cellular

Looking for love from U.S. Cellular

Recently, I contacted U.S. Cellular and asked to review their Kyocera E1000. Since late spring is always a slow period for new cell releases, I can take the extra time to review handsets from smaller carriers. In the four and a half years I've been at CNET, I've examined a U.S. Cellular phone only a couple of times.

So while browsing through U.S. Cellular's lineup, the E1000 caught my eye. I fooled with this intriguing model at its unveiling at CTIA 2007, but my playtime lasted only a few minutes. And since I haven'… Read more

Lime-green Motorola Q9c adds twist to Alltel and U.S. Cellular

CTIA 2008 is still one day away from its official start, but the news is already starting to trickle in. Motorola got a jump-start as it, as well as Alltel and U.S. Cellular, announced the addition of the Motorola Q9c to the carriers' line-ups, including a new lime-green version. Both providers will also offer a more traditional black version if you don't feel like getting too wild and crazy with your phone colors. (And how in the world did Moto settle on lime green?)

Looks aside, the Q9c for Alltel and U.S. Cellular is much like the … Read more

Answer the cell phone on a land line

If you're an apartment dweller in Manhattan or San Francisco, you might as well skip this item because it'll probably seem utterly useless. But if you're in any other part of the country--with an abode that's more than a closet-sized studio--this device might actually come in handy.

The "Xlink Cellular Gateway" is a networking hub that lets you take your land-line calls on your mobile phone and vice-versa. That means if you leave your Vertu "Signature Cobra" in your library while retiring to the billiards parlor, you won't miss any important … Read more

Firefox hits 500 million, yet can't get a break on mobile phones

Mozilla's Firefox browser is truly one of the grand success stories of open source. This week Mozilla is celebrating 500 million Firefox downloads. Yet for all its success, it can't seem to crack the mobile wall, which is almost shameful given the innovation and competition it has sparked on the desktop:

One reason this walled garden approach benefits cellular operators is that they get paid both by subscribers and by content providers. With open Internet access, only subscribers pay. Another benefit is that their approach reduces use of limited 3G bandwidth, meaning carriers don't have to build a more robust network.

So, because mobile Firefox might benefit customers more than cellular providers, it's shackled. At least we can safely say this has nothing to do with a fear of open source. Rather, it's a fear of customers getting value, which the carriers spread to all software providers, open source or not.

Bozos.… Read more

Cisco invests in femtocell company

Cisco Systems said Wednesday that is has invested in a U.K.-based company called IP.access, which has developed gear to boost cell phone signals indoors.

Details of the deal or how much of a stake Cisco has in the company have not been disclosed.

IP.access makes devices called femtocells, which boost cell phone signals indoors to provide better in-building cell phone coverage. Femtocells offer wireless operators a cost effective way to improve network coverage. Several wireless carriers around the world have already begun using the technology. Sprint Nextel announced last year it would offer its Airave femtocell … Read more

Next big cell phone app: International money transfers

Think of it as an SMS message with a lot of zeros.

Anam, an Irish company, allows residents in Europe to transfer large amounts from a bank account in one country, let's say the U.K., to Romania, according to John O'Donohue, managing director of Motorola Ventures International, which invested in Anam. Currently, immigrants from eastern Europe to western members of the EU use Western Union to transfer money. With Anam's cell phone service, you can save a lot on commissions.

Immigration is one of the big issues changing the cell phone market on the continent, O'… Read more

Cell carriers fined over missed e911 deadlines

Federal regulators late on Thursday slapped three wireless firms, including No. 3 operator Sprint Nextel, with a total of $2.83 million in fines for not meeting a long-passed deadline for equipping subscribers with enhanced 911 service.

The Federal Communications Commission had set a December 31, 2005 date by which all mobile carriers had to ensure that 95 percent of their subscribers had location-sensitive handsets--that is, those that allow emergency responders to pinpoint a caller's location upon connection to the 911 switchboard.

Sprint Nextel and large regional operators Alltel Corp. and U.S. Cellular Corp. "failed to meet … Read more

Retro Yubz brings the '80s to your cell phone

For a while, there seemed to be no end to the incredible shrinking of cell phones. The tinier your handset, the cooler you probably thought you looked around 2001 or so. But the trend has slowed, thankfully, and in some circles, there's a backlash against handsets that required toddler-size hands and heads to talk comfortably.

Take the Yubz retro handset, for instance. It's the same design from many millions of dial and push-button telephones in the 1970s and '80s, before cordless became king. The earpiece would fit snugly between your ear and shoulder as you walked several feet … Read more

SignalMap: Cellular coverage gone social

There's really no better way to see how well you'll get coverage with a phone until you get your hands on it. This usually requires a purchase, or a friend or neighbor who has got the phone and service you're interested in. The next best thing is checking your carrier's site to see if it has a coverage map (here are links to AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint). A third option is SignalMap, a user-generated service that lets people search for and review cellular phone coverage by location.

It's about as simple as … Read more