Mobile

A Facebook-branded smartphone isn't as crazy as it sounds.

Before you mock that conclusion (as our editor did at first), hear us out: a branded smartphone could be the social-networking king's key to competing more aggressively with Apple and Google as the Internet heavyweights take turns competing, cooperating, and causing one another fits.

Of course, Facebook has been denying reports that it's building its own branded cell phone. Facebook execs say it's doing nothing more than working closely with handset partners, but CNET has confirmed that the social network has reached out to hardware manufacturers and carriers seeking input … Read more

The majority of motorists on U.S. roads feel less safe than they did five years ago, according to a new study from AAA.

AAA reported in its "2010 Traffic Safety Culture Index" that 52 percent of motorists feel unsafe while driving. A whopping 88 percent said that text messaging or responding to e-mails is a "very serious threat to their safety." AAA said 62 percent of respondents consider talking on a mobile phone a serious threat to safety.

The problem is AAA found that those who fear for their safety are engaging in the very … Read more

Verizon Wireless said today it has launched a mobile recovery application for its customers.

The application, which is included in the company's Total Equipment Coverage offering, allows users to secure (and find) their mobile phones when they're lost. According to a statement from Verizon, users will be able to access the program both online and on their phones. From within the app, users can start an alarm to help them find the device around the house. The carrier said that the alarm works "even if the phone is on silent or vibrate mode."

The app's … Read more

Verizon Communications has named Lowell McAdam as its new president and chief operating officer--a significant step along the path to succeed longtime CEO and Chairman Ivan Seidenberg.

McAdam, currently president and CEO of Verizon Wireless, will become responsible for the operations of Verizon Wireless, Verizon Telecom and Business, and Verizon Services Operations. McAdam, who is 56, will start his new job on October 1 and will report directly to Seidenberg.

The naming of McAdam as president and COO fills a job left empty after Dennis Strigl retired last year. More importantly, McAdam now becomes the logical candidate for the role … Read more

Facebook denied a story published this weekend that says the company is "building a mobile phone," but CNET has confirmed that the social-networking giant has reached out to hardware manufacturers and carriers seeking input on a potential Facebook-branded phone.

TechCrunch published a story saying "Facebook is building a mobile phone...or rather, they're building the software for the phone and working with a third party to actually build the hardware." Facebook quickly tried to discredit the story, with a spokesman telling CNET that "Facebook is not building a phone. Our view is that almost … Read more

Facebook is denying a report in TechCrunch that the social-networking giant is working in secret on producing its own mobile phone.

In a report accompanied by the headline "Facebook Is Secretly Building A Phone," TechCrunch reported earlier today that the social-networking giant is developing an operating system to be used on hardware created by a third party. The report named two senior Facebook executives with experience developing operating systems--Joe Hewitt and Matthew Papakipos--as working on the project. Papakipos, a former engineering director at Google, left the search giant for Facebook in June after working on the Chrome operating … Read more

You get what you pay for. At least that's what you should expect when you're asked to pay an additional $10 a month for a new smartphone that is supposed to get advanced network connectivity.

The problem is that thousands of people who are buying Sprint Nextel's new 4G smarpthones are paying $10 more a month for their data service, but many of them don't live in an area that supports Sprint's 4G network.

So what gives? I talked to some Sprint execs this week to find out the answer to this question. Also in … Read more

The chief executive of South Korean consumer electronics giant LG Electronics resigned today amid declining mobile phone sales, according to news reports.

Nam Yong will be replaced on October 1 by Koo Bon-joon, 59, who is the head of trading firm LG International, Reuters reported. The incoming CEO is a founding family member of the company and younger brother of LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo.

LG said Nam offered his resignation to take responsibility for company's poor management and performance. He was appointed in 2007.

Read more of "LG CEO resigns as mobile sales dwindle" at ZDNet … Read more

A few days after Clearwire and, by extension Sprint, announced a big expansion of their WiMax 4G network, representatives from AT&T and Verizon Wireless made their own 4G promises at separate conferences. Though both carriers have chosen the competing LTE standard for 4G, Verizon is in the lead.

At the Bank of America Merrill and Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference today in Newport Beach, Calif., AT&T Operations CEO John Stankey said the carrier will launch commercial LTE service by the middle of the next year. Stankey didn't specify initial cities, but he said AT&… Read more