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AT&T confirms wireless ‘disruption’ today

March 25th, 2010, 5:05 pm by

FYI: For Orange County AT&T mobile users who had unusually spotty service today, it’s all been fixed, the company said.

“Due to an equipment issue earlier this afternoon, some area AT&T customers may have experienced wireless service disruption. AT&T technicians resolved the issue at approximately 3:45 p.m. PT. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers,” said the company.

I’m not an iPhone or AT&T customer, but I heard that some people had major issues with 3G Internet today. If issues continue, let me know.

More on cell phone service:

Posted in: Cell phones • iPhone • • • • | 13 Comments »

Review: Don’t go to Disneyland without this iPhone app

March 21st, 2010, 7:28 am by

This story was originally written for our Disney blog, and I’m reposting because I bet some Gadgetress readers are interested in such  mobile apps. Reporter Ian Hamilton reviews a game app for Disneyland and videographer Mark Eades shows how it works.

Whether you frequent Disneyland or just plan the occasional vacation, it’s time to outfit yourself with an iPhone for your next visit.

If you don’t own one, then borrow one for the day or make sure someone in your group has one so you can use the Wishing Stars iPhone app.

Yes, this app is that much fun.

Wishing Stars – Disneyland (link opens in iTunes) is an absolute perfect companion for any Disneyland journey and a must-have app if you’re visiting the park any time soon. I’m not a huge Disney fanatic, like many people I know, but I’d be willing to go to Disneyland if I played this as part of the experience. (Disclosure: my wife works at Disneyland and is a bit of a fanatic.)

In a nutshell, Wishing Stars consists of a series of quests you can embark on to find particular stuff within the Disneyland park.

The quests vary by difficulty and can entertain a kid, an adult or an adult who thinks like a kid. The app uses your physical GPS location to identify whether you’ve found the answer to a clue. In other words, it’s a treasure hunt within Disneyland.

One note, though, you have to have an iPhone 3G or an iPhone 3GS to use this app. The original iPhone doesn’t have the necessary GPS accuracy to pull off what Wishing Stars requires.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

T-Mobile ‘hoping’ to offer iPhone this year, says report

March 18th, 2010, 5:20 pm by

Spotted: Add another iPhone rumor to the list. The Financial Times is reporting that T-Mobile may end AT&T’s lock on the Apple iPhone later this year.

René Obermann, chief executive of T-Mobile USA’s German parent Deutsche Telekom, told the publication that the company is focusing on mobile Internet. And then there’s this sentence buried at the bottom:

The iPhone has provided AT&T with strong revenue growth, and T-Mobile USA is hoping to start selling the popular smartphone later this year or next year.

But are the two connected? Did Obermann really say during the FT interview that T-Mobile will offer the iPhone this year? It would seem that way based on how the story was written. But why bury this juicy nugget?

It could be that it’s because in Germany, T-Mobile sells the iPhone. So perhaps the German-based reporter didn’t think a direct quote from Obermann was crucial.

However, this isn’t the first time T-Mobile has appeared as a possible iPhone vendor. In December, Thomas Weisel analyst Doug Reid said he believed T-Mobile would be next and not Verizon Wireless, as others have long theorized.  Why T-Mobile?  ”Apple wants to move away from exclusivity; T-Mobile achieves this for Apple in the U.S.,” Reid wrote.

T-Mobile also uses the same wireless technology as AT&T so an iPhone doesn’t need a complete hardware overhaul to join the T-Mobile network.

I guess we’ll find out this fall whether there’s any truth to the story.

From the web:

Posted in: Apple mania • Cell phones • iPhone • • • | 13 Comments »

Crappy Internet? Tell the government

March 12th, 2010, 3:30 pm by

A new mobile app lets consumers test how fast their phone or home’s Internet connection is — or isn’t.

The app’s owner? The U.S. Federal Communications Commission. As part of that National Broadband plan, the FCC wants consumers to be informed about what their broadband availability is and help contribute to the FCC’s Broadband Dead Zone Report.

“Transparency empowers consumers, promotes innovation and investment, and encourages competition,” said Chairman Julius Genachowski. “The FCC’s new digital tools will arm users with real-time information about their broadband connection and the agency with useful data about service across the country. By informing consumers about their broadband service quality, these tools help eliminate confusion and make the market work more effectively.”

The app, called the Consumer Broadband Test, measures speed and latency and reports it back to the FCC. It’s available in the Apple and Android app stores. There’s also a Web version at www.broadband.gov.

No broadband Internet? Consumers can also submit their results to the FCC by e-mail at fccinfo@fcc.gov, telephone, 888-CALL-FCC, or snail mail addressed to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau,
ATTN: Broadband Dead Zone Reporting
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554

One note: By taking the test, you’re giving the FCC some personal info including your IP address and home address.  Read the privacy statement.

More on the web:

Posted in: Cell phones • Internet • iPhone • • • • • • • • | 12 Comments »

Vonage adds unlimited international plan for mobile phones

December 24th, 2009, 3:50 pm by

Vonage World MobileNoted: Vonage phone service, which isn’t just for the home anymore, introduced Vonage World Mobile, an unlimited international plan to users of its newish Vonage Mobile plan. Qualified devices include the iPhone, iPod Touch and BlackBerry.

The Internet phone company introduced the mobile phone service in October, which charged per call. The new unlimited mobile international plan to  60 countries is $24.99 per month. The mobile service uses Wi-Fi and cellular service (iPod Touches only use Wi-Fi) and relies on the customer’s cell phone number to make calls. Calls to U.S. numbers are free using Wi-Fi.

Not every international city is included — no Vietnam — and looks like calls to cell phones in Mexico aren’t part of the deal either. Here’s the complete list of countries: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

TV, mobile stories I couldn’t get to this week

December 18th, 2009, 3:27 pm by

File this in the stuff I just couldn’t get to but thought was interesting for readers:

Here’s what I spent my time on this week:

Have a good weekend!

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

iPhone service outage? There’s an app for that

December 8th, 2009, 8:37 am by

AT&T Mark the Spot app to report reception issues.Noted: AT&T has been criticized heavily for poor reception among iPhone 3G wireless users. Now, the company wants iPhone users to help them detect weaknesses. With an app.

The free AT&T Mark the Spot app allows customers to notify the company when they’re in a bum area. The customer just presses a button to indicate the nature of the issue, adds notes and sends it to AT&T. You can download the app from iTunes HERE.

While AT&T is on track to invest $17 billion to $18 billion in its wireless network, the company said that using crowd sourcing to determine network weaknesses will speed up improvements.

Of course by offering such an app, AT&T is getting reamed by some users:

“You have no service from AT&T and you’re supposed to notify AT&T of no service on AT&T with an app that needs AT&T service to let them know there’s no service on AT&T? What’s wrong with this picture?” was one of many similar user comments.

Still, at least AT&T is putting itself out there. And one independent testing firm says that AT&T’s reputation for an inferior network is just perception. Perhaps AT&T should add a feature to the app to that informs users when the location is fixed or upgraded?

At the moment, the service is only for iPhone customers but AT&T said versions for other smartphones are expected in coming months.

Earlier stories on cell phone services:

Posted in: Apple mania • iPhone • Video & TV • • • • • • • | Comments Off

AT&T’s U-verse TV jumps to 1.6 million subscribers

July 24th, 2009, 7:58 am by

AT&T U-verseIn AT&T’s second-quarter earnings report, the company said it added a net 248,000 TV customers during the quarter bringing its U-verse TV following to 1.6 million subscribers. That’s also a growth of about 1 million subscribers in a year. More than 75 percent order three or four services from AT&T, which offers TV, Internet, home phone and wireless phone service. 

Overall for all of its businesses, AT&T reported lower net income of $3.2 billion on revenues of $30.7 billion for the quarter. A year earlier, the company had net income of $3.8 billion on revenues of $30.9 billion. The downturn was blamed on declines in its voice and legacy data products.

Apple’s iPhone, which AT&T offers exclusively, continued to be a highlight. The company activated more than 2.4 million iPhones during the quarter, thanks to the record-setting launch of the latest iPhone 3GS. 

AT&T’s roll out of its U-verse TV and broadband service hasn’t been as easy as it had hoped. Earlier, it said it was scaling back to 30 million living units by 2011, or one year later than planned (see “Oh no! U-verse rollout slowing down“). This month, AT&T noted that it hit some snags in Orange County. The company said it decided to stop pursuing service in several cities here because of frustration with getting required city permits. The main issue seems to be that these cities — Cypress, Dana Point, Irvine, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, San Clemente and Tustin — want AT&T to build its U-verse utility boxes underground, which AT&T says it cannot do (read “AT&T U-verse comes to a halt in Irvine, 6 other O.C. cities“). 

But consumers still want their U-verse, which offers all the usual TV channels, DVRs and other offerings of the cable providers. The company is still expanding in several parts of the United States, including Orange County.

“We continue to expand our all-IP AT&T U-verse platform to deliver broadband to more homes. We’ve increased our backbone capacity and continue to enhance our premier set of advanced global business solutions. These are AT&T’s strengths, and these are the drivers that will lead growth as the economy turns,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer.

**LINKS**

Previous U-Verse news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Cell phones • Video & TV • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

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