It will be Easier Being Green

All they need to do is tie it to your credit card and Al Gore will be able to tax you directly.

Keeping track of your carbon footprint could become as simple as slipping a mobile phone in your pocket: a London-based start-up company has developed software for mobile phones that uses global positioning satellites to work out automatically whether you are walking, driving or flying and then calculate your impact on the environment.

Carbon Diem’s inventors claim that, by using GPS to measure the speed and pattern of movement, their algorithm can identify the mode of transport being used. It can therefore calculate the amount of carbon dioxide that a journey has emitted into the atmosphere – without any need for input from the traveller.

The system’s inventor, Andreas Zachariah, a graduate student of the Royal College of Art in London and chief executive of the Carbon Hero company, said that Carbon Diem is the world’s first automated carbon calculator.

Because it keeps a constantly updated diary of a person’s carbon emissions, Zachariah said that a user can easily track their environmental impact and, if they choose, modify their behaviour to lower-carbon alternatives.

“We’re facilitating people to make little changes and allow those changes to be noted and registered and possibly shared,” he said. “If lots of people realise we’re in this marathon [in tackling climate change] and we’re not running alone, then we actually think people will be motivated to stick to changes.”

Link

           

Rising Text Message rates

In my uninformed opinion, I’d call some of this an excuse to “assist” users into buying unlimited plans and to offset users preferring to send SMS messages instead of using more expensive voice minutes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee is asking the nation’s top four wireless carriers to justify the “sharply rising rates” they charge people to send and receive text messages.

In letters to top executives at Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile, Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl said Tuesday that he is concerned that rising text messaging rates reflect decreasing competition in the wireless business.

Kohl chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. His inquiry comes as European Commission regulators are threatening to impose a cap on roaming fees for text messages sent by Europeans traveling outside of their home nations, in an effort to force prices down by as much as 70 percent.

Kohl said he was concerned that consumers are paying more than 20 cents per message, up from 10 cents in 2005. This increase, he said, “does not appear to be justified by rising costs in delivering text messages,” which are small data files that are inexpensive for carriers to transmit.

Kohl said he is particularly concerned that all four of the companies appear to have adopted identical price increases at nearly the same time. “This conduct is hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace,” he wrote.

Kohl also noted that these rate hikes have occurred during the industry’s recent consolidation, which has reduced the number of national wireless carriers in the U.S. to four from six. That consolidation continues, he said, as the large national wireless carriers buy out smaller, regional competitors _ as evidenced most recently by Verizon Wireless’ planned acquisition of Alltel Corp. for $5.9 billion plus the assumption of $22.2 billion in debt.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, said it will respond to Kohl’s letter once it has had a chance to review it. And Sprint said “we look forward to responding to the Senator’s inquiry about the text messaging options we offer our customers and we will fully cooperate with his request.”

T-Mobile, which is owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, and AT&T did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Link

           

International Use Of AirCard Cost Family $20,000

Sometimes it is hard to remember that Canada is another country and that there is “international” billing

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland family racked up nearly $20,000 on their AT&T bill, local station KPTV reported.

The Terry family said they wished they would have received some kind of warning before receiving their 200-page bill in the mail for $19,370.

In July, their son headed north to Vancouver, Canada, and used a laptop with an AirCard to send photos and e-mails back home. The bill showed he used the service 21 times, but because he was out of the country, the activity added up to thousands of dollars in charges.

AT&T said the AirCard allows users to connect to e-mail, the Internet and business applications while traveling, but the company told the family that international use wasn’t included in their cell phone plan.

The Terry family said they asked an AT&T employee about the service before their son left the country. They said they were told nothing about international fees.

Dave Terry also said they were never contacted by the company to be alerted of the high fees.

“(We) have a bill that runs normally $250 to $300 for our cell phones,” Terry said. “When AT&T saw the numbers getting over $1,000, I would think it’s their responsibility to inform us that something was amiss because that card could have been stolen.”

An AT&T representative said they’re treating the matter seriously and looking into it. According to the company, they hope to have an answer for the family in the next few days.

http://www.wnbc.com/money/17390103/detail.html

           

Dell DJ Redux?

Dell is looking to revamp its consumer electronics unit again by delving back into the PMP arena again with a new MP3 player and web portal

The company currently sells several MP3 players on its site, including Microsoft’s Zune, but chose not to ally with Microsoft when building its new device. According to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the news, Dell will offer a tighter, seamless experience between PC, music player, and music store. The player itself will be cheaper than Dell’s previous line of Dell DJ products, will offer WiFi on at least some models, and should come in under the $100 price point.

Also new this time around is Zing, a startup company Dell bought back in 2007. Zing will serve as a comprehensive portal for a variety of Dell entertainment devices and services that will eventually encompass both consumer PCs and consumer electronics.

MP3 players may be old business for Dell, but the company has never tried to launch its own media hub or an all-in-one media service. Historically, these types of business initiatives have not fared well; Gateway’s attempt to reinvent itself as a consumer electronics company failed miserably, and Microsoft hasn’t been able to put much of a dent in Apple’s market share, despite the company’s best efforts (though it is beating out other competitors like Creative).

 

Link: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080730-dell-designs-own-music-player-again.html

           

California Judge Says Early Termination Fees Illegal

This is only for one State and the appeal in inevitable, but Early Termination Fees are a blight to consumer advocacy. They say it is to subsidize handset prices, while others say it is to lock consumers into a provider regardless of satisfaction and price gouging.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The fees that cell phone carriers charge customers who break service contracts took a big hit in a California courtroom when a judge said such charges by Sprint Nextel Corp. likely violate state law.

The judge, in a tentative ruling issued late Monday, said Sprint will have to pay $18.3 million to customers who sued over the fees and credit $54.8 million to those who were charged but did not pay the fees.

The same judge is considering other lawsuits against telecommunications companies over their so-called early termination fees, which can range from $150 to $225. This month Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $21 million to settle an identical lawsuit just as trial was starting.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw rejected Sprint’s argument that a state court had no business deciding an issue the company said should be left for federal authorities. And while her ruling isn’t legally binding outside the state, it cut to the heart of an ongoing debate in other state courthouses and in Washington, D.C., over the fairness of the fees.

Who would have believed that a San Francisco Judge would have made a good decision? :-)

(of course it is an anti-business ruling, so perhaps that is why)

Link

           

Sprint Nextel up for sale

With the US dollar devalued internationally, foreign investors are finding many opportunities to buy up struggling US companies.

NEW YORK (AP) — South Korea’s SK Telecom Corp. is in talks to buy struggling U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp., business news channel CNBC reported Tuesday

An agreement would be at best weeks away, CNBC said, citing people familiar with the talks.

Sprint shares closed down 4 percent at $7.94 after initially spiking on the report.

U.S.-listed shares of SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile-phone service operator by subscriber numbers, fell 2 percent to $20.67.

Sprint spokesman James Fisher had no comment on the report. No SK Telecom representatives were available in the early morning hours, Korean time.

CNBC reported that private-equity firms would provide financing for the deal, since SK Telecom’s market value is about half of Sprint’s $22.6 billion.

Sprint has been losing subscribers for some time, but it’s still the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., with 52.8 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter. Its stock has lost half its value in the last year, and there have been reports that the company has been talking to other possible acquirers, like T-Mobile USA.

Link: http://www.baynews9.com/content/26/2008/7/15/365394.html?title=CNBC:%20Korean%20carrier%20in%20talks%20to%20buy%20Sprint

http://www.sktelecom.com/

http://www.sprint.com/index.html?brand=Nextel

           

Why Unlocking Your Phone Annoys the Carriers

This little snippet was buried in a story about how Apple is making it more difficult to unlock an iPhone.

One major incentive for unlocking remains, especially for Europeans. Those who travel to other countries with unlocked phones can use local prepaid service plans rather than paying exorbitant international roaming fees to their home carriers.

Uniquephones.com helps unlock 10,000 British cell phones of all kinds every day, McLaughlin said, with travelers being a core customer group.

It annoys AT&T so much that they are even looking to penalize customers even beyond the early termination fee.

AT&T charges customers who break a two-year contract within the first month a $175 early termination fee plus the $36 activation fee. That would bring the cost of the new iPhone to $411 for an unlocker, just slightly more than the old model’s $399 price.

That math may mean it is still attractive to unlock iPhones for use on other networks and that AT&T will lose money on unlockers. Analysts estimate AT&T plans to subsidize the phones by more than $200 each.

But Ralph de la Vega, head of AT&T Mobility, said Monday that it and Apple are working on “penalties” for users who buy phones and don’t activate them within 30 days. AT&T could, for instance, bar buyers who repeatedly buy iPhones and break the contracts from buying more.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/26/2008/6/10/355870.html?title=New%20iPhone’s%20business%20model%20is%20tough%20on%20unlockers

           

AT&T settles suit over 3rd-party cell phone fees

A two of my teenaged children had gotten tied up with a few of these SMS services and were billed hundreds of dollars for these “services”.  I had to call Customer Service and complain loudly for quite a while to get them to remove these charges and then block SMS from their phones as to prevent it from reoccurring.

NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T customers who have seen mysterious charges for ringtones and other content show up on their cell-phone bills will be eligible for refunds as part of the settlement of a group of class-action lawsuits, a lawyer for the class said Monday.

Customers will able to claim refunds for spurious charges that appeared on up to three of their monthly bills between Jan. 1, 2004, and May 30, 2008, according to Jay Edelson, lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

It is the first nationwide settlement over the business of third-party content, Edelson said. AT&T spokesman Marty Richter said he knew of no other similar settlement.

 Edelson’s firm has filed similar suits against Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA.

Vendors of ringtones and daily text-message services with horoscopes and jokes solicit customers to sign up by entering their phone numbers on Web sites or by sending text messages. The charges, which can be hidden or poorly explained, show up later on cell-phone bills, often as recurring charges.

Full Story Here

           

SPB Phone Suite 1.3 released

 

SPB has finally released the updated version of Phone Suite after being in public beta for a while.  This is one of the MUST HAVE’s for all PPC Phone devices.

 

Spb Phone Suite is a collection of all phone features you missed in Windows Mobile. These are features like profiles, call filtering, missed call notifications, reject and reply with SMS, etc.

http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/phonesuite/?en

Version 1.3 (April 30, 2007):

Profiles:

• New profile engine: profiles and profile switching rules are separated
• Now a user can create his own additional profiles
• The profile switching pop-up has been updated to support multiple profile switch and to enable/disable the automatic profile switching rules
• Profile icons have been updated
• Additional marks notifying about changing or automatic turning a profile on have been added

Today plug-in:

• GUI for selecting a default mailbox for opening when clicking on the mailbox icon has been added
• Asterisks on the profile icon notifying about the profile update, have been implemented
• The number on an icon is enlarged when selected
• Missed call (sms, etc.) count is more contrast now

           

Microsoft Surface Coming To AT&T Stores In April

This is a cross promotion to expose the Microsoft Surface to corporate markets as well as get some real world feedback.  This is a very interesting technology that will have some HUGE future appeal if Microsoft can make this ubiquitous for the home user market.

Microsoft’s multitouch Surface tabletop computer may be coming to an AT&T store near you. In the first public deployment of the technology, AT&T will put 22 of Microsoft’s Surface computers in four cities around the United States on April 17.

When customers place one or more of eight mobile devices — not yet including the Apple iPhone — labeled with a special optical tag onto the Surface, the computer will recognize the objects and let customers explore device features. AT&T has also created another customized application that will allow customers to explore its coverage map, zooming in and out and navigating across the country by using hand gestures on the Surface’s multitouch screen.

Initially, AT&T will deploy the Surface computers in two stores in New York as well as one each in San Antonio, Atlanta, and San Francisco. If customers warm to the application, AT&T is looking to expand to more cities and stores moving forward.

Link: http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207001259

           

Yahoo Closes Music Service

More and more of these music services are closing their virtual doors. Is iTunes forcing them out due to market dominance or is this just the first of the Yahoo services being sacrificed in the light of the possible Microsoft buyout.

 

Yet another iTunes competitor is going down the bit bucket–Yahoo will close its Music Unlimited service and move its remaining subscribers over to RealNetworks’ Rhapsody later this year.

Yahoo explained the move yesterday in a post on its corporate blog:

Around 25 million people visit Yahoo! Music each month. Relatively speaking, a small percentage of those use Yahoo! Music Unlimited, yet an large portion of our resources were being poured into this service. It was clear to us that we needed to make a major strategic shift.

The post goes on to say that Yahoo subscribers will be able to “easily take their music catalogs and migrate to Rhapsody.” But a press release at Real’s site notes that these people will wind up paying more for “a limited time” after they’re moved over to Rhapsody. Where Yahoo charges $8.99 a month for unlimited, “tethered” downloads to a computer (or $5.99/month if you prepay for a year), Rhapsody’s equivalent service costs $12.99 a month.

Yahoo’s pricing advantage was even stronger when it launched the service. But as the company ratcheted up its prices, then mysteriously dumped the “To Go” option that allowed copying these rented downloads to certain “PlaysForSure” music devices, Yahoo Music Unlimited had less and less to distinguish itself from Rhapsody and other services.

Some things are still unclear after Yahoo’s announcements:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2008/02/yahoo_hits_the_eject_button_on.html

           

Domino’s Pizza - Track Your Pizza

All they need is GPS in the car and you could meet the pizza at the curb :)

Basically you can watch the progress of your order up to the time it leaves the store.  No more, “I wonder if they forgot my order”.

http://www.dominos.com/home/tracker/pizzatracker.jsp

           

AT&T Network Failure - Jan 31

 

I wondered what had kicked me off the network. I almost accused my Ex of not paying the bill…

 

AT&T technicians have resolved a network failure that may have limited access to data today for users of  the BlackBerry, iPhone and other wireless devices.

 

Dan Feldstein, an AT&T spokesman in Houston, said technicians fixed the problem a little before 3 p.m.

 

He said the network problem could have affected wireless data such as Internet and e-mail service, but not voice or text messages.

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5502693.html

           

How to Save Wet Devices

This is pretty good info for many devices, I’ve saved a laptop from a quart of Gatoraid and a cell from a swimming pool. Conversely, I’ve lost several phones from washing machines .  So, I’d consider it a miracle to be able to recover a device from a dunking and if you are lucky enough to benefit from this, remember to be grateful.

Sooner or later every cell phone goes in the drink. For some it may be the bathtub, for others a glass of scotch. For many, the toilet. (No need to explain.)

Hey, you spent hundreds of dollars on that handset, so it’s understandable that you might decide to attempt to rescue it. But how?

The Cell Freak has all the collected wisdom on the topic, including some advice I’d never heard, like soaking the phone in 95% alcohol to dissolve all the water trapped inside. I’ve personally had good luck with low-level heat for wet phones and laptops: A few hours on the lowest setting inside an oven (150 degrees or thereabouts) can dry out a gadget and make it good as new.

Regardless of which method you try, remember to remove the battery from any device you attempt to salvage. If this hasn’t been made clear by now, batteries are deeply susceptible to damage from heat and foreign substances. They’re also relatively easy to replace, so don’t even try to save a battery if it’s been compromised. However, batteries are by design well-sealed to prevent water or other materials from getting inside, so a quick wipe with a towel should be all you need to save a power cell.

Remember that these methods are not foolproof; in fact, they’re far from it. Water and electronics just don’t mix. My personal record on saving wet gadgets is about 50-50, but those are pretty good odds in my book, and with this advice, they’re even better.

Link 1: http://tech.yahoo.com/blog/null/6837

Link 2: http://www.thecellfreak.com/how-do-i-save-a-wet-cellphone/

           

T-Mobile Sidelines the Sidekick Slide

Oopsie, there is a problem here.  I’d assume there will be a program to return affected devices announced at some point.

On Friday evening, T-Mobile issued an advisory noting that the company had ceased sales of its new Sidekick Slide. According to the statement, the move comes after handset manufacturer Motorola confirmed that some devices may power off when the slide door on the front side of the phone is opened or closed.

This is a shame: I had some time with the slide prior to its release, and liked its slider mechanism and slightly more compact size as compared with the new Sidekick LX. T-Mobile goes on to say that Motorola is working to identify the root cause of the power cycle issue; however, the company doesn’t give an estimate as to when we can expect sales to resume.

Link: http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/005941.html