Beginning June 3, AT&T will start offering the International Long Distance Text Messaging plan to make texting to other countries cheaper to its customers. The new plan is ideal for U.S. residents that enjoy sending SMS messages to their friends and relatives on the other side of the pond — for $9.99 a month you…
Verizon serves up Free Mobile Downloads of Prince’s New Single – Guitar
Looking to generate hype around his upcoming “Planet Earth” album, Prince has teamed up with Verizon Wireless to offer free downloads of his new single – Guitar. Verizon Wireless subscribers using the carrier’s Vcast song ID feature will be able to download the new single, free of charge. The innovative new feature allows users to…
Alltel and MetroPCS gun for 700Mhz spectrum; Newly opened spectrum to be auctioned soon
With the newly opened 700Mhz wireless spectrum going up on the auction block soon, smaller players like Alltel and MetroPCS are making their intentions clear. Alltel has filed a petition with the FCC to keep the auctioning fair and open to bids for smaller, regional licenses. The FCC is planning to set aside a chunk…
Japanese Mobile Phones to warn of incoming Earthquakes!
Japan, that little island nation dotting the Pacific “Rim of Fire” and constantly rocked by shaking earth, has mobilized “a system to notify customers of an imminent earthquake.” Japanese wireless operators DoCoMo and KDDI are joining forces to develop this type of early-warning system, as is Softbank, to give the Japanese population a few precious…
Augmentra announces new version of ViewRanger, GPS navigation for outdoor enthusiast
GPS-enabled software developer Augmentra announced the latest version of ViewRanger off-road mapping, navigation and information software for Symbian S60 based smartphones, that also supports Nokia N95‘s built-in GPS receiver. Unlike “regular” navigation apps out there, ViewRanger is specifically designed for the off-road users — such as hill-walkers, mountain bikers, geo-cachers, birdwatchers, or rural tourists —…
Sony Ericsson Joins WiMAX Forum
Ahh, the WiMAX Forum – The WiMAX Forum is an industry-led non-profit organization comprising more than 440 companies committed to promoting and certifying interoperable WiMAX products. WiMAX products are designed to deliver wireless broadband services to both residential customers and businesses by creating economies of scale made possible by standards-based, interoperable products. – a powerful…
WiMAX Subscriptions Jump 85% in 2007
It looks like WiMAX is hotter than ever these days. Sprint and Nokia are probably grinning from ear to ear with this latest study. Research firm Maravedis has revealed, among other things, that WiMAX deployments around the globe have risen a whopping 85% – in the firm’s own newsletter, the WiMAXCounts Newsletter. However, the technologies…
Ipevo launches Solo – Skype without a PC!
Taiwan-based PChome Online’s subsidiary, Ipevo, has launched the Solo handset. The Solo Skype phone allows wireless internet calls without that annoying requirement to have a PC nearby. Ipevo is planning to make the Solo available in Taiwan starting June 11, and in the US by July. Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) will be manufacturing the Ipevo…
Verizon picks up Reality TV Show – On The Lot
Verizon has teamed up with Ford to sponsor a new reality TV show to find the next great film-maker – On The Lot. The show is being produced by Fox Interactive Media and will use Verizon subscribers as the exclusive voting-base. Lucky Verizon users can send in SMS text messages to vote for their favorite…
Samsung 4GB MCP promises enhanced memory handling for mobile phones
Samsung has introduced its new 4GB multi-chip package (MCP) for mobile phone applications. The new MCP chipset streamlines how handsets handle high-capacity memory – no more external memory slots, and no more additional memory interface software for NAND memory. With an integrated memory controller chip, the two 16Gb NAND memory banks work in tandem with…