Archive for the ‘cell phone’ Category

AT&T customers, check your plan once in a while

I’ve been a customer of AT&T every since 2003, when I got myself my first cell phone ever, and I’ve been a very good one. The proof: I set my bill to autopay from day one and even convinced a few friends to move to AT&T (mostly so that we don’t have to use the minutes to talk to each other.)

I found out Thursday that AT&T hasn’t been very nice to me.

I called the company’s customer service as there was a noticeable increase on my August bill. A helpful customer representative named Gilbert immediately took care of the false charge without much ado. While waiting for him to get the job done, I ran through my online bill and found a monthly charge of $9.99 for MobileTV service, which I had no idea existed in my plan.

Must read full story :
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10355892-233.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Are cell phones safe? Researchers still uncertain

WASHINGTON, D.C.–The question over whether cell phones pose a health risk has been debated for years, and researchers say the final answer could still be years away.

Since the wireless industry’s early days, there have been fears that cell phones could be harmful to your health. Some 600 studies have been conducted on the health effects of cell phone use, but the results have been conflicting.

Several reputable organizations, including the World Health Organization and the National Cancer Institute, say there’s no conclusive evidence that using cell phones can harm your health. Other independent research, meanwhile, indicates a link between health problems and cell phone use.

The Interphone study, which began over a decade ago involving 13 countries and has been funded in part by the wireless industry, was supposed to settle the dispute. But the report’s publication has been delayed as researchers disagree over how to interpret the data. Some countries have ended up publishing some results on their own. Much of it indicates there is a link between brain tumors and cell phone use of 10 years or more.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10351577-266.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Beware of pricier mobile Internet data plans

Prices for cell phone voice services may be dropping, but consumers are likely to be forced to pay a lot more for mobile Internet data plans in the future.

It’s no secret that the price of voice services for cell phones is falling. Just last week Sprint Nextel announced it was offering a new $69.99 a month, Any Mobile, Anytime plan that allows subscribers to call any cell phone in the U.S., regardless of the carrier, in addition to such things as unlimited text messaging and data services.

Analysts are predicting a price war in the mobile market as national wireless carriers will soon be forced to offer more minutes of voice service or unlimited voice services for equal or lower prices to compete with each other.

To make up for the shortfall in revenue, these analysts also predict that wireless operators will start reconfiguring Internet data service plans to make up the difference.

“Voice revenue is declining for the carriers,” said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. “And the vision for the future is to use data revenue to make up for the shortfall and to kick ARPU (average revenue per user) into growth mode.”

Full Story :

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10351105-266.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Windows Mobile 6.5 phones coming Oct. 6

HTC’s Touch Pro2 is among the new phones expected to ship with Windows Mobile 6.5.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is hoping that a new crop of phones this fall will help the company in its quest to stay relevant in the cell phone market.

The software maker said on Tuesday that the first phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 will launch worldwide on October 6 and will include phones running on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless.

Full story :

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10322007-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Verizon gets top marks in call quality

Another day, another cell phone study from J.D. Power and Associates. This time, it’s not customer service–T-Mobile, Alltel, and Verizon Wireless tied for that honor earlier this month–but a survey of the all-important call quality.

Just like last year, Verizon was the overall winner this time around. The carrier ranked highest in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest regions. According to the study, Verizon had particular success with limiting dropped calls, failed initial connections, and late or failed text and voice messages.

In the Western region, Verizon tied with Alltel and T-Mobile (in its press release, Verizon identified T-Mobile only as “one other carrier”–meow). T-Mobile performed well in reducing the number of problems with echoes and distortion, and Alltel performed well in limiting the number of late or failed messages.

U.S. Cellular rated highest in the North Central region. It had fewer customer-reported problems with initial connections, static or interference, and late or failed voice message notifications.

AT&T rated near the bottom in all regions but the Mid-Atlantic and North Central. Sprint rated in the middle or at the bottom in all regions. See J.D. Power’s chart for the full rankings.

So what do you think? Does Verizon deserve its award?

Source :

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10319592-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

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