AT&T Administrative Fee: Soaking you for $500 Million

AT&T Administrative Fee: Extra $500 Million ‘Because They Can” | BGR: " . . . Hoffman explained that AT&T has almost nothing to lose by adding this new fee — $0.61 per month is unlikely to scare many people away — and everything to gain. As a matter of fact, in one fell swoop, AT&T just added between $500 million and $600 million in revenue to its bottom line. . . ."

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Google to Fund, Develop Wireless Networks in Emerging Markets

Google to Fund, Develop Wireless Networks in Emerging Markets - WSJ.com: "Google Inc. GOOG -1.07% is deep into a multipronged effort to build and help run wireless networks in emerging markets as part of a plan to connect a billion or more new people to the Internet. These wireless networks would serve areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia to dwellers outside of major cities where wired Internet connections aren't available, said people familiar with the strategy. The networks also could be used to improve Internet speeds in urban centers, these people said. Google plans to team up with local telecommunications firms and equipment providers in the emerging markets to develop the networks, as well as create business models to support them, these people said. It is unclear whether Google already has lined up such deals or alliances. . . ."

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HTC One Google edition coming

HTC One Google edition: It's real and coming in summer | Mobile - CNET News: "The HTC One will indeed get the Nexus treatment. HTC will sell a Google Edition version of its flagship One smartphone with the stock Android operating system, CNET has confirmed. Word of a version of the phone without its trademark Sense user interface popped up earlier Friday on Geek.com, with a reported time frame of two weeks. HTC is indeed planning to launch the phone, but the only indication of timing was summer, a person familiar with the company's plans told CNET. . . ."

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Android Nears 75 Percent Global Smartphone Market Share

In terms of operating system, about 74.4 percent of smartphones were running Android in the first quarter, Gartner said, beating Cupertino's No. 2 18.2 percent. BlackBerry and Microsoft picked up the slack, with 3 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively (source infra)

Android Nears 75 Percent Smartphone Market Share, Nokia Tumbles
PC Magazine
"Mobile phone sales continued to stall during the first quarter as users increasingly ditched their feature phones for smartphones. Samsung continued to dominate both categories, with Apple landing at No. 2 for smartphone sales, according to Tuesday stats ...The drop-off in feature phone sales contributed to Nokia's 4.9 percent slip to 14.8 percent of the mobile phone market, though it maintained its No. 2 spot. It didn't even make the top five smartphone list, however, as its Lumia lineup has yet to really pick up steam . . . . " (read more at link above)

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New Intel CEO Vows Rapid Growth In Mobile Market

Intel's New CEO Vows Rapid Growth In Mobile Market
Wall Street Journal
Intel Corp.'s (INTC) new chief executive vowed Thursday to rapidly grow the company's presence in the tablet and smartphone markets at a shareholder meeting that formalized a major management shift for the Silicon Valley chip giant. Brian Krzanich, who ...

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Windows Phone shipments surpassed BlackBerry last quarter

Windows Phone shipments surpassed BlackBerry last quarter
TechSpot
When people think of smartphones, iOS and Android are the first operating systems that generally come to mind. The two have a stranglehold on the market, but there are still smaller battles occurring on the lower end of the sales spectrum between Windows ...

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Contract-Free Wireless Carrier ItsOn Zact

ItsOn's Zact: A Contract-Free Wireless Carrier With Custom Plans: "Zact is a new wireless carrier that runs on the Sprint network. It's contract-free and marketed to smart, savvy, value-minded users who want to customize their plans, have control of their devices and what they're spending, and be able to intuitively add or subtract options . . . " (read more at link above)

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Device Adds A New Dimension to Touch Screen

A Device Developed at MIT Adds Another Dimension to the Touch Screen | MIT Technology Review: " . . . An inexpensive new prototype device called the Obake adds a new dimension to touch screen technology. The surface of the device, developed by Dhairya Dand and Rob Hemsley of the MIT Media Lab, can react to how it’s being used by reaching out toward the user. It was relatively simple to make: the researchers used an open source software framework to enable the screen to react; the hardware costs between $50 and $60, Dand says. . . ." (read more at link above)


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Android dominates Apple and Microsoft in the mobile device market

Android is crushing Apple and Microsoft in the mobile device market | ZDNet: "The market – which takes into account smartphone, tablet, and notebook shipments – grew to 308.7 million, representing year-on-year growth of 37.4 percent. But despite this market segment including traditional notebook devices powered by Windows, it is Android, a product of the Open Handset Alliance, which is making the biggest gains.During the quarter, Android was the operating system powering 59.5 percent of smart devices shipped. Behind Android was Apple's iOS with a 19.3 percent market share, and Microsoft with 18.1 percent."


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DC police chief says carriers profit from phone theft

DC police chief says carriers profit from phone theft, ‘are not innocent’ | VentureBeat: ". . . San Francisco and New York Police have launched special initiatives and teams to curb mobile crime in response to the influx of thefts. But what about carriers? The contention seems to be that carriers should be doing more to identify stolen phones as they enter the underground resale market, often on auction sites like eBay, and are activated by new owners. Carriers have established a national stolen phone database that works by tracking stolen phones’ IMEI numbers, a International Mobile Station Equipment Identity that identifies a mobile device independently of the owner, and can be used to block network access to a device that has been reported stolen. One problem, however, is that full integration is not scheduled to take place until November 2013. Australia, for example, had similar technology in place country-wide a full decade ago, in 2003. In addition, many Verizon and Sprint devices don’t yet have IMEI numbers." Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/02/dc-police-chief-says-carriers-profit-from-phone-theft-are-not-innocent/#DBbqcygqMc3ailaa.99


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Barnes & Noble Nook HD full-powered Android tablet

Barnes & Noble turns its Nook HD line into full-powered Android tablets | ZDNet:  Barnes & Noble's Nook started out well as an early Android-powered e-reader/tablet. Since then, however, the Nook has fallen behind other low-priced Android tablets such as Google's Nexus 7 and arch-rival Amazon's Kindle Fire. In an attempt to make itself more competitive, Barnes & Noble is incorporating Google Store and its full Android application support into a new software update for its top-of-the-line Nook HD and HD+ tablets. read more at link above


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LightSquared and its 4G hopes

Finally, some good news for LightSquared and its 4G hopes | Mobile - CNET News: "On Monday, the FCC gave approval for LightSquared to begin testing the use of 5MHz of spectrum in the 1675-1680 MHz band. This sliver of spectrum sits right next to spectrum that LightSquared already owns and plans to use in building its wireless broadband network. It's controlled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is currently using the spectrum for a variety of atmospheric monitoring including the use of weather balloons." read  more at link above


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Gigabit Wi-Fi

Gigabit Wi-Fi: Difference Engine: Unplugging the cables | The Economist: "Which 60-gigahertz technology will prevail? For consumers, it does not really matter. Suffice it to say that the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (promoter of the WiGig specification) recently merged with the Wi-Fi Alliance, the body responsible for certifying the IEEE’s 802.11 family of wireless standards (“a”, “b”, “g”, “n” and, coming soon, “ac”). In due course, the Wi-Fi Alliance is expected to incorporate WiGig technology in its own “ad” offering. Anticipating such a move, two specialist chipmakers, Marvell and Wilocity, joined forces last year to bring tri-band Wi-Fi devices operating in the 2.4-gigahertz, 5-gigahertz and 60-gigahertz bands to market sometime in 2014."


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Police Stings Target Stolen iPhone Buyers

Undercover Police Stings Target Front Lines Of Stolen iPhone Market: "Lee and his team are part of a special task force established three years ago to combat phone thefts here, mirroring similar undercover teams set up in New York and Washington D.C. They have not chosen this corner at random. The intersection of Seventh and Market is San Francisco’s primary open-air market for stolen electronics, police say. Given that nearly half of San Francisco residents own an iPhone -- the highest rate of any city in the nation -- this stolen phone bazaar amounts to a crucial conduit in an illicit, increasingly global trade."


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