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Interview: Bill Gates Talks About Tech Innovations for Vaccines Ahead of Global Confab

Kara Swisher — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:26:22 +0000

Earlier today, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates discussed technological innovations for vaccines, ahead of a Global Vaccine Summit being held next week in Abu Dhabi.

Set during World Immunization Week, 300 people — including Gates, who is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and who will be delivering a keynote address — will gather on April 24 and 25 to talk about what the world community needs to do move forward the effort to vaccinate children, including a plan to eradicate polio by 2018.

It’s an important effort since, according to the Gates Foundation, every 20 seconds one child dies from a disease that could have been prevented by an existing vaccine.

“The key thing to understand is that vaccines are miraculous,” said Gates in a roundtable telephone interview with several reporters, noting that they are low-cost in relation to the huge benefit they provide.

Two key next steps, he said, have to do with a variety of technologies that are being explored to help in the delivery of vaccines, and also finding ways to make them cheaper.

“There is an under-investment in general, particularly in doing things for the poorest,” he said, requiring his private organization and others to pay for the research or to work with big pharmaceutical companies to create technologies that can also be deployed in more lucrative ways in rich countries. “Usually, there is a missing market incentive.”

Still, there is innovation in the sector, even if it is slow.

Gates referenced a “super-thermos” approach that is being field-tested in Senegal that keeps vaccines cold without needing more energy. Another effort is under way to formulate vaccines so that they do not need to be kept cold in the first place. A third is to combine several vaccines together to get the prices down.

Also important are improvements in satellite mapping technology, which allows field workers who deliver the vaccines to better assess where the need is. That’s especially important since a lot of the work is still on the ground, such as the push to eradicate polio in much the same way as smallpox has been. Currently, noted Gates, it is still an issue in just three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

And since reaching near total coverage is critical — “The difference between 85 percent and 90 percent [coverage] can be the difference between success and failure,” said Gates — making sure health workers find the people they are trying to vaccinate is paramount.

“It’s kind of a high-tech thing compared to how it was being done,” said Gates.

But, although there have been great hopes around the use of mobile devices in the field to access and record accurate data on patient visits, immunizations and other health information, it’s still an uphill battle against easier paper solutions.

“The paper-based systems are preferable,” said Gates, because of lack of reliable connectivity and ease of use. “It’s a high threshold to get rid of that and use cellphones.”

Or, as Gates noted in a blog post from a recent visit to Ghana, where cellphone data-keeping is being tested: “Many of us are looking at potential digital strategies for record-keeping, but paper is pretty good.”

(Photo courtesy of the Gates Foundation)

Marissa's Million-Dollar Bonus, YouTube's Money Woes and Cellphone Unlocking: The AllThingsD Week in Review 3/03/13 -- 3/09/13

Eric Johnson — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:00:02 +0000

Hello, and happy Panic Day! If it is possible to have a happy Panic Day, that is. In fact, for the benefit of those who do not own a copy of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” please DON’T PANIC.

And here’s something else to calm your nerves: Our Top 10 stories from the week of Mar. 4:

1.) White House: It’s Time to Legalize Cellphone Unlocking

2.) Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Gets a Million-Dollar Bonus After Six Months on the Job

3.) YouTube’s Show-Me-the-Money Problem

4.) IBM Makes a Big Bet on OpenStack in the Cloud

5.) What Could Apple Buy With Its $137 Billion? About 18 Homes Each for Every Yahoo to Not Work At, and More!

6.) Former Top Yahoo Ad Exec Sues Yahoo, Accusing It of Trying to “Cheat” Him Over Acquisition Compensation

7.) Heads Turn as Microsoft Shows Off 3-D Scanning Techniques

8.) Loose Lips: Yahoo M&A Head Told Employees Company Looking at Two “Significant” and a Half-Dozen Small Buys

9.) The Disappearing Interface

10.) Why Google Thinks Two Music Subscription Services Are Better Than None

For more of the week in review, you should follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Concerned About Cellphone Radiation? Here Are Some Options.

Lauren Goode — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:00:07 +0000

Believe it or not, it’s still unclear whether radio frequency from the cellphones we carry with us at all times is harmful to our health. Cellphone radiation studies have been inconclusive.

So it’s only natural that some consumers are concerned about potential health risks caused by using and carrying cellphones.

For the past week, I’ve been researching and testing possible solutions for these people: Radiation-reduction cellphone cases. To be clear, I haven’t tested these in a lab, as other publications and independent research groups have done. I’ve used the cases as I would a regular cellphone case, and I looked for explanations as to how, exactly, these are supposed to reduce radiation.

These aren’t your $10-on-Amazon.com cellphone cases. The cases I came across, which also included tablet cases, range in price from $50 to $100. They’re made by companies you might not have heard of before; one case even comes in the form of a silver-lined smartphone pouch. My experiences with these were mixed.

Before diving into the cases, though, it’s good to understand how cellphone radio frequency works, and how it’s measured.

[ See post to watch video ]

Cellphones work by transmitting radio waves across wireless networks. The Federal Communications Commission has set a limit on what’s considered a safe amount of radio frequency that can be absorbed by the human body, referred to as the SAR, or specific absorption rate.

That FCC limit was set in 1997.

Needless to say, cellphones have changed since then. Last summer, members of Congress called for the FCC to revise this standard. Meanwhile, the FCC, the World Health Organization and even the handset makers suggest consumers use hands-free solutions to try to reduce our radio-frequency exposure.

Now on to the cases: It was surprisingly difficult to find this type of mobile device case from brands I know. Speck doesn’t make radiation-reduction cases. Neither does Case-Mate, though the company offered one in 2010. OtterBox doesn’t make this kind of case, either, stating that internal research shows its customers aren’t seeking these kinds of cases.

The most well-known radiation-reduction case available is made by Pong Research, which conducts SAR tests in its Virginia lab. The cases have also been tested by two independent labs. The company says its cases have an average SAR-reduction rate of up to 91 percent on supported devices.

I’ve been using Pong’s newest classic and rugged cases for iPhone 5. The classic “soft” case costs $70, and is available in black, red, silver and purple. The rugged case is $80, and comes in blue, black and white. There are also cases for the HTC EVO 4G ($50), the BlackBerry Bold 9900 ($60), the Samsung Galaxy S III ($80) and the iPad mini ($100), as well as for other models.

These cases don’t block radiation entirely, nor does Pong claim they do. If they blocked all radio-frequency waves, you wouldn’t get phone calls on your phone. (Try wrapping your smartphone in tinfoil and see if your calls come through.)

Instead, Pong says, they reduce the radiation levels by deflecting the waves. Embedded in each case is a micro-thin conductive circuit board that draws the radio-frequency energy toward it and away from the user’s head.

I used Pong’s classic case for the first half of the week, and the rugged one for another few days. I didn’t experience any interruption or apparent weakening of my cell signal. Style-wise, I found I preferred the classic plastic case. It was sleeker and lighter, although really hard to pry off when I wanted to switch it up.

The rubbery, rugged case did feel like it could handle a few more drops, but I didn’t like the extra thickness it added to my phone.

The iPad mini case I used is made mostly of synthetic leather, and the front cover folds and flips back to create a stand for the tablet. It’s the kind of tablet cover I might buy regardless of its radiation-reduction capabilities — if only it didn’t cost $100.

While I couldn’t find many recognizable brands making Pong competitors, the Web is littered with companies that claim to offer protective products. Australia-based CellSafe makes and sells cases with a “cushion” that’s supposed to reduce radiation. A company in Israel called CellLaVie has come up a thin film that goes over the phone. I didn’t get to try these, and CellLaVie didn’t respond to my inquiries about how its product works and where it’s sold.

The next cases I used were literally mixed bags. These were “eWall” bags sold through an online store called the EMF Protection Store. Each bag cost $60.

The eWall pouches are just large enough to fit a smartphone. They have a loop at the top for cinching the bag. There are two parts to the eWall product: The main pouch and an outer pocket. The bag is lined with a silver mesh fabric.

According to the instructions, if you put your smartphone in the outer pocket, you’ll reduce radiation but you’ll still receive phone calls. If you put your phone in the central pouch, you’ll block all signals.

I found this eWall bag to be problematic for two reasons: First, I usually don’t want to throw my phone in a bag and hang it on a doorknob and forget about it. It’s either right next to me when I’m sitting at my desk, or within reach on the coffee table, dinner table or night table. And I don’t want to carry my phone inside a bag inside my pocket, either.

Second, the first few times I put my phone in the inner pouch and tightened it at the top, my test calls from another phone still went through, making me question the supposed effectiveness of the pouch. In follow-up tests, the phone didn’t receive calls, but I had to squeeze the top of the pouch to fully close it.

I asked the seller of eWall about his company’s testing methods, and he said that while the product has undergone some testing in Germany, his company does not conduct tests on its effectiveness before shipping the product. A new leather shield listed on the EMF Protection Store’s website has not been tested, either.

If cellphone radiation is worrying you, the Pong cases might put your mind at ease. But I can’t recommend the eWall bags I used, and consumers buying online should carefully consider the validity of these types of cases before buying — especially when they cost $50 or more.

For $19, an Unlimited Phone Plan, Some Flaws

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:05:28 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

A typical smartphone costs around $200, but it’s usually shackled to a two-year contract that often costs $70 or more monthly and includes limits on data consumption, voice minutes and texts. Even prepaid smartphones, without a contract, can cost $30 to $50 a month and carry limits.

But I’ve been testing an Android smartphone from an upstart carrier that charges just $19 a month for unlimited data, voice and texts — with no contract. That’s right: $19 a month, unlimited.

Motorola’s Defy XT is the only phone that works with Republic’s network.

This carrier is called Republic Wireless, a private firm in Raleigh, N.C., which launched its service in December. The sole phone that works with the company’s technology is a Motorola model, the Defy XT. The phone costs $249 — partly to help offset the low monthly price.

However, as of Tuesday, the company is offering a second pricing option for people who would rather pay less up front: $99 for the phone and then $29 a month, unlimited. That’s still a bargain service price. The phone and two service plans are only available online, at republicwireless.com. The company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. And to sweeten the deal, Republic says Motorola will be offering customers a $50 credit at the Google Play online store, where Android owners can buy apps and content.

So what’s the catch? Well, Republic is using an unusual technology approach that’s smart and may even represent the future. But today, it doesn’t deliver the best voice quality and it requires a specially equipped phone. The sole phone that works with the system now is mediocre.

Republic is mostly able to offer such low monthly prices because it’s a Wi-Fi-centric carrier. That means whenever you make a voice call while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network, your Republic phone places it over Wi-Fi rather than using a costlier cellular phone network. The same is true of texts.

You aren’t limited to Wi-Fi calling and texting — the phone can make calls, send texts and connect to the Internet over Sprint’s cellular network, at no extra charge. But Republic believes so many people connect their phones to Wi-Fi so often that most calls and other activity will be conducted over Wi-Fi, saving the company money on payments it makes to Sprint. And it says it has developed a system that properly places 911 calls over Wi-Fi, which has often been a problem.

Wi-Fi phone calls aren’t new, or unique to Republic. You can easily install an app on your iPhone or Android phone that will place calls over the Internet via Wi-Fi, just like Republic. But these apps generally require you to use a separate dialer and have a separate phone number.

Republic’s phone is what it calls a “hybrid” device — the main dialer and text-messaging modules have been configured to work on either Wi-Fi or the cellular network, without the need to launch an app. The phone defaults to Wi-Fi but will place the call over Sprint if it decides the Wi-Fi connection isn’t good enough, or if you manually choose cellular.

In my tests, conducted in and around Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, call quality was adequate, text service worked normally, and Web browsing and apps mostly worked okay, at my home, office and public Wi-Fi hot spots in airports and coffee shops. But there were definite downsides.

First is the phone itself. The Defy XT is a chunky device with a lower-resolution screen than any current iPhone or leading Android model. It comes with only about 2.5 gigabytes of usable storage, compared with a more typical 16GB on other phones, though you can expand the storage by buying a larger memory card. It has a relatively small 3.7-inch display. And when it isn’t on Wi-Fi, it can only use an older-type, slow, 3G network. Plus, it runs a clunky, old version of Android called Gingerbread that was released two years ago.

Republic says it plans to roll out several better phones running current versions of Android and much faster networks, including the best — 4G LTE — starting in late summer.

Second, there’s no seamless handoff between Wi-Fi calls and cellular calls. If you leave a Wi-Fi coverage area, the call drops, and, after a brief but annoying delay, the phone will redial the call over Sprint. Republic says it plans to roll out a feature this summer that will cut the handoff to seconds and make it nearly seamless.

Third is call quality. Wi-Fi calls have come a long way and in my tests, most were adequate, meaning the other person on the call and I could understand each other. But many of my calls had some slight echo effect or occasional clipped words, despite a recent software update intended to fix the problem. There was a noticeable improvement when I made the call on the same phone over Sprint.

The phone even displays a button during calls, called informally “the escape hatch,” which allows you to kill the Wi-Fi call and force the phone to redial the other person over Sprint for no added charge. But in general, I found the Wi-Fi calling acceptable, if not pristine, as long as I wasn’t walking too far away from the Wi-Fi hot spot.

Finally, there’s almost no company-provided customer service. Republic relies on online forums of avid customers — its “community” — to provide help to users with problems. You can get help from an employee through these forums, but that’s not typical.

If you can live with these limitations, Republic Wireless can save you a lot of money.

Email Walt Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com.

I Love You, Man: Gates Lashes Himself to Ballmer Over Microsoft's Mobile "Mistake" (Video)

Kara Swisher — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:41:52 +0000

In a wide-ranging interview with Charlie Rose on “CBS This Morning,” Microsoft Chairman and co-founder Bill Gates made a little news — or a lot of it, if you are a reader of internal tea leaves at the software giant — in noting that the company’s early mobile strategy was “clearly a mistake.”

But, perhaps more interestingly, when asked about the meh performance of Steve Ballmer, who replaced Gates as CEO some years ago, the typically non-diplomatic tech legend declined to throw his longtime confidant over the side.

Instead, he strapped himself to Ballmer, in an orgy of “he-and-I” band-of-brothers statements that clearly linked the duo, even though Rose’s question was specifically about how Ballmer was doing.

“He and I are two of the most self-critical people you can imagine,” said Gates, noting a lot of “amazing things” such as Surface and Xbox in the Ballmer regime. “Is it enough? No, he and I are not satisfied that in terms of breakthrough things that we’re doing everything possible.”

Gates did note the obvious in addressing the slowness of Microsoft in the mobile market over the last several years, which has allowed rivals like Apple and Google to dominate the key sector.

“There’s a lot of things like cellphones where we didn’t get out in the lead early,” said Gates. “We didn’t miss cellphones, but the way that we went about it didn’t allow us to get the leadership.”

No, it did not, but Gates is not blaming Ballmer for it, it seems.

Watch for yourself:

Broadcom Readying Its First LTE Chip, Which It Claims Will Be Smaller Than Rivals'

Ina Fried — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:00:03 +0000

After being stuck in 3G land for a while now, Broadcom said it is getting closer to having a modem chip that supports faster LTE networks.

The chip, which it is sampling now and is set for volume production next year, is said to be a third smaller than many rival chips, while supporting all the key standards and technologies. Among its features is support for voice calls over LTE, as well as a feature to bond together different frequencies that a carrier has into one faster pipeline onto the Internet.

“We think it is going to be a winner,” Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor said in an interview.

Thus far, Qualcomm has dominated the LTE market with its chips, though other chipmakers are starting to enter the market.

“Other people have announced some chips that maybe nibble away at the low end of the market,” McGregor said.

By contrast, Broadcom’s goal is to have a product that can go in the highest-end products.

“The real goal here is to create a product that really is a world chip for the flagship smartphones and tablets,” he said.

Why Some AT&T Customers Aren't Getting Those Wireless Alerts About Nemo

Ina Fried — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:01:29 +0000

Many people in the Northeast have gotten a wireless alert on their cellphone in the last 24 hours, warning of the approaching blizzard.

Brooke Hammerling

However, AT&T customers on some of the latest devices haven’t been getting the messages. That’s because, for now, AT&T can only push the alerts on certain devices running on its older HSPA network, and not on the faster LTE network.

This was evident back when Hurricane Sandy hit last year, and an evacuation alert popped up on a Verizon iPhone 5 but not on an AT&T model in the same room.

AT&T hopes to have the alerts working on the faster network by the end of the year. But that means that, for now, folks will have to hear about the storm from a friend with an older phone, a phone on another network, turning on the TV, or by, say, looking out the window and seeing all that snow.

The alert system, which began last year, allows local, state and federal government agencies to push short messages out in the case of an approaching weather emergency, an Amber Alert or even a presidential decree. (Individual consumers can actually opt out of all but the last.)

All the major carriers and many smaller ones are on board with the program, but not all devices and areas are covered.

As of the end of last year, AT&T said a number of handsets supported the alerts, including several BlackBerry models, Samsung’s Galaxy S II, Galaxy Appeal and Captivate Glide, as well as the Motorola Atrix 2 and some models from Huawei and Alcatel.

The carrier has more information about its support of the system on its website.

For more on the alert system, here’s an interview I did with The Wall Street Journal Radio Network.

Google Designing "X Phone" to Rival Apple, Samsung

Amir Efrati — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:25:30 +0000

Engineers at Motorola are hard at work on a sophisticated handset, to be released next year, that parent Google Inc. hopes will provide more potent competition for devices like Apple Inc.’s iPhone, said people familiar with the matter.

Seven months after being acquired by Google for $12.5 billion, Motorola is designing its marquee handset — known internally as the “X phone” — to stand apart from existing phones, though the company is running into some obstacles, these people said.

The previously undisclosed development effort is a key facet of Google’s strategy for bolstering the miniscule market position of the cellphone pioneer, based partly on bolstering quality while reducing the quantity of Motorola products.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

Bill-Splitting Causing a Splitting Headache? Try These Apps.

Lauren Goode — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 14:00:52 +0000

Splitting bills can get pretty complicated, whether you’re calculating utility costs at home or tallying up what everyone owes for dinner while trying not to look like a total cheapskate.

With this in mind, a few developers have created apps that aim to take the pain out of splitting bills. For the past week I’ve been testing three of these apps: Billr, SplitWise and OpnTab.

All three are available for the iPhone; SplitWise also runs on Android devices. While SplitWise and OpnTab are free, Billr costs 99 cents.

I could immediately see the usefulness of SplitWise, which also has a full-fledged Web component and is geared toward dividing up household bills or big group costs like vacation rentals. OpnTab works similarly, and also offers a PayPal option, so you can actually settle up through the app and not just create a log of who-owes-what. Billr, for splitting dinner bills, lets you send the final tab to friends via text message or email. All of the apps but Billr will keep an ongoing log of the bills for you.

[ See post to watch video ]

I found these apps to be most useful either with recurring household bills, or while out to dinner with a large group when there were big discrepancies in cost (say, if you ordered a salad at dinner while your friend had the filet mignon). Otherwise, I’m not entirely convinced you can’t perform some of these calculations … well, with a calculator.

In fact, when I was using Billr one night to divide up the bill among seven people who each ordered roughly the same items, my friend — not a smartphone devotee — took out her flip phone to demonstrate she could figure out the same thing for us with her phone’s calculator.

But one of the good things about these apps is they can be great excuses when you are saving your pennies. It was easier at times for me to say, “I’m testing out this app — want to try to save some money at the apartment?” than it was to say, “You owe me money.”

And all three apps offer some visibility for people who haven’t actually downloaded the apps. But in most cases, your friend or housemate will have to sign up for the service in order to see the continuous log of bills or fully participate in bill-paying.

Billr, which launched this year, allowed me to split the bill up to 16 ways per bill, one for each person dining, though I never exceeded seven. From there I could enter the value for the items ordered, or pass the app around to let people punch it in. After tax and tip were added it would show how much each person owed.

Then, I could email or text message the final results to my dinner companions.

Despite its simplicity, there were some parts of the app that weren’t immediately clear to me. For example, I didn’t know that where it says Column A, B and so on, I could change the letters to a short name or set of initials. So when I emailed the final bill to a friend, he just saw Column A and B and had no idea which column was his –- and I had forgotten, too.

Also, there is a section of the app for shared items, like an appetizer or bottle of wine, but when I first started using the app I didn’t know that was an option. So I said, “I’ll just pay for the appetizer,” and added it to my column — unnecessarily, as it turns out.

And as I said, Billr at its core does a lot of the same work that your cellphone’s calculator will do. So I’d mostly use Billr for more complex bill-splitting.

SplitWise launched as a Web site in 2011 and came to iPhone and Android phones just a few months ago.

From the SplitWise app I invited my roommate to join a group called “New York Apartment.” Then I added our electricity bill, which could be either one-time or recurring, and a couple of household items I owed her, like a candle and a wine stopper. As part of the test, she said she would pay me if I recorded “Grey’s Anatomy” for her.

Both of us were able to easily use the app and communicate about bills without incident, although she did say she once had trouble uploading an image of a bill. You can also add notes in each line item. And SplitWise’s Web site was great for seeing more details about our exchanges.

But I have two gripes about SplitWise: First off, you can’t actually pay your housemates or friends through it, unlike OpnTab, which uses PayPal.

Second, SplitWise doesn’t always make it clear when bills have been paid. Because SplitWise wants to maintain an ongoing log, it doesn’t eliminate or gray out a bill once it’s paid off, nor does it change the language at all to say “Paid” in the past tense. So at first glance it can appear as though you still owe something even if you told the app you’ve settled your debt.

SplitWise’s creator says the company is aware of this issue and is fixing the app to better reflect a completed payment.

OpnTab might sound like it’s for bar tabs, but it’s more like SplitWise in that it settles household bills. You can also log expense receipts through the app. I didn’t get to test OpnTab quite as much as I did the other two because I actually had some trouble signing up for the app through Facebook Connect — something the company says has happened before, and it’s working on fixing.

Once I did get it going, I created and shared tabs for cable bills, a fictitious Lake Tahoe cabin rental and “that crazy bar tab” (also not real, at least this time around).

While I didn’t find OpnTab on mobile to be particularly well designed, its interface is straightforward. You can see logged expenses, payments sent and payments received. And it has PayPal integration, so you can actually pay friends or housemates using the app.

OpnTab also smartly streamlines the payments process, so if you owe a person for more than one household utility, vacation bill or dinner, it will lump all of them into a single sum for a one-time payment.

Again, if you’re pretty organized and handy with a calculator, you might not need these. But at a low or no cost, apps like these could be the solution you need to focus your attention on your dinner companions or housemates — and not stress about splitting the bills.

Consumer Reports Survey Again Reveals That It Won't Be on AT&T's Christmas Card List

Ina Fried — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:00:36 +0000

Consumer Reports is out with its ratings of cellphone service providers and once again AT&T finds itself at the bottom of the pack while Verizon ranked highest among the big four national carriers.

That’s the same overall conclusion the magazine has been coming to for a while now.

That said, there was some good news for AT&T this year as its high-speed 4G LTE network got the highest marks in the survey, above rival Verizon Wireless whose network has been around longer and covers more places.

Verizon, though, had the top overall score when including voice and data service quality as well as customer-support marks.

Consumer Reports also pointed out that customers looking to save money can often do better by going with a prepaid carrier, even when factoring in the fact people have to pay more initially for their device. Two-thirds of prepaid carrier customers surveyed said they were saving $20 or more each month.

“Some smaller carriers that scored respectably in our Ratings and offer low-priced plans, such as Straight Talk and Virgin Mobile, now offer fairly sophisticated smart phones,” Consumer Reports electronics editor Paul Reynolds said in a statement. “And you can even save by switching a phone from a major carrier that’s coming off contract to a prepaid plan.”

A 23-Year-Old's Tiny Cellphone Start-Up Now Looks to Take on the World

Ina Fried — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:30:31 +0000

Apparently, running his own domestic cellphone service start-up wasn’t enough for 23-year-old John Mardini.

On Wednesday, Mardini is announcing his next goal: Offering low-cost service for users traveling in different parts of the wold. Using a single SIM card, Voyager aims to deliver unlimited data and calling at rates far lower than what is possible via traditional roaming.

To do that, Mardini said Voyager will strike deals with various mobile networks around the world, and also will route international calls as data packets. Mardini said the company hopes to have 20 countries — mostly in Europe — available when the service launches in the first half of next year.

Mardini told AllThingsD that it was this international plan, rather than low-cost U.S. service, that was his main goal in starting Voyager.

“You don’t do anything different on the device,” Mardini said, noting that the phone just shows up as in its home country in any place where Voyager has a deal in place. He said he has applied for a patent on Voyager’s method of handling international roaming.

The service will require a so-called “world phone” that works on Sprint’s network domestically and accepts a SIM card for the international service. Pricing for the phones and service are still being finalized, he said.

After a brief hiccup, the company launched its $39 unlimited domestic service in May. Voyager, which is now selling in about two-thirds of U.S. states, hasn’t said how many customers it has signed up so far.

Mardini is outlining his international plans, known as Project Global Voyager, in a speech Wednesday at a Dallas-area summit for companies like Voyager, known as mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs.

The first generation of such services, which resell time and data on traditional networks, fell flat. However, Voyager is one of a host of intriguing start-ups, a group that includes Ting, Republic Wireless, FreedomPop and others.

“It’s making the word MVNO not a horrible word anymore,” Mardini said of the arrival of so many new companies and business models.

Solavei, which operates on T-Mobile’s network and relies on members signing up other members to spread its service, said earlier this week that it has now signed up 65,000 users since unveiling its plans in July. The company also says it has paid out more than $1 million in commissions to its members.

“Growing 100 percent monthly and paying more than $1 million in commissions in such a short timeframe shows the breadth and scalability of Solavei,” CEO Ryan Wuerch said in a statement.

Sandy Is Also a Perfect Digital Storm -- Google Cancels NYC Android Event

Kara Swisher — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:24:20 +0000

There have been storms before, of course. But few have gotten the kind of massive attention that tropical storm Sandy has gotten well before its expected arrival on Sunday across the Eastern seaboard.

Besides the high likelihood of the intense rain and winds downing power lines that will surely interrupt both cellphone service and Internet access, at least temporarily, the potential weather disaster is also felling a major tech event that was scheduled for Monday in New York: Google’s rollout of new Android products.

The search giant was expected to introduce its Nexus 10 tablet and possibly a new Nexus smartphone made by LG, as well as an updated version of the Android operating system.

But, at this moment, Android bigwig Andy Rubin will still be appearing at our D: Dive Into Mobile conference that is also taking place in Manhattan on Monday and Tuesday. Rubin is currently scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Coincidentally, Microsoft scheduled its Windows Phone 8 event in San Francisco on the same day, which is still on. Weather report for the Bay Area on Monday: 72 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny.

Also: Go Giants!

Wireless Carrier Tries to Make Cellphone Bill Fun

Ina Fried — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:00:56 +0000

Swedish customers of cellphone carrier 3 have access to a new app that is trying to make fun out of a typically un-fun experience — the monthly bill.

The Android and iPhone app, created with design firm Fjord, offers a bunch of different visualizations, including a look at data use by time, and which contacts are gobbling up the most of your minutes.

Customers can also see trends over the past six months, as well as how they compare to a typical customer of the Hutchison Whampoa-owned carrier.

“With My 3, we wanted to do something completely new to help our customers really understand their mobile phone usage,” 3 Sweden VP Johan Gertell said in a statement. “By partnering with Fjord, we have created a beautiful, innovative way to give our customers access to their data and show our commitment to transparency.”

Showing customers how they use their data is a particularly important task for carriers as they aim to shift from unlimited plans to those that require customers to manage a pool of megabytes or gigabytes.

The notion of a gigabyte of data use is far more difficult to understand — let alone track — than the idea of a minute of voice use.

Here’s a video from Fjord showing the app in action.

Ten Ways to Make Your Android Smarter

Katherine Boehret — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 22:10:13 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

Are you getting the most out of Android? You may not know it, but some of the Google operating system’s most useful features may not be in plain view.

This week, I gathered 10 tricks that could make using an Android device easier and more enjoyable. Since only a handful of devices currently run the latest Android operating system, known as Jelly Bean, I focused on features that work on the more prevalent version of Android known as Ice Cream Sandwich. Many of these tips work on devices that run Jelly Bean and some work on earlier versions of Android. Since there are so many Android phone models, names and wording may differ in some of these steps.

1. Easier Keyboarding

To avoid switching from Android’s letter keyboard to its number and symbol keyboard, hold down the period key to see commonly used punctuation marks and symbols. Slide your finger to the menu that appears, lifting it to select the right key.

If you can’t stand tapping on glass to type on a virtual keyboard, try not lifting your fingers as much. Many Android devices come preloaded with Swype, which lets you type by dragging your finger from one letter to the next; lift your finger up when the word ends. It’s remarkably accurate. To see if Swype is running on your device, spell out a word without lifting your finger. If connecting lines don’t appear between each letter, tap and hold the space bar to see the Select Input Method screen and choose Swype. You can still type the old way, tapping one key at a time.

2. Unlock With Your Face

Instead of tracing a pattern on a screen or typing in a PIN, hold your Android device up and stare into its front-facing camera for a second to unlock it. This isn’t as secure as other methods and doesn’t always work, but it can be fun to use. To set this up go to Settings, Security, Screen Lock and choose Face Unlock. Set a backup PIN or pattern to trace for those moments when face detection doesn’t work.

3. Screen Shots Made Simple

Capture a still image of any screen you’re looking at by simultaneously pressing the power button and the volume down button. Find your screen shot in your Gallery under Screenshots or in the Notifications shade, which pulls down from the top of the screen. This feature only works in Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich or later.

4. Manage Screens

In Android, app icons and widgets are organized on several Home screens. There are two ways to rearrange or remove these screens. One way on certain phones is to swipe from right to left to get to the last screen on your phone, tap at the bottom of that last screen (an option may say Manage Pages) and then touch and hold a screen to rearrange its order or remove it. For a shortcut, tap and hold the phone’s Home button for a second to jump directly to this.

5. Shortcut to Contacts

There’s an easier way to get in touch with your favorite people: Pin their faces to a Home screen. Go to All Apps, Widgets, select the Contact widget, which will prompt you to choose a person’s name from your contacts list. That person’s photo and contact information will be pinned to Home, for faster texting, calling and social networking. A Favorite Contacts widget pins four together on the Home screen.

6. Save the Battery With a Widget

Stop digging through menus to quickly turn off features that suck up your battery. One tool will do the trick: the Power Control widget. Find this by opening the All Apps page and tapping Widgets at the top. You may have to flip through a few screens to find the Power Control widget, but when you do, tap and hold it to anchor it on any of your pages. Once this bar is on a page, it will let you tap once to turn five features on or off: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, automatic account syncing (for Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and others) and screen brightness (low, medium, high or auto).

7. Auto-Update Apps

Avoid the nagging update notices that appear in your drop-down Notifications shade and set your apps to automatically update as updates become available. If you’re worried about conserving data, set this to update only over Wi-Fi. Open the Google Play store, Settings, Auto-Update Apps by Default and check the Wi-Fi option.

All photos and videos that you capture on your device can be automatically saved to a private folder in Google+ called Instant Upload.

8. Sync Photos and Videos on the Go

If you’ve signed up for Google’s social network, Google+, you can automatically save any photos or videos you capture on your device to a private (by default) folder in Google+ called Instant Upload. See these back at your desktop by accessing Google+ and looking at Photos, Instant Upload. (Videos are there, too.) Conserve data usage by adjusting when these photos and videos get uploaded, like only in Wi-Fi or only when the device is plugged in and charging. Adjust these settings from your mobile device in Google+, Settings, Instant Upload.

9. Smarter Web Browsing

Google’s Chrome browser comes preloaded on Android devices and works on PC or Mac computers, iPads, iPhones and other devices. If you own a few devices and use Chrome on each, instantly access the tabs you left open on one from another device by tapping Menu, Other Devices and tapping on an opened website in another device’s list of opened tabs. Browse in Chrome without leaving any history by using Incognito Mode on your Android mobile device. Turn this on in Menu, New Incognito Tab.

10. Back Up and Restore Settings, Apps

If you’re upgrading from one Android device to another, you can start using your new device with your old settings and apps if you follow these steps.

First, on the old device, go to Settings, Privacy Settings (for devices running Android version 2) or Settings, Backup and Reset (for devices running Android version 4 or 5). Place a check mark beside the Back Up My Data option. Give it a few minutes to back up and then when you start the new Android device, a setup option will let you restore settings and apps from backup.

Write to Katherine Boehret at katie.boehret@wsj.com

So Many Phones to Pick From, and I Had to Steal the Mot-Ebola

John Paczkowski — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:07:31 +0000

No need for any further deliberation: We have our 2012 Darwin Award winner. An opportunistic thief who stole a cellphone from a Ugandan hospital has gotten a particularly nasty comeuppance: The Ebola virus. His big mistake was taking the device from a patient in the Ebola isolation ward. That patient has since died, and now the thief, in an epic instant-karma smackdown, is back in the same hospital for treatment.

Galaxy Quest: One Phone Aimed at All Networks

Walter S. Mossberg — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 04:04:04 +0000

While smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system collectively outsell Apple’s iPhone, no single Android phone has risen to become a giant hit the way the iPhone has. Instead, there has been a profusion of often-confusing models with mostly forgettable names and design tweaks dictated by mobile carriers.

[ See post to watch video ]

Now, Samsung, the leader in Android smartphones, is aiming to change that. It is rolling out a single new flagship model, with the same design and features, on all four major U.S. wireless carriers this month and next.

I’ve been testing this new phone, the Samsung Galaxy S III, for several days, using variants for Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T. The phones, which come in white and a dark blue, are indistinguishable externally except for the carriers’ names printed on the rear. Inside, they are also identical, except for the technical underpinnings needed to work on the different networks, and some app icons preloaded by each carrier.

Like other new Android phones, this Galaxy S sports a huge screen—4.8 inches—and an 8 megapixel rear camera. But it’s thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4S, even though the latter has a 3.5-inch screen. So the Samsung feels a bit smaller than it is. Prices will start at $200 with a two-year contract. The phone runs the latest version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich.

You can bump two Galaxy S III phones together to transfer content and do other things to share files.

Based on my tests, I consider the Galaxy S III a very good phone, and a strong competitor for the iPhone and for other leading Android models. In every major feature area, such as voice calling, Web browsing, and photography, it performed very well. I can recommend it to people who would like a much bigger screen than Apple offers, who prefer Android, or who are attracted by some of its secondary features, like new ways of sharing content.

However, the Galaxy S III lacks any game-changing capabilities and is instead packed with a dizzying array of minor new tricks that users will turn to frequently. There are so many of these that it can take hours to learn and configure them. I had the strong impression Samsung’s designers failed to focus and just threw in as many technical twists as they could, some of which didn’t work very well.

One feature that Samsung touts lets you share, in real time, photos you take at an event—like a party. It sounds cool, but it only functions with friends who also have the Galaxy S III. And all participants have to go into settings, turn on a special kind of Wi-Fi and then tap on a series of on-screen buttons, a process that kind of drains the spontaneity.

The first carriers to offer the phone will be T-Mobile and Sprint, followed by AT&T, and then, early next month, Verizon Wireless. Sprint, Verizon and AT&T are selling the 16-gigabyte model for $200 with a two-year contract, but T-Mobile is selling it starting at $280, after a $50 rebate, if you buy its most common “classic” data plan. Service plans are similar to those on other smartphones. A pricier 32-GB model is available, except at AT&T.

One concern about any Android phone is whether it can be upgraded to the coming versions of the operating system. Unlike Apple, Google doesn’t control this—handset makers and carriers do. And only a small percentage of Android phones currently run the latest version. Samsung couldn’t assure me the Galaxy S III would be able to work with the next couple of versions of Android, since it hasn’t tested them yet on the device. But it said it left extra memory inside to fit a larger OS.

On the major criteria, the Galaxy S III is mostly a winner. The screen is sharp and vivid, avoiding the over-saturation I’ve seen on some other recent Samsung devices. The sound is good, and the on-screen keyboard and dictation worked as expected.

Voice calls on all three phones were clear and didn’t drop. Data speeds varied by network. In the Washington, D.C., suburbs, I got about 13 megabits per second download speeds on the AT&T and T-Mobile versions, and much less on the Sprint version.

The camera worked well and has nice features, like a “best photo” mode, which quickly fires eight times, then suggests the series’ best shot. When recording video, you can simultaneously take a still picture.

My only big concern was battery life. I didn’t do a formal test, but all three phones had only about half of their battery capacity left by midday, despite a feature that supposedly can detect your eyes looking at the screen and keep it bright only when you’re doing so.

Then there are the secondary features. You can broadcast a presentation or photos to groups of devices that use Samsung’s sharing software, bump two Galaxy S III phones together to transfer content and do other things to share files. I tested them all and most worked only some of the time and took some setup.

You can also dial someone with whom you’re texting simply by bringing the phone to your ear. This worked for me, but not always.

Finally, Samsung has its own version of Siri—the voice-controlled assistant on the iPhone—called S Voice. In fact, it does more than Siri. It can launch apps and turn Wi-Fi on or off. Like Siri, it doesn’t always work.

The Galaxy S III is a solid, capable phone. But its most important feature may be ubiquity.

Email Walt at mossberg@wsj.com.

Talking Less, Paying More for Voice

Greg Bensinger — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 09:30:31 +0000

The largest U.S. wireless carriers are working on ways to keep their customers paying up for something they do less and less — making phone calls.

In a sea change for consumer behavior, the amount of time spent making old-fashioned voice calls has fallen every year since Apple Inc. introduced the iPhone in 2007. The rub for carriers is that voice billings still account for about two-thirds of what they charge cellphone customers every month.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

Voyager Mobile, a 22-Year-Old's Cellphone Start-Up, Launches After Delay

Ina Fried — Sun, 20 May 2012 18:18:03 +0000

An attack on his Web site pushed things out a few days, but John Mardini says Voyager Mobile is now ready to take orders for cut-rate cellphone service.

Mardini, a 22-year-old entrepreneur and New York University student, is reselling devices and services from Sprint. In fact, Sprint is handling most facets of the business, aside from sales and marketing.

That’s a good thing, since Voyager Mobile consists of about seven employees, mostly family and friends. But though Mardini is only 22, this is his third start-up, having already built up businesses in music equipment and IT services.

Mardini says the goal with Voyager is to offer customers low monthly prices. Voyager is pitching $19 (plus taxes) a month for unlimited talking and texting, and $39 (plus taxes) for talking, texting and Web use.

“I pay so much for my cellphone,” Mardini said in an interview last week. “I was thinking there has to be a better way to make it cheaper for everyone.”

The company was all set to start taking orders on Tuesday, but the Web-site issues forced a few days’ delay.

Things are up and running now, with Voyager offering a range of prepaid devices, including a pair of Android phones at $219 and Samsung’s Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch for $549.

Your Smartphone as Superman: 86 Percent Use Phones for “Just-in-Time” Situations

Lauren Goode — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:39:55 +0000

Many mobile phone owners use their devices for non-urgent purposes like gaming (an addiction to Draw Something doesn’t qualify as urgent). But a huge chunk of U.S. consumers are using their cellphones and smartphones for more pressing needs — something Pew Internet Research is calling the “just-in-time” phenomenon.

A new Pew survey of more than 2,200 U.S. adults shows that 70 percent of all cellphone owners and 86 percent of smartphone owners say they’ve used their phones in the past 30 days to access immediate information, solve a problem or get help in an emergency.

The fact that cellphones and smartphones are being used as need-it-now devices really isn’t that surprising, since they put the world’s trove of information in our pockets. What’s more interesting is how those situations are categorized — something the mobile ad industry might want to pay heed to.

The majority of those surveyed — 41 percent — say they’ve used their phones for the basic task of coordinating meetings or get-togethers.

That outweighs the number of people who say they’ve used their phones to look up a restaurant (30 percent), check sports scores (23 percent) and get transit information (20 percent).

Less than one-fifth of those surveyed said they’ve used their phone in an emergency situation in the past 30 days, which is probably a good thing.

Another interesting tidbit: Despite the fact that slightly more women than men now own smartphones, as my AllThingsD colleague Ina Fried reports, men who own mobile phones are more likely than women to look up information during an argument. Some 31 percent of men admit to doing this, compared with 22 percent of women.

Could this be because women are less likely to experience memory loss? Just saying …

(Image courtesy of Flickr/Brenderous)

Sprint's Virgin Mobile Tries "Open Enrollment" for Cellphone Insurance

Ina Fried — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:18:44 +0000

Although Virgin Mobile normally requires those who want to insure their cellphone to do so when they buy the device, the prepaid carrier is offering its customers a second chance. The company is running an “open enrollment” through the end of May, allowing any customer to sign up for a $5-per-month program that covers loss, theft and damage.

JuiceTank Aims to Juice Up Your Phone, Without a Cord

Lauren Goode — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:40:32 +0000

Smartphone ownership and the app economy might both be booming, but that doesn’t mean phone batteries are always up to the task. And the problem was underscored at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin last week, when some conference attendees complained that the new batch of social apps were draining the juice from their phones.

A new project being funded through Kickstarter is aimed at providing a short-term wireless solution to the power-drainage problem, with an iPhone case that’s got the plugs plugged in.

The nifty rubberized JuiceTank case, created by New York-based entrepreneurs Jesse Pliner and Lloyd Gladstone, comes with a wall charger built into the back of the case. The prongs fold flat to the side, making it easy to slide into a pocket. And with prototypes of the device weighing 3 ounces or less, it’s lightweight, too.

Since putting the JuiceTank up last week on Kickstarter, the popular online platform where people can pledge money to support projects in the works, nearly 529 people together have pledged nearly $26,000. The company has set a goal of $125,000, which it has to reach within the next 54 days in order for the backers to bring their product to market.

If it makes it to market, the expected retail price of the JuiceTank will be $55. Other battery-boosting iPhone cases, like the ones made by Mophie, can range in price from $20 to around $100.

Right now, the case is just for iPhones, and has only been designed in black, but the company plans to produce other colors (white, they say, has been a top request).

The “Juicers” acknowledge that it’s tough to fit an iPhone into some spaces around electrical outlets, so they’ve also built in a USB microport, in the event that users have a cord with them and can plug in that way. Pliner and Gladstone are also working on designing the next iteration of JuiceTank: A case that, like a Mophie pack, combines the plug with a rechargeable energy supply.

If the project is funded, the company anticipates that the first JuiceTank case will ship in July. They say they hope to have the combo case available by fall 2012.

Not Surprisingly, U.S. Teens Are Texting More, Talking Less

Lauren Goode — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:32:29 +0000

ICYMI, teens are totes texting more.

And texting is increasingly becoming the communication application of choice for teens, while actually talking on the phone is on the decline.

The not-entirely-surprising data comes from the latest Pew Internet Research Center report, which included responses from nearly 800 U.S. teens, ages 12 to 17.

The study showed that the average number of texts sent by teens of all ages on a typical day rose from 50 a day to 60 a day between 2009 and 2011. Older teens, ages 14 to 17, showed an even greater increase, from a median of 60 texts a day in 2009 to a hundred texts a day in 2011.

And while 30 percent of teens said in 2009 that they used a landline to speak with friends, only 14 percent now say they talk on a landline daily. A third say they never use a landline (the study didn’t seem to offer data on those who asked, “What’s a landline?”). Even talking to friends on cellphones is edging down, from 38 percent in 2009 to just 26 percent in 2011.

Interestingly, though, the biggest texters were also the heaviest talkers, signaling that teens who are into their cellphones … are really into their cellphones.

In general, more teens now own some type of mobile device. Some 77 percent of U.S. teens now own some kind of cellphone, up 2 percent from a couple years ago. There’s no real difference in gender, it turns out, with boys and girls equally as likely to own cellphones, but younger boys — ages 12 and 13 — are the least likely to be early (early) adopters of cellphones.

Most teens are still using basic phones: Some 23 percent of those surveyed own smartphones, compared to 54 percent who own basic cellphones. But the patterns are shifting increasingly toward smartphones, especially among older teens.

Of course, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree: Just under half of U.S. adults now own smartphones, according to this recent report, outnumbering adults who own feature phones by 5 percent.

The new Pew study also shows that teens with parents who have higher education levels are more likely to own cellphones; teens in the ’burbs and teens who are very active on social media are also more likely to have mobile devices, Pew reports.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr/Ei Katsumata)

Jamming Annoying Cellphone Talkers, Though Appealing, Remains Illegal

Ina Fried — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:50:04 +0000

If you have ever been on a bus or train with someone loudly yammering on their cellphone, the appeal of a device that could block their signal is undeniable.

Well, the Federal Communications Commission would like to take this opportunity to remind you that such products remain illegal, regardless of their obvious appeal.

“In recent days, there have been various press reports about commuters using cellphone jammers to create a ‘quiet zone’ on buses or trains,” Enforcement Bureau Chief Michele Ellison said in a statement. “We caution consumers that it is against the law to use a cell or GPS jammer or any other type of device that blocks, jams, or interferes with authorized communications, as well as to import, advertise, sell, or ship such a device.”

The agency said it has undertaken 20 enforcement actions against online retailers in 12 states for illegally marketing such jamming devices.

“The FCC Enforcement Bureau has a zero tolerance policy in this area and will take aggressive action against violators,” Ellison said.

If only there were a zero-tolerance policy against loudly sharing embarrassing personal details with an entire bus.

House Bill Would Require Cellphone Owners Be Notified of Tracking Software

Ina Fried — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:50:43 +0000

A new bill before Congress would require cellphone makers and carriers to let consumers know what software, if any, is installed to track their behavior.

Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey said on Monday that he had drafted a bill requiring device makers and others to inform consumers of what software is installed or added to their phones.

The move comes after last year’s uproar surrounding Carrier IQ software installed on various devices on behalf of cellular providers.

“Consumers have the right to know and to say no to the presence of software on their mobile devices that can collect and transmit their personal and sensitive information,” Markey said in a statement.

A number of carriers and device makers have backed away from supporting or using Carrier IQ, including Apple and Sprint. Carrier IQ has also defended its practices.

As drafted, the bill would require consumers to be notified when they buy a device about what monitoring software is installed; and to be told if the device maker, carrier or operating-system provider later installs such software, or if a downloaded app also includes tracking software.

Consumers would be told what type of information is collected, how it will be used and to whom it is provided. Cellphone owners would have to give consent, and any parties getting the information would be required to have policies in place to protect the information.

I’ve sent notes to the major carriers, device makers and mobile operating system vendors to see if they have anything to say about the new bill. A representative of the CTIA, a cellphone industry trade association, said the group had no position or comment.

More Than 50 Percent of U.S. Adults Used Cellphone for Holiday Shopping

Lauren Goode — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:44:26 +0000

A new report from Pew Research Center says that more than 50 percent of U.S. adult cellphone owners surveyed used their devices for shopping purposes while they were in a store this past holiday season. Some 38 percent of cellphone owners called a friend for purchasing advice; 24 percent looked up online product reviews; and 25 percent used their phones to try to find better deals elsewhere or online. In early January, IBM Research reported that mobile shopping in December 2011 doubled from the same holiday shopping period the year before.