The problems kicked off this morning when Amazon started sending emails to select Kindle owners, alerting them to a free trial of “The Kindle Compass.”

In the email, Amazon failed to explain what “The Kindle Compass” was, and worse, implied that customers would be charged for it going forward.

An Amazon spokesperson said a second letter has been sent this evening, explaining that “The Kindle Compass” is a pilot project, and apologizing for any confusion over the price. “We built it to always be free for customers, and you will never be charged for it,” the company told its customers.

Still, the response comes hours after much of the damage had already been done.

Angry customers flooded Kindle forums, posting more than 100 complaints to topics called “Where is Kindle Compass Magazine?” and “Auto-Subscription to the Kindle Compass??”

The confusion was understandable.

In the original message, Amazon misled consumers about the terms: “If you enjoy your free trial, do nothing and your subscription will automatically continue at the monthly subscription rate.”

However, no rate was ever mentioned.

Even worse, those who contacted Amazon customer service said the reps weren’t familiar with the publication, so the best they could do was help them to unsubscribe to ensure they would not be charged. At this point, people are still confused as to what “The Kindle Compass” is all about.

A spokesperson did not return emails asking for more clarity on what the publication is, and it’s unclear how many customers were affected (not all Kindle owners received the email).

In the forums, the complaints centered on two concerns: That Amazon would sign them up for something they did not knowingly subscribe to, and that they may be charged for it.

One consumer, who used the name “Susabelle”, wrote: “I am absolutely APPALLED. Amazon, you should be completely ashamed of yourself!! An auto-subscription to a publication I’ve NEVER heard of, that you will be auto-billing me for after 14 days? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND??”

Here is the apology Amazon sent to consumers this evening:

This morning we sent you an email regarding The Kindle Compass, a new free publication built by the Kindle editorial team that we’re piloting to a small number of Kindle customers.

This email incorrectly referred to The Kindle Compass as a subscription with a free trial. We built it to always be free for customers, and you will never be charged for it. We apologize for any confusion.

If you wish to unsubscribe from the pilot for The Kindle Compass you can do so from a link in the last section of the magazine, or from the Manage Your Kindle Subscriptions page at www.amazon.com/manageyourkindlesubscriptions.

Responding to Fire owners who have been griping about the device’s poor scrolling, slow Web browsing experience and lack of security and parental controls, Amazon told the New York Times that a fix is in the works. In less than two weeks, the company will roll out an over-the-air update designed to improve the Fire’s performance and address complaints about its multitouch navigation.

That may well be enough to satisfy some ornery Fire owners, though perhaps not all. The Fire page on Amazon.com shows an unusually high number of poor reviews right now; there are quite a few feature complaints about both software and hardware. Amazon may be able to address the former with an OTA update, but it can’t really do much about the latter. New software might fix the Fire’s jittery scrolling, but it can’t add an external volume button or move the Fire’s power switch to a better position. Nor can it easily fix the “fat finger” problem that usability guru Jakob Nielsen recently warned could be the device’s downfall.

In other words: UP does mean having to say you’re sorry.

Jawbone’s CEO, Hosain Rahman, said the company has found an issue with two specific capacitors in the wristband’s power system that affects the ability to hold a charge; Jawbone is also working on an issue with syncing related to the band’s hardware.

The company reassured users that the problems are performance-related and don’t pose safety risks.

If customers are unhappy with the UP, they can also receive a full refund for it — and keep the (possibly nonfunctional) one they’ve got. Jawbone said the refund program will go into effect starting tomorrow.

The Jawbone UP, a $99 wristband that monitors users’ activity and plugs directly into an iPhone to send data to an app, first hit the market a month ago and initially received positive reviews for its wearable form factor and ease of use. Within a short time, though, some customers alleged that the device wouldn’t hold a battery charge; there were also complaints about syncing issues and the fact that the cap at the end of the band falls off easily. The product is the first foray into the health-and-fitness market for Jawbone, which is known for its nifty audio products.

Full text of the Jawbone letter below:

Update from the CEO
The UP No Questions Asked Guarantee

To the UP Community:

Earlier this year, we unveiled Jawbone’s vision to help people live a healthier life with UP. We’ve been thrilled by the passionate response to this product. We heard from tens of thousands of you through emails, tweets, blog posts and on our forums about how you’re changing your lifestyle and becoming consumers of your own health. In just four weeks, UP users have collectively taken over three billion steps, gotten more than 300 years of sleep and captured hundreds of thousands of meals.

While many of you continue to enjoy the UP experience, we know that some of you have experienced issues with your UP band. Given our commitment to delivering the highest quality products, this is unacceptable and you have our deepest apologies. We’ve been working around the clock to identify the root causes and we’d like to thank everyone who has provided us with information and returned their bands to us for troubleshooting. With your help, we’ve found an issue with two specific capacitors in the power system that affects the ability to hold a charge in some of our bands. We’re also fixing an issue with syncing related to the band hardware. Typically, these issues surface within the first seven to ten days of use. The glitches are purely performance related and do not pose any safety risk.

We’ve also received helpful feedback on the application experience, including bug reports, ways to make signup and finding friends easier, user interface suggestions and new feature requests. Your comments are invaluable as we continue to improve, so please keep them coming and check back frequently for updates to ensure you’re always enjoying the latest features and enhancements.

We recognize that this product has not yet lived up to everyone’s expectations – including our own – so we’re taking action:

The UP No Questions Asked Guarantee

This means that for whatever reason, or no reason at all, you can receive a full refund for UP. This is true even if you decide to keep your UP band. We are so committed to this product that we’re offering you the option of using it for free.

The program starts December 9th and full details can be found at http://www.jawbone.com/uprefund.

For most of you, this program is simply meant to offer peace of mind. Please continue to enjoy your UP band and keep sharing your experience with us. If you encounter any problems with your UP band, contact Jawbone directly for your choice of a replacement and/or refund under this program. It’s that simple.

Jawbone remains deeply committed to addressing all issues with UP, investing in the category and giving our customers the tools to live a healthier life. We’ve temporarily paused production of UP bands and will begin taking new orders once these issues have been sorted out. In the meantime, we’ll continue to release app updates for existing users.

We regret any disappointment we’ve created for our community of users and appreciate the trust you’ve put in us. The fact that you’ve taken the time to talk with us and help us make a better product is simply phenomenal. Our customers have always been part of our team and we’re incredibly grateful for that.

Please know that we’re doing – and will continue to do – everything we can to make things right. This is just the beginning for UP and we are excited to keep improving until we realize the powerful vision of what this category can be.

If there is absolutely anything else we can do for you, please let us know.

Hosain Rahman
CEO
Jawbone

Little more than a month after the bungled launch of Buzz and the company has already accumulated quite a pile of complaints over breaches in consumer privacy that went along with it.

In February, the Electronic Privacy Information Center asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Buzz, claiming it violates federal consumer protection law.

A few weeks later, outgoing FTC commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour publicly decried Buzz’s rollout as “irresponsible” and accused Google of attempting to “stretch the privacy envelope.”

Now, a group of eleven U.S. lawmakers from the House Energy and Commerce Committee is calling upon the FTC to investigate Buzz as well.

“We are writing to express our concern over claims that Google’s ‘Google Buzz’ social networking tool breaches online consumer privacy and trust,” the group said in a letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “Due to the high number of individuals whose online privacy is affected by tools like this–either directly or indirectly–we feel that these claims warrant the commission’s review of Google’s public disclosure of personal information of consumers through Google Buzz.”

The letter continues by suggesting the FTC ask the following four questions to Google:

1. How will Google revise the Gmail privacy policy, notify consumers, and obtain consent for this change in the company’s privacy practices?
2. Since Google Buzz was launched on Feb. 9, 2010, how many consumers are deactivated or opted out of the Google Buzz services?
3. To what extent does Google use the consumer information collected through Buzz and other Google services for the purposes of delivering online advertising?
4. If the Commission approves Google’s acquisition of AdMob, to what extent will the combined entity use the consumer information collected through other Google products and services for the purposes of delivering advertising?

The answers to these questions would, I’m sure, be quite telling. Not that Google (GOOG) is particularly interested in answering them. Why would the company when it seems so confident that it has already resolved the issues in question?

Said a Google spokesperson: “User choice and transparency are top of mind for us. When we realized that we had unintentionally made users unhappy, we worked quickly to make immediate changes.”

[Image credit: Asaf Hanuka, Tropical Toxic]

The way Google (GOOG) handled the Buzz rollout was “irresponsible,” said Harbour. “Google constantly tells the public to ‘just trust us,’” she said. “But based on my observations, I do not believe consumer privacy played any significant role in the release of Buzz….When Gmail users created their accounts, they signed up for e-mail services. Their expectations did not include social networking.”

Indeed, they did not, as evidenced by the breadth and volume of the outcry over the service. And while Google, to its credit, quickly adjusted Buzz to address privacy complaints, the fact that it had to do so at all is cause for concern. Publicly exposing user data first and addressing questions about the exposure later is poor form and sets a lousy precedent.

Said Harbour: “Technology companies are learning harmful lessons from each other’s attempts to stretch the privacy envelop. Even the most respected and popular online companies, those who say they respect privacy, insist on launching products where the guiding privacy policy seems to be, ‘Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.’”

Tough to argue with this given what we saw with Buzz, though I’m sure Google will try. I’ve asked the company for comment and will update here if I hear back.

UPDATE: Google spokesman Brian Richardson just called in with the following statement: “User choice and transparency are top of mind for us. When we realized that we had unintentionally made users unhappy, we worked quickly to make immediate changes.”

[Image credit: Asaf Hanuka, Tropical Toxic]

Read the rest of this post on the original site

As I write, there are some 270 pages of comments and complaints about the issue on Apple’s support forums. Meanwhile, rumors are circulating that Apple has halted production of the 27-inch iMac until it can resolve its display issues.

“Given our high smartphone numbers, double our closest peer, in both markets, we have large population centers, very sophisticated users with high expectations, and very high volumes,” John Stankey, president and CEO, AT&T Operations said during the call.

“For example, in the dense areas of New York City, there are periods during the week when nearly 70% of the devices active on the network are data-intensive handsets. So, raising performance levels in these two markets is the organization’s top priority. We’re putting all the resources available against the issue and we’re closing the gap.”

Okay, great. What does that mean? Between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 capital expenditures–approximately $2 billion of it for additional wireless network and back-haul investment, for one thing. For another, 2,000 new cell sites. Finally, the company is upgrading existing cell sites with fiber for better 3G speeds.

Now, a few more NYC-SF specifics from Stankey:

We’re adding third and fourth radio network carriers to maximize capacity on available spectrum. In Manhattan specifically, now that we have scalable cell site controllers in place throughout most of the island, we’re intensely focused on putting more radio capacity on the street. We’ll increase the amount of 3G spectrum and radio capacity by one-third in high volume areas of the island by the end of the first quarter.

While we are through the majority of our zoning challenges in the Bay area, we’ll continue to work the remaining issues we have in parts of the Financial District and a handful of other locations to final resolution. We’re adding cell towers; and over the coming months, we’re building and upgrading high-capacity antenna systems to boost performance in high-traffic areas like stadiums, convention centers, and public transportation routes.

So will be see significant improvement in both markets in the coming months? Perhaps. Certainly, AT&T is suggesting we can expect one. And, as Stankey noted this morning, “Today a dollar in wireless investment yields twice the capacity than it did a year ago.” Let’s hope so–especially in markets like New York and San Francisco.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Apple COO: Leave AT&T Alone
• If You Think AT&T Has Network Problems Now, Just You Wait
• AT&T 3G Improving–If You Can Get a Signal
• Admitting You Have a Problem Is the First Step, AT&T
• Usage-Based Data Pricing: The Solution to AT&T’s iPhone Problems?
• AT&T Ranked Last in Consumer Reports’ Best Cellphone Service Survey
• Apple Joins AT&T/Verizon Spat With New iPhone Ads
• AT&T Awarded Hug and a Box of Tissues in Verizon Ad Case
• Time to Cut AT&T Some Slack, iPhone Users?
• Thanks, iPhone: 2,000 Percent Increase in Bay Area Data Traffic Since 2008, Says AT&T
• Verizon to AT&T: Do Yourself a Favor and Shut Up
• Frosty’s Winter Litigation Wonderland: AT&T Demands Verizon Pull Holiday iPhone Ads
• Verizon Banishes iPhone to Island of Misfit Toys
• Verizon on AT&T Suit: There’s a Word for That. “Junk
• Verizon to iPhone Users: “Want Five Times More 3G Coverage? There’s a Map for That.”
• iPhone Owners Would Like to Replace Battery, AT&T

Not a week after the device’s debut, Google’s support forums are rife with complaints from Nexus One owners who are clearly not getting the level of customer support they expect.

Like most other Google (GOOG) offerings, Nexus One support is self-help driven–FAQs, troubleshooting guides and email forms offered with this earnest caveat: “in most cases you won’t receive a personal response.”

That might fly with folks availing themselves of free Google services like search and email, but it doesn’t with those who’ve just spent between $179 and $529 on a new superphone. Buyers expect their devices to work properly out of the box, and if they don’t, they expect their complaints to be approached with at least a modicum of urgency, preferably by a human.

But that’s not the experience Google is currently offering Nexus One users. As PC World pointed out earlier today:

If you buy a Nexus One manufactured by HTC, directly from Google’s Web site, and use it with T-Mobile’s wireless network–who do you call when you have a problem? Google is only accepting support requests via e-mail, and users are getting bounced between T-Mobile and HTC as neither seems equipped to answer complaints, or willing to accept responsibility for supporting the Nexus One.

So while Google’s new Nexus One distribution paradigm might excel in versatility and simplicity, it fails when it comes to support. Which isn’t all that surprising, I suppose. Google was never really set up to provide customer service. That said, you’d think that a company that takes great pride in improving things and making them accessible and useful, would have made more of an effort to do the same for Nexus One customer service.

Did Google launch the Nexus One with a half-assed customer-service solution? I put a variation of this question to the company and here’s what I was told:

What, exactly, was your customer support solution at launch? I’d assumed that you would initially pay the carriers to handle support, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
We developed a dedicated, comprehensive Google customer support team for the Nexus One. Our support site can be found at google.com/phone/support, which has pointers to our help center, where there is lots of troubleshooting information. HTC provides telephone support for device troubleshooting and warranty, repairs, and returns. Google also offers self-help through our help center, user-to-user help through forums, and email support to customers who are unable to find answers to their questions online. We promise to answer email inquiries within 48 hours. T-Mobile USA fields calls regarding their service (including service billing inquiries).

Why was this solution chosen?
Solving customer support issues is extremely important to us, because we want people to have a positive Nexus One experience. Therefore, we felt this was the best approach to quickly resolve any customer support inquiries.

We felt this was the best approach to quickly resolve any customer support inquiries.

Really? Hard to believe that “we promise to answer email inquiries within 48 hours” is “the best approach.” Clearly, it’s not.

Google VP of Engineering Andy Rubin conceded as much during an onstage interview with Walt Mossberg last Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show: “We have to get better at customer service,” Rubin said. “We have to close that three-day gap [in response time] to a couple of hours.”

Video clip: Andy Rubin on Nexus One customer service issues.

That’s great to hear, but it doesn’t really explain why the gap exists in the first place or why Google felt comfortable launching with it.

So what’s the plan going forward? Says a Google spokesperson: “We are working quickly to solve any customer support issues as they come up, and we are trying to be as open and transparent as possible through our online customer help forums. We’ll continue to address all issues in as timely of a manner as possible, and we’re flexible and prepared to make changes to our processes and tools, as necessary, for an optimal customer support experience.”

Doesn’t sound like much of a plan to me. You?

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20100112/decent-nexus-one-customer-support-apparently-not-on-list-of-things-google-plans-to-make-universally-accessible-and-useful/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091214/blink-different/ http://allthingsd.com/20091214/blink-different/#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:00:55 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=30751 According to NPD, Apple’s new 27-inch iMac has been among the best-selling desktop machines these past few months. Evidently, it is the most problem-plagued as well. As I write this, there are 82 pages of complaints about the machine on Apple’s support site, all from customers who claim the displays on their 27-inch iMacs flicker or otherwise distort sporadically (see video below).

It’s interesting, then, to learn that Apple is delaying shipment of both its 27-inch iMac models by two weeks. That seems an ill-timed postponement, one that will likely push many orders past the Christmas holiday.

Reached for comment, Apple (AAPL) offered little in the way of explanation: “The new iMac has been a huge hit and we are working hard to fulfill orders as quickly as possible,” a company spokesperson told me. “We apologize for any inconvenience or delay in delivery this may cause our customers.” He did not address issues with the machine’s display or reports that they might be responsible for the two-week shipping delay.

So it’s not entirely clear what’s going on here. It could be that Apple is delaying shipment of the 27-inch machines until it resolves display issues. Or it could also be that demand for the machine is so great, Apple simply can’t keep up with it. If the former, this is a potential blow to the company, which could see holiday sales adversely affected. If the latter, Apple may be headed for another blowout quarter. We won’t know the answer until Apple tells us or until it next reports quarterly earnings.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091214/blink-different/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091207/admitting-you-have-a-problem-is-the-first-step-att/ http://allthingsd.com/20091207/admitting-you-have-a-problem-is-the-first-step-att/#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:15:55 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=30385 AT&T is finally owning up to the poor wireless coverage of which it is often accused. Monday, the company released an iPhone application that lets users report subpar network performance. Called Mark the Spot (iTunes link), the app uses geolocation to pinpoint the iPhone’s location and offers users a menu of complaints from which to choose: Dropped call, failed call, no coverage, data failure, and poor data quality. That information is then passed on to AT&T’s (T) operations team, which uses it to fine-tune network performance.

A welcome and proactive move for AT&T, which has been just murdered by widespread complaints about the quality, coverage and speed of its network lately. That said, it is somewhat remarkable to learn that AT&T isn’t really sure of where, exactly, the holes in its network are.

Hey, AT&T, can you hear me now?

PREVIOUSLY:

• AT&T, Verizon Drop “There’s a Map for That” Suits
• AT&T Awarded Hug and a Box of Tissues in Verizon Ad Case
• Verizon to AT&T: Do Yourself a Favor and Shut Up
• Frosty’s Winter Litigation Wonderland: AT&T Demands Verizon Pull Holiday iPhone Ads [With Full Complaint]
• Verizon Banishes iPhone to Island of Misfit Toys
• Verizon on AT&T Suit: There’s a Word for That. “Junk.”
• Verizon to iPhone Users: “Want Five Times More 3G Coverage? There’s a Map for That.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091207/admitting-you-have-a-problem-is-the-first-step-att/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091201/att-ranked-last-in-consumer-reports-best-cell-phone-service-survey/ http://allthingsd.com/20091201/att-ranked-last-in-consumer-reports-best-cell-phone-service-survey/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:15:29 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=29974 The annual survey of wireless customer satisfaction from Consumer Reports hits the streets this week and it doesn’t have much good to say about AT&T. In a canvass of more than 50,000 readers spanning 26 U.S. cities, the organization found the carrier had the lowest customer-satisfaction rating in 19 cities surveyed; Verizon ranked highest.

To hear that AT&T (T) ranked dead last in customer satisfaction in high-profile markets like New York and San Francisco isn’t all that surprising. New Yorkers often carp about dropped AT&T calls, and complaints about lousy service in the Bay Area are legion.

But to find that the carrier placed last in 17 other cities as well suggests that AT&T’s shortcomings are more widespread than the carrier would have us believe and not simply the product of a high concentration of iPhones in the country’s larger cities.

As Pali analyst Walter Piecyk wrote in an investor note this morning, “We believe it has been an elitist investor view that only a few high profile AT&T markets are having problems on the theory that only ‘tech savvy’ residents of coastal cities would find enough use in the iPhone to impact the quality of AT&T’s network.”

It certainly would appear that way. With low marks for several key indicators of customer satisfaction–including service availability, circuit capacity, dropped-call frequency and voice service–across 73 percent of the markets Consumer Reports surveyed, it’s pretty clear that AT&T has become overextended by the popularity of the iPhone. Which is bad news for the carrier and, of course, for iPhone owners as well.

As Consumer reports notes, “Apple’s iPhones are the top smart phones in our Ratings–actually, among the best of all phones we tested, period–but their exclusive carrier, AT&T, was middling at best in satisfaction….If you’re readying to buy Apple’s phone, prepare for possible disappointment with its service and expect to love the phone anyway. Despite the network problems, a staggering 98 percent of iPhone users in our cell-phone-buying survey were satisfied enough to say they would definitely or probably buy the phone again. Only 79 percent of respondents who bought other cell phones said the same.”

Verizon (VZ), which has been mercilessly slamming AT&T’s service in a recent ad campaign, is going to have a field day with this. And somehow, I don’t think a hurriedly cobbled together Luke Wilson ad will undo the damage.

UPDATE: Reached for comment, AT&T had this to say about Consumer Reports’ findings, which, the company stressed, were based on anecdotal feedback from a self-selected group of subscribers: “We appreciate and value all customer feedback. We learn from it and it helps us serve our customers better. Without question the surest indication of customer satisfaction is churn, or turnover. For the last quarter, our postpaid churn was just 1.17 percent.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091201/att-ranked-last-in-consumer-reports-best-cell-phone-service-survey/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091117/qotd-214/ http://allthingsd.com/20091117/qotd-214/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:31:32 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=29194 “AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon’s ‘There’s A Map For That’ advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon’s ads are true and the truth hurts.”

So begins Verizon’s (VZ) response to AT&T’s (T) complaints about its new ad campaign, and as you can see below, it pulls no punches. For 53 pages–all of them very obviously drafted with publication in mind–the new filing mercilessly thrashes AT&T, proving over and over again that the carrier’s carping over Verizon’s ads has transformed a no-win situation into a horrific PR disaster that only highlights AT&T’s shortcomings.

“In the final analysis, AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon’s side-by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T’s confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly. AT&T may not like the message that the ads send, but this Court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger.”

Brutal.

As I said earlier this month, if AT&T’s lawsuit over Verizon’s allegedly misleading “there’s a map for that” wasn’t a public relations mistake to begin with, it will be by the time Verizon gets through. And, indeed, the lawsuit already is a mistake. Below, Verizon’s reply in full:

PREVIOUSLY:

• Frosty’s Winter Litigation Wonderland: AT&T Demands Verizon Pull Holiday iPhone Ads [With Full Complaint]
• Verizon Banishes iPhone to Island of Misfit Toys
• Verizon on AT&T Suit: There’s a Word for That. “Junk.”
• Verizon to iPhone Users: “Want Five Times More 3G Coverage? There’s a Map for That.”

verizonresponse –

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091117/qotd-214/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091008/att-tethering/ http://allthingsd.com/20091008/att-tethering/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:21:07 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=26259 Looks like tethering on Apple’s iPhone is still a matter of “when and not if,” as AT&T likes to say.

Though the carrier’s decision to allow Internet telephony apps on its 3G network has lead some to speculate that the company will soon allow data tethering as well, that’s not the case. Evidently, there’s still a while to wait until AT&T (T) supports that long-promised feature, which it fears might exponentially increase network traffic and undermine sales of air cards.

Asked if AT&T’s new policy on Internet telephony apps heralded the arrival of iPhone tethering, a company spokesman repeated the same tired line we’ve been hearing for months now: “Whenever we offer new features, we want to offer the best possible customer experience. For tethering, we need to do some additional fine tuning to our systems and networks so that we do deliver a great experience.

And perhaps that’s for the best given the widespread complaints over the quality of AT&T’s network prior to iPhone tethering. If it’s as poor as some claim now, how poor might it be when Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone users begin tethering their MacBooks to it?

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091008/att-tethering/feed/ 2 http://allthingsd.com/20091008/att-tethering-2/ http://allthingsd.com/20091008/att-tethering-2/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:21:07 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=26259 Looks like tethering on Apple’s iPhone is still a matter of “when and not if,” as AT&T likes to say.

Though the carrier’s decision to allow Internet telephony apps on its 3G network has lead some to speculate that the company will soon allow data tethering as well, that’s not the case. Evidently, there’s still a while to wait until AT&T (T) supports that long-promised feature, which it fears might exponentially increase network traffic and undermine sales of air cards.

Asked if AT&T’s new policy on Internet telephony apps heralded the arrival of iPhone tethering, a company spokesman repeated the same tired line we’ve been hearing for months now: “Whenever we offer new features, we want to offer the best possible customer experience. For tethering, we need to do some additional fine tuning to our systems and networks so that we do deliver a great experience.

And perhaps that’s for the best given the widespread complaints over the quality of AT&T’s network prior to iPhone tethering. If it’s as poor as some claim now, how poor might it be when Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone users begin tethering their MacBooks to it?

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091008/att-tethering-2/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20090821/ganging-up-on-google/ http://allthingsd.com/20090821/ganging-up-on-google/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:00:37 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=23487

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090821/ganging-up-on-google/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20090701/facebooks-new-privacy-policy-share-everything-with-everyone/ http://allthingsd.com/20090701/facebooks-new-privacy-policy-share-everything-with-everyone/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:44:49 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=8879 Are you one of those Facebook users who worries that your boss will see photos of what you did over the weekend? Then you’ll like Facebook’s new privacy policy. It’s designed to make it easier for you to sort and filter who sees what on the site.

But if you’re part of the large group of people who think that nothing is really private on the Web and that everyone should see everything you do online, then you’re really going to like Facebook’s new privacy policy. It’s designed to get Facebook users to share as much as they can with as many people as they can–including people who aren’t on Facebook.

Facebook tries to explain the policy changes in a lengthy blog post here, and you can find a slideshow that accompanied a press conference the company just held here.

But that will make your eyes glaze over. Here’s the short version:

• Facebook is simplifying the privacy setting controls it offers users. So if you want your pals to see your keg stand from Saturday night, but don’t want your parents to be privy, you should be able to do that more effectively. The company is experimenting with different ways to present the controls.
• Facebook also wants to encourage people to use the “everyone” setting, which right now just means “every Facebook user.” But the company is going to eventually change that setting to mean “everyone on the Web”–meaning that Google (GOOG) users, marketers, whoever, will be able to find that stuff, too.
• Facebook wants to expand the amount of data its users share with the world because the company thinks that the more exposure data get, the more valuable the data become. But it is doing its best to tamp down complaints from users who accidentally end up exposing kid photos or bachelor party snapshots or whatever. Hence the new, improved privacy controls, which are being rolled out before “everyone” really means “everyone.”

I know, I know. That short version wasn’t that short. But you’re going to hear plenty more about this in the coming weeks. Consider this a first chapter.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090701/facebooks-new-privacy-policy-share-everything-with-everyone/feed/ 0