wireless

iPhone 5 users who subscribe to Verizon now have another bug to add the list.

Posting 21 pages of messages on the Apple Support Communities, a host of owners of the new iPhone say the date and time are often off, sometimes by a day; other times by as many as two weeks. So far, the problem seems specific to Verizon Wireless as many of the people chiming in say they're Verizon subscribers.

"I've had the phone for about two weeks and have noticed the time drifting slowly off by 3-5 minutes, said one person. "Tonight [… Read more

Verizon managed a rare feat in the third quarter: juggling a spike in iPhone sales with double-digit earnings growth.

The two rarely go hand in hand, as the more iPhones a carrier sells, the higher the subsidy it has to pay to Apple (without that subsidy, your iPhone 5 would cost a minimum of $650), and the larger the hit it takes to its bottom line.

Through a combination of cost cuts and an effort to squeeze as much profit out of the rest of the business, Verizon managed to avoid that fate. Today, it posted a third-quarter profit of $… Read more

Adding new smartphones to the family's wireless plan can be a scary endeavor, especially as most of us have already seen our wireless bills for just one smartphone surge above $100 a month.

Are there any tips for getting hot devices like the iPhone 5 at a discount? Is there a trick to avoiding taking out a second mortgage to pay for an additional smartphone on the family plan? In this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer some advice. I also offer my views on whether it's really worth it to buy the iPhone 4S instead of the … Read more

Sprint Nextel may soon gain control of wireless broadband provider Clearwire without an acquisition, clearing up a stumbling block to Softbank's $20 billion acquisition of Sprint.

Sprint is Clearwire's largest customer and its largest shareholder with an 84 percent stake, but the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier doesn't have control of Clearwire's board. To take control of the company, the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier is negotiating agreements with other investors that will allow it to appoint a majority of directors to Clearwire's board without a making a formal acquisition, people familiar with … Read more

Isis, the wireless carrier joint venture created to push mobile payment services, said today that it would launch its trials in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, on Oct. 22.

There will be as many as 20 compatible handsets by the end of the year, the company said in an e-mailed statement.

Isis is an effort by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile USA to create a standard platform that would allow consumers to pay for goods and services with their smartphones. It's just one of several mobile payment initiatives -- one of the most notable being Google … Read more

Verizon Wireless has begun selling information about its customers' geographical locations, app usage, and Web browsing activities, a move that raises privacy questions and could brush up against federal wiretapping law.

The company this month began offering reports to marketers showing what Verizon subscribers are doing on their phones and other mobile devices, including what iOS and Android apps are in use in which locations. Verizon says it may link the data to third-party databases with information about customers' gender, age, and even details such as "sports enthusiast, frequent diner or pet owner."

"We're able to … Read more

Many smart or connected devices come with wired-only connections (Ethernet), like your TV, game console, DVD player, TiVo, or other streaming-media device. Unless your Internet modem or wireless router happens to be at the same location as those devices, connecting them to your wireless network can be a challenge.

Possible solutions include, power-line adapters, dedicated wireless adapters for each device, or installing Ethernet jacks. Unfortunately, those options can get expensive and each has its unique drawbacks. Another option is using a wireless bridge. A wireless bridge connects two wired networks together over Wi-Fi. The wireless bridge acts as a client, … Read more

Sprint appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach on a possible acquisition bid for MetroPCS.

The No. 3 wireless carrier is delaying a counteroffer in an effort to examine Deutsche Telekom's plan to merge the prepaid carrier with T-Mobile, sources tell Bloomberg. The company is reportedly holding its counteroffer for a chance to see Deutsche Telekom's proxy filing to examine details of the German communications giant's negotiations.

CNET has contacted Sprint for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile, announced a plan last week to buy MetroPCS and combine it with T-Mobile. … Read more

SAN DIEGO - The Department of Defense says it's onboard with freeing up more wireless spectrum for commercial wireless broadband use. But proposals that rely heavily on the government sharing wireless spectrum with private sector wireless carriers doesn't jive with what the industry wants.

At the CTIA's Mobilecon tradeshow here Wednesday, Major General Robert Wheeler, a deputy CIO for the Department of Defense, gave a keynote speech in which he outlined how the government agency plans to free up additional spectrum that will help the country reach President Obama's goal of releasing 500 MHz of additional … Read more