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Verizon releasing Google Android phones in ‘next few weeks’

October 6th, 2009, 8:09 am by

Google AndroidNoted: Google’s first cell phone, the G1 from T-Mobile, went on sale last Oct. 22. Could the company be planning a big one-year anniversary by releasing more phones?

Verizon Wireless mentions today that it has joined Google in a strategic partnership to “leverage the Verizon Wireless network and the best of the Android,” the name of Google’s phone software.

No specific details disclosed other than the ending line, “The agreement will come to fruition within the next few weeks as Verizon Wireless introduces Android-based handsets.”

(Disclosure: I have the original G1.)

The news comes out of the big wireless convention being held in San Diego today International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment show is just getting started so I suspect we’ll be hearing more news from the mobile phone companies.

T-Mobile recently added a second Android phone, the MyTouch. Sprint’s first Android phone, the HTC Hero, goes on sale  Thursday, October 8.

Related:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • | 3 Comments »

More 4G momentum: Verizon tests service across country

August 14th, 2009, 3:03 pm by

4G mobile Internet Noted: The folks at Verizon successfully tested 4G data calls between Boston and Seattle. The Verizon Tweeters couldn’t keep quiet about it either, as noted by DSLReports.

Verizon is rolling out its faster 4G Internet service for mobile phones using Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. Rival Sprint is also making 4G news using Wimax technology. It recently added more cities to its 2009 roll out, but excluded everyone in California. 

Side note: Verizon says it will launch 4G service next year in 30 markets, with the whole nation covered by 2013. I’ll cross my fingers that Orange County is among the first batch. 

From the web: 

More 4G coverage on Gadgetress:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Has cellular customer service improved? Survey says yes

August 13th, 2009, 11:57 am by

J.D. Power and AssociatesWe may be paying more for cell-phone service then everybody else in the world, but at least customer service is improving, according to a new report from J.D. Power and Associates. 

J.D. Power surveyed 12,000 consumers between January to June 12 who called their wireless provider for help in the past year. They rated overall customer service at 735 on a 1,000 point scale. That’s an improvement of 12 points from the February 2009 report. Specific improvements:

  • Hold times improved to 5.55 minutes, from 6.58 minutes in February
  • 76 percent of the calls were resolved with the first contact, compared to 66 percent previously

J.D. Power rates cell phone carriers' customer service, August 2009.J.D. Power surveyed consumers on automated response systems, store visits and Web interaction. Within each, the survey looked at satisfaction, problem resolution and wait times.

The winners? Alltel, T-Mobile and Verizon, which all tied with scores of 747.

While T-Mobile was the leader six months ago, the carrier slipped from its 755-point perch. Verizon also dropped two points, from last period’s score of 749. Alltel previously scored 744.

J.D. Powers said that each company had its own strengths: Alltel handled store visits well, T-Mobile excels in getting phone customers to a live representative, and Verizon identified customer problems quickly. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • | 7 Comments »

Best prepaid phone service rankings revealed — what a turnaround!

August 3rd, 2009, 7:53 am by

J.D. Power and AssociatesA mobile phone without a contract? Ever? If you haven’t looked at the prepaid phone industry lately, you might want to look again. Customers are more satisfied then ever before, plus it’s cheaper. 

According to the latest report from J.D. Power and Associates, the customer-service ratings group, prepaid service has changed from when it targeted credit-challenged customers. Today, a good chunk of new users are refugees of traditional post-paid service.

Results in this year’s survey ranked overall prepaid wireless customer service satisfaction at 750 out of 1,000 points (based on service, reliability, cost and performance of prepaid service — the higher the score, the better). Last year, the industry scored 719 points. Meanwhile, the post-paid industry this year hovered in the high 600s.

mobilephonePrepaid’s overall winner, Net10, earned the highest mark of 10 prepaid carriers — 774 on a 1,000 point scale. But just a few points away at 771 in third place was Irvine’s Boost Mobile, which has been overhauling its mission in order to compete in the crowded market. This is a complete turnaround from last year when Boost was No. 7 and below the industry average. Net10 was nowhere to be found on the J.D. Power 2008 list. 

“NET10 differentiates itself from other companies by simplifying the wireless experience with straightforward pricing, virtually no roaming charges and robust nationwide network coverage,” Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates, said in this year’s press release. “Users find they don’t have to worry about restrictive calling areas and can maintain their account without hassle.”

While these two companies have improved, others completely tumbled, including last year’s winner MetroPCS, which landed at the very bottom this year. The company, known for offering generous unlimited plans fumbled on customer service, performance and reliability issues and promotions. Rival cheap carrier Cricket Communications also fell to ninth place, from last year’s perch in third. Read the rest of this entry »

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

Unlimited international calls for $5/month? MetroPCS says yes!

June 24th, 2009, 1:02 pm by

MetroPCSMetroPCS, the significantly cheaper mobile-phone service, unveiled a plan today offering unlimited calls to more than 1,000 cities around the world for an extra $5 a month.

The new international plan is only available to subscribers of its $40-or-higher voice plans. Users don’t need to dial an intermediary number first and can call international numbers directly. Receiving international calls is free.

However, not every international city is included, but the biggies like Vietnam and Mexico City are part of the unlimited plan. To see if an international number qualifies, MetroPCS sends customers to this page. Also, the cheap rate doesn’t apply if the user is roaming and with MetroPCS service only available in certain U.S. cities, this extra fee could add up. 

So… the big question is how does MetroPCS do it? Its mobile rivals charge up to a few dollars per minute to call some countries. While the major wireless companies do offer international plans, those all have a monthly charge and a per-minute fee, albeit discounted from the standard international rate. MetroPCS new international plan is a flat-rate service with no extra fees, unless you’re roaming outside of MetroPCS coverage areas. 

I’m waiting to hear back from the company to explain how it can offer such a low rate. UPDATE, 3:57 p.m.: MetroPCS’ responds by avoiding all specifics:   

We don’t disclose pricing or profitability on individual products. However, our company is extremely profitable even with the launching of new markets and we have some of the lowest operating cost in the industry.

Scanning through international plans from other mobile companies, I was surprised to see that it’s not that expensive to call overseas anymore. But none are as cheap as MetroPCS, which offers unlimited U.S. cellular plans for as low as $30 a month. 

For example, Verizon Wireless charges $0.65/minute for calls to Mexico. Its $3.99  monthly value plan drops the per-minute rate to $0.25. Comparably, AT&T’s rates are $0.99/minute for calls to Mexico. On the company’s special $4.99 “Mexico plan,” calls range from $0.09 to $0.25. But if you’re just calling Mexico from a MetroPCS plan, there’s already a $3 plan for unlimited calls to Mexico. 

Here’s a look at mobile international plans:

Mobile Service Monthly Per minute? To United Kingdom No plan fee per minute
AT&T World Connect $3.99 Yes 8-28 cents/minute $1.29
MetroPCS $5 No included  
Sprint $4 Yes 6-39 cents/minute $1.49-$1.82
T-Mobile $5 Yes 6-26 cents/minute $0.69
Verizon Wireless $3.99 Yes 6-26 cents/minute $1.49-$1.67
Source: AT&T, MetroPCS, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless

More on cell-phones:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services

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

Verizon, AT&T try to explain why texting fees are 100% higher

June 17th, 2009, 12:36 pm by

Texting and the mobile phoneUPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: Thanks to reader Tom Swifty for pointing out my bad math. Fixed headline to reflect that fees are 100 percent higher, not 50 percent.
_____________________ 

Noted: Why does sending a text message on your cell phone cost 20 cents? Congress was wondering the same thing and asked Verizon Wireless and AT&T whether the two companies colluded on pricing, according to a Reuters report (also cited by BroadbandReports.com and FierceWireless.com).

And not only did the fee seem high, but it’s double the rate from 2006, when texting was a mere 10 cents.

Lawyers from Verizon and AT&T argued that Congress was focusing on a tiny number of texts. Most customers were in some sort of monthly texting plan, so very few were affected by the doubling of the pay-per-use fee. Approximately, a mere 1 percent of texts sent were charged 20-cents per message, Reuters reported: 

“The faulty notion that prices for text messaging have risen derives from an unduly narrow interest in the trend of a single pricing option for text messaging services, the pay-per-use option, when the vast majority of AT&T’s customers do not choose that option,” said Wayne Watts, general counsel of AT&T.

Verizon, in a press release, said that because of the bundling, the price per message has dropped to about 1 cent each. Both companies denied price fixing.

However, I could find no explanation as to why either company felt the need to double the price on the pay-per-text fee, especially if so few people use it. 

BroadbandReports, a great source of telecom news, offers its opinion on why: “Of course the reason carriers uniformly raised SMS prices from ten cents to twenty cents (in both directions) was to drive customers to these bundle deals, which still tacks $5 to $20 per month on to subscriber wireless bills for a service with virtually no delivery cost.” (Bolded is the site’s own emphasis.)

Very true. Even many prepaid mobile companies are adding unlimited texting plans (see “Are $50 unlimited plans latest trend? T-Mobile follows Boost.”) What do you pay? Is it time to switch to a bundle plan in case you have a kid like this one?

For those wondering how much a text message does cost, the four major mobile companies do indeed charge 20-cents per text. See their sites:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • • • • | 40 Comments »

Verizon improves wireless coverage in Anaheim, Mission Viejo

June 15th, 2009, 3:24 pm by

Verizon WirelessVerizon Wireless turned on two more cell sites in Orange County, the company said today. 

One is in Mission Viejo, offering better coverage along Alicia Parkway and Trabuco Road. 

The other new site is in an industrial neighborhood near East Street and Vermont Avenue in Anaheim.

This should offer better reception not only for passing drivers, but residents and businesses in the area.

The upgrade is part of Verizon’s $90 million investment to add 3G service to existing cell sites in Southern California, as reported earlier (see “Verizon spends $90 million improving 3G, indoor coverage.”)

The company is adding the 850 Megahertz frequency, which penetrates through walls better. The new frequency also expands and adds capacity to its 3G broadband network.

All of Verizon’s cell sites in Orange County are now 3G friendly, says spokesman Ken Muche.

Past stories on Orange County cell reception:


Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

Verizon’s MiFi is handy portable hotspot if you can afford it

June 5th, 2009, 4:24 pm by

REVIEW: (Wow …  it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these …)

A day before I set off on a road trip to San Francisco, Verizon Wireless shipped me its new MiFi 2200 to play with. This portable Wi-Fi hotspot came in really handy for the long drive and later at the hotel, which was trying to get us to pay $10/day for Wi-Fi. 

Verizon "iPhone" - back.
Verizon’s MiFi personal hotspot sitting on top of an iPod Touch.

Now, I already have a broadband card, gratis the OC Register, which lets me work almost anywhere, like the car (but not while I’m driving, of course). The $150 MiFi trounces broadband cards for several reasons: There’s no need to install software (like my broadband card), MiFi isn’t accidentally bendable (like my broadband card), it causes no issues when it turns off (unlike my broadband card if I skip the “safely remove” step) and it shares its single mobile Internet line with everyone else in the car.

This looks like a sleek, black business card holder with a 20-card capacity. It’s actually a bit larger than a business card and slightly thicker than an iPod Touch (see photo). A button on top depresses to turn it on, while a mini-USB port on one side is used to recharge the removable Li-ion battery.

Verizon "iPhone" - Back, shows modem is on. Verizon "iPhone" Verizon's new MiFi 2200 hotspot compared to the iPhone.

It took several seconds, maybe five to 10, before the MiFi wireless signal was recognized by nearby computers, iPods and other Wi-Fi devices. But after the network showed up, we connected and started surfing in no time. Read the rest of this entry »

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