Dialed In

Bill for moratorium on cell phone taxes gets bipartisan support

Cell phone taxes emerged yet again in Congress this week when Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) introduced the Cell Phone Tax Fairness Act of 2009 (HR 1521).

The bill, which has 20 additional cosponsors, would ban state or local jurisdictions from imposing "a new discriminatory tax on or with respect to mobile services, mobile service providers, or mobile service property, during the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act."

The legislation would not affect current state and local taxes, nor would it affect federal taxes, like the FCC Universal Charge. … Read more

Dialed In 72: Finally, MMS on the iPhone

Forget green beer, Apple chose St. Patrick's Day to roll out big changes to the iPhone. The new iPhone OS 3.0 promises a host of sorely-needed features, including multimedia messaging and cut and paste. In this episode of Dialed In, we tell you all about the new additions, and give our take on what they mean for Apple's phone. Nicole is grooving to the music in Austin, Texas, so News.com's Tom Krazit joins us to discuss the iPhone brouhaha. Also, Bonnie also fills you in on a very unexciting Palm Pre Webcast and I tell … Read more

Dialed In 71: The Palm Treo Pro is not the Pre

This week we discuss Palm's latest phone for Sprint, and no, it's not the Pre. We also go over the new Nokia phones, our take on the Verizon Hub, more reviews, and of course, we answer your questions.

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News Nokia tunes up new music phones Nokia 5310 now in white Cricket launches Samsung SCH-R211 Alltel hops on Palm Treo Pro bandwagon Reminder: Palm Pre Webcast tomorrow at 11 a.m. PT

Reviews HTC Touch HD Palm Treo Pro (Sprint) Samsung Hue II Verizon Hub LG CF360

Upcoming reviews Samsung SGH-T119 HTC S743 (… Read more

On Call: From CES to CTIA

It's been two weeks since I returned from the GSMA World Congress, but memories of the event are still fresh in my mind. As the largest cell phone trade show in the world, GSMA had enough to keep Bonnie and I occupied. But like this year's CES, the show wasn't quite as insane as it was in 2009.

Though the exhibits were just as elaborate, and the show grounds were just as massive, both shows were quieter on a couple of levels. First off, there were noticeably fewer people in attendance. At CES, for example, it was … Read more

Dialed In 70: What's up with Windows Mobile?

On this week's episode of Dialed In, we discuss the latest Palm Pre news and how Sprint and Palm nearly gave us a heart attack this morning. Plus, Nicole takes a look at the wacky LG Versa and we answer a reader's question about why everyone complains about Windows Mobile and, well, apparently we have some strong feelings on the subject.

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Rumor of the week Rumor about the LG Rumor 2

News HTC Magic, CDMA BlackBerry Pearl Flip pass through FCC New Nokia 5800 hits sour note T-Mobile expands $50 unlimited voice plan … Read more

Dialed In 69: A Verizon iPhone? We say no

Bonnie and Kent are back from a busy week at the GSMA World Congress in Barcelona. Android news was limited to the HTC Magic, but new multimedia phones debuted from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Nokia. On this week's Dialed In we recap all the events of the show and discuss the latest developments elsewhere in the cell phone world. And of course, we'll dish on the latest reviews and take your questions.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Rumors of the week Verizon iPhone around the corner? Apple to stop Micro-USB from becoming standard?

News GSMA wrap-up LG Versa rumors … Read more

Dialed In 68: All about GSMA 2009

Kent and Bonnie are busy in Barcelona, Spain, so I roped in Tom Merritt from Buzz Out Loud and The Real Deal to talk phones. We spend most of the show going over the big news from GSMA Mobile World Congress, but we also dip our toes in some local news and reviews as well.

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News GSMA Mobile World Congress

Non-GSMA news Pantech Matrix Pro Sprint's Simply Everything now has mobile broadband Sidekick Blade in the wild?

Reviews LG VX8360 Verizon Wireless Network Extender

Dialed In 67: GSMA or bust

GSMA Mobile World Congress is just a few days away and already we've received a few sneak peeks at what will be at the show. We discuss those, as well as iPhone rumors, new phones, and this week's reviews. Plus we answer your questions, as always.

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News On Call: Not excited about the Nano Apple gearing up for $99 iPhone? A phone made for gas stations Sony Ericsson launches C903, W395 T-Mobile gets 8-megapixel Samsung Memoir T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8900 now available to the masses ZTE to unveil smartphone lineup at GSMA 2009 … Read more

On Call: Not excited about the Nano

Apple fans were disappointed last month when the annual Macworld Expo failed to produce a new version of the iPhone. Indeed, Apple's last Macworld appearance was a snoozer in many ways. New products of any type were slim and CEO Steve Jobs did not give his usual "one more thing" keynote.

In the weeks leading up to the show, rumors regarding a new iPhone were widespread. Most buzz predicted a cheaper, smaller version of the device--an "iPhone Nano" if you will--while others forecast a 32GB iPhone or a pink model. Though all of these rumored devices failed to materialize, the iPhone Nano gossip is showing no means of dying down. In fact, the most recent dish suggesting that China would get it first. … Read more