Wireless

Ever wander into one of those Verizon or AT&T stores, attempt to have a conversation with one of the smartly dressed salespeople, and whisper to yourself, "What kind of emotionally awkward humans end up working in a place like this?"

Well, I have good news for you.

Ricky Gervais, who made David Brent perhaps the most painfully sympathetic character in modern television in the original BBC version of "The Office," has been asking himself the very same question. "Phone Shop" a new British sitcom, enjoys Gervais as its script editor (he reportedly took one look at the idea and volunteered his involvement). The pilot airs Friday evening on Channel 4.

"Phone Shop" will explore the life of salespeople in a soul-sucking mall cell phone shop.

(Credit: Channel 4)

Unlike "The Office," which gained existential pleasure from the old-world business of paper manufacture, "Phone Shop" is set in a mall cell phone store.

The pilot episode follows the troubles experienced by trainee salesman Christopher, who has to sell a cell phone by 6 p.m. as part of his one-day trial.

Clearly this series will reside in the emotional halfway house that has just two difficult residents--comedy and tragedy. And one wonders just what impression will be left by the arduous task of pushing yet more portable technology on a populace that bristles with sensory overload.

I am deeply concerned that the cell phone business will not come out so beautifully in "Phone Shop."

You see, The Independent quoted Angela Jain, head of the E4 Channel, which has bought the series. And beneath her words I sense a little cackling: "Everyone's got a mobile phone and has had some encounter in a phone shop. It's also about those difficult dead-end jobs that everyone has at least once in their lives."

So the Droid and the iPhone are being pushed by people in dead-end jobs? What has become of our brave new, smartphoned world?

AT&T wants to set the record straight about its 3G wireless coverage.

The company has placed a statement on its Web site defending itself against critical advertisements Verizon Wireless has been running that highlight areas of the country where AT&T lacks 3G coverage.

"We typically don't respond to competitors' advertising," AT&T said in its statement. "However, some recent ads from Verizon are so blatantly false and misleading that we want to set the record straight about AT&T's wireless-data coverage."

Verizon's initial advertisement, which began airing on TV a couple of weeks ago, mocks Apple's "there's an app for that" slogan. Instead, Verizon's advertisement says "there's a map for that."

The ad campaign shows two maps with red-and-white splotches. The white area indicates no 3G coverage, and the red indicates areas where 3G service is available. In the ad, Verizon shows an AT&T map that has lots of white spaces, whereas the Verizon map is almost covered in red.

AT&T has filed a lawsuit claiming that the ad is misleading because it implies that AT&T customers can't use their phones in areas where the carrier does not offer 3G wireless coverage.

Verizon has modified its ad slightly to indicate that the map applies only to 3G coverage and not regular 2.5G service, which is adequate for making voice calls and connecting to the wireless Internet at slower speeds.

But AT&T is still not happy with the adjustment, and the company wants Verizon to stop running the ads or to alter them further.

What's more, AT&T has added a complaint about a newer Verizon commercial, which characterizes the iPhone as a new arrival to the Isles of Misfit Toys, to the lawsuit. The Isles of Misfit Toys refers to an island where broken toys and misfits would go in the popular Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas special.

In the ad, a toy elephant asks the iPhone what it's doing with the misfits, since it has so many cool apps. The iPhone doesn't really answer, instead flashing the AT&T map, which indicates the spotty 3G coverage. All the toys seem to understand.

AT&T hasn't launched ads of its own to combat the Verizon commercials. But the company's statement on its Web site is its attempt to refute many of Verizon's claims. For example, AT&T points out that its data coverage reaches 303 million people, or 97 percent of the U.S. population, using a mix of wireless technologies. Of course, AT&T admits that not all of these customers are able to access the faster 3G network; only 75 percent of the U.S. population can get access to AT&T's 3G wireless network.

AT&T also emphasizes in its statement that it has twice as many smartphone customers as Verizon. And it says it offers the most popular smarpthone in the industry, the Apple iPhone. AT&T says it offers more mobile applications than its competitors. And finally, it points out that it has the fastest 3G wireless network in the nation, a claim some customers who use the service may question.

There's no question that Verizon's ads are hard-hitting. But it's difficult to say whether they have affected consumers' purchase decisions. Anecdotally, it looks like the ads might have helped Verizon win a few customers. One Motorola Droid customer I interviewed at a Verizon store in New York this week said he decided not to buy the iPhone because of the Verizon ads he saw on TV.

"I was considering the iPhone," said Henry Goodison, of the Bronx borough. "But I saw a commercial about AT&T's 3G coverage. It said, 'Here is AT&T's 3G coverage, and here is ours.' And I thought it would be better to have Verizon, if I travel to another state, where AT&T doesn't have 3G coverage."

After a string of weak quarters, mobile phone maker HTC is eyeing more of the same for the current quarter but is hoping for better results next year.

The Taiwan-based company expects sales for the fourth quarter to drop to between 40 billion and 42 billion Taiwan dollars (between $1.23 billion and $1.3 billion), around 15 percent lower than in last year's fourth quarter.

Competition from other smartphones, especially the iPhone 3GS released this summer, has tempered demand for HTC's products, which include the Hero, Droid Eris, Tilt 2, MyTouch 3G, Snap, and Ozone.

HTC's (from left) Hero, Droid Eris, Tilt 2, and Pure.

(Credit: HTC)

Prices on smartphones have also dropped this year and are likely to continue to fall, putting further pressure on HTC, which trails the market in fourth place behind Nokia, Apple, and Research In Motion.

The company's third quarter continued its down streak, with full results reported earlier this week. For the quarter the ended September 30, HTC watched its sales drop 10 percent to 34.01 billion Taiwan dollars from last year's third quarter. Earnings fell 18.5 percent to 5.7 billion Taiwan dollars.

In a conference call this week, HTC outlined its current business and forecast for the near term. The U.S. market for HTC 's Android smartphones has enjoyed strong growth, the company said, but European sales remain sluggish due to a lack of brand awareness.

Market researcher IDC recently reported that HTC sold 2.4 million smartphones in the third quarter, a gain of 14.7 percent over last year's third quarter. But Android sales for that quarter were lower than expected, mostly due to tougher competition from other manufacturers and are likely to stay down in the fourth quarter.

The company has been striving to increase consumer awareness of its brand in both the U.S. and Europe, a goal it plans to push further next year by boosting its marketing budget.

For the holiday-shopping season, HTC will be trying to grab more shelf space and sales for its new Android Hero smartphone, released last month. Beyond that, the company is looking for strong sales volume from its overall line of Android smartphones, including the G1, Magic, Tattoo, and the new Droid Eris.

Despite its new focus on Google's Android operating system, HTC said that its Windows Mobile phones remain vital products. The company still ships more Windows Mobile smartphones than any other manufacturer and is looking to enhance their performance and touch capabilities in the near term. Hitting U.S. shores next year will be the new HD2 Windows Mobile smartphone, which has already had positive reviews.

Three views of the Dell Mini 3

(Credit: Dell)

Dell said Friday that it's ready to enter the smartphone business with the Android-based Mini 3.

Long rumored to have a smartphone in the works, Dell said that the first two carriers to sell the Mini 3 will be China Mobile and Brazil's Claro.

In China, the Mini 3 will use OPhone, China Mobile's customized version of Google's Android operating system. "We are excited for Dell to be among the first manufacturers to introduce new technology based on the OPhone platform," an unnamed China Mobile representative said in Dell's press release.

Dell would not offer any specifics about the software on the Brazilian phone, saying simply that "the initial Mini 3 smartphones are designed around the Android platform."

The company also did not provide technical specifications or pricing information for the phone, saying those would be revealed when the devices arrive in stores--probably late November for China Mobile and by year's end for Claro. It also did not say when the phone would arrive in the U.S. or other markets.

Dell did confirm that the Mini 3 has a 3.5-inch high-definition touch screen, a detail that Michael Tatelman, a Dell sales and marketing executive, had earlier told the Associated Press. The Mini 3 sold in China won't have Wi-Fi at the start, but Tatelman said that would come later.

Similarly, Apple's iPhone late last month made its official debut in China sans Wi-Fi.

China Mobile has more than 500 million customers, and Claro serves more than 42 million people in Brazil as part of the America Movil network, Dell said.

Dell did tout its "existing agreements with other leading global telecom providers," including Vodafone in Europe; AT&T and Verizon in the U.S.; M1 and Starhub in Singapore; and Maxis in Malaysia.

The Texas-based PC maker also played up the Internet connectivity angle of small mobile gadgetry.

"Our entry into the smartphone category is a logical extension of Dell's consumer product evolution over the past two years," Ron Garriques, president of the Dell Global Consumer Group, said in a statement. "We are developing smaller and smarter mobile products that enable our customers to take their Internet experience out of the home and do the things they want to do whenever and wherever they want."

But does the world need a smartphone from Dell? The device will have plenty of company: Android phones have begun arriving on the market in larger numbers in recent months.

Most notably, U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless last week began selling the much-hyped Droid, made by Motorola, and the more modest Droid Eris, made by HTC.

Updated at 5:31 a.m. PDT with more details and background information, and again at 8:08 a.m. PDT with clarification on the use of China Mobile's OPhone and confirmation of the screen size..

Mobile chip maker Qualcomm said Thursday that it has started providing new wireless chipsets that combine 3G and 4G wireless technology to help carriers transition to the next generation of wireless technology.

The company said Huawei Technologies, LG Electronics Novatel Wireless, Sierra Wireless, and ZTE are among the first mobile-device manufacturers to test the new chips.

Qualcomm said that devices that use the new chips could be available in commercial products starting in the second half of 2010.

The new chips will allow wireless phones and other portable devices to switch between a 4G wireless network using LTE, or long-term evolution, technology and HSPA Plus, a 3G wireless technology.

This is important because many carriers around the world plan to upgrade their networks to 4G using LTE. But these networks won't be ubiquitous overnight, and consumers will not be able to get 4G signals everywhere and will need to roam on 3G networks so they can have coverage almost everywhere. This means that devices will need chips that allow them to switch between networks.

HSPA Plus is the next iteration of 3G wireless technology that can provide download speeds of up to 21 megabits per second. Many wireless operators, including Telstra of Australia and AT&T in the U.S., are upgrading their networks now. These carriers eventually plan to upgrade their networks to LTE.

Qualcomm also announced it is providing a new set of mobile-device chips to manufacturers for testing that will add more robust multimedia features to new smartphones.

This new chipset family supports high-definition video recording and playback, enhanced graphics, and an overall chip design that is optimized for a highly responsive Web experience. Qualcomm expects phone makers to have devices that use the new MSM7x30 family of chipsets commercially available by the end of 2010.

The new chipsets will allow phones to operate on the most advanced 3G wireless networks, such as those running the latest generation of HSPA and EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized).

The chips will support handsets that use the Android, Brew, Symbian, and Windows Mobile operating systems. Some of the features that the new chips could enable include a 12-megapixel camera, 720p video recording, and 3D gaming.

Motorola is looking to sell its business for TV set-top boxes and network equipment for about $4.5 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday.

The newspaper cites people familiar with the matter who say Motorola is in the early stages of finding a buyer for the business unit. Potential buyers include private-equity firms and competing equipment makers.

Motorola representatives declined to comment, citing a company policy not to comment on speculation or rumors.

The company has three major units: mobile devices, enterprise mobility, and home and networks mobility. And all three business units have been struggling over the past year. It had planned to spin off its mobile-device unit, which makes the company's cell phones, but that plan was put on hold when it became clear that the company wouldn't be able to find a buyer. In the meantime, it brought in co-CEO Sanjay Jha, who has been trying to revive the ailing mobile-device business.

Motorola, once the No. 2 handset maker around the world, got into trouble after the company couldn't come up with a hit phone to replace the popular Razr. And over the past two and half years, it's been fighting an uphill battle in the high-end smartphone market against newer players such as Apple and Research In Motion.

About a year ago, Jha reset the company's focus, and Motorola committed itself to building phones using the new Google Android operating system. The first of these phones, the Motorola Cliq, which is being sold on T-Mobile USA's network, and the Motorola Droid, which is being sold exclusively in the United States by Verizon Wireless, went on sale this fall.

So far, reviews have been good. And the Droid, in particular, has gotten a lot of attention. Motorola expects to launch another 20 Android devices next year.

While prospects for the mobile market are improving, the company is still losing money in this division. For the third quarter of 2009, sales for Motorola's mobile-handset business dropped 46 percent to $1.69 billion, and it lost about $183 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $840 million.

Motorola's enterprise mobility unit, and its set-top box and networking-gear division, have been keeping the company afloat for the past couple of years. But now there are signs that these businesses are also hitting hard times.

During the third quarter, revenue in the enterprise mobility business was down 13 percent to $1.77 billion. Still, this division generated a net income of $306 million, down from $403 million a year ago.

Motorola also saw declines in its home and network mobility business. This business unit includes TV set-top boxes and wireless-networking equipment. This business unit posted the most sales for the company during the quarter, bringing in $2.01 billion. But this figure was down about 15 percent from the same quarter a year ago. In addition, the company's profit was about $199 million, down from $263 million during the third quarter last year.

Motorola blamed the slip in profits on a decline in sales of home entertainment devices to cable and phone companies. That said, the division still remains Motorola's most profitable.

Even though sales and profits may be down this year for the TV set-top box and networking business, the division is still attractive to potential buyers. The main reason is that Motorola has very strong market share in the set-top box market, where it competes head-to-head with Cisco Systems' Scientific Atlanta brand.

The Wall Street Journal article said private-equity firms Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake Partners are interested in the company. And it's likely that Motorola competitors such as Samsung Electronics, Huawei Technologies, Nokia Siemens, Pace, and Ericsson may be interested in this business to bulk up their presence in the U.S. market.

But analysts warn that selling this division now could hurt Motorola's turnaround effort. RBC analyst Mark Sue told Reuters that Motorola needs the set-top box and networking business to help fund operations for the mobile-device business.

"(The mobile-device business) hasn't really recovered fully yet, so it would be a little too early to cut off the lifeline," he said to Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal said investment banks JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are advising Motorola on the possible sale.

Helix Wind's The S322 vertical wind turbine

(Credit: Helix Wind)

Helix Wind announced Wednesday that it's beginning a trial run in Southern California to see if its wind turbines might be useful for powering cell phone towers.

The manufacturer is becoming known for its small vertical-axis wind turbines that can generate electricity with winds as low as 10 mph, as well as its unique business model to finance them.

The pilot program, conducted in conjunction with cell phone tower operator Core Communications, will experiment with whether the turbines powering cell phone towers could also generate surplus energy to sell back to the energy grid.

If they generate enough surplus power, small wind turbines could provide a new source of income for cell phone tower operators as well as a new power source.

Helix Wind's turbines, which will be installed in early 2010, will run for up to three months before being re-evaluated.

According to statistics provided by Helix Wind, there are approximately 3,500 cell phone towers in Southern California, and another 1,000 expected to be added in the next five years to cover consumer growth.

U.K. wireless carrier Orange just started selling the iPhone, and it is trumpeting first-day sales numbers for the device.

(Credit: Apple)

The carrier signed up 30,000 people with a new iPhone contract on Tuesday, its first day selling Apple's smartphone, according to a post on Twitter from a member of Orange's marketing department.

While 30,000 isn't necessarily a lot, compared to the "hundreds of thousands" of iPhones AT&T sold in its first weekend selling the iPhone 3GS in the United States, it's not bad for being the second carrier in a much smaller country, where the iPhone 3GS has been available for four months.

Until Tuesday, wireless provider O2 was the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United Kingdom. Orange currently has 16 million mobile customers, compared to O2's 22 million. Incidentally, Orange's experience as the second carrier of the device in a country would seem to make a decent case for Apple releasing the iPhone to more than one carrier in many other countries, including the United States.

The numbers were far more impressive than the iPhone's debut on China Unicom's network last week. China's first crack at selling the iPhone was by most accounts disappointing, with 5,000 units sold over the first four-day period.

Of course, China Unicom is dealing with factors Orange is not. Besides having to sell the iPhone without Wi-Fi connectivity, China has to contend with something U.K. and U.S. carriers largely do not: a vast market for iPhone knockoffs, or gray-market phones.

In the race for mobile phone profits, Apple has overtaken Nokia, according to figures for the latest quarter.

Apple earned $1.6 billion in the third quarter from the iPhone, outpacing Nokia's $1.1 billion cell phone profit to grab the top spot among all mobile phone vendors, said research firm Strategy Analytics on Wednesday.

(Credit: Strategy Analytics)

This is the first quarter that Strategy Analytics has seen Apple surge past Nokia in mobile phone profits, according to Alex Spektor, the author of the research, who spoke with CNET News.

The contest between Apple and Nokia for top phone profits has been tight in recent months. ... Read more