liked, and the Amazon Kindle, of which I liked a little better.

he Kindle retails at $399 and in my fair and balanced opinion, it comes the closest to getting all things right for this relatively new medium. It lets you download a mini library of books, magazines, and blogs wirelessly. It can do this from just about anywhere you might find cell phone service, kindle specifically uses the Sprint wireless network to link up. The key feature to the wireless kindle is an integrated high-speed EVDO antenna (similar to the ones found in the 3G phones). This antenna allows users to download a 544-page book in 45 seconds. This rockin’ bonus to this wireless access is that it’s free. However, there is a but, do remember that subscribing to magazines, blogs, and newspapers can cost you.

The unit weighs 10.3 ounces and is smaller than many hardback books. The E-ink display screen does not need constant poser to feed it allowing the battery to last much longer. A full QWERTY keypad can be used to do text searches or insert remarks.

The kindle makes reading as close to the real “paper” experience as possible. The unit contains a 6-inch screen that produces a high-contrast E ink display that will not flicker nor does it use a backlight. This E-ink technology allows you to read for hours without eye strain. The text can be instantly resized for easy reading or those who have adjusted vision requirements.

There are large Next Page/Previous Page buttons on the side of the screen that are convenient but they are so big that you can accidentally bump the buttons and throw yourself off by a page or two. Also, the scroll-wheel-based menu system does take some getting used to.

The Kindle store via Amazon is the supply portal for the e-books, complete with some 90,000-plus available titles. The supply proves to be both plentiful and cheap, with best sellers going for $9.99, and many e-books out there are free or mere pennies compared to the paper copy. It holds over 200 titles at once and it has a very long battery life. According to Amazon, leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day or turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. The unit fully recharges in 2 hours.

After spending $399 it can be a major disappointment not to find a title you are searching for. Although it is costly to get into and it still costs more than it should for simple e-books in my opinion, this alternative allows you to store many novels and periodicals and helps save the planet one e-book at a time.

Source

Sprint to launch Samsung Ace World Phone

2008-01-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

Sprint is expecting to launch the Ace, a BlackJack-Like Samsung Smartphone. This is a Windows Mobile 6 Standard smartphone will be a WorldPhone, offering seamless transitioning from the US to other countries.

The Samsung Ace rocks a 1.3 megapixel camera, microSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.0, and EVDO on the CDMA-side of things. Unfortunately, jet-setters will be relying on the Rev. 0 flavor of EVDO, while GSM-surfers will have to deal with a lowly GRPS data connection to get their wireless data-fix.

Look for Sprint to drop the Samsung Ace on February 17th, at a $449.99 price-point (most likely sans contract)

Source

Cell phone calls to 911. It's not what you think.

2008-01-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

If you think help is on the way when you call 911 from your cell phone, think again. Many phones don't tell dispatchers where you're calling from and that makes it hard for help to get to you.

This can be a big problem for police, firefighters, paramedics. A call comes in for an emergency but they have no idea where to go. Nearly everyone has a cell phone. But is you used it to call 911 would police or firefighters be able to find you?

The answer is, maybe not. Because mobile phones are, well, mobile and the call could be coming from anywhere.

Sean Collins of the Kern Co. Fire Department, "It is very difficult, at this time, to know exactly where a caller is from. When the call comes in on a land line, emergency dispatchers can automatically track it back to a specific address. But when the call comes in on a cell phone, often times they have to rely on a caller that may be panicked and scared."

And if they're too shaken to give details, dispatchers are left guessing.

It happened this week in Taft. Someone called 911 from their cell phone to report a fire, but the phone couldn't give specific details about the location.

As a result, three people were forced to jump from the second story of a burning building.

Sean Collins, "If we do not know that address explicitly, we then have to wait for another caller or try to keep calling back the cell phone user, *if* we get there telephone number."

But they don't, they have to rely on information from the cellular provider and some are better than others.

Elizabeth Trujillo of J's Communication, "It just depends on whether the provider has something enabled on the phone that way."

For example, Sprint and Verizon use global positioning satellites to locate callers which can pinpoint a location.

Other companies like AT&T and T-Mobile use their cell towers which only give a general location. But neither way gives a specific address.

And in an emergency where time is critical, a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.

We can only respond to what we know. Obviously we cannot determine or make things up or assume.

If you want to know if a 911 call can be traced back to your phone, take a look at the settings.

Look for something that says, "GPS" or "Location".

If you still can't figure it out call your wireless service provider.

Source

Wireless TV & Studios Inc. Introduces nightVision: Live Video Browsing -- the Next Great Leap in Search Engines

2008-01-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

This new technology takes search engines to the next level. Citysearch and Google offer the consumer archived information. nightVision offers live search -- allowing users to search the moment.
New York, New York (PRWEB) January 5, 2008 -- New Year's Eve, just after midnight, the ball has dropped. The lines at New York's hottest nightclubs run around the block, as bouncers fend off hordes of revelers. A black Cadillac Escalade SUV pulls up to the curb, a striking reporter and a camera crew exit the vehicle, greet the doorman and walk seamlessly through the velvet rope and into the club. Once inside, they are waved into the VIP section, where they rub elbows with New York's nightlife elite. Is it for TV? No. The internet? Wrong again.

Welcome to live TV on your cell phone ... free to all, regardless of cell phone carrier.

"Years of research and development are finally coming to fruition," said Eduardo Lipschutz-Villa, president of Wireless TV & Studios, Inc., as he and an assistant monitored the live broadcast unfolding in front of him, via cell phones from all the major carriers: Verizon, ATT, Sprint and T-Mobile.

"With this new technology, we're taking search engines to the next level. Citysearch and Google offer the consumer archived information. nightVision offers live search -- we allow people to search the moment. Can you imagine being out and about, and being able to see if a bar is hopping, what the crowd is like, how they're dressed, if your ex is there," Lipschutz-Villa smiled. "Now we have achieved content specific to the device and tailored to the lifestyle and needs of the user."

"What's so great about this service is that we offer not only live reporting, but comprehensive video archives of the best New York has to offer -- restaurants, bars, live music and events -- and they're all constantly updated," commented Lisa Lyons, Executive Producer of nightVision. "So if you're out in the city and you want to, say, find out what bands are playing downtown, in less than a New York minute you're checking them out in a video on your cell phone, or getting a preview of the ambiance and food being served in the restaurant of your choice. Ultimately, the service will include easy ticket purchase and restaurant reservations."

The team behind nightVision, Wireless TV & Studios Inc., is no stranger to wireless content and technology. In the late 1990s, WTV developed and implemented 2-way interactive wireless communication systems, and in 2007, created wireless video content and user interface for Digital Dispatch Systems, to obtain the final Notice to Proceed for the NYC Taxi Technology Enhancement Project for the TLC (New York Taxi and Limousine Commission).

nightVision's infrastructure consists of several reporter and camera crew teams enabled to deliver real time data, which is treated and broadcast for access from any cell phone browser in the world, regardless of carrier. Wireless TV & Studios Inc. uses 3G technology, an innovative networking and encoding. This ASP platform, powered by Nexage, has proven to be more dynamic and faster to use than internet sites modified for cell phone usage.

This free service is commercial-driven, and expects to generate revenue through advertisements. "After all, New York City's nightlife is a $10 billion a year industry, with plenty of opportunities for product branding," commented Lipschutz-Villa.

Having successfully delivered the technology, and with a solid marketing strategy in place, Wireless TV & Studios Inc. is projecting a March 1, 2008 launch of nightVision in New York City, soon to be followed by other major cities across North America and Europe.

The third revolution in television has arrived.

Source

CAPITAL CURRENTS: Cell phone E911 location update

2008-01-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

The FCC has just released a decision that requires cell phone companies to meet the location accuracy requirements over much smaller geographical areas than is the current practice, and you can hear their screams for miles. Even though the FCC allowed five years for full implementation, the screams seem justified.
There are two kinds of cell phone location technologies, and the FCC has different accuracy requirements for them. For “network-based” technologies, accuracy must be within 100 meters for 67 percent of calls, 300 meters for 95 percent of calls; for “handset-based” technologies, within 50 meters for 67 percent of calls, 150 meters for 95 percent of calls. The remaining 5 percent of calls are handled on a “best efforts” basis.

“Network-based” generally means Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) – a carrier has receivers located at cell towers and determines a cell phone location by processing the signals received from that cell phone, which arrive at slightly different times at the different receiver locations. “Handset-based” generally means a cell phone has a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver – it calculates its own location by receiving transmissions from at least three GPS satellites.

They both work well in some areas but not so well in other areas. Network-based systems work well in urban areas where there are many receiver locations, but not so well in rural areas. Handset-based systems work well in rural areas where there is a clear line-of-sight path to the satellites, but not so well in urban areas and indoors where the satellite signals are blocked by buildings.

Cell phone companies claim that they meet the FCC accuracy requirements. But the national operators (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile) have been meeting the requirements on a national average basis. Now the FCC has decided that they must meet the accuracy requirement within the geographical coverage area of every Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). According to Consumer Reports magazine, accurate location information is not delivered at the PSAP level in nearly half of the country. According to a list maintained by the FCC, there are around 6,000 to 7,000 PSAPs in the U.S. Verizon says it has deployed E911 wireless location capability in areas served by more than 2,800 PSAPs. But it has run into cases where cities and counties conflict with one another, each claiming PSAP jurisdiction over the same area. And PSAP service areas vary in size and shape. But the FCC said, “We recognize that geographical variations in service areas can present challenges to the provision of E911 service, but in the interest of public safety, we cannot permit those challenges to justify diminished location accuracy.”

The FCC accuracy rules are statistical in nature, and hundreds of test calls are required to determine the 95 percent confidence level. That would translate into millions of test calls if accuracy had to be confirmed for each PSAP separately. So the operational burden is evident. But the FCC was unsympathetic, saying, “While we acknowledge that meeting the deadline and benchmarks may require the investment of significant resources by certain carriers, we believe that such expenditures are more than justified by the accompanying public safety benefits.”

But more importantly, there is widespread agreement among everyone but the FCC that achieving the accuracy requirements within every PSAP area with today’s technologies is infeasible. For example, using GPS in urban areas with tall buildings or indoors, it may be impossible to achieve any location fix at all in more than 5 percent of locations, so the 95 percent requirement could never be satisfied.

Several companies proposed a hybrid approach, using both GPS and TDOA. The carriers that have deployed GPS handsets would have to add cell tower receivers for TDOA. The carriers that have deployed cell tower receivers for TDOA would have to include GPS in new cell phones. But while the hybrid approach would improve location accuracy, and might satisfy FCC requirements in the majority of PSAPs, even proponents agree that improvement might not be sufficient to satisfy the accuracy requirements in every PSAP. While the accuracy standard applies to 95 percent of calls, it applies to 100 percent of PSAPs.

This new requirement is potentially a big deal for cable operators, if the FCC decides to apply it to VoIP phone service. Cable MSO VoIP service is intended to be used only at the subscriber location, which is known precisely. But what about “over-the-top” voice services like Vonage and Skype? Suppose the FCC creates a VoIP location accuracy requirement, and then imposes it on the underlying ISP rather than the “over-the-top” vendor.

This new FCC requirement will certainly be appealed in court. Courts have not been too sympathetic to the cell phone industry, affirming earlier FCC decisions that required aggressive deployment of existing location technologies. But this is different, because the FCC has no evidence that it is technically feasible to meet the accuracy limits within every PSAP area. The last time I can recall that a court had to review an FCC decision that was technically infeasible, it dealt with noise figure limits for UHF TV tuners, and the FCC was reversed. It could happen again.

Source

Can't Check Voice Mail? Read It

2007-12-28T07:49:00.000-08:00

Alltel is working with a British company called SpinVox, which has systems that “listen” to voice mail messages. If certain words can’t be discerned, the messages go to technicians.

There's hope for you soon.

Cellular provider Alltel is among a few big phone companies starting to launch new ways to use the time-honored voice mail message. The No. 4 U.S. cellular carrier is starting a system called Voice2TXT that uses voice recognition technology (and some human help) to convert incoming voice mail messages into text that users can read on their phone like a text message - as discreetly as glancing down at the phone.

Alltel's system is the first in the Tampa Bay area to offer such a service, pricing it at $4.99 to $19.99 per month, depending on the number of messages sent. The project is part of a broad effort at phone companies to rethink voice mail systems that largely haven't changed in at least a decade. These new approaches blend voice calls, e-mail, text messages and anything else that can be brought to bear.

Apple took a step in that direction with its "visual voice mail" system on its iPhone, which breaks apart the usual method of listening to voice mail messages one at a time. Instead, visual voice mail systems display a list of messages (and who sent them, through caller ID) and lets the user scroll through them.

Apple so believes in its feature that it has become a big part of Apple's iPhone TV commercials.

The new Alltel system uses a blend of computer and human help to convert voice calls to text. Alltel contracted with a British company called SpinVox, which has systems that "listen" to voice messages in a similar way to computerized voice recognition systems that customer service centers use.

If the system can't discern certain words, the messages go to technicians in South Africa, Ireland and other countries for final polishing. Still, some words show up as blanks in the final text message, and mumbling and ambient noise can stump the system at times. The Alltel system works with English and Spanish.

"There is a value to discretion," said Tony Carter, a spokesman for SpinVox. "Maybe you're in a quiet meeting, and you don't want to stick your phone to your head so everyone thinks you're not paying attention. Or maybe you're in a sports arena that's just too loud to hear your voice mail."

The idea was the brainchild of 30-year-old Christine Domecq, of the Spanish Domecq spirits family, who left a meeting and found herself with 14 voice mail messages, unable to tell whether any were important. She decided the solution was to find a way to scan through messages quickly - not listen to all of them. She and a few telecom entrepreneurs raised $100 million to build the company.

The system isn't limited to just phones. SpinVox this year signed a similar deal that allows users of social networking sites Facebook, Jaiku and Twitter to dictate updates to their profiles by calling a special SpinVox number.

Sometime next year, SpinVox expects to sign deals with land-line phone and cable TV companies that will convert home voice mail messages to text, then send them to cell phones as text messages so office workers can see who called home during the day.

As for privacy concerns, SpinVox acknowledges that its employees need to listen to messages to transcribe them, and it requires them to sign confidentiality agreements. Further, Carter said the employees only hear the beginning of messages, enough to fill the 160 characters in a text message.

Although Alltel is the first major cell phone provider to offer such a feature directly to customers, there are a few add-on software packages that accomplish a similar task.

Encinitas, Calif.-based FreedomVOICE Systems, for example, has a system called TalkText that converts voice messages to text for BlackBerry and Treo smart phones, as well as some desktop computers.

Sprint recently launched its own voice mail advancement called VoiceSMS, which blends voice and e-mail. Callers can scroll through their contacts, select someone to call, then dictate a message. Recipients then see a short text message, telling them they have a message waiting. The only fee to the service is for a text message, and the service also can deliver voice messages to e-mail addresses, which appear as a short audio recording.

Source

Easily transfer contacts to your new cell phone

2007-12-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

Talk about a nightmare. Just after you get all excited over the purchase of a new phone, you realize that your contact info is trapped in your dying old phone. HELP! MY CONTACTS ARE TRAPPED IN MY PHONE!
Talk about a nightmare. Just after you get all excited over the purchase of a new phone, you realize that your contact info is trapped in your dying old phone. The only way to rescue them, manually inputting hundreds of contacts using the alphanumeric keypad, no less, can be enough to test even the most patient. You think about how much effort this will require and say to yourself, "Did I really need a new phone?"

Well, of course you did, and you can stop imagining this doomsday scenario.

Note: If both your old and new phones use a SIM card on which you've stored your contact information, you can stop reading right now and sleep soundly; you can just transfer your SIM card to the new phone.

In fact, there are a few different happy endings to this nightmare.
1. Make your carrier work for you
We know, it's a novel concept. But if you purchase a new phone through and your phone doesn't use a SIM card, you can go to one of your carrier's retail outlets and have a customer service agent transfer your contacts from your old phone to your new one. It may cost you, however, depending on your carrier.

2. Use syncing software
If for some reason your provider is unable to transfer your address book to the new phone, don't give in to that syncing feeling. You can purchase cables and data synchronization software that will do the trick. Your carrier or the phone's manufacturer may provide such tools for your handset. Otherwise, several third-party options are available.

FutureDial offers cables ($30 to $35) for a wide range of cell phones, and its SnapSync software ($30) automatically synchronizes contact information between your phone and Outlook or Outlook Express. But in this case, you'll probably need separate cables for both your old and new phones. DataPilot's Universal Kit ($80) and Mobile Action's Handset Manager (around $30), however, include cell phone sync software and connectors to support most popular cell phone brands, including Nokia. Check with the company to be sure your phones are supported. For step-by-step directions on using syncing software, see our Weekend Project.

If you use an Apple Macintosh and a GPRS Bluetooth-enabled phone, Apple's iSync will synchronize your contacts, appointments, and events. iSync is available as a free download from Apple.

3. Use online tools
Verizon Wireless recently introduced a new online service that eliminates the pain of moving your contact information. The Backup Assistant lets you store your address book online, so your contact information is readily available in case you purchase a new phone. This also is a good option in case your cell phone is lost or stolen. Backup Assistant is available at Verizon's Get It Now online store. For $5 a month, Nextel offers an online service that lets you store up to 2,000 contacts with multiple addresses and phone numbers. You can import contact information to the site from Outlook, Excel, or your Nextel phone. Once all the information you need is online, you can transfer contacts to your new phone with ease.

An alternative comes from a start-up company called Vazu. It offers a free tool called Vazu Contacts, which lets you upload contact information from Outlook, Outlook Express, Apple Mail, or Novell Evolution directly to your Nokia or Sony Ericsson mobile phone. You receive contact information as a business card, which you can immediately add to your address book. Currently, Vazu Contacts works only on GSM networks, so AT&T Wireless, Cingular, and T-Mobile customers with supported phones can enjoy the service. The company says it is exploring other networks and phone models.

4. Wireless connectivity
If both your old and new phones have Bluetooth or an infrared port, you may be able to transfer contacts wirelessly. Not all carriers support Bluetooth, however, so be sure to check if yours does. Alternatively, you can transfer files on a memory card.

SOURCE

Verizon Wireless donates phones to domestic violence victims

2007-11-08T00:05:00.000-08:00

KINGSTON - Verizon Wireless donated 20 wireless phones to Family Domestic Violence Services today to celebrate the grand opening of the company's new store at 1200 Ulster Ave.

As part of the company's HopeLine program dedicated to combat and raise awareness about domestic violence, the phones will be distributed to victims of domestic violence in the area so they can call for help in an emergency or life-threatening situation. The phones can also help domestic violence survivors find employment, child care arrangements and housing.

Phone donations are accepted at all Verizon Wireless stores nationwide. For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.

AT&T's third-quarter profit rises 41.5%

2007-11-07T23:57:00.002-08:00

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- AT&T Inc. on Tuesday said third-quarter earnings rose 41.5%, boosted by the acquisition of BellSouth and the addition of 2 million net wireless customers.

The San Antonio-based phone giant got a big lift from the iPhone. Since the mobile device went on sale June 29, 1.1 million customers have activated service with AT&T, the exclusive U.S. partner of Apple Inc.

More than 950,000 have signed up since the start of the third quarter.

AT&T, meanwhile, said net income totaled $3.06 billion, or 50 cents a share, compared with $2.17 billion, or 56 cents a share, a year ago. The company had fewer shares outstanding in the 2006 third quarter.

Much of the increase in earnings stemmed from the company's acquisition of BellSouth in December 2006.

Revenue rose almost 93% to $30.1 billion from $15.6 billion a year earlier, mostly due to wireless growth and the inclusion of BellSouth.

Adjusted for the acquisition, sales rose a much smaller 3.2% to 30.3 billion. AT&T said savings generated by the purchase of BellSouth are expected to surpass its original forecasts and top $3 billion in 2007.

As a result, the company also increased its annual target for "free cash flow after dividends" to a range of $6 billion to $7 billion from its prior estimate of $5 billion to $6 billion. Shares of AT&T a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, rose in early Tuesday trades, up 0.7% to $41.46.

Excluding acquisition-related expenses and other one-time costs, AT&T said it would have earned $4.3 billion, or 71 cents a share, compared with income of $2.4 billion, or 63 cents a share, a year ago.

The adjusted profit met Wall Street's forecast. The carrier was expected to earn 71 cents a share on revenue of $30.12 billion, according to the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Wireless revenue jumped 14.4% to $10.9 billion from a year earlier, with operating margin rising to 18% from 14.8% omitted merger-related costs. AT&T ended the third quarter with a nation-leading 65.7 million mobile customers.

The company also added 499,000 high-speed Internet customers to bring its total to 13.8 million, also the No. 1 market position in the U.S., and AT&T ended the quarter with 126,000 customers for its new U-Verse fiber-TV service.

Wireless growth

The large gain in wireless customers indicates the iPhone has given AT&T a big boost in its battle to fend off Verizon Wireless for the No. 1 position in the U.S. mobile market. Most analysts were expecting AT&T to add no more than 1.7 million mobile customers.

While AT&T has activated 1.1 million iPhone accounts, Apple said late Monday that it's sold 1.4 million devices. That means AT&T has as many as 300,000 iPhones in stock to sell ahead of the upcoming holiday season. During the quarter, AT&T said average monthly revenue per user rose 2% to $50.82, the result of higher usage of wireless-data services and Internet access.

Churn, or the percentage of customers who cancel service each month, rose slightly to 1.7% from 1.6% in the prior quarter. Among valuable post-paid subscribers, or those who sign up for annual plans and pay at the end of each month, churn edged up to 1.3% from a company low 1.2% in prior quarter.

AT&T said the higher sequential churn reflected "typical third-quarter seasonality." The company still trails Verizon Wireless, whose overall churn rate is close to 1%.

Verizon also generates more revenue from its wireless business than AT&T does. Verizon Wireless is jointly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC AT&T believes the iPhone will improve customer loyalty and pull away customers from rivals such as Sprint Nextel Corp. Carriers are trying to differentiate themselves as the competition for customers intensifies.

Since most adult Americans now own mobile phones, subscriber growth will eventually taper off. Revenue expansion is more likely to stem from gains in market share and the introduction of new services such as mobile video.

Wireline business

In AT&T's more traditional phone business, often referred to as the landline or wireline market, results were mixed again. AT&T said revenue in its corporate-services unit fell 0.3% to $4.8 billion, although sales were up 1% from the prior quarter. In the consumer market, more local-phone customers disconnected service to continue a long-term trend. Subscribers switched to cable or Internet-phone service, or dropped wireline service entirely.

To win back customers, AT&T is adding video and other offerings. During the quarter, the carrier gained said it's approaching its goal of adding 10,000 customers each week for its fledging U-Verse service. AT&T plans to ramp up its TV service over the next few years to stem the loss of local-phone customers to cable companies that operate in its territory. Yet many investors and analysts question the company's technological approach and limited spending plan. Verizon is spending much more on an advanced fiber strategy.

Rumors persist that AT&T might buy one of the nation's two major satellite-television operators, EchoStar Communications Inc. or DirecTV. AT&T already sells their satellite services through prior marketing arrangements.

SOURCE

Vonage Sued Again, This Time by AT&T

2007-11-07T23:57:00.001-08:00

The Internet phone company Vonage disclosed over the weekend that it had been sued, yet again, by a telecom giant for infringing patents, the Wall Street Journal reported. This time, AT&T says that Vonage is violating a patent which allows users to access an Internet phone system through a standard phone.

The suit was actually filed last Wednesday, but Vonage did not disclose it until issuing a regulatory filing late Friday.

Verizon’s suit against Vonage, which Vonage lost but is now appealing, led to a judge ruling that Vonage can no longer use certain technologies. Earlier this month, Vonage settled another suit, by Sprint, by agreeing to license over 100 Sprint patents for $80 million.

SOURCE

Cool New Cell Phones Released

2007-11-07T23:52:00.000-08:00

Verizon customers sent and received 10 billion text messages during the month of July. That's one reason why Verizon is coming out with the text-friendly Voyager."It actually vibrates so you know what you touched is what you actually selected," a Verizon employee saidThe Voyager has a touch-sensitive screen on the outside. When you flip it open, a second screen appears on the inside where you can watch videos and surf the Internet.

Another hot phone for text messengers is called the Tilt from AT&T."The Tilt runs on Microsoft Office," Maurice Contreras of AT&T said. "You can integrate it with your corporate service. It will integrate with your Gmail, your Yahoo email, your personal e-mail addresses."

AT&T also offers the iPhone. More than 1 million have been sold since its summer debut."It's $399 but it's the ultimate phone," Contreras said. "It's the ultimate Internet device, just the ultimate mobile phone."AT&T's Video Share feature allows users to have videoconferences with other AT&T customers."I can be anywhere in the country and you would be able to see me and hear me as long as you had this feature on your AT&T phone," reported NBC 6's Joel Connable.

Sprint's newest Blackberry is perfect for people who need to take their office with them. It has e-mail, maps and a GPS system."I type in my mom's home address and it tells me exactly point-to-point directions," Emicel Ana of Sprint said.One of the smallest phones on the market is Verizon's Juke.It flips open like a switchblade knife and is made for people who like to download music. It also has a built-in 2 gigabyte memory for music.You can also track your kids with Verizon's family locater. A GPS is built in the phone so you always know where they are.

SOURCE

Find your friends on a cell phone: Pelago introduces Whrrl

2007-11-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

Whrrl is a new service that allows mobile phone users to chronicle every social activity in their lives -- writing reviews of movies or restaurants or uploading photos from concerts and sporting events. It then plots that information on a map and combines it with similar content from friends, creating a personal mobile city guide. It also provides the real-time locations of people as they wander from place to place in a city, tracking chosen friends as dots on a map.

Whrrl -- not to be confused with a competing service called Whirrl -- is the first offering from Pelago, a Seattle startup that scored $7.4 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and Trilogy Equity Partners last year.

Led by Jeff Holden and Darren Erik Vengroff, both of whom previously held high-ranking positions at Amazon.com, Pelago is one of a number of companies trying to tap the emerging arena of location-based services. The idea is that mobile phone users will want to locate friends -- who may be at a nearby restaurant -- or at the very least get a review that a friend wrote of the restaurant from a few weeks ago. The service is also accessible on a PC.

For businesses, the concept holds much promise -- potentially allowing them to target coupons or advertisements to people as they shop in a book store or buy a cup of coffee.

Of course, plotting the location of people on a mobile map in real time opens up dozens of potential privacy issues. That's especially the case since Pelago is targeting teenagers and those in their 20s. Eventually, the company wants to combine the power of GPS phones with a patent-pending technology it dubs "Passive Visitation" to automatically record the locations of users as they move around a city.

Holden, a former senior vice president at Amazon.com, said Whrrl was built so that location information doesn't get into the wrong hands. For example, users can set different privacy levels in order to allow or disallow specific people from seeing the location. They also can "cloak" themselves -- essentially switching off the location feature, Holden said.

Despite the potential privacy bottlenecks, Holden believes that people will find value in disclosing their locations to selected friends or family members.

And, he said, the ability to search for restaurant reviews or other information based on one's location is a compelling idea that hasn't been addressed by other players in the market.

"The real power of this thing is that you can combine social data with factual data that we have gathered," said Holden. "And so you can say: 'I want to see only the places that my foodie friends think are great restaurants and are within a half mile of here, have outdoor seating, and are open now.' That is a trivial query in our product." Such a query would take just four clicks, Vengroff added.

The search functionality allows users to quickly "mine tribal knowledge" from friends, which Holden says is a much more powerful recommendation than reading some anonymous review.

Of course, the concept will only work if people start using it. To attract users, Pelago has entered into a marketing agreement with American Eagle Outfitters in which customers of the retailer will be exposed to the Whrrl service through in-store and Web site promotions.

It also is working to create services so people can add reviews from their mobile devices to social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Other potential competitors include online city guides such as Yelp and Citysearch, both of which have mobile products, and Loopt, a two-year-old Silicon Valley startup that also allows users to find friends on a map on a mobile phone. Backed with $5 million from Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates, Loopt's service is available on about two dozen Sprint phones for $2.99 per month.

Google also is moving into the arena with the purchase of Jaiku, a company that allows mobile phone users to create a running Web log of events, recommendations and other information. Jaiku describes its mobile product as "a live phonebook that displays the activity streams, availability, and location of your Jaiku contacts right in your phone contact list." Twitter, which also allows people to share small tidbits of information with friends, also is a potential threat.

Holden said he likes the concept of Jaiku and Twitter because they offer an "always-on connection to your network." But he said Whrrl is different because the content has more long-lasting value than the quick posts on Twitter and Jaiku.

"People post something and it is not that interesting like five minutes later, whereas in our world when you post something it is almost always in the context of some thing in the physical world," said Holden, adding that restaurant reviews or concert photos can be recycled for others to use.

Though it is launching today, Whrrl is not available to all mobile phone users. Only subscribers to AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile -- on about eight to 10 phone models -- can download Whrrl. A portion of the service is free, though Pelago plans to charge less than $3 per month for the location-based service. Pelago, which plans to go out for more funding early next year, employs 34 people.

For more on location-based services on mobile devices, check out The New York Times today which reports on offerings from Loopt and Buddy Beacon. It also notes some of the privacy concerns, quoting an analyst who says there "is a Big Brother component" to the services.

SOURCE

Spammers go after cell-phone users, too

2007-11-07T23:41:00.000-08:00

It’s hard enough coping with all that spam clogging our computers. Now it’s stalking us on our cell phones.

Spam has gone mobile. Increasingly, consumers answer their cell phones thinking it’s important. Instead, it turns out to be a telemarketer peddling time-share resorts, bogus lotteries or even porn.

While computer e-mail spam is just a pain, unsolicited text messages on your cell phone can be costly — 10 cents or more per message.

The problem is so new that federal agencies still are unsure how bad it is or how to combat it. But they say clearly that with millions of new cell-phone users and literally billions of text messages tapped out monthly, the annoyance is growing.

San Francisco-based Ferris Research, which tracks consumer messaging services, predicts U.S. cell-phone users will get 1.1 billion spam messages in 2007 — up from 800 million last year.

“As more and more people get cell phones, they are dealing with all sorts of products, services and consequences,” said Lisa Hone, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection bureau.

Wireless officials say they have learned from the experience of the computer industry and are taking aim at mobile spam. But the problem is that it’s a moving target.

“It is a constant and ever-changing threat,” said Joe Farren, a spokesman for CTIA-The Wireless Association, which represents the wireless industry. “As we develop new filters and firewalls, the spammers seek to develop new strategies as well. So it is an arms race of sorts.”

Illegal operators often use automatic dialers. Spammers sitting at a computer can zap millions of calls addressed to random cell-phone numbers. At the same time, cell-phone numbers are illegally bought and sold on Internet sites that are started up as fast as they are shut down.

In April, Verizon Wireless sued telemarketers it said “inundated” the company with 12,022,411 unsolicited commercial text messages. Verizon said in its lawsuit it was able to block all but 4,618.

Still, the barrage not only hit customers with “unwanted charges,” but also clogged Verizon’s networks, requiring the carrier to “dedicate equipment, software and personnel” to filter out the messages.

Spokeswoman Debra Lewis said the company was “using everything in our arsenal” to stop the spammers.

“We stop most of it, but some still goes through,” Lewis said, adding, “People aren’t expecting it, because a cell phone is a private number.”

Indeed, the expectation of privacy — cell phones are not part of any directory — is a big reason for the explosion in cell phones.

Today, more than 233 million cell phones are in use — more than double the number in 2000. Text messaging is the fastest-growing feature. Since last year, Verizon users more than doubled their text messaging from 12 billion to 28.4 billion.

Among young adults between 18 and 26, the preference for text messaging has made e-mail the equivalent of snail mail. Text messaging is used to play games, vote on TV reality show contestants, register political preferences and check news headlines, weather and movie times.

But it is also used by legitimate businesses to reach subscribers and by first responders to communicate in emergencies, pointed out Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton.

“It’s a service and a convenience and in some cases a vital communication tool,” Singleton said. “That is why it is so critical to make this a matter of priority.”

Sprint also sleuths for dishonest marketers and helps find ways for subscribers to block unwanted text senders, she said.

The phenomenon of cell-phone spam was not even contemplated when the federal do-not-call laws passed, and regulatory agencies have had to scramble to protect consumers.

In 2004, the Federal Communications Commission voted to ban all unauthorized text messages to mobile phones and pagers. The FCC also now applies the Telephone Consumer Protection Act — which prohibits autodialed and prerecorded calls to cell phones — to text messages. FCC guidelines now say text-based telemarketing solicitations sent to cell phones are covered by the national do-not-call rule.

While some states also are trying to erect regulatory barriers, experts say some legitimate businesses do not want too many hurdles in the way of legally cashing in on the potentially profitable cell-phone advertising market.

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL are just a few of the major online companies searching for ways to reach cell-phone users with mobile ads. Using global positioning technology, companies could deliver tantalizing pop-up ads to cell-phone users when they are within blocks of, say, a McDonald’s.

“It’s too lucrative an opportunity,” said Allan Keiter, founder and president of MyRatePlan, an online site that monitors cell-phone carriers.

Pop-up ads would be delivered only with a cell-phone user’s consent. Keiter predicted, however, that consumers could be enticed with the promise of cheaper cell service subsidized by commercials.

“Advertisers are champing at the bit,” he said.

SOURCE

Apple: A sixth of iPhones 'unlocked'

2007-11-07T23:27:00.000-08:00

Apple has sold more than a million iPhones, but more than a sixth of them may never get hooked up to AT&T, the gadget's exclusive U.S. cell phone service provider.

About 250,000 of the nearly 1.4 million iPhones that Apple has sold thus far have gone to customers that don't have any intention of signing up for AT&T's service, Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook said Monday on a conference call with analysts and investors. That's a problem not only for AT&T, which doesn't get any monthly service fees from those customers, but for Apple, with which AT&T shares a portion of iPhone service revenue.

Since Apple launched the iPhone in June, hackers have published several strategies on the Internet that allow iPhone users to "unlock" their device from AT&T and link it up with alternate cell phone networks, such as T-Mobile's.

However, some of the iPhone's features - most notably "visual voice mail," which allows users to scan through their messages on their phone and pick and choose which ones to listen to - don't work with the hacks. And Apple's most recent software update on the phone reportedly made some of the unlocked phones unusable.

The number of unlocked iPhones jumped after Apple cut the price on the device last month by $200, Cook said. He did not say how or if Apple would respond to the high rate of unlocked devices.

Cook's comments came out as Apple reported its fiscal fourth quarter earnings. The company posted a profit of $904 million, or $1.01 a share, on sales of $6.22 billion, far exceeding analysts' estimates.

In recent trading on Tuesday, Apple's shares were up $11.52, or 6.6 percent, to $185.88.

SOURCE

LG VX5400 Phone (Verizon Wireless)

2007-10-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Released for Verizon Wireless, the LG VX5400 is a mobile mainstay with a twist. Featuring all the essentials, it's also Bluetooth capable to take advantage of the wonders of wireless. The VGA camera is useful for photos on the fly, and the large color display and keypad is encased in a compact design. The one-touch speakerphone and speaker independent voice command functions round out the package, making mobile more convenient than ever.

FEATURES

Compact, stylish design with internal antenna and mirror-like external LCD
Integrated VGA camera with customizable brightness, white balance, shutter sound, color effects, and night mode, and an image editor to zoom, rotate, and crop
Speaker-Independent Voice Commands to access functions such as Call, Send Msg To, Go To, Check, Lookup, and My Account
Bluetooth wireless technology supports headset, handsfree, and object push for vCard and vCalendar profiles

SOURCE

Why a gPhone (Google Phone) is a lovely… no, an awful.. no, a lovely idea

2007-10-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

At last count, “consumers” was the No. 1 answer to Dana Blankenhorn’s survey question asking who a Google Phone (gPhone) will help the most. Some are speculating that the gPhone will get announced along with some other news that Google is releasing on November 5.

I hate and love the idea of a gPhone. Just the thought conjures up images that are similar in nature to the ones that inspired last week’s post about taking the “inter” out of “Internet” where, among other things, I talked about how the natural evolution of Google Apps will lead to Google to offering its own del.icio.us killer. Google really has no choice and to the extent that the November 5 annoucements are supposedly about a bunch of social tools, maybe we’ll see a social bookmarking service like del.icio.us. For now however, I’ve renewed my interest in del.icio.us thanks to the awesome FireFox plug-in for it.

In many ways, it’s my love affair with del.icio.us and its frictionless Firefox extension that make me hate the idea of a gPhone because the gPhone will never be about frictionless mobile access to del.icio.us. That honor, is of course, reserved for the yPhone (the Yahoo Phone; del.icio.us is a part of Yahoo proper).

Today, mobile access to popular online services is pretty hit or miss. Occasionally, you’ll bump into what Sun’s Jonathan Schwartz referred to as a religious experience (it was Google Maps on a BlackBerry Pearl). But these experiences are few and far between. More recently, cell phone makers looking for a leg up on the competition have programmed a potpourri of default widgets (and sometimes just bookmarks) into their handsets so that users can get better than average access to some of the more popular services on the net (ie: Google’s YouTube, Yahoo’s Flickr, etc.) not to mention nearly seamless access to the carrier’s services (eg: Verizon’s VCast).

Recently, while at the Digital Life Show in NYC, Palm CEO Ed Colligan told me about how accessing your favorite services is often a painful experience and how Palm’s new $99 Centro looks to eliminate some of that pain when it comes to some of the more popular services. For example, Palm has gone the extra mile to make it easy to post that picture you just took with the Centro into Flickr.

But, let’s be honest. When it comes to mobile access to our favorite online services, we are waiting for that same religious experience that Schwartz had when he first experienced Google Maps on his BlackBerry (OK, what we really want is to be able to leave our PC’s behind as much as possible or maybe even to be able to ditch them altogether). The question is, who can deliver it? Apple certain delivered some of that in the iPhone. When connected to a WiFi network, no other handset comes close to the iPhone’s Web browsing experience. Via AT&T’s slower EDGE network? That’s more like the mobile Internet that Apple’s TV ads say the iPhone isn’t about.

The truth is we all want a religious experience with the services we use. What you use and what I use may be different. But no phone on the market delivers a religious experience for the collection of Google services that make good sense to show up on the phone. Google Maps is of course an obvious candidate. Using a Java applet, the Helio Ocean that I have that I’ll be showing off at Mobile Expo marries its GPS system to Google Maps (although the closest it comes to pinpointing my location is pinpointing the Sprint occupied cell tower that the Ocean is connected to). But I would’t call it a religious experience.

As core applications go, Gmail is an obvious candidate but I’m not so sure that the POP3 mail clients found on other phones (Palm devices, Windows Mobile, iPhone, etc.) can be that improved upon. Mobile browsers are known for not dealing with Javascript (embedded in the Gmail UI) very well. But if the gPhone can manage it, one feature of Gmail that I would very much look forward to on a mobile device is GMail’s ability to view attachments as HTML or, even better, as editable and innately shareable Google Docs-based documents. For many business people, that would be a game changer.

“Search” clearly goes without saying (particularly local search which can be found in Google’s existing base of mobile apps under Goog-411). Although I wouldn’t deem it a religious experience, the Live Search team at Microsoft has done a very slick job with the search application it has built for the Windows Mobile operating system. Of all the apps that I use on the Motorola Q that I carry around with me, that’s the one app on the Q that I can honestly say I actually like to use. Provided the phone can record videos and still images, mobile YouTube (up and download) is another obvious candidate as would be a mobile version of Google’s Picasa (already exists, but a gPhone version would be much better) that could sync with both a desktop copy of Picasa as well as Google Picasa’s Web-based photosharing service (called Web Albums). And, no gPhone would be complete without a mobile version of Google Reader.

I could continue to list off Google applications that I wouldn’t mind to find beautifully executed in a gPhone, but I don’t need to go any further to make the point that this sort of complete mobile portfolio of Google’s apps and services doesn’t exist — at least not as a religious experience — in any handset that I know of. As a user of many of those services, I’d relish the idea.

But on the other hand, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t also say that I hate the idea. Going back to that dangler I left behind (the one where I mention taking the “inter” out of “Internet”), it is precisely this sort of tying of Web services to hardware (ie: Real’s Rhapsody to TiVo, a gPhone to Google’s services, etc.) that will ultimately turn the Internet into a bunch of loosely coupled intranets. Yes, the providers of these solutions will tell you that you can still get there from here (for example, to Yahoo’s del.icio.us from a gPhone). But you won’t want to because the experience simply won’t measure up to the way the phone so frictionlessly integrates with Google. Instead, you’ll make a decision as to where your loyalties lie and, pretty soon you’ll have your gPhone and your friend will have a yPhone and your other friend will have an iPhone, and, well, you get the picture.

Three final points. First, as I think about the idea of a gPhone becoming a reality, I realize how badly someone (Apple? Google? Both?) screwed up on the iPhone. Apple has already taken some heat for not being very developer friendly. But Apple and Google could have absolutely nailed it if the iPhone was the gPhone as well. Think about it. Apple has all the on-line services that Google doesn’t and Google has all the on-line services that Apple doesn’t. Paired up, the igPhone would have been 10 times more formidable than it already is.

Second, since Google hasn’t teamed up with Apple or any other entertainment “provider,” it will be very interesting to see where the gPhone goes from an entertainment perspective. No serious smart phone (particularly one with the built-in ability to play YouTube videos) can come to the market without some sort of music play. The only question is whether or not Google will finally enter that game or, to the extent that the gPhone platform is an open Linux platform as many are reporting it is, will that “feature” be left to third parties. Universal is clearly looking for a major player to help it and the rest of the record industry slow down the Apple juggernaut. How could it not be talking to Google with so many reports of a Google-powered handset coming to the market?

Finally, when Google finally releases a handset, it will be the second company after Apple to have such sizeable clout in certain digital circles that it, instead of the typical cell carriers, will get to call the shots. With most phone manufacturers, the carriers decide what features work on the phones and how. With the iPhone, the iTunes customer base afforded so much leverage to Apple that Jobs had his pick of the carrier litter. Google has similar clout and will equally get to call the shots. If and when this happens, your guess is as good as mine as to how serious a game changer it will be. For example, delivering video to handsets is a big business. YouTube is already a channel that’s being used by movie and television studios. That business could increase 100 or more fold once Google has access to the millions of pockets and pocketbooks it might eventually have access to.

How do you think it will be a game changer?

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Sprint to offer Blackberry Pearl 8130 Next Month

2007-10-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

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High-tech phone battles heating up

2007-10-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's the attack of the iClones. Or you can call them the jPhones.

No competitor to Apple is likely to replicate what Steve Jobs did with so much panache: combine a wireless telephone, a music player and a Web browser with boundless hype.

But as partners LG and Verizon Wireless prepare to release their answer to the iPhone, they're betting they can provide a more user-friendly product.

The Voyager is one of numerous less-expensive wireless phones with music-playing capability.

Expected to be released in November, the Voyager is part of a new generation of music phones affiliated with the Verizon network. It has many of the features of the iPhone, but offers them differently.

The Voyager plays music, but the device itself only holds 30 songs, compared to the iPhone's 2,000. To expand, the customer can buy a card that expands it up to 4,000 songs.

Sheldon Jones, Verizon's Delaware spokesman, said this will help keep the price down. People can pay for as much music memory as meets their needs, he said. The price of the Voyager has not yet been set. (The iPhone sells for $399, down from its initial price of $599)

One of the Voyager's most striking features is the keyboard. Like the iPhone, it has an on-screen, virtual keypad. But flip it open, and inside there's a miniature QWERTY keyboard. Touch screens can be finicky, and this will provide an easier, more tactile experience, said Jones.

The device uses the 3 gigabyte EV-DO technology to connect to the Internet, faster than the 2 gb EDGE network available on the iPhone.

The Voyager is the next-generation successor to the Chocolate Phone, LG and Verizon's MP3 player with a numerical keypad.

Verizon's other new entries into the music phone market include the youth-oriented Juke by Samsung, a pint-sized music-player/phone that flicks open to reveal a keypad. And there's the Venus, with an upper screen to display video content and a lower screen with a control pad. That will allow people to listen to music and send text messages at the same time.

"For certain audiences, that'll be huge," Jones said.

Sprint released the LG Muziq around the same time the iPhone was released. It has a built-in transmitter that can send music to their car stereo, and does over-the-air downloads. It sells for $99 with a two-year agreement.

"Sprint believes any additional interest in advanced phones that offer applications like music and video is good for the industry as a whole," said Sprint spokeswoman Laura Porter. But once consumers see what features are available, "they'll find Sprint has the pricing, speed and variety they are looking for."

Tim Scannell, president of Shoreline Research in Quincy, Mass., said many of the iPhone competitors will probably be released during the first quarter of 2008, but by then, Apple will already have moved the iPhone several steps ahead, he said.

The fact that the iPhone is now more affordable helps defend it against competitors trying to gain market share on cost, Scannell said.

Verizon has the benefit of a higher-speed network, and may appeal to those not comfortable with a touch-screen keyboard. But the marketplace these days is less than kind to non-iPhone music phones, Scannell said.

"The Voyager is not an iPhone. It's pretty cool, but it's not an iPhone," Scannell said. Verizon is "fighting against that 'you-have-an-iPhone-and-I-don't-have-an-iPhone conundrum,' and that's going to be difficult."

Jones, of Verizon, says a large part of the iPhone's popularity comes from marketing, not a superior product.

"The iPhone had a lot of buzz. Apple does a great job of marketing. But there's one deficit there," Jones said. "Apple does not know the wireless industry. We know the wireless industry."

Mark Siegel, spokesman for AT&T, which partnered with Apple to offer the IPhone, said the iPhone sets a new standard for ease of use and functionality.

"That has spurred our competitors and other device manufacturers to take a fresh look at what they do. You see companies talking about what they are trying to come out with that can compete with the iPhone. That is a good and healthy thing. Innovation breeds innovation," Siegel said.

Kent German, senior editor for the technology Web site CNet, said there are other appealing products on the market that do some of what the iPhone does.

The Sony Ericsson W580 "has a decent music player in it." It has a function where, with a flick of the wrist, the music track changes. "It's a tad gimmicky, but it's kind of cool." He said he also likes the second-generation version of the Chocolate phone.

Speaking of gimmicks, there's the Samsung Upstage, a two-sided device the user flips back and forth between music and the phone. It sells for just $99 with a two-year contract with Sprint.

And the Nokia N95 has a strong media player, a good Internet connection and a camera that's "way better than the iPhone," German said.

"There's not one device right now that is going to offer everything the iPhone offers in a way the iPhone offers it -- the design, integration with Apple, compatibility with iTunes, which is what people really want," German said.

But he said he's still not sold on the iPhone itself.

"The iPhone lacks too much," he said, noting its slower Internet connection speed, its low-tech camera, its inability to send picture messages and failure to use Stereo Bluetooth. "For the music phone to end all music phones, it should have these things."

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AT&T looks to improve its local cell service

2007-10-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

Kerrville residents who have wireless telephone service with AT&T can look forward to what the company claims are “quality and capacity” enhancements as part of its $1.25 billion investment in its Texas network for 2007, AT&T announced Wednesday.

The enhanced service is the result of new cell sites and improvements to existing cell towers along Interstate 10 and 13 other state highways.

“Customers in the Kerrville area might notice there are expanded places where maybe they didn’t have the best reception before,” said Natasha Collins, an AT&T spokesman.

She said the voice quality of calls also should improve. “If they heard a garbled noise before, they may not now, with the enhanced coverage.”

Collins said customers should be able to send more text messages and photos over the wireless network, but added that these and other enhancements might not be evident right away, as some of the network improvements are scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year. She added that not every customer is guaranteed improved voice quality, messaging and photo capabilities. “Some customers might already have great quality in voice service, but if there’s one spot along the highway — if they normally drop a call there — they may not now. But it’s not a blanket guarantee.”

Cingular Wireless customers won’t see any changes on their monthly bills as a result of the enhancements, Collins said, because AT&T budgets money each year for beefing up service to its customers. It’s a “proactive” measure, Collins said.

Kerrville is one of 17 Texas cities targeted for improved wireless service by AT&T, including Boerne and San Antonio. For now, the city is essentially an out-of-network community, with customers billed what some refer to as “roaming charges” each time AT&T has to use competitors’ cell towers to make phone connections in the Kerrville area. Collins didn’t think roaming charges per se were being applied to customers’ bills, but said she would look into the matter.

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Verizon Wireless Expanding Network Coverage

2007-10-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

North Dakotans who want to do more on their cell phones than make calls now have a lot more options.

Verizon wireless says it has expanded its high-speed wireless network along the I-94 and I-29 corridor.

What it means is customers with the properly-equipped phones will be able to access all the information they need from their home or office in just seconds.

And that includes multimedia, such as music, video and games.

Verizon says customers will be able to download such files almost ten times faster than those who use a different network.

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An answer to iPhone-Verizon’s Voyager one-ups competition with hardware keyboard

2007-10-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - In time for the holidays, Verizon Wireless is launching a cell phone that looks a lot like the hottest phone this year: Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

Like the iPhone, the LG Voyager features a large touch screen, a camera and extensive multimedia, Web browsing and e-mail capabilities.

It one-ups the iPhone, however, by folding open lengthwise to reveal a QWERTY keyboard and a second, nontouch sensitive screen. The lack of a hardware keyboard has been one of the main complaints about the iPhone.

The Voyager will connect to Verizon Wireless’ latest data network, providing speeds much higher than the AT&T network the iPhone uses. The Voyager also has direct access to Verizon Wireless’ online music store.

The Voyager will not come with a large built-in memory for songs and video, however, offering instead a slot for memory cards up to 8 gigabytes. Nor are its screens as large as the iPhone’s.

It’s an open question whether the Voyager can encroach on the iPhone’s cachet or match its ease of use. Apple has sold more than 1 million units since the phone-cum-iPod hit the market June 29.

In announcing its holiday lineup, Verizon Wireless did not say how much the Voyager or three other new phones will cost. It also didn’t give a specific launch date, saying only that they will be in stores before Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. took the wraps off its secondgeneration Zune digital music players Tuesday, showing three models that bring the software maker’s offerings more in line with Apple’s market-leading iPod.

One model — available in black — has an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a 3.2-inch screen. It’s slimmer than last year’s Zune, which had a 30-GB hard drive and a smaller screen. Microsoft also will sell a smaller, flash memory-based Zune, similar in shape and size to the iPod Nano, in pink, green, black and red with either 4 GB or 8 GB of storage.

Like the original Zune, the new models include an FM radio tuner and the ability to wirelessly share songs with other Zune owners.

The latest generation sports a new navigation button Microsoft calls the Zune Pad, and uses Wi-Fi to sync music, movies and photos wirelessly and automatically with users’ PCs.

The new Zunes are set to go on sale in mid-November. The 4-GB Zune will cost $149, the 8-GB will sell for $199 and the 80-GB model will cost $249. The prices match those of Apple’s iPod lineup.

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Mobile Notebook: Panasonic And Verizon Wireless Announce Certification Of Toughbook 52 Semi-Rugged Mobile PC Wwith BroadbandAccess Built-In

2007-10-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

Panasonic Computer Solutions Company, manufacturer of durable, reliable Panasonic Toughbook mobile computers, and Verizon Wireless recently announced the certification and exclusive availability of the new semi-rugged Toughbook 52 with built-in access to the EV-DO Revision A-based BroadbandAccess service from Verizon Wireless.

Introduced last month, the semi-rugged Toughbook 52 includes the Santa Rosa chipset from Intel and offers all the processing power of a desktop replacement notebook in a form factor engineered from the ground up to withstand the most challenging environments. The widescreen notebook with spill-resistant keyboard and a built-in handle includes, like all Toughbook mobile PCs, a magnesium alloy case, flexible internal connectors, and a shock-mounted hard drive and LCD, all of which contribute to Panasonic’s reputation for producing the industry’s most durable and reliable notebooks.

Panasonic and Verizon Wireless have made high-performance embedded EV-DO solutions available in Toughbook notebooks since mid-2005. Today, every Toughbook notebook computer is certified for use on the Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess with EV-DO Rev. A service, allowing users to download complex files and email attachments at average speeds of 600 kbps to 1.4 Mbps, and upload files at speeds averaging 500 – 800 kbps.

“Both Verizon Wireless and Panasonic are laser-focused on providing best-in-class wireless computing solutions. Verizon Wireless has built a fast and reliable mobile data network and Panasonic has invested heavily in R&D and testing to ensure that we deliver easy to use embedded wireless solutions that keep the mobile workforce connected to mission-critical data,” said Victoria Obenshain, director, wireless strategy, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company. “The result of this joint commitment is that Panasonic now offers a wide range of mobile broadband computing solutions built for use on Verizon Wireless’ data network.”

“Mobility and reliability are intrinsic to today’s business model and the Toughbook 52 provides both,” said Patrick Stokes, vice president-national distribution for Verizon Wireless. “This combination gives business customers the tools they need to stay competitive, engaged and productive. The Verizon Wireless network and the Toughbook 52 are the efficiency tools for today’s business.”

Pricing and Availability

The BroadbandAccess-enabled semi-rugged Toughbook 52 includes the Sierra Wireless embedded MC5725 PCI Express Mini Card and VZAccess Manager software and starts at an estimated street price of $1,899.

All Toughbook notebooks are customizable and available through authorized Panasonic Toughbook resellers nationwide, “buy now” resellers accessible online via www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/purchase.asp and at MicroCenters nationwide or the RCS Experience store in midtown Manhattan (Madison Avenue at 56th Street). Please visit www.panasonic.com/toughbook for more information.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 60.7 million customers. The largest US wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 66,000 employees nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (VZ) and Vodafone . Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About Panasonic Computer Solutions Company
Panasonic Computer Solutions Company empowers the mobile workforce. The company is a unit of Panasonic Corporation of North America, which is the principal North American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MC). Panasonic has delivered reliable, durable mobile solutions through its Toughbook line of notebook computers for fourteen years and has expanded the boundaries of wireless communications technology through a broad portfolio of products, ranging from fully rugged, industrial strength notebook computers and tablet PCs to semi-rugged and business-rugged thin and light and ultraportable notebooks. A core manufacturer, Matsushita and its subsidiaries control the entire process of design, manufacture, quality assurance, service and support. As a result, Panasonic Toughbooks are known for having the lowest failure rates in the industry. Government, industrial, and commercial users—from Fortune 1,000 companies to small businesses—rely on solutions from Panasonic, wherever their work takes them.

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Wi-Fi BlackBerry Duel: T-Mobile's Curve vs. AT&T's BlackBerry 8820

2007-10-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

We take these two devices for a wireless spin side by side to see which is the better performer, and which deserves to be crowned the Wi-Fi BlackBerry king.

Round 1 - Design

Both of these phones fall strongly into the modern BlackBerry school of design, with large, QWERTY keyboards beneath the display and a trackball in between for navigation. The design differences are mostly minor, but we're sure hardcore BlackBerry addicts will have their opinions either way. Most significantly, the 8820 is taller and wider, and the two are equally thick. Screen size is identical, and the keyboards seem to be about the same size, though the keys are shaped differently. We prefer T-Mobile's preset interface, with its MyFaves favorites up front and nicer looking home screen, but otherwise the menu structure and applications are about the same.

We like the keyboard on the Curve a bit better. The discrete keys are easier to press in a hurry, as opposed to the strangely angled keys on the 8820. We like the color scheme on the 8820, with its glossy black and silver cues, but otherwise it has no design advantage.

Winner: T-Mobile's BlackBerry Curve

Round 2 - Calling

The BlackBerry 8820 makes phone calls that sound better than those on the BlackBerry Curve. We tested both phones in our quiet office, and a very loud local Starbucks, and heard much more background noise on calls made with the Curve. Perhaps this is due to the "noise cancellation" technology on the 8820, or simply due to the microphone placement on the Curve, which aims the mic away from your face. In any case, calls sound noticeably better on the 8820. Still, this only tells part of the story, as each phone has some special calling features.

The BlackBerry 8820 can use AT&T's push to talk (PTT) network. We don't have any PTT buddies to test the servce, but if this is a feature you or your employer uses, it could be a deciding point. T-Mobile's BlackBerry Curve, on the other hand, uses UMA technology. We've reviewed <"a href=http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/8045.html">T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home service, and we were very impressed with the calling option. In a nutshell, the service combines Wi-Fi VoIP-style calling with traditional cell service. If you make a lot of calls somewhere you also have good Wi-Fi access, this service will probably save you money. In fact, we were very enthusiastic about the HotSpot @Home service in our initial review, but lamented the lack of viable phones. Beyond being a good choice for BlackBerry fans, the Curve is the best choice for anyone who wants to take advantage of the HotSpot @Home service. We feel this is a compelling reason to overlook the phone's middling call quality and declare it our favorite for this category.

Winner: T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve

Round 3 - Web browsing

At first, we were surprised to find the Curve outpacing the 8820 in terms of Web browsing. Pages were loading quicker, but they also looked different, usually less accurate. We found the default settings were different, with JavaScript turned off, and this made the difference. Once the browsers were on equal footing, we noticed no significant difference between the two. Strangely, the two phones render the same fonts differents, even though the font family, screen size and resolution were the same. Neither was better than the other, in terms of looks or speed, and both phones loaded pages fairly quickly. Frankly, our Apple iPhone loads pages quicker under Wi-Fi, and they look much better on the iPhone's browser, but that's a comparison for another day.

Winner: Tie

Round 4 - Multimedia

Both phones make more of a stab at multimedia than their previous, full-QWERTY BlackBerry brethren. First, both phones support a range of audio and video files, can store files on microSD cards, and can play audio through stereo Bluetooth headphones. Neither phone comes with music transfer software that we enjoyed using, though the BlackBerry 8820 features AT&T's music setup, which lets you play PlaysForSure tracks from Napster and Yahoo. Both phones let you use your own music files as ringtones. The differences between the two is really in the hardware.

The Curve features a 2-megapixel camera. Images were unimpressive, but would do fine in a pinch. So, if you need a lens on your phone, the Curve is your only option here. Additionally, the Curve uses a 3.5mm audio connector, which is a standard headphone jack, instead of the smaller 2.5mm connector found on the 8820. This means you can plug your own headphones into the Curve, while the 8820 will require you to buy an adapter, since one is not included. It would seem the Curve is our clear favorite, for these hardware additions, but in fact there is one glaring omission on the Curve.

Of the two phones, only the 8820 has GPS navigation. AT&T provides TeleNav for directions, while the Curve is left without any navigation options. For us, GPS is a big deal, a great find on a smartphone. We appreciate the headphone jack on the Curve, and would like to see a similar jack on, well, every phone we use, but a simple jack can't make up for GPS. Neither can a 2-megapixel camera, when sub-par images will be far less useful to us than GPS navigation.

Winner: AT&T's BlackBerry 8820

Round 5 – Value

To determine value, we tried to choose comparable plans that focused more on e-mail and data, and gave us a good deal on very few minutes. On AT&T, the phone costs $300 after a rebate and contract, which is $50 more than T-Mobile's Curve. For our 8820, we chose a low-end monthly plan with 450 minutes for $40, then added BlackBerry Unlimited, which gave us 10 email addresses and unlimited data for e-mail and Web browsing. The BlackBerry Unlimited service added a whopping $45 to our monthly bill.

For the Curve, the minute plan is smaller at the same price, 300 minutes for $40 instead of 450 minutes. We also added the $10/monthly @Home service. We figure this will save us at least the difference between the two carrier's calling plans, as we'll probably make most of our calls from Wi-Fi spots, and won't dip too deeply into our "whenever" minutes. Besides, on T-Mobile, the BlackBerry Unlimited add-on costs only $20 per month, so even though we're paying an extra $10 for @Home service, we save $25 monthly on BlackBerry data. Figuring in the cost difference for the phones, the T-Mobile plan will save us $410 in the two years we're under contract.

Winner: T-Mobile Curve

And the winner is . . .

It should come as no real surprise to see the Curve come out on top in this duel. Both phones were fairly evenly matched before, as they both represent the current generation of high-end BlackBerry phones. The Curve has more multimedia features, with its better headphone port and camera, though the 8820 has more important features, notably GPS navigation. In terms of Wi-Fi, the two are pretty evenly matched, until you consider UMA. The BlackBerry 8820 may make calls that sound better, but UMA has great potential for convenience and cost savings. Beyond the free minutes, just knowing that good Wi-Fi reception means good cell reception may be the best selling point of all.

Champion: T-Mobile's BlackBerry Curve

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Woman Hit With $891,985 Cell Phone Bill

2007-10-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

WEST ALLIS - A woman was shocked earlier this month to receive a Sprint bill simulataneously thanking her for eight years' patronage and charging her almost $900,000.

Nearly two weeks later, she's still shocked at what she calls the "terrible customer service" that hasn't cleared up the problem.

Jennifer Grosshandler says she's made approximately twenty calls to Sprint representatives since receiving her bill. She says Sprint acknowledges the huge bill she received was a mistake, but haven't fixed the problem in her online bill history.

They "informed me that there was a code error entered into my account that never should have been," Grosshandler said, whose standard monthly bill is $44. "They were going to reverse it out, but I sit here two weeks later. My bills still shows the monthly statement at almost $900,000 being due in about five days, and no one from Sprint is returning my calls."

Sprint Chicago Media Representative Dave DeVries did return the call from TODAY'S TMJ4 Reporter Silvia Acevedo.

"I'm sorry to hear this complaint has not been resolved to her satisfaction," DeVries said, promising to submit Grosshandler's complaint to a "dedicated group of customer service" staff.

Grosshandler hopes the error will be corrected before the bill goes to collection agencies.

SOURCE

"I need to make sure that my financial records are clear and that I have something in my files to show that was an error on Sprint's part," Grosshandler said.

Grosshandler says she now plans to take her business elsewhere.

Imagine Renting or Selling Real Estate for $3 Ad Listing Cost

2007-10-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

Text4Homes.com presents a low variable cost option to real estate advertising which integrates Internet and mobile technologies. This novel approach highlights tremendous ROI, convenience, immediacy, reach and variety for users.

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) October 2, 2007 -- Text4Homes.com pioneers an advertising model which utilizes a pay-per-lead strategy for buying, selling, and renting both private and commercial real estate in Canada. By combining the Internet with mobile text messaging, and partnering with all major wireless carriers in Canada, Text4Homes.com creates a cost-effective and instantaneous contact method for buyers, sellers, and renters.

Mass participation created by 'free information usage' drives the concept of this performance-based program. Sellers list all of their properties free of charge. When the buyer is interested in a particular property, the buyer submits their contact information through the site. The seller receives the lead on their cell phone as a text message and is billed a pay-per-contact charge.

All listings and modifications are live on the site the second they are entered into the database. Developed for those that are constantly on the move, I truly believe that Text4Homes.com is a powerful and convenient tool for cost-effective real estate sales and rental transactions.

Unlike traditional real estate sales, the Text4Homes.com method requires that the seller initiate contact with the potential buyer. Other buyer benefits include plenty of search features to help a buyer or renter narrow down their search preferences such as property type, features, and amenities. If the property profile is not currently listed on Text4Homes.com, the buyer can sign up for a free SMS alert which will immediately notify them that a property matching their criteria has just been listed on the website.

"The most attractive feature of the Text4Homes.com program is that it is in real time," says David Dion, President of 2 Rent Inc. and owner of Text4Homes.com. "All listings and modifications are live on the site the second they are entered into the database. Developed for those that are constantly on the move, I truly believe that Text4Homes.com is a powerful and convenient tool for cost-effective real estate sales and rental transactions."

To learn more about Text4Homes.com and its innovative lead-generated program, contact Craig Ingram or visit www.Text4Homes.com.

About 2 Rent Inc.

2 Rent Inc. is a privately held company with a mission to provide the most convenient and cost-effective online advertising platform by combining the power of the internet and the mobile phone. Text4Homes.com is the realization of the company's vision to become the primary market place for real estate advertising and serves to bridge the gap between private sales and real estate professionals.

SOURCE

Cell-phone service for children to end

2007-10-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

BURBANK, Calif. - Walt Disney Co. will end its Disney-branded cell-phone service at the end of the year, 18 months after first offering the plan to customers.

Disney could seek a partnership with a wireless carrier to provide mobile-phone service, the company said Thursday.

The Family Center plan was marketed to parents as a means of better controlling children's cell-phone use. The company shuttered a money-losing ESPN-branded mobile service for sports fans in December. Content from ESPN is now offered through a partnership with Verizon Communications Inc.'s wireless unit.

"They learned their lesson with ESPN," said David Bank, an RBC Capital Markets analyst in New York. "I don't think they made the same level of investment or had the same expectations as they did with ESPN."

The Disney-branded service, started in June 2006, has a GPS feature parents can use to locate children and is carried on Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network. Disney said it will reimburse some customers.

SOURCE.

Minnesota sues Sprint Nextel in dispute over customer contracts

2007-10-01T09:53:00.001-07:00

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has filed a lawsuit against Sprint Nextel Corp., accusing the cell phone company of extending customer contracts without consent.

The suit alleges that Reston-based Sprint Nextel violated Minnesota's consumer protection laws by extending consumers' wireless-phone contracts for up to two years without giving adequate disclosure.

In a press release, Swanson's office said it was responding to complaints the state had received.

When customers made small changes -- like adding extra minutes, replacing a phone, responding to solicitations for additional services or receiving courtesy discounts -- they were given unwanted contract extensions. Some consumers were threatened with early termination fees of up to $200 when they tried to cancel the wireless service.

"In a normal transaction, you have two parties coming together and making an agreement about a purchase," Swanson said in a statement. "For these consumers, there was no real meeting of the minds. Rather, the company has tricked consumers into unknowingly extending their contract simply because they made a basic change to their plan."

Swanson is seeking restitution for victims and civil penalties of up to $25,000 per incident.

A Sprint spokesman could not be reached for comment.

SOURCE.

Palm introduces the Centro, a smaller, low-cost smart phone

2007-10-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

Palm Inc. has introduced the Centro, its first low-cost, consumer-oriented smart phone, a product the company hopes will help it tap into the growing demand for more powerful multimedia handsets.

Palm chief executive Ed Colligan, speaking at the DigitalLife conference in New York on Thursday, said that by putting advanced smart phone capabilities into a standard-size cell phone, Palm hopes to appeal to mainstream phone users who are ready to upgrade to a more versatile device.

The Centro, he said, "is meant to be the center of your life, both your business and personal life. We're trying to reach a new demographic."

The phone will sell for $99.99 and has a compact design, considerably smaller than Palm's Treo devices, which have remained largely unchanged for several years. The Centro offers instant messaging, personal and corporate e-mail support, media player, touch screen, QWERTY keyboard and high-speed 3G data access.

The phone, which runs on a Palm operating system, will be available in mid-October exclusively with a two-year service agreement from Sprint-Nextel. It comes in black and red, and will feature Sprint's live TV service as well as easy access to Web sites such as YouTube, Yelp and Google Maps.

Danny Bowman, Sprint's vice president of customer equipment, said the Centro combines a wealth of features at a low price, which should make it popular for the holiday season.

The heat has been on Palm to keep up with competitors like Research In Motion, Nokia, Motorola and, more recently, Apple with its iPhone. Critics have wondered when Palm was going to refresh its lineup of phones, which have sold solidly to business users but haven't kept up with the growth in the overall smart phone market.

The growing competition has not been kind to Palm. The company's profit slid 43 percent to $15.4 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended June 1.

But Colligan said the future is bright for Palm as it competes in a fast-growing market. Market research firm IDC is projecting that U.S. smart phone shipments will grow from 13.8 million in 2007 to 74.4 million in 2011.

Analysts aren't sure that the Centro alone will turn Palm's fortunes around. But the device is a good start, said Tavis McCourt, an analyst with Morgan, Keegan & Co.

"This is the direction Palm needs to go in," he said. "It may not be as successful as the BlackBerry Pearl, but it's nice incremental growth for Palm. It certainly answers some of the critics. They're saying they get it, that customers want things smaller - thinner phones with more multimedia features."

Miro Kazakoff, an analyst with Compete Inc., said the Centro will help Palm stay in the burgeoning smart phone game. He said his research has found that now 20 percent of consumers say they are at least casually considering buying a smart phone for their next cell phone purchase, up from 5 percent at the beginning of last year.

"We used to call these 'enterprise devices,' but now we're seeing general consumers shop for them," Kazakoff said. "Now, all the smart-phonemakers need to make devices that are oriented toward consumers."

News of the Centro sent Palm stock up 6.3 percent, or 97 cents, to close at $16.40 per share.

BT looking to buy Sprint?

2007-10-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

Reuters is reporting that British Telecom, the largest telecommunications company in Britain, is rumored to be interested in purchasing American cellular provider, Sprint. Sprint is the 3rd largest wireless carrier in the United States, and is certainly slipping. However, these “hushed” talks have brought Sprint a 3.5 percent stock increase this Friday alone. Each Sprint stock is now worth $18.65.

Sprint is definitely behind the times, in my opinion. Since its acquisition of Nextel a few years back, the company hasn’t procured any “cool” phones. Hip phones are a must for teenagers, the biggest users of cell phones in the USA by far. While AT&T has the iPhone, Verizon the LG Chocolate, and T-Mobile the Sidekick, you will be hard pressed to find a must-have phone that is available exclusively on the Sprint network. On the flip side, Sprint (utilizing a CDMA, rather than GSM network) has arguably the fastest data speeds of any American carrier. Again, this amounts to nothing if users don’t flock to the provider.

In any case, while selling out to a foreign corp. may solve short term problems, it won’t really help Sprint innovate and succeed.

Read [Reuters]

Palm Unveils $99 Smart Phone

2007-10-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

The Palm Centro is designed to be comparable to Research in Motion's (NASDAQ: RIMM | charts | news | PowerRating) Blackberry Pearl, but is lower priced than other devices currently on the market. The Centro features a full keyboard for typing text message or email, and a touch screen similar to one found on Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL | charts | news | PowerRating) iPhone.

According to Palm CEO Ed Collgan smart phone consumers currently account for around 5% of all cell phone users, and many potential customers are turned off by the high price of the devices.

The Centro will launch in October and Sprint Nextel will be the exclusive carrier of the device for the first few months.

Shares of Palm, which has struggled recently against competition from other smart phone makers, rose 5% on the news Friday.

Disney Ends Cell Phone Service for Kids

2007-10-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. will pull the plug on its branded cell phone service by the end of the year, the company said Thursday.

Disney said customers liked the product that allowed parents to determine the location of a child carrying a phone, but that it was having problems getting the phone into large retailers.

"We decided that changing strategies was a better alternative to pursue profitable growth in the mobile services area," Steve Wadsworth, president of the Walt Disney Internet Group, said in a statement.

The company will end sales immediately and continue to service the handsets until the end of the year.

Disney is talking to major cell phone carriers about offering some of its most popular services, such as tracking the location of phone users.

Disney subscribers bought special handsets for their children and the service provided Disney ring tones, video and other branded content. The service used Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network.

The phones were equipped to display the location of a user's handset on a map, limit when and how the phone was used and set limits on expenditures.

The company said it became clear it would have to invest far more in the product to boost sales than could be justified.

Exclusive deals cut between large retailers and mobile carriers made it too hard for Disney to get its product in front of customers, the company said.

"It became obvious that the cost of continuing became greater than we wanted to bear," Disney spokesman John Spelich said.

The company would not say how many subscribers it had or whether there would be a write-off associated with ending the stand-alone operation.

About 120 people could lose their jobs, although Disney is working to place them elsewhere in the company.

It's the second failure Disney has had in the highly competitive mobile phone industry. Disney dropped its ESPN-branded cell phone service last year after it did not prove profitable. The company shifted the content developed for the service to Verizon Wireless.

SOURCE.

Town Hall to remove pay phones

2007-10-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

The pay phone's days are numbered, at least in Town Hall and at police headquarters. For years back in the pre-cellular telephone era, there have been three pay phones in the Town Hall/Belden Cromwell Public Library complex, and one at police headquarters.

Town officials had been paying $47 a month for each phone. But now, the phone company is raising its rates - substantially. And that's the hang-up. First Selectman Paul C. Beaulieu said officials have been notified that "AT&T is getting out of the pay phone business."

"I guess they have pretty much been supplanted by those cell phones that everyone seems to have now," he said. To smooth its exit from the pay-phone business, Beaulieu said, AT&T suggested the town contact another carrier: Pacific Telemanagement Services or PTS, "which has expressed interest in providing pay phone service at your location(s)."

If that's so, Beaulieu said, they had a funny way of showing it. PTS announced that it was increasing the amount the town has to pay for pay-phone service from $47 to $75 a month per phone. That, town officials said, was simply too much to pay for too little business. There is a phone in the atrium of town hall, one in the adjacent Town Hall gymnasium, and one in the library, Beaulieu said.

"I think in public buildings, there needs to be one," Beaulieu said - but only one, especially at the new price. "I think one would suffice," Deputy First Selectman Stanley Stachura agreed. Police Chief Anthony J. Salvatore said he made contact with phone company officials immediately after the change in service and price hike were announced. He determined that, on average, there is one call a week made from the phone in the police station lobby. "That phone will be coming out," Salvatore announced.

He encouraged Beaulieu to make a similar check of the call volume at Town Hall, as well. "My guess is you probably have one call every two weeks," he said. But, Beaulieu said, he believes there should be at least one pay phone in Town Hall. The fact the phone at police headquarters will be coming out raised concerns for Selectman Richard R. Newton. "If I was to get arrested and had to make my one phone call, what would happen now?" Newton asked. Salvatore sought to reassure him, explaining that for safety reasons, "We do not let them (arrestees) use the phone in the lobby." Instead, the chief said, people who are arrested "use a phone in the booking area."

Reassured, Newton agreed with Beaulieu. "I think in a public building, we should have one," Newton said. "Not everyone has one of those (cell) phones." "So, yes, one (pay phone) in a public building is a good idea," Newton said.

Motorola Shows Off WiMax Chipset For Mobile Devices

2007-09-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

The cell phone maker expects to use the technology in its own products, as well as equipment from other mobile manufacturers starting in 2008.

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) on Tuesday showed off its WiMax chipset, which the handset maker plans to include in mobile phones next year.

The chipset, shown at WiMax World in Chicago, is designed to support WiMax wireless wide-area networks, which are under construction in dozens of metropolitan areas across the nation. WiMax is seen as an alternative to Wi-Fi in delivering data and voice services to mobile devices, such as smart phones and handheld computers. WiMax's biggest advantage is a bigger, faster pipe for moving data, and its ability to carry over far greater distances.

Motorola said it plans to start delivering WiMax-enabled handsets to carriers around the world in 2008. One such carrier is Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S). The company's Xohm business unit is building with partner Clearwire a nationwide WiMax network. Sprint has said it expects to have WiMax available in about 30 U.S. metropolitan markets next year.

Motorola says its chipset modem is designed for WiMax 802.16e compliance. The hardware has been tested in Motorola's own infrastructure products, as well as equipment from other mobile manufacturers, according to Motorola.

"With this chipset, Motorola has been able to redefine what is possible for WiMax mobile devices, enabling a wider portfolio of devices, from voice-centric handsets to multimedia terminals," Gary Koerper, VP of platform planning and systems architecture at Motorola, said in a statement.

Motorola is providing WiMax infrastructure technology to 12 commercial systems, and has been involved in more than 40 trials worldwide since late 2006, the company said.

A major challenge to WiMax is likely to come from wireless carriers building out their cellular networks to deliver data faster. Those services, however, have been expensive. WiMax supporters believe the technology can beat rivals in price, as well as speed.

SOURCE.

A Cellphone Without Borders

2007-09-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

It’s amazing the way the Internet keeps toppling traditional businesses. Telegrams have gone away. Music CD sales are tanking. Newspapers are hurting.

One especially lucrative business, however, has somehow escaped the Internet’s notice so far: international cellphone calls.

That’s about to change. Early next month, a small company called Cubic Telecom will release what it’s calling the first global mobile phone.

But first, some background. Cellphones from T-Mobile and AT&T rely on the same type of network (called GSM) that most of the rest of the world uses. In theory, then, you can take these phones to other countries and make calls as usual. (Most Verizon and Sprint phones work only in the United States.)

Unfortunately, international roaming runs from $1 to $5 a minute. A 20-minute call home from the Bahamas on a T-Mobile phone will set you back $60. The same call home from Russia on an AT&T cellphone will cost a cool $100.

Sure, you could always rent a phone or use a phone card when you travel — but then nobody knows how to reach you.

It costs a lot to dial overseas from here, too. Verizon charges $1.50 a minute for calls to most countries. AT&T’s rates can be truly Dr. Seussian — like $2.52 to Greece, $2.80 to Iraq and $3.65 to Australia. That’s per minute. Make one 20-minute call to New Zealand, and you owe $75 to AT&T.

Now, most carriers offer special international plans: you pay more a month, you get slightly lower roaming rates. But even they can’t touch the appeal of Cubic’s cellphone. It makes calls to or from any of 214 countries — for 50 to 90 percent off what the big carriers would charge.

On this phone, a 20-minute call from the Bahamas costs $5.80 (that’s 90 percent off T-Mobile’s rate). The Cubic price from Russia is 49 cents a minute (90 percent lower than AT&T).

And there’s no monthly fee and no commitment for any of this. It works like a prepaid phone, where you put some money in your account and use it up as you talk.

At this point, the appropriate world traveler’s response ought to be involuntary drooling, but there’s more to the story. Most of it is more good news, but also more complexity.

For example, consider this: at the MaxRoam.com site from Cubic, you can request local phone numbers in up to 50 cities at no charge. Now you can have a Paris number, a London number and a Mexico City number that your friends overseas can use to call your cellphone.

No longer must you hand out a series of international phone numbers for each trip you make, or expect your colleagues in the United States to pay $50 a pop to reach you.

Cubic points out that this feature alone is a life-changer for people who have moved, for example, to the United States from overseas. Their family back home can keep in touch for the price of a local call.

I signed up for numbers in Paris, London and Barcelona, and then asked friends in those cities to call me. They dialed local numbers, and my phone rang in New York — very slick. Voice quality was typical of Internet calls: perfectly understandable, but slightly muffled, with a quarter-second to one-second voice delay.

Even that’s not the end of this phone’s possibilities. For a flat $42 a month, you can turn on its unlimited Wi-Fi calling option. It lets you receive unlimited unmetered calls to any numbers in the world from Internet hot spots, or make them for a penny a minute. Either way, you have little fear of racking up your bill.

This works on hot spots that require a password, but not ones that require a Web-page login. And in contrast to the new HotSpot@Home phones from T-Mobile, which seamlessly hand off calls between Wi-Fi and the cellular network as you move, the Cubic phone drops the call when you leave the hot spot.

Still, if you make a lot of international calls, this option could save even more money. The voice quality is excellent, although these Wi-Fi calls are sometimes marred by random beeps, clicks or dropped connections.

In some ways, the Cubic phone isn’t just different; it’s actually eccentric. As a phone without a country, it requires a country code and area code for every call, even next door.

The bigger weirdness: when you dial a number and press send, your phone rings a few seconds later. When you answer, you hear a voice saying, “Connecting your call,” and then you hear the other person answer.

Intel Wins Nokia Contract For WiMAX Chips

2007-09-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

Espoo, Finland (AHN) - Cell phone giant Nokia Wednesday picked Intel to supply WiMAX chips for a tablet device expected in 2008.

The company said Intel's "Baxter Peak" mobile WiMAX chipset will enable streaming movies or high-quality music.

In early 2008, Sprint is expected to launch its Xohm nationwide WiMAX service.

Nokia's upcoming tablet, similar to its N800 device, may be linked to the launch of Sprint's high-speed wireless network.

SOURCE.

The iPod Touch that killed the Cell Phone

2007-09-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

The iPhone is very cool, but it’s not as revolutionary as the iPod Touch. It may lack a cell phone, camera, and even Mail.app, and it’s precisely because it lacks these features, among others, that the Touch represents a leap-forward, not only a glimpse of the future, but also the future manifested, tomorrow today. Because you could buy the iPod Touch and give up your cell phone, if not yet your cell service. And if you’re like me, you may even lose weight in the bargain!

The Touch itself is economically designed, extremely simple, and works well. It’s able to capture and keep a wi-fi signal even better than my MacBookPro, and its screen, when displaying lighter objects, is magnificent. There’s room for improvement in the display of darker objects, such as the shadows and darkness common in Sleeper Cell, the TV series my mom recommended I download to watch after I told her how much I don’t like 24. Watching these darker scenes, even while in a dark room, I found myself tilting the screen slightly to try to adjust for the glare, my only material complaint.

At the gym, I was able to place the Touch on its side in a receptacle next to a drink holder on the stairmaster, and at less than two feet from my eyes, the screen was pleasant to watch. The audio was, as expected, exceptional, made more so by sound-isolating earbuds. I found myself sticking around, stepping up to watch a second episode of Sleeper Cell. At 2 hours of hamstering instead of 1, this may be my ticket to staying in some kind of shape over the pending Chicago winter! A way to watch TV that encourages more exercise, there may yet be hope for us North Americans… now if we could only use the energy from my steps to power the Touch, or the air-conditioning at the club… again, the iPod Touch’s excellent antenna enabled 100% connectivity to the gym’s free wifi network.

Getting email on the system does not require hacking, just a decent webmail client. In fact, it seems as if Apple is encouraging us to use a web client for email by not including Mail.app… intentional? In any event, I use the Zimbra “standard” client, which is the lightweight version of the Zimbra Ajax webmail client that provides access to email through the Touch’s built-in Safari web browser. I paused episodes here-and-there to check my email, watch the voice mails roll-in…

What the iPod Touch is, is an elegant, small computer. Battery life seems to approximate Apple’s claims of 5 hours for video play-back. Unlike many other palm devices, it’s snappy and responsive. Surfing the web seems as quick as surfing the web on any computer. Because it does such a good job at what it is, of course it makes you want more..!

From 01.com’s secure Zimbra webmail, I can access voice mails left at my office, which are attached to emails by our office PBX/telephone system, along with basic information, like caller ID and message length. When Zimbra 5 comes out in November, it will ship with iZimbra, which will give us iPhone/Touch users access to a full Zimbra feature set, including chat, calendars, contacts and document sharing, all syncing back to Mail.app, iCal and AddressBook on the MacBook through Zimbra’s iSync connector. That’s good, but discontinuing my cell service would be even better.

I don’t mind paying the cell phone company, or phone company, or my local ISP for the speed at which I’m connected to the internet, on a monthly, flat-fee basis. This encourages them to improve the speed and quality of our connections, which makes sense: they’re infrastructure providers, let them make money improving their infrastructure. We just shouldn’t have to pay on a per minute basis for network access anymore.

To get rid of my cell phone, I forwarded the cell number to the phone number (DID) corresponding to my extension on my office phone system. All calls then either come to my softphone on my computer, or if I’m not available, by voice mail to my email. To make outbound calls, I use the softphone with a Logitech USB headset plugged into the MacBookPro.

If this was more than a test, we could use local number portability to port my cell phone number permanently, directly to our VOIP provider, and by-pass the cell phone company entirely. Then only one step remains to reduce the cell phone company to nothing more than an infrastructure provider, an internet access provider, exactly what they should be doing, and nothing more: get the softphone onto the iPod Touch. That will require some hacking at this point, more on that subject another day. But it does get you thinking that Apple’s iTunes would make a good vector for introducing a simple, complete VOIP solution. Can you see .Mac offering international calling for $.002/minute, and your own 800 number that is aliased to your .Mac website?

While it’s possible to dismiss your cell phone, you still need to stay connected to the internet (most of the time). If you live in a covered area, and don’t spend all of your time at a Starbucks, the best solution so far for this is the Verizon and Sprint highspeed cards. I use the Verizon card to stay connected wherever I’m traveling in the city. The quality of the access is usually good enough so that I can use the softphone on the MacBook Pro to send and receive all my phone calls. And sometimes the quality on the VOIP softphone is even better than that of my cell phone. But not often.

So what’s the iPod Touch missing? For my money, only an express slot for a broadband wireless, whether 3G or wimax, it’s the only thing missing that’s keeping me in the “minutes” game, away from one, sweet, unlimited data plan…

Here’s what the softphone looks like on Mac OS X:

To review, how did I replace my cell phone with an iPod Touch? It’s not yet a recipe for the faint-of-heart. Here are the ingredients:

1 Apple iPod Touch (15GB)
1 Verizon or Sprint Express Card with unlimited data service
1 account on the Apple iTunes music/video store
1 Apple MacBookPro (although you may substitute your favorite Wintel system here, warning: it changes the taste of the results, and to each their own)
1 License for the EyeBeam softphone by CounterPath
1 Asterisk VOIP pbx server software, hosted at your favorite data center on Mac or other linux variant
1 inbound/outbound VOIP calling plan
1 pair Logitech Premium Notebook Headset
1 pair Shure SE310 Sound Isolating Earbuds
1 Zimbra hosting account with 01.com

You’ll ask, well, how much did all that cost? Not much. My company already uses most of this equipment, so the only things I had to buy is the iPod Touch, and that was a gift (thanks!).

What’s the difference between a 3g card and being on the cell phone network, aren’t they the same thing, and wouldn’t that make it an iPhone? Perhaps. While it remains the phone company that may be providing a 3G card, the card is only for internet access. And if the iPod touch had an express slot, then you could also use a wimax card, and use a local ISP to connect wherever you happen to be. The goal here is being able to be connected to the internet all the time, but not necessarily the phone network. Do we need a phone, or just a computer that can stay connected to the internet all the time? The iPod Touch is the smallest and most promising computers I’ve used, and just a step or two away from replacing my laptop, too.

Beyond Ringtones and Games

2007-09-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

Feeling guilty about leaving his wife behind during an extended business trip, Richard Davis sprang for a last-minute gift. Sitting on the runway at Boston's Logan Airport, he pulled out his BlackBerry, launched Digby -- a free shopping application he had downloaded to his device -- and purchased a bouquet of flowers, along with a miniature teddy bear, from retailer FTD.com with just a few clicks.

"My wife was really pleased," says Mr. Davis, 46 years old, who works for investment bank Needham & Co. LLC and lives in Wellesley, Mass. "It's pretty nice to be able to shop online from a hand-held."

Retailers and wireless companies have been buzzing about enabling consumers to purchase everything from flowers to flat-screen television sets from their mobile phones for years. But mobile versions of popular online Web sites like Amazon.com have been slow to catch on because they have been difficult to find and can be painfully slow to load.

Now new services, many of which are being offered for the first time through wireless carriers, are trying to make mobile commerce more mainstream. While many still require multiple steps and an agility with small screens, they are making mobile shopping easier through better interfaces, wider selections and more secure payment options.

Ultimately, the services hope to transform the mobile commerce industry -- currently dominated by purchases of digital content such as ringtones and games -- into a mirror of the online shopping world where virtually any item can be retrieved with just a few clicks.

Sprint Nextel Corp. today plans to announce its launch of Mobile Shopper, a mobile shopping service that is free minus charges for data usage. The service allows users to search for and buy items from some 30 stores, including Target and eBags, by clicking on a Web icon on the main menu of their data-enabled phones.

Users can search among seven million items by entering the brand and style number or clicking through product-category menus. To make a purchase, users set up a mobile account with their shipping and credit-card information and enter their phone number and PIN.

Retailers, for their part, are continuing to invest in improving their own mobile Web sites, often through partnerships with established online-payment companies. More than 35 retailers selling everything from DVDs to golf clubs, for example, are accepting PayPal Mobile Checkout, which eBay Inc. launched in July.

The service allows consumers to purchase items from partner retailers from their PayPal accounts, which users can access with their standard PayPal user name and password or by their mobile number and PIN. Google Inc., which offers a mobile version of its Google Checkout online-payment service, recently entered the fray further by filing for a patent for its own mobile-payment system.

Other companies are launching software applications. Digby, operated by 30 Second Software Inc., stores retailers' best-selling items within an application users download on their BlackBerry, refreshing the selection every night. Storing items this way can dramatically cut back the time it takes to find popular items like chocolates and books by reducing the number of times the service has to connect to the mobile Web. The company also provides access to more than one million products over the mobile Web.

Digby, which takes a commission on all items sold through the service, eases the checkout process by allowing users to store their credit-card information on their phones.

Barriers such as handset limitations and consumers' relatively low rates of adoption of mobile Internet services have prevented wireless carriers, who have extraordinary control over the types of services consumers can easily access on their phones, from investing heavily in the market.

Carriers have generally preferred to be involved in billing customers for mobile media content like ringtones, for example, because it allows them to take a healthy cut of the transactions. But they will have to accept processing payments through credit cards and PayPal accounts if they want to make the mobile-shopping experience as much like shopping on a PC as possible. Sprint declined to comment on whether it will get any direct revenue from sales, saying it hopes to capitalize on interest in mobile shopping by signing up more subscribers for data plans.

But new payment services and the growing adoption of other mobile Internet services such as music and video are causing carriers to take the market more seriously. Thom Russell, director of business development for consumer products at Verizon Wireless, says the carrier sees potential in a variety of approaches to mobile commerce, from mobile-phone coupons and promotions to handsets that double as credit cards. Such experimentation is more possible now than a few years ago, he said, because "our customers are getting much more technically savvy about the things that can happen on a phone," he says.

AT&T Inc., meanwhile, conducted a trial earlier this year in which users were able to wave their phones over MasterCard PayPass systems in restaurants and other locations to make purchases that were charged to their credit cards. A spokesman for AT&T said the trial went well but the company hasn't announced plans to roll out the technology nationwide.

By 2011, the total transaction value of mobile payments is forecast to reach $22 billion world-wide, according to Juniper Research, up from just $2 billion at the end of 2007. While the bulk of the transactions still happen in markets like Asia, where cellphones are more advanced, demand in North America is forecast to increase as handsets, connection speeds and services improve.

"Mobile phones are a great on-ramp to buying all kinds of goods and services on the Internet," says Anil Malhotra, senior vice president of alliances and marketing for Bango, a United Kingdom-based firm that processes mobile transactions for carriers and helps companies develop mobile Web sites. Initially, products like flowers and small gifts might be the most popular mobile commerce purchases, Mr. Malhotra says. But over time, he expects the lines between shopping online via a PC and a cellphone will blur.

Many consumers, though, remain unconvinced. While trying to purchase a DVD from a mobile version of Amazon recently, 27-year-old Serene Hammond of Washington, D.C., was hit with multiple error messages and quickly gave up. "It is a useless technology," says Ms. Hammond, who works for a pharmaceutical company and says she doesn't see the urgency of shopping from a phone when she is regularly around a computer. An Amazon spokesman said he looked into the complaint and that "everything is working just fine."

Still, companies believe that demand for on-the-fly purchases will grow as the process becomes easier and are trying to make it so. 2B Wireless Inc.'s mShopper, which powers the new service from Sprint, reformats product listings so they render well on the mobile screen, reducing photo sizes and reducing extraneous text. The company also offers access to live customer-service agents.

SOURCE.

Trustcash Joins with Netbilling for Credit Card Processing

2007-09-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

Trustcash Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB:TCHH), a provider of a secure and anonymous online payment system, announced today that it has contracted with Netbilling for online payment processing services. Netbilling's credit card processing service delivers fast, secure and robust billing and processing of credit card transactions.

"Using Netbilling for credit card processing ensures our customers that they are getting a high level of security when using credit cards to purchase Trustcash cards," said Greg Moss, CEO of Trustcash Holdings, Inc. "The combination of secure credit card processing through Netbilling and the privacy provided by using a Trustcash payment card ensures consumers that their internet usage will be totally secure and anonymous."

America has become an e-commerce culture, and nowhere has there been more of a recent demand for secure, swift and scalable electronic payment processing than in the adult industry. One of the leading providers of fully integrated e-commerce solutions is Netbilling. For almost a decade, this company has been the place to go for credit card processing, hosting, streaming, digital rights management, fraud scrubbing, online marketing and affiliate management services. The company's client roster represents a cross-section of leaders in the industry, and its quality of service and support is top-rated by each one. Netbilling's protection systems are widely recognized by the banking community as the most secure, efficient and effective in use on the Internet today.

Since 1998, Netbilling has provided processing services to thousands of internet merchants and companies of all sizes. Netbilling's flexible solutions process credit cards, electronic checks and telephone orders, and work with any business model, including internet, broadband, wireless, call centers and retail establishments. Services include advanced reporting, membership site management, fraud scrubbing, a free shopping cart, and 24/7 live service for merchants and their customers.

About Trustcash Holdings, Inc.

Trustcash Holdings, Inc. through its Trustcash brand is a pioneer of anonymous payment systems for the Internet. It developed a business based on the sale of a stored value card (both virtual and physical) that can be used by consumers to make secure and anonymous purchases on the internet without disclosing their credit card or personal information. Trustcash has initiated relationships with hundreds of web site partners as well as thousands of retail outlets, and utilizes a proprietary technology and processing system which supports secure and private payments. The Company is based in New York City.

Feds: `Iceman' Was Internet ID Thief

2007-09-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

A man who used the Internet alias "Iceman" stole credit card and identity information from tens of thousands of people by hacking into the computers of financial institutions and credit card processing centers, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Max Ray Butler, 35, of San Francisco, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of transferring stolen identity information. He could face up to 40 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine if convicted on all charges.

Butler was charged in Pittsburgh because he sold more than 100 credit card numbers and related information to a Pennsylvanian who is cooperating with the investigation, said Margaret Philbin, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of Pittsburgh.

Authorities said Butler also operated a Web site that served as an online forum for people who steal, share or use others' credit card information illegally in a practice is known as "carding."

Federal court records do not list an attorney for Butler, who was arrested in California on Sept. 5 on a criminal complaint filed under seal in Pittsburgh.

Butler remains in federal custody in California. It was not immediately clear when he would return to Pittsburgh to face the charges. A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday in San Francisco.

The indictment charges Butler with e-mailing people about buying stolen card numbers and selling them for several hundred dollars per batch.

According to the criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, one person told investigators he received "tens of thousands of cards" from Butler. In the affidavit, federal agents said Butler used the aliases "Iceman," "Aphex," "Darkest" and "Digits" on his Internet forum, in e-mails with other carders or when hacking into financial institutions.

Witnesses told agents they were present as Butler moved to various hotel rooms where he would use a high-powered antenna to intercept wireless communications. From there he allegedly hacked into financial institutions and credit card processing centers to obtain confidential card information.

One witness told agents that Butler hacked into the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Citibank and a government employee's computer.

Philbin could not immediately say which kinds of credit card numbers were sold or whether authorities planned to alert cardholders of potential problems.

Wireless, Cashless Payments Come To The World Of Taxi Drivers

2007-09-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Right after Labor Day, a slew of New York City taxi drivers protested plans to roll out credit- and debit-card payment systems in the back seats of all 13,000 medallion cabs.

They feared they would lose money on tips if passengers didn't pay in cash.

But proponents, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, outnumbered the protesters.

Supporters say the ongoing program will better serve customers and actually help bring in more money for cabbies.

How? By speeding up turnovers and generating higher tips than normal from cash-strapped riders.

It certainly will help bring in more revenue for San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone Holdings (NYSE:PAY) PAY. The company is a leading maker of point-of-sale terminals and wireless systems.

VeriFone -- in partnership with MasterCard's MA PayPass -- was the first firm approved to provide the wireless systems in New York's cabs. The systems make use of an ATM-style interface to accept credit and debit fare payments.

The company's back-seat screen monitors also deliver news, weather and tidbits on restaurants, night life, hotels and other attractions. An extra bonus: Like billboards, they bring in revenue-generating ad money.

"Every year, we find a free ride on a new segment of the economy that is going electronic," said Doug Bergeron, VeriFone's chief executive.

A few years ago, it was a big drive by fast-food chains. Cashless pay-at-the-table systems have been gaining steam more recently.

"Who knows what it will be next year?" Bergeron said.

The company's bread-and-butter business remains landline-based point-of-sale, or POS, terminals, especially in the U.S. But contactless wireless products are its fastest- growing business, and a higher-margin one at that.

After the market closed Thursday, VeriFone reported earnings of 42 cents a share for the third quarter ended July 31, beating Wall Street's consensus by two cents. The firm earned 28 cents in the same period last year. Revenue in the quarter rose 57% to $231.9 million.

The company said it expects to post another banner quarter in the fourth. It raised its full-year guidance to $1.59 to $1.60 per share, compared with Thomson Financial's current estimate of $1.56.

International wireless sales have been especially strong. One reason: In areas such as Mexico, Brazil, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, wireless connections are cheaper than landlines. Some governments, notably Mexico's, have been promoting cashless payments.

In addition, a growing middle class in largely cash-based developing nations is fueling demand for plastic.

"Two years ago, wireless was only 10% of our total revenue of $500 million. Today it is 30% of $900 million," Bergeron said.

Last year's acquisition of Israel's Lipman Electronic Engineering boosted VeriFone's wireless capabilities. It also gave it a stronger presence in Western Europe, Turkey and Asia-Pacific, including China.

"With Lipman, they are the undisputed leader in the global market," said Aravind Vanchesan, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

VeriFone's chief rivals are France-based Ingenico and to a lesser extent Phoenix-based Hypercom HYC, which has been losing market share for the past two years.

About 75% of VeriFone's sales are to banks, which in turn provide the systems to retailers. VeriFone's systems -- which are manufactured by low-cost third parties -- are integrated and bundled with bank processing services.

VeriFone sells to just about every major bank in the world that is involved in credit card processing. In addition, new innovations by card issuers such as MasterCard "require our involvement," Bergeron says.

Besides New York's cab program, MasterCard's PayPass system was the lead player in the rollout of cashless payment systems in Philadelphia's taxi cabs starting last year. VeriFone was a partner in that program as well. About 12% of Philly's cab fares are now paid with plastic, Bergeron says.

The remaining 25% of VeriFone's customers are oil companies (think gas pumps), government agencies and large global retailers that buy direct, such as TJX TJX, Walgreen WAG, Rite Aid (OOTC:RADCO) (NYSE:RAD) RADand Albertsons.

The U.S. POS terminal market is a mature one. Even wireless cashless systems in U.S. fast-food units have about a 90% penetration rate, analysts say. But fast-food expansion outside the U.S. will provide further growth, Bergeron says.

VeriFone intends to keep sales growing in the U.S. by bringing out new products, including outdoor payment systems and pay-at-the-pump technology that protects consumers' identities.

Bergeron calls VeriFone "a software company in disguise." Of the $60 million spent on research and development this past year, he says, $55 million was in new software that runs on its systems or servers.

"Does Motorola (NYSE:MEU) (NYSE:MOT) MOT download new software on old phones? No. They sell you a new phone. Software gets delivered on new devices," said Bergeron. "We live on that model. New encryption and capabilities result in new system sales."

In parts of Europe, South America and Asia, new security protocols to limit fraud might spur growth of new "smart card"-type terminals, Vanchesan says.

VeriFone makes terminals that use smart cards as well as magnetic swipe cards, which are ubiquitous in the U.S., where fraud isn't as much of a problem.

Even so, new security standards in the U.S. are driving some growth in new POS systems.

"The question is, what level of terminal replacements (is required)," said Robert Dodd, an analyst at Morgan Keegan. "A lot of (security) work being done is back-office stuff. So merchants may be able to get by without replacing terminals."

Welcome to the online source of information about Sprint Cell Phone accessories.

2007-08-30T07:53:00.001-07:00

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