cellular

Apple's iTunes Match service is running up cell-data charges for some unsuspecting iPad users.

For $25 a year, iTunes Match stores your iTunes library on Apple's iCloud servers and makes them available on any PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and other iOS devices. CNET blogger Lance Whitney describes the iTunes Match service in a December 28, 2011, post; Apple provides an iTunes Match FAQ.

When I signed up for the iTunes Match service, it took several hours to upload via a cable-modem connection about 5,500 MP3s that were stored in the iTunes Library on a Windows … Read more

CES, shmee-ee-es. Why wait for the country's largest consumer electronics show to announce new products and services when you can break the news yourself over Twitter?

That must have been the logic behind U.S. Cellular's tweet this afternoon promising a 4G LTE smartphone and tablet by March and April, respectively.

Although the nation's sixth-largest carrier hasn't shared much more about its product plans, U.S. Cellular does advertise on its Web site that its forthcoming 4G LTE network will launch in Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin in early 2012, keeping on-track with … Read more

U.S. Cellular is stuffing its pockets with more Gingerbread.

Next week it starts stocking the Huawei Ascend II, an Android 2.3 smartphone that first debuted for Cricket. The rather modest touch-screen phone has a 3.5-inch display, a 5GB camera, and Swype preloaded on the virtual keyboard.

The carrier will offer it for free--after a $100 mail-in rebate--on its Web site next week. Alternatively, you can swoop by a store beginning in early January to pick it up in the flesh.… Read more

More than a day after it surfaced in San Francisco, AT&T's 4G LTE network now seems to be available in the Los Angeles area, as well.

CNET editor Jessica Dolcourt noticed the 4G LTE icon on her phone in the City of Angels just about an hour ago. A quick speed test with the Speedtest.net app showed that she got download speeds of around 15Mbps and upload speeds of some 7Mbps.… Read more

Cellular carriers are evil.

Or dumb. Because what but an evil or dumb company would punish its best customers for underestimating the amount of their product that they want? Cellular overage charges are insultingly high. That's why people over-buy the service plans they need: to "save" by making sure they don't get into the carriers' punishing overuse charges.

Can you run a mobile carrier with a more transparent, customer-friendly service model? While charging less for the same service? Tucows will be trying to do so when it rolls out Ting, an MVNO on the Sprint network, … Read more

The HTC Wildfire S for U.S. Cellular certainly packs a punch for such a small device. But it's not for everyone.

The Wildfire S has a 3.2-inch touch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, and it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread with HTC's Sense interface. As with other entry-level smartphones, it doesn't break any new ground, and its specs are far from top of the line. Still, if you're looking for a bargain and your hands aren't too big, this phone (free after a rebate) holds some appeal. The phone is ideal for first-time users … Read more

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Apple has not given in to pressure from Japan's largest cellular network, NTT DoCoMo, to include carrier-specific apps on the iPhone. Apple's stance has caused negotiations to get the iPhone on NTT DoCoMo to stall.

NTT DoCoMo CEO Ryuji Yamada says that his company's apps, specifically an e-wallet app and an e-mail service app, are important for his Japanese customers. While that may be true, Apple isn't budging. Providing the user with a clean, nonbloated experience out of the box is what Apple is all about.

Most … Read more

Just over a year after enthusiastically telling CNET that U.S. Cellular wanted the iPhone, the carrier's CEO has changed her mind.

During the company's third-quarter earnings call today, Mary Dillon said that U.S. Cellular considered adding the iPhone to its lineup, but that Apple's "terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint." Dillon didn't offer specifics, Fierce Wireless reported, but she added that the potential strain on the carrier's data network was not a factor.

Though U.S. Cellular's decision may come as surprising following the arrival of the … Read more

With the introduction of 3G, and especially 4G, mobile Internet access is no longer considered inferior to home broadband. In fact, in certain locations, it can actually be much faster than many residential DSL plans.

That said, as you roam around, even within one city like the case of the iPhone 4S, you'll experience changes in connection speed and coverage. That's just the nature of any cellular data connection.

Generally, it's best to use a 4G connection. However, since, for now, none of the wireless providers can guarantee the availability of 4G coverage throughout the U.S., … Read more