mobile

I've always wondered why European telcos were so stingy with their data plans, offering set data limits for a monthly fee when the U.S. carriers--so backwards in other ways--offered unlimited usage.

Well, Vodafone has finally taken off the blinders and is offering unlimited data to all of its customers ... for free, when it used to charge $15 per month.

The fine print is that "unlimited" means 500MB. (While in London recently I burned through 10MB per day, so 500MB may well effectively mean unlimited use.)

As in open source, the opportunity of the mobile web lies … Read more

AT&T Mobile TV will debut on Sunday, along with the LG Vu and the Samsung Access phones.

As reported a month or so ago, AT&T Mobile TV is the carrier's new live mobile TV service that will broadcast television shows to compatible phones via Qualcomm's MediaFlo network. At launch, the service will offer eight channels of programming--CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2G0, NBC News 2GO, and Nickelodeon--as well as two AT&T-exclusive channels called PIX and CNN Mobile Live. PIX will have shows from Sony Pictures Television … Read more

No doubt, Adobe System's Flash is popular: it's installed on 99 percent of all PCs, according to the company.

But when it comes to mobile devices and other non-PC platforms, Flash is an also-ran. One reason for that situation, according to Adobe, is the lack of good development tools and the company's own restrictive licensing.

A new program, announced by Adobe on Thursday, is intended to remedy that problem. The program, called the Open Screen Project, is an industry alliance, of sorts, initiated by Adobe that includes prominent device manufacturers, content developers, and telecommunications carriers.

Open Screen … Read more

There is quite a lot of T-Mobile talk swirling around the Web today. First off, the carrier announced a new prepaid plan that costs just $1 per day for each day you use the phone. Though it might sound too good to be true, that $1 actually gets you quite a bit. Not only does it entitle you to unlimited calls to other T-Mobiles phones, but also you get free nationwide calling between 7:00 p.m. to 6:59 a.m. During other times calls, will cost 10 cents per minute. Sure, that can add up quickly if you'… Read more

You see a crime, what do you do? Most people would just dial 911. But if you want to remain anonymous and there's no no pay phone around, you can now send a text message to the authorities.

A company called mBlox, which operates a mobile transaction network, and Anderson Software, provider of law enforcement tip management software, have launched a service that lets people send in anonymous tips via SMS.

The TipSoft SMS service provides an alias for the tipster and allows for two-communication without sharing the tipster's phone number with authorities. The text messages are encrypted … Read more

There's no shortage of local search applications for cell phone users to rely on. In addition to Google Maps Mobile, Yahoo OneSearch (which is also bundled into Yahoo Go), and TellMe's BlackBerry app, is newcomer FreeMobile411, a simple, clean-looking WAP app that searches local business and residential listings for people, business names, and business types. While the publisher, V-Enable, works on distributing a more robust client through cell phone carriers starting with Sprint, FreeMobile411.com remains as reliable a lookup for people on low-end Internet phones as it is on high-end phones.

Sling Media is offering upgraded versions of three of its mobile software clients: SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile PocketPC (now version 1.6), Windows Mobile Smartphone (also 1.6), and Symbian S60 (1.1). According to Sling's press release, the updated software adds support for additional hardware--including the Nokia N95 8GB, the Treo 500v, and the Samsung i760--and improves the streaming experience on "select handsets," including the the Sprint Mogul. The upgrades are free for registered users of the previous versions. Download prices for new users remain at $30 per handset, and with the free 30-day … Read more

Apple's iPhone is expected to cross the Canadian border later this year, the country's largest wireless provider said Tuesday.

Rogers Communications, which is also Canada's only GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) provider, will serve as the region's iPhone carrier.

"We're thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can't tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned," Chief executive Ted Rogers said in a statement.

The announcement comes 10 months after the Canadian company let it slip out of the bag that it would be the exclusive iPhone provider in Canada. … Read more

A trio of mobile companies including two global giants will collaborate to find more ways to profit from and develop mobile phone-based internet use, the Financial Times reported.

Vodafone, the biggest-earning mobile company, China Mobile, the company with the largest user base, and Softbank, the third-place Japanese carrier, form the coalition.

FT writes, "The collaboration underlines how mobile operators are keen to stop internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo dominating the provision of potentially lucrative services on the wireless internet."

Indeed, Google is working on ever more wireless applications. At WWW2008 in Beijing on Wednesday, Google'… Read more