At last. Starting today, the MTA is switching on wireless and cellular connectivity in 30 underground subway stations around Manhattan, and the fledgling network will expand to all 277 of the MTA’s subway stations by 2016. → Read More
AT&T announced on its consumer blog today that it will finally allow FaceTime over cellular available to all customers on a tiered data plan, after previously offering it first only to those with a Mobile Share plan and then later to those with both LTE devices and tiered plans. Took them long enough. → Read More
AT&T definitely didn’t win any fans with its initial reaction to Apple’s decision to open up FaceTime video chat services to cellular networks. Now, though, it seems like the carrier may be making FaceTime available even to users on grandfathered unlimited data plans as the service begins to roll out live, though whether that’s an intentional move remains to be seen. → Read More
It’s no secret the U.K. has been a 4G laggard, with LTE only now finally starting to get off the ground — while the first big 4G deployment from a mobile operator won’t go live until October 30. But today a project has been green-lit by the government that’s aiming to ensure the country takes a pioneering role in developing the next generation of cellular technologies: 5G. → Read More
Apple isn’t delaying bringing its latest iPhone to regional carriers this time around, with launches across the U.S. going out today, at a list of carriers that includes C Spire, Bluegrass Cellular, Appalachian Wireless, Alaska GCI, Cricket Wireless, Cellcom and nTelos Wireless. It’s a change from the way things used to work that’s significant for both the carriers and their customers, in a market… → Read More
Karsten Nohl, a PhD from the University of Virginia, looking dreamy above, has broken A5/1, an algorithm to encrypt G.S.M. cellphone conversation. The hack follows a few steps including the use of a distributed key-gathering sytem to capture and decoding of a number of G.S.M. 64-bit encryption keys, the kind of keys that most cellular operators still use. → Read More
Citizen Engineer from citizen engineer on Vimeo. Friends of the Crunch Limor Fried and Phil Torrone are putting together open source DIY videos at CitizenEngineer.com. They’ll be talking about esoteric subjects like GSM, electronics, and circuit bending. Their first video, about SIM cards, includes plans for making your own SIM card reader. It’s an amazingly detailed video and we… → Read More
The CEO of Buzz Broadband just shuttered his WiMAX network and, in a conference in Bangkok, called the technology worthless. He complains that out of line-of-sight with the antenna WiMAX degrades horribly, resulting in network failures. He is now using a number of standards including TD-CDMA to get about 10Mbps and will not be using WiMAX. Gulp! And we just bought a huge transmitter for the whole… → Read More
Got a note this morning from a concerned reader who is watching some carrier noise. Apparently some of the bigs are talking to the FCC about having cellular repeaters classed as “jammers” because they might interfere and oscillate with regular cell tower signals. tia complained to fcc about repeaters, said they were essentially jammers asked for them to be banned. but repeater… → Read More
One of InSite’s cellular repeaters. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon are now offering cellular reception in T tunnels in downtown Boston, ensuring that your once-quiet ride will be interrupted by the loud, nasal squawking of a died-in-the-wool Southie or the charming, JFK-esque inflection of a member of the New England gentry. A company called InSite installed and will maintain the antennas… → Read More
GPS units are cool toys. Don’t get me wrong, they’re serious devices for some people. I wish to god my cab drivers used them. But for the most part, they’re not essential: we’ve survived thousands of years without them, so it’s time to admit that they’re a convenience. → Read More
This week, start up SquareLoop won 1st prize at CTIA for its geocasting technology beating out Lucent-Alcatel’s GMS. The company started out in 2005 when it received the rights to patented technologies from tech transfer organization, MITRE, that allow a message to be broadcast via an existing cell networks to users in a geographic area while also ensuring end-user privacy. → Read More
You know what? Screw you and your smartphone. You think you’re all worldly with your Web browsing and email, but you’re limited to that 3″ screen, tops. The new hotness comes from Polymer Vision and its new E-Ink cellbook. Using the flexible nature of electronic ink, the book opens from a size similar to a 5-year old cellphone to a UMPC-sized display, meaning you get real web… → Read More
Telecom Italia and Polymer Vision will demonstrate at 3GSM a rollable cellular device the pair recently agreed to manufacture together. Based on Polymer Vision’s Readius Concept, the device is mainly intended for reading newspapers, books and other data of similar ilk. Measuring under the size of the standard mobile, the device features a 5-inch display that rolls out. It project 16 levels… → Read More
We’ve just received a sound tip that Microsoft is working on its very own phone to be branded under the Zune moniker. Our tipsters inform us that Microsoft execs are in meetings today hammering out details of the device and developing strategies and timescales for its release. Seeing as that the development has hardly started, little is known yet about the Zune Phone, but there are some… → Read More
Boston will soon have prevalent cellular access on the T Central Artery road tunnels (thanks Rob). Due to a deal struck with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel and Cingular will all have a presence in the tunnel system. Which means Bostonians will soon be able to have awkward, cramped conversations during their commutes. This is relevant because up to this… → Read More
I have to admit, I never thought of cell phones being a problem in hospitals. It makes sense, though. There’s a good bit of expensive, electronic equipment all over the place and phones just love to get in there and mess with all that. This is, of course, why they’re not allowed on airplanes. Recently, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency put the clamp down on cell… → Read More
I’ve been trying not to answer my phone if it’s another iPhone rumor, but it keeps ringing. I feel like every analyst on the planet is drunk dialing me at the same time. Eventually, you have to pick it up and allow them to ramble. This week is no different. The on-again-off-again rumors of Steve and company phoning home come from Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research. Wu… → Read More
A new AP article has hit the ‘net discussing the fact that you can’t truly delete all the info off of your cell phone. Apparently, a company called Trust Digital bought 10 different phones on eBay and tested the phone-security tools that they sell to buisenesses. These weren’t old $5 Nokias, either. They were all “capable of working with corporate e-mail systems.”… → Read More
Toshiba launched today the DRAPE, a hideous phone developed by KDDI. While she might not look that good on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right? The DRAPE features a 3.2MP camera that includes auto-focus, digital zoom and night mode for shooting in low light condition. As per usual, the DRAPE can also as an MP3 player. No word yet on when and where this will become… → Read More
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