Mobile

N.Y. to scrutinize AT&T and T-Mobile merger

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said today he will look closely at AT&T's proposed deal to purchase T-Mobile USA for $39 billion.

Schneiderman's office released a statement assuring that it "will undertake a thorough review of AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile." He will analyze the merger for potential anticompetitive effects on consumers and businesses in the state, the statement read.

AT&T's proposed purchase of T-Mobile was announced a little more than a week ago and would combine the second-largest wireless operator with the fourth-largest operator. With T-Mobile's … Read more

Premium text messages prompt complaints, lawsuits

People are finding charges on their mobile phone bills that they say weren't authorized, including mystery text services that appear out of nowhere and charge for content that people believed was free.

I was the victim of a scam recently in which $9.99 was charged to my cellular account for so-called "inspiration" text messages for which I definitely did not sign up. The phone, a BlackBerry on Sprint, is a second phone kept around for emergencies only and had not been used for about a month before the text messages were noticed.

I halted the service … Read more

Sprint to fight AT&T's bid for T-Mobile

When AT&T announced its plans to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion last week, Sprint was quick to criticize the deal, saying that it would dramatically alter the structure of the communications industry and affect innovation--a sentiment that was echoed by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse during CTIA 2011.

In case its position wasn't clear, the carrier issued an official statement today to oppose the merger and announce its intentions to fight the deal.

Vonya McCann, Sprint's senior vice president of government affairs, said:

Sprint urges the United States government to block this anticompetitive acquisition. This transaction will … Read more

Nokia unveils new typeface, Pure

Nokia Sans, one of the most familiar typefaces worldwide and a brand recognition money can't buy, is about to become irrelevant. The world's largest phone maker has unveiled a new font dubbed Nokia Pure for mobile and digital environments.

"Logically enough, the starting point for our brand new typeface, Nokia Pure, was also on-screen legibility at small sizes--although now we're talking about the pin-sharp color screens of contemporary smartphones," Nokia said in a blog post on its Brand Book site. "At the same time, we also needed a recognizable corporate typeface, versatile enough to work well in all manner of different environments--from other screen-based formats, to a whole host of printed materials."

Based on the concept of a seamless and fluid motion, the Nokia Pure typeface comprises rounded letters without serifs that "flow into each other" to create an impression of forward movement.… Read more

Report: Google one step closer to mobile payments

Google is partnering with MasterCard and Citigroup to deliver a mobile-payment service to Android smartphones, according to a report.

Citing anonymous sources, The Wall Street Journal reports that Google will allow people with debit and credit cards from the two financial giants to turn on an app and pay for a purchase from their smartphones. At no point would they need to take those cards out of their wallets to make a purchase.

Google plans to launch the program later this year, according to today's article.

The Journal report follows an earlier claim via Bloomberg that Google will deliver … Read more

My first look at the Kyocera Echo

ORLANDO, Fla.--In addition to delivering lots of new phones, trade shows like CTIA 2011 offer an opportunity to see any recent models that haven't yet to passed through your hands. This year, CTIA was my first chance to handle the Kyocera Echo, the dual-screen Android handset for Sprint. I wasn't able to join Bonnie Cha for last month's launch event in New York City--check out Bonnie's original take on the device--so I had breakfast with Kyocera's PR team to see the smartphone up close.

After Sprint's bizarre unveiling event--was a performance by Blaine … Read more

ITC to review Kodak's claim against Apple, RIM

The U.S. International Trade Commission has decided that it will review Eastman Kodak's patent infringement complaint against Apple and Research in Motion.

The move, which was reported by Reuters this afternoon, marks the latest step in Kodak's mission to get Apple and RIM to pay royalties for allegedly illegally using its intellectual property. The patent in question deals with an image-previewing system for cameras.

Back in January, an ITC administrative law judge had said that Kodak's technology was not being used illegally in Apple's iPhone, or RIM's BlackBerry devices, which prompted the ruling to … Read more

Major moves for mobile (week in review)

AT&T and T-Mobile stole the news spotlight early in the week by announcing their proposed megamerger just as the wireless world was readying to converge on Florida for the annual CTIA trade show.

AT&T and T-Mobile, respectively the No. 2 and No. 4 U.S. wireless carriers, announced on Sunday a $39 billion merger deal that would create a company with nearly 130 million subscribers, easily leapfrogging Verizon Wireless for the No. 1 spot.

Winning regulatory approval, however, may be tricky. The Federal Communications Commission warned in a report last May that the wireless industry was … Read more

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 to get Gingerbread

Sony Ericsson has backtracked a bit on plans for its Xperia X10 smartphone, saying today that it will release an update to the Android operating system.

Toward the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter, Android 2.3 Gingerbread will be coming to the Android 2.1-equipped Xperia X10, the company announced on its blog. The update will be available to customers when they connect their devices to a computer, which means over-the-air updates are out.

Sony Ericsson previously said that it would not update the smartphone beyond Android 2.1 Eclair. Consumer demand, however, … Read more