Cell Phone News

[Smoove_B]

New iPhone arrived today. As someone that's transferring from a Samsung flip-phone circa 2007, I don't even have the words. It's...magic.

[Isgrimnur]

Stolen Phone database:

If you have AT&T and T-Mobile, it was easy for a thief to steal your phone and then pop the SIM out to resell it to someone else. Sprint and Verizon are more difficult, unless they are new LTE devices with a SIM, because they are provisioned through the carrier. Thankfully, that all changes now as these four major carriers turned on the joint database to track the IMEI numbers of cell phones, which is specific to the hardware and not the SIM card.

While this won't likely lead to the recovery of your stolen phone, the hope is that by having the ability to prevent phones from being activated with a stolen IMEI the stolen cell phone market will dry up and die. There may still be a market for stolen phones by selling overseas, but in most cases we see the modern smartphone launch first overseas before the US so that may not be much of a market either.

[Isgrimnur]

TI exits the mobile chip space:

Texas Instruments said it will lay off about 1,700 workers, or about 5% of its total workforce, as part of a restructuring that will see it exit the market for mobile chips that power smartphones and tablets, including Amazon's Kindle Fire.

The company said it would instead focus its OMAP (Open Multimedia Applications Platform) business on embedded systems that power business tools and other products that don't evolve as rapidly as mobile gadgets.
...
Texas Instruments had hoped to compete with Qualcomm, Nvidia, Intel, and other heavyweights who make energy efficient chips for tablets and smartphones. But the company was dealt a significant blow earlier this year when a major customer, Toshiba, cancelled plans for a Windows RT tablet that was to have used an ARM-based chip from TI.

Also contributing to the company's decision to abandon the market was the fact that many phone and tablet makers are producing their own chips. Apple makes its own ARM processors for the iPhone and iPad, while Samsung does the same for the Galaxy S III smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet.

Texas Instrument's move could create complications for some existing high-profile customers. Amazon uses the company's OMAP4 4400 series to power its line of Kindle Fire tablets.

TI has pledged to continue supplying chips to Amazon and other customers for as long as is necessary. Ultimately, Amazon will have to port Kindle Fire to a new platform, presumably an ARM chip from either Qualcomm or Nvidia.

[Arcanis]

HTC and Apple reached a deal last week to cease hostilities. Meanwhile Samsung ups the pressure (and the price) on apple, in the Phone Wars.

[Isgrimnur]

Consumer Reports: AT&T has best 4G, worst in everything else.

[Freezer-TPF-]

My new (first) Android phone arrived yesterday from Virgin Mobile. Will be setting it up later today.

[WPD]

My new (first) Android phone arrived yesterday from Virgin Mobile. Will be setting it up later today.

Whaddja get?

[Freezer-TPF-]

My new (first) Android phone arrived yesterday from Virgin Mobile. Will be setting it up later today.

Whaddja get?

Samsung Galaxy Reverb. $99 holiday deal last weekend.

[WPD]

My new (first) Android phone arrived yesterday from Virgin Mobile. Will be setting it up later today.

Whaddja get?

Samsung Galaxy Reverb. $99 holiday deal last weekend.

Cool. Cool. Didja buy Tapatalk yet?

[Freezer-TPF-]

My new (first) Android phone arrived yesterday from Virgin Mobile. Will be setting it up later today.

Whaddja get?

Samsung Galaxy Reverb. $99 holiday deal last weekend.

Cool. Cool. Didja buy Tapatalk yet?

I activated the phone yesterday evening so I haven't had much time to mess with it yet. So far my impressions are positive, but since I'm moving up from an old flip-phone I am bumbling around the Android OS like an idiot just configuring basic settings to my liking. I should have more time to get into it later today. I haven't even entered my Google account info yet...

I guess tapatalk is a must-have for mobile forum access?

[Isgrimnur]

You can use the web browser to do it, but it typically involves a fair amount of zooming and panning to do anything other than read. Tapatalk makes just about everything easier.

[Isgrimnur]

DC Circuit Court upholds FCC data roaming rules:

A U.S. appeals court today upheld the Federal Communications Commission's data roaming rules, which require wireless carriers to offer "reasonable" data roaming rates.

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the FCC was within its rights to hand down its roaming rules.
...
The FCC approved its roaming rules in early April. The rules let wireless users stay connected when they travel outside their own network's coverage areas by connecting to another provider's network, the FCC said.

The rules, which were approved on party lines by a vote of 3 to 2, are important to smaller carriers that told the FCC that they cannot compete against larger wireless providers like Verizon and AT&T without data roaming agreements.

The FCC declined to set exact rates for data roaming agreements, "instead leaving it to the parties to set their terms," FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said at the time. Complaints about data roaming can be filed at the FCC, where they will be handled on a case-by-case basis, the agency said.

At the time, Verizon said the move "represents a new level of unwarranted government intervention in the wireless marketplace." It filed suit the following month, arguing that the commission does not have the authority to establish such restrictions, among other things.

The judges disagreed. "Most significantly, Verizon argues that the Commission lacks statutory authority to issue the rule and that the rule unlawfully treats mobile-internet providers as common carriers," Judge David S. Tatel wrote in the opinion of the court. "We disagree on both counts. Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 plainly empowers the Commission to promulgate the data roaming rule."
...
According to the court, "all but two major national carriers—Verizon and AT&T—favored a data roaming rule in some form." In addition to raising doubt about the FCC's authority on the issue, AT&T and Verizon also said "a data roaming rule was unnecessary—because providers were already entering into roaming agreements voluntarily—and inadvisable—because it would reduce investment incentives."

Gee, the two biggest networks in the country didn't want another recourse for smaller network operators to have another recourse if they felt that the rates they were being offered were abusive? Shocking, I say.

[Freezer-TPF-]

My new (first) Android phone arrived yesterday from Virgin Mobile. Will be setting it up later today.

Whaddja get?

Samsung Galaxy Reverb. $99 holiday deal last weekend.

I thought I'd post a few quick impressions of the phone in case anyone is interested. I'm a smartphone n00b, but IMHO the Samsung Galaxy Reverb is a very nice phone, especially at that $99 sale price (reg. price is $199 but it seems to often be on sale for $149 or less). Comes with ICS and the Samsung Touchwiz stuff over it. Calls seem very clear, better than my trusty old Samsung flip phone. The 4-inch screen is 480x800 and looks great. It has I think 2GB free for apps and you can add a microSD card as well. Battery seems decent--after a typical day of light/medium use it will be at around 50%-60% at bedtime. I could probably just charge it every other day if I didn't do much gaming.

Now as to Virgin Mobile: Activation was not quite instant--auto-activation failed (I assume because I was porting my number from my old carrier). I called the customer service number and they quickly confirmed (less than 5 minutes total on the call) that all was well and it would just take 2-3 hours for my number to transfer so my account would be ready for activation. At about 3 hours I got an email from VM and I was able to activate without issue. I'm using the 300 min/unlimited text/internet for $35/mo, which should be enough minutes for me. If not, the $45/mo plan gives you 1200 min, which would be plenty, or you can add money to your account and pay I think 10 cents a minute for any overages.

Now the big issue with VM--data speeds. 3G speeds at my home are actually decent, around 300-800k, but I just use the wifi of course and that is plenty fast. Around where I work 3G is dismal, usually 10-100k at best. That's good enough for checking email but not much else. I need to try some speedtests at other places around town to see which situation is more typical. Overall, for $35/month I cannot complain too much. Paying Verizon another $50-60 a month for blazing data would not be worth it for me at this time. I have had no issues with calls or texts or email.

[Freezer-TPF-]

Now the big issue with VM--data speeds. 3G speeds at my home are actually decent, around 300-800k, but I just use the wifi of course and that is plenty fast. Around where I work 3G is dismal, usually 10-100k at best. That's good enough for checking email but not much else. I need to try some speedtests at other places around town to see which situation is more typical. Overall, for $35/month I cannot complain too much. Paying Verizon another $50-60 a month for blazing data would not be worth it for me at this time. I have had no issues with calls or texts or email.

Ran a 3G speedtest the other day about 3 blocks from my office building and got 300-500k, so apparently my workplace is just a dead/congestion zone. Considering all the people around here who walk around very slowly while staring at their smartphones, I guess that's not surprising.

I also tried using GPS and Google Navigation to help drive somewhere over the weekend and had no issues with signal or data over about a 20 mile trip.

Anyway, so far thumbs up for Virgin Mobile.

[Isgrimnur]

AT&T is running trials on small cells to boost dead zone areas:

AT&T is constantly fighting to improve bandwidth on its overcrowded network, which has seen mobile data usage explode 30,000 percent between 2006 and 2012. The carrier has found a solution in small cells, which can bring nearly perfect usability to areas prone to dead zones and dropped calls.

AT&T tested small cells in Crystal Lake Park, Missouri and Waukesha, Wisconsin. In Crystal Lake Park, where the technology was used in a highly populated neighborhood, the small cell increased traffic by 17 percent and also boosted outdoor areas to nearly 100 percent usability. Waukesha was a test in an enterprise environment, specifically a large building dotted with dead zones. The addition of small cells gave the area almost 100 percent coverage and virtually eliminated dropped calls. AT&T did not, however, specify what happened to download speeds after small cells added all those users to the network.
...
Small cells aren’t just one piece of hardware technology, but rather a collective term for cellular coverage solutions that target smaller geographical areas and numbers of people. A device that’s 250 mW, for example — which is fairly low power — can support up to 32 users and cover the area of a large building. But small cells are available at a number of power levels, so a 5 W one could support 200 users and cover hundreds of square meters, or a 1 W one could be targeted at 10 meters of subway entrance and cover 64 to 128 concurrent users.
...
All the major carriers, including AT&T, are rolling out their small cell technologies over the next few years. Unlike the seemingly random roll out of 3G and then 4G LTE networks across the nation, small cells should start popping up in areas with the most problematic coverage first.

[Isgrimnur]

T-Mobile to kill off the contract:

The wireless carrier today seems to have finally done away entirely with contracts for wireless customers.
...
What's new today? T-Mobile's Web site now shows, for instance, that a customer could select an unlimited talk, text, and Web option that includes up to 500MB of high-speed data for a single phone for $50 a month. The price rises as the data level increases -- 2GB for $60, 4GB for $70, and so on.

The rate does not include the additional fee you pay for your phone. Instead of a subsidy, you pay a small fee on top of your phone bill each month to pay off your smartphone. But unlike the higher monthly fees you would normally pay a carrier under a contract, the fees stop once you pay off the phone.

Still, that means an additional fee for what would have been the life of a two-year contract. The Samsung Galaxy S3, for instance, would cost an extra $20 a month for 24 months, in addition to $109.99 up front. A lower-end Galaxy S2 will cost nothing up front, but would require a $16 fee on top of your phone bill for 24 months. Customers can opt to pay the full price instead. The Galaxy S3 costs $549.99.

T-Mobile has slowly shifted its focus to the so-called prepaid option as those plans have proven to be more popular for the carrier than the traditional contract model. The carrier has consistently bled contract customers over the last few years, with some switching to prepaid, but others leaving for the larger competitors. During CES, T-Mobile announced it would offer its no-strings unlimited data plan without a contract, a sign of today's broader move.

[LordMortis]

T-Mobile to kill off the contract:

The wireless carrier today seems to have finally done away entirely with contracts for wireless customers.
...
What's new today? T-Mobile's Web site now shows, for instance, that a customer could select an unlimited talk, text, and Web option that includes up to 500MB of high-speed data for a single phone for $50 a month. The price rises as the data level increases -- 2GB for $60, 4GB for $70, and so on.

The rate does not include the additional fee you pay for your phone. Instead of a subsidy, you pay a small fee on top of your phone bill each month to pay off your smartphone. But unlike the higher monthly fees you would normally pay a carrier under a contract, the fees stop once you pay off the phone.

Still, that means an additional fee for what would have been the life of a two-year contract. The Samsung Galaxy S3, for instance, would cost an extra $20 a month for 24 months, in addition to $109.99 up front. A lower-end Galaxy S2 will cost nothing up front, but would require a $16 fee on top of your phone bill for 24 months. Customers can opt to pay the full price instead. The Galaxy S3 costs $549.99.

T-Mobile has slowly shifted its focus to the so-called prepaid option as those plans have proven to be more popular for the carrier than the traditional contract model. The carrier has consistently bled contract customers over the last few years, with some switching to prepaid, but others leaving for the larger competitors. During CES, T-Mobile announced it would offer its no-strings unlimited data plan without a contract, a sign of today's broader move.

I hate being so lazy. I think I've been talking about switching carriers for about 6 years now and I still haven't shat and here I sit on this damned pot. I think I've got a half dozen better options. All I need to do is to copy down my address book (which I should do anyway) and spend a few hours getting a cheap phone and put myself and move over to a cheap no contract or prepaid situation... Maybe in 2013... Maybe. T Mobile isn't even the best rate out there but that's still about what I'm paying for limited text, limited minutes, and no Internet.

[malchior]

This T-mobile news is great IMO. I have a hotspot that I was wrestling with keeping but now I'm going to just drop the tier lower and keep it. If there is a month I know I'll be traveling...I can bump it up.

[EvilHomer3k]

Why not use ting? They automatically lower and raise your tiers for you. Service in months you don't use the hotspot are $6 per month.

[Octavious]

Ting doesn't scale well if you use a lot of data. For voice and text it's fantastic. If you use more then 3mb of data a month it's not worth it from what I looked at. I was considering it and the data limits for sharing two phones is what killed it for me.

[Lorini]

Yeah Tmobile just hit my radar as of yesterday as well. Their $60 a month plan looks perfect.

[Isgrimnur]

T-Mobile announces Simple Choice International roaming packages.

No data roaming charges, no text roaming charges, and calling for $0.20/minute. *

*in qualifying countries.

[Octavious]

I have tmobile and can tell you that thier coverage is terrible. It's not uncommon to hit areas with no coverage at all. In cities and stuff it's fine

[Isgrimnur]

There's a reason they tried to get AT&T to eat them, then immedialtely jumped in bed with MetroPCS.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, we had to abandon T-moblie after my wife switched jobs and the part of NJ where she works had no coverage. To say we were amazed is an understatement.

[Octavious]

Yes anything in the boonies and you are toast. We were in Warwick last weekend and there's zero coverage there.

[Isgrimnur]

AT&T moves away from individual plans altogether in favor of their Mobile Share plans.

For comparison, I have 1400 DT, shared texting, and I'm grandfathered at unlimited data, my fiancée with 3GB on her new S4. Monthly costs are $160.

The Mobile share would cost me $70 for two smartphones and $90 for 6GB at the same level. I would gain unlimited talk, and share data across the lines rather than individual buckets. I could go $180 to get 10 GB.

[Isgrimnur]

Got an AT&T tablet without an active cellular data plan? Now you can purchase a $5 day pass for 250 MB of access. There's a webpage for it, or you can just access it through the preloaded All Access app.

[Octavious]

I really really hate how expensive cell phones are. If I switched to Verizon my bill would be like 160 a month for two phones. I get phone, cable and internet for that. It just hurts my cheap little head.

[Isgrimnur]

See, my cell phone meant more to me than cable tv. I switched that off two years ago and haven't felt the lack in any serious manner since.

[Exodor]

I really really hate how expensive cell phones are. If I switched to Verizon my bill would be like 160 a month for two phones. I get phone, cable and internet for that. It just hurts my cheap little head.

It's kind of nuts.

I'm still using an iPhone4 on StraightTalk. For ~$44 a month I get unlimited data (3G, with a soft 2GB cap), talk and text. I want to upgrade but I can't bring myself to double the monthly cost to go with Verizon or spend $400 on a refurb iPhone5 to use with StraightTalk.

So, for now, I stick with my iPhone4.

[Octavious]

Isn't thier coverage terrible? I had looked at it and the coverage map made me run the other way.

[Exodor]

Isn't thier coverage terrible? I had looked at it and the coverage map made me run the other way.

I've never had a problem. As I understand it they're basically just reselling AT&T service so the coverage map should be the same as AT&T's

[Enough]

I really really hate how expensive cell phones are. If I switched to Verizon my bill would be like 160 a month for two phones. I get phone, cable and internet for that. It just hurts my cheap little head.

It's kind of nuts.

I'm still using an iPhone4 on StraightTalk. For ~$44 a month I get unlimited data (3G, with a soft 2GB cap), talk and text. I want to upgrade but I can't bring myself to double the monthly cost to go with Verizon or spend $400 on a refurb iPhone5 to use with StraightTalk.

So, for now, I stick with my iPhone4.

I have a triple minutes Tracfone but am seriously contemplating going to Straight Talk or Republic Wireless.

[Isgrimnur]

Don't forget to take a look at MetroPCS.

[Octavious]

Isn't thier coverage terrible? I had looked at it and the coverage map made me run the other way.

I've never had a problem. As I understand it they're basically just reselling AT&T service so the coverage map should be the same as AT&T's

I think it mighy be the android coverage that was terrible.

[Freezer-TPF-]

Straight Talk resells all the major networks (ATT, Tmo, VZW, Sprint). I think which network you're on depends on which phone/SIM you use.

[Isgrimnur]

AT&T launches toll-free data:

AT&T has introduced a new strategy that could end up pleasing both businesses and consumers at the same time -- so long as those consumers are mobile users who don't mind a few more ads sprinkled into their day.

Borrowing a page from Amazon's playbook with Kindle Special Offers, AT&T is adding a new "Sponsored Data" service in which customers can browse and stream specific digital content while corporate sponsors pick up the tab.
...
Thus, in order to get their digital content and products to the masses, sponsoring the data to do so makes all the more sense. Technically, it's a process already being put to use by many Wi-Fi providers at hotspots in airports, sporting arenas and other major public areas.

Now AT&T is just taking the idea and modifying it better for individual mobile users everywhere.

[Isgrimnur]

Motorola Mobility sold by Google to Lenovo:

Google jettisoned Motorola Mobility on Wednesday, and at first blush, it seemed like a failure for the ages — a seemingly $10 billion loss that came less than two years after Google bought the flailing smartphone and tablet maker. But in truth, it was very smart business.

Yes, in the short time that Google has owned Motorola, the phone maker lost money every single financial quarter. The red ink totaled more than $1.7 billion, a figure likely to top $2 billion when Google announces its fourth-quarter earnings later today. And, yes, Google offloaded Moto to Chinese computer maker Lenovo for roughly $10 billion less than what it paid for the outfit in 2012. But Google still comes out ahead.

When Google bought Motorola, the deal made a lot more sense than it does in hindsight, and the web giant hasn’t lost nearly as much as the difference between what it bought and sold Motorola for would suggest. For one, Google pocketed a fair amount of cash when it sold a portion of Motorola at the end of 2012. And as it sold the bulk of the company to Lenovo, it retained many of the patents it acquired in purchasing Moto — an extremely valuable collection of intellectual property. But most importantly, Google is now a sleeker, stronger company. Larry Page and his brain trust have rightly realized that Google is much better off staying a software pioneer — not a hardware also-ran.
...
When news of Google’s Motorola sale broke, many assumed that the web giant was taking an enormous hit. After all, it was getting just about $3 billion from Lenovo after paying about $13 billion in 2011. But when it bought the company, Moto had $3 billion in cash, and in late 2012, Google sold the Motorola Home modem and set-top box operation for about $2.35 billion. Plus, the Moto patents it didn’t sell are probably worth billions in their own right.

[morlac]

AT&T is running trials on small cells to boost dead zone areas:

AT&T is constantly fighting to improve bandwidth on its overcrowded network, which has seen mobile data usage explode 30,000 percent between 2006 and 2012. The carrier has found a solution in small cells, which can bring nearly perfect usability to areas prone to dead zones and dropped calls.

AT&T tested small cells in Crystal Lake Park, Missouri and Waukesha, Wisconsin. In Crystal Lake Park, where the technology was used in a highly populated neighborhood, the small cell increased traffic by 17 percent and also boosted outdoor areas to nearly 100 percent usability. Waukesha was a test in an enterprise environment, specifically a large building dotted with dead zones. The addition of small cells gave the area almost 100 percent coverage and virtually eliminated dropped calls. AT&T did not, however, specify what happened to download speeds after small cells added all those users to the network.
...
Small cells aren’t just one piece of hardware technology, but rather a collective term for cellular coverage solutions that target smaller geographical areas and numbers of people. A device that’s 250 mW, for example — which is fairly low power — can support up to 32 users and cover the area of a large building. But small cells are available at a number of power levels, so a 5 W one could support 200 users and cover hundreds of square meters, or a 1 W one could be targeted at 10 meters of subway entrance and cover 64 to 128 concurrent users.
...
All the major carriers, including AT&T, are rolling out their small cell technologies over the next few years. Unlike the seemingly random roll out of 3G and then 4G LTE networks across the nation, small cells should start popping up in areas with the most problematic coverage first.

My company is working on a massive $35- ??? mil project semi related to this. It could be anywhere from 2,400 sites to 25,000 + depending on how the first bit goes and if we can/want to ramp up. It is an absolute game changer in the cellular industry and for my company. Dropped calls at crowded events/buildings/whatever will be a thing off the past. Think mini cell towers capable of handling 10% or so of a large tower at about 1/1000th of the cost. Everyone is kind of waiting around for the company we will be working with to roll this out. It is not AT&T but more I can not say.