Items tagged with wireless
Well, it's pretty easy to tell which U.S. carriers are doing well, and which aren't. Verizon and AT&T recently extended the length of time required for its customers to get a subsidy on a new phone, while T-Mobile and Sprint are both making some pretty consumer-friendly moves. Clearly, those first two are raking in the cash. Sprint, however,...
Read more...
How many steps did you take yesterday? How much sleep did you get last night, and was it good, helpful sleep? And what’s your heart rate? Pick up Withing’s latest gadget, and the answer to all of those questions will be in your pocket – and on your smartphone or tablet. The Pulse arrived today to...
Read more...
If you have ever wanted to see through walls, but couldn't afford the expensive equipment to do so, then some MIT researchers deserve your attention. They've devised a system called "Wi-Vi", which is designed similarly to sonar where a signal is blasted out and bounced back. An image is then created based on what it...
Read more...
Verizon Wireless is reportedly looking to expand its wireless service north of the border into Canada. Should VZW go through with it, Canadian mobile phone subscribers would then have access to four major wireless carriers to choose from, as Big Red would be competing against Telus Corp, BCE Inc's Bell Unit, and...
Read more...
Rural broadband is becoming a serious issue, and it's not just the government taking notice. Private for-profit companies are as well, with Dish Network and nTelos being the latest two. Following last month's announcement of their intent to co-develop a fixed wireless broadband service, Dish and nTelos have now deployed broadband service in...
Read more...
While the issue of divvying up spectrum isn't exactly fun to talk about around the water-cooler, it's an important one inside of the telecommunications industry. And, of course, that extends back to Washington. President Obama today issued a Presidential Memorandum that urges federal agencies to make better use of...
Read more...
Emerging markets are called that for a reason, and Google has certainly had a hand in bringing a lot of said markets to the spotlight over the years. As the Internet expands into becoming a full-fledged force across the globe, Google realizes that it may need to lend a hand in developing some of the infrastructure. In...
Read more...
The sly bean counters at AT&T figured out that by charging its wireless customers a nominal monthly administrative fee, it could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue per year. Such is the power of numbers and how quickly they add up, assuming customers stick around for the ride. The ones...
Read more...
At a time when some of us are finding our home Gigabit lines a bit constrictive comes some Germans from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to help make our setups feel even more inadequate. The folks there have created a Wi-Fi solution that uses "better hardware" along with a high radio frequency of 240GHz to...
Read more...
It only makes sense that a high-speed train would provide wireless service that's also high-speed right? In that case, all aboard! Amtrak this week announced an upgrade to its AmtrakConnect cellular-based Wi-Fi service to take advantage of 4G technologies. Amtrak says the 4G upgrade is already in place on Acela...
Read more...
Does anyone remember Mobile ESPN? Believe it or not, ESPN was actually acting as an MVNO way back in 2006, sending specific sports-related alerts to users on flip-phones and dumb-phones, a year before the iPhone changed everything we know about the mobile arena. That venture didn't last too long, and as smartphones...
Read more...
Sick of wireless contracts? Many people are, and major carriers have been looking for ways to keep those customers happy. AT&T’s solution launched today in the form of Aio (pronounced, improbably, “A-O”), a new wireless service that lets customers pay month-to-month. Right now, the service is only available in a few major...
Read more...
T-Mobile USA began selling Apple's iPhone 5 device on April 12, 2013, becoming the last of the four major wireless carriers in the U.S. to splash the iPhone party. Despite the late start, or perhaps as a result of it, T-Mobile wasted no time moving iPhone 5 models off of store shelves, selling approximately 500,000...
Read more...
So T-Mobile didn't get to merge with AT&T as the two companies tried, in vain, to make happen in what now seems like an eternity ago. However, T-Mobile has found itself a partner. Parent company Deutsche Telekom announced today that T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS have united, and the combined company will begin trading...
Read more...
New York City's subway system is certainly a boon for locals and tourists alike, and while it's old and oftentimes late, the network of stops is impressive. But, there's one complaint that has grown more and more direct as the digital world has grown: there's, like, no signal down there. Exiting the street and heading...
Read more...
You know, it's a funny thing -- it seems that while the Big Four compete against one another for wireless sales in the U.S., they sure don't offer a lot of differentiation. Each carrier charges roughly the same thing each money, offers roughly the same portfolio of phones, and after one carrier went all-in with shared...
Read more...
You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone that could convince us the landline industry is a growing one. By and large, people are turning to mobile phones (and mobile phones alone) for their calling needs, but that's not stopping wireline providers like AT&T from continuing to milk whatever is left. Verizon actually tried something similar...
Read more...
If there's one industry that could stand to be disrupted, it's probably the pay-TV industry, but if there's another, it's the home broadband industry. Not surprisingly, these two are often joined at the hip, offered in "bundles" by the same ISP. FreedomPop has set out to rearrange the equation, and the latest from the...
Read more...
When something sounds too good to be true, we’re as skeptical as anyone, which is why we raised an eyebrow at Republic Wireless last year when the company pledged to offer unlimited mobile service--that’s unlimited talk, text, and data--for just $19 a month, without any contracts. Compare that number to...
Read more...
When something sounds too good to be true, we’re as skeptical as anyone, which is why we raised an eyebrow at Republic Wireless last year when the company pledged to offer unlimited mobile service--that’s unlimited talk, text, and data, mind you--for just $19 a month, without any contracts. Compare that number to current...
Read more...
You might not hear about it on the evening news, but there's a quiet war being waged in the consumer electronics universe. The issue at stake? Wireless power. It's one of those concepts that everyone realizes will be at the heart of the next-generation product, but we've seen so many lackluster attempts over the years...
Read more...
It's a subtle movement, but an important one. Americans are slowly but surely growing tired of the same 'ole politics involving conventional two-year mobile contracts. New flagship phones are hitting the market every six months, but users have to wait 24 months for a discount. And, of course, getting out early results...
Read more...
