wireless

The wireless industry isn't celebrating a victory yet, despite a federal appeal court ruling that struck down San Francisco's attempt to force cell phone retailers to distribute radiation warning materials with each phone purchased.

The CTIA, the industry's trade association, remained quiet on the ruling. A spokesperson for the CTIA said that the group had no comment on the ruling, which came down yesterday. The court said the city couldn't make merchants promote a message they disagree with.

The CTIA is no doubt waiting to see what San Francisco is going to do next.

The city … Read more

In my limited observations, it seems that size, shape, color, and fabric constantly change in the evolution of fashion pouches, but the actual usefulness of a purse stays the same: you can put in whatever you can fit in.

Everpurse, an up-and-comer on grassroots-funding site Kickstarter, seems poised to take off by raising the idea of a clutch (or purse insert) that can charge an iPhone or Android smartphone through a built-in dock and battery. Why does it seem poised? It raised over $23,000 in one day. … Read more

Competitive carriers both large and small, urban and rural are banding together to take on the nation's two largest carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, as they amass more control over the wireless market.

On Monday, the Rural Cellular Association will announce that it is rebranding its organization and calling itself the Competitive Carrier Association. Steven Berry, CEO of the Washington, D.C., lobbying group, said the change is a reflection of how the wireless industry has evolved over the past few years.

Owing to increasing consolidation in the market, small rural carriers, which were RCA's original … Read more

Are you not a Verizon Wireless customer but still want the Razr smartphone? Don't hold your breath.

Motorola Mobility won't be taking the Razr to another U.S. carrier any time soon, executives from Motorola and Verizon told CNET.

"It's a relationship that works really well," said Marni Walden, chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless.

Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside:"We have no plans to bring the Razr elsewhere."

The combination of the two brands has resulted in a blockbuster product in the original Droid Razr, and the juiced-up follow-on Droid Razr Maxx. On … Read more

A team of engineers out of Stanford is introducing a truly tiny wireless cardiac device to demonstrate that, thanks to a little ingenuity and impressive math, all medical implants may soon be powered wirelessly.

Which means that devices such as pacemakers, which owe the majority of their bulk to the battery, are about to get a whole lot smaller.

Head researcher Ada Poon, who earlier this year showed off a proof-of-concept, wirelessly powered device small enough to propel itself through the bloodstream, says the main achievement with the cardiac device is that it can be implanted on the surface of … Read more

Verizon Wireless will be selling multiple Windows Phone 8 devices in the fourth quarter, CNET has learned.

The nation's largest carrier hasn't been the most enthusiastic partner to Microsoft and the Windows Phone platform, but Verizon appears to be more bullish.

"We'll sell multiple Windows Phones in the fourth quarter," Verizon Chief Marketing Officer Tami Erwin told CNET.

The Windows Phone platform, largely championed by Nokia and, to a lesser extent, Samsung Electronics, HTC, and LG, among others, has struggled to find an audience. Consumers instead continue to flock to Android and Apple's iOS, … Read more

Look, no wires. Nokia's new Lumia 920 smartphone can be charged wirelessly thanks to its own built-in technology.

Known as Qi (pronounced chee), the wireless charging standard lets you place your phone on any compatible charger whenever it needs a boost in power. Designed in cooperation with Wireless Power Consortium co-founder ConvenientPower, Energizer unveiled the first-generation Qi Inductive Charger in 2010.

The Qi standard is now supported by a collection of carriers, service providers, and other companies striving to use the same technology to charge any supported device no matter where you are. Any phone with the right built-in … Read more

Mobile phone customers can choose from even more contract-free plans from RadioShack as of today.

Four new plans are available altogether through Cricket Wireless -- two for feature phones and two for smartphones.

The $25-per-month feature phone plan offers 300 voice minutes, while the $35 plan raises that to 1,000 minutes. Both plans up the ante with unlimited data access, unlimited texting, call waiting, and three-way calling.

The $50-per-month smartphone plan adds unlimited voice minutes and promises that the first gigabyte of data will run at full 3G speeds. The $60 plan offers the first 2.5GB of data … Read more