AllThingsD » CTIA

Ashton Kutcher Dishes on the Mobile Market and What's on His Phone

Ina Fried — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:58:26 +0000

Ashton Kutcher is a very social guy, and that extends to his phone.

Asked about his favorite apps, Kutcher pulled out his phone to look at his home screen.

“I use Facebook and Twitter a lot,” Kutcher said at the CTIA trade show in Las Vegas, adding that he also spends a lot of time using Flipboard, Path and Couple — three companies he has invested in.

The actor and investor talked about the importance of mobile, and its current challenges when it comes to user experience and app discovery.

“I don’t think anyone has mastered mobile,” Kutcher said.

Kutcher is the wrap-up speaker at what will be the last spring show for CTIA, which is going from two shows a year to one, with next year’s event planned for September, back in Las Vegas. The final fall show focused on enterprise wireless will be in October in San Jose.

Little-Known Phone Brands Hope to Make a Name for Themselves in Vegas

Ina Fried — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:32 +0000

With the big-name phone makers unlikely to announce much at this week’s CTIA show in Las Vegas, a bunch of lesser-known brands are hoping they can grab a moment or two in the spotlight.

On the show floor and through various events, parties and meeting rooms, are companies such as Kyocera, Alcatel One Touch and Coolpad.

The CTIA show has traditionally taken a back seat to events like CES and Mobile World Congress, but this year’s show is expected to be particularly short of announcements from the biggest names in wireless.

Smaller names are eager to fill the void. Alcatel One Touch, for example, is trying to position itself as a key player for carriers looking to offer high-end smartphone features at entry-level prices.

“They need choices,” said Steve Cistulli, who left Samsung earlier this year to become senior VP of North America for Alcatel One Touch. “Currently, their top two choices are quite expensive.”

That said, Alcatel now has to battle bigger names as well as negative reviews for its early product work.

Meanwhile, Kyocera took to the frosty Minus5 ice bar at the Mandalay Bay casino and resort to introduce their latest waterproof phones.

There, the company showed off two new phones in the Hydro line, one headed for Sprint and Boost Mobile and the other destined for U.S. Cellular.

Caterpillar, meanwhile, is well known for heavy equipment, but not so much for phones. The company is hoping to change that with a partnership with Bullitt Mobile to make a rugged Android phone with the Cat brand.

And these are but a few of the not-yet-household-names looking to grab a slice of the fast growing — and increasingly competitive — smartphone market.

As for the big-name players, only Verizon Wireless is promising significant news. The company has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday with COO Marni Walden. But don’t expect to hear about some snazzy new device; the focus will be on the company’s efforts to reach new segments of the market.

That said, all the top carriers and hardware vendors are here (except Apple), so we’ll be sniffing around the various parties and gatherings to see if we can’t dig up some interesting stuff. (Tips are also welcome.)

Caterpillar Aims to Make Splash With Rugged, Waterproof Android Phone

Ina Fried — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:00:45 +0000

Caterpillar is best known for making heavy equipment, but the machinery brand thinks it can add something to the phone business.

Cat has partnered with Bullitt Mobile, a British electronics firm that builds products using well-known brands to develop a rugged, waterproof Android phone.

The easiest way to make phones rugged is to just wrap them in a ton of rubber. But that also makes them big and bulky — something Floyd said his group was looking to avoid.

“It’s got to be a great phone — something that everybody would feel comfortable carrying,” said Dave Floyd, director of technology for Bullitt.

The result of their work is the Cat B15, a phone that is debuting at the CTIA trade show in Las Vegas and will sell for $349 without subsidies. The device packs a 4-inch screen, a dual-core MediaTek processor and the Jelly Bean version of Android into a device capable of surviving a 6 foot drop onto concrete and withstanding up to 30 minutes in 3 feet of water.

Its screen is also designed to work with a wet finger — something that trips up most smartphones. And all that in a phone that weighs just under six ounces.

Bullitt isn’t talking carriers yet, but it’s a GSM phone with support for HSPA+ networks, so either AT&T or T-Mobile USA would be a good fit.

Key U.S. Cellphone Trade Group Will Move Main Show to Fall in 2014, Discontinue Second Event

Ina Fried — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:00:18 +0000

Aiming to get out from under the shadow of Mobile World Congress, the main U.S. wireless trade group plans to move its main show to September.

By changing the timing, the CTIA hopes to become a key event for launching wireless devices that will hit the market in the second half of the year.

In recent years, the event has struggled to avoid being an afterthought to the rival Mobile World Congress, which is held before the spring CTIA show and attracts a larger and more global audience.

CTIA officials had already aimed to create distance from the Barcelona show by moving their event from March to May, but the hope is that a fall show will offer further separation.

“The wireless industry is evolving rapidly and there is a need to have a show that centers on the entire global mobile ecosystem in a way that hasn’t existed among the current shows, which is why CTIA 2014 will be unique,” CTIA show director Rob Mesirow said in a statement. “In addition, the timing of the 2014 show will deliver the perfect stage for companies to debut mobile consumer products and services for the annual holiday buying season.”

With the change, CTIA is also doing away with a fall show that had focused in recent years on business use of cellphones, but was not seen as a major event for new products.

The move won’t start until 2014, with the group going ahead with plans this year for a spring show in Las Vegas, and a fall show in San Jose. The first of the shows under the new format, slated for Sept. 9 to Sept. 11, 2014, will be held in Las Vegas.

While it remains to be seen how well the new event does financially and from a prestige point of view, the changes garnered praise from a number of key players, including Sprint and Ericsson.

“CTIA’s decision to consolidate the wireless shows is exactly what the industry needed,” said Angel Ruiz, CEO of Ericsson Inc., said in a statement. “CTIA 2014 takes the best from the specialized shows while bringing all of the right people together at the same time and place so everyone’s time can be optimized.”

Americans Used More Than 1.1 Trillion Megabytes of Wireless Data Last Year

John Paczkowski — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:58:36 +0000

With smartphones and tablets becoming increasingly ubiquitous in the U.S., mobile data traffic is exploding, and its phenomenal rate of growth shows no signs of slowing any time soon.

To wit, the latest metrics from CTIA, which find that mobile data traffic more than doubled over the past year. According to the group, U.S. mobile networks handled 1.16 trillion megabytes of data between July 2011 and June 2012 — a 104 percent increase over the 568 billion megabytes they handled over the same period a year earlier.

Driving that spike, a big jump in the number of gadgets transmitting data over the nation’s wireless networks. As of June 2012, CTIA found 130.8 million smartphones and wireless PDAs in active use, 37 percent more than the year prior. And it counted 21.6 million wireless-enabled tablets, laptops and modems, 42 percent more than it did when it last conducted this survey.

Clearly, wireless data usage is on a tear, and with demand expected to continue to grow, the need for additional wireless spectrum is becoming increasingly urgent. And that’s really the point of the CTIA survey. The organization is using this data to further underpin its argument that the Federal Communication Commission needs to free up more spectrum. And it’s calling once again for the commission to reclaim broadcast TV spectrum for wireless use.

“With the persistent increase in usage, this survey is another proof point for why our members need more spectrum to meet consumer demands,” CTIA CEO Steve Largent said in a statement. “We appreciate the FCC’s [notice of proposed rulemaking] on the incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum and hope that it’s brought to market quickly so that our members may continue to innovate and invest in our nation’s economy.”

Bill Clinton Highlights Global Cellular Success Stories as CTIA 2012 Wraps Up

Ina Fried — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:56:06 +0000

Former President Bill Clinton spoke Thursday on how the growing ubiquity of cellphones is dramatically changing lives throughout the world.

In the final speech of the CTIA trade show in New Orleans, Clinton talked about how cellphones are enabling the first banking in Haiti, allowing people to detect counterfeit drugs in Africa and connecting refugees throughout the globe.

Wireless technology is also going to help in America’s battle to control healthcare costs, which now account for 18 percent of U.S. spending.

Clinton also spoke about the need for bipartisanship and the consequences that can and do occur when people don’t work together to solve the tough problems facing society. He pointed to examples in Costa Rica and Brazil where people of different viewpoints are coming together even on issues with no clear solution.

The 42nd president began his talk on a light note, pointing out that among the findings of the genome project is that most humans have between 1 percent and 4 percent Neanderthal DNA.

“My wife and daughter weren’t surprised,” Clinton quipped. “They already knew I was part Neanderthal, but they were stunned to find they were too.”

Just a reminder, even though CTIA wraps up later on Thursday, our coverage will continue in the coming days as we share some interesting stories we found through meetings and our tour of the show floor.

(Thanks to Taylor Hatmaker for the photo.)

With No Apple or Amazon at CTIA, iPad Rivals Free to Sling Arrows

Ina Fried — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:14:00 +0000

Although the iPad is still the dominant force in tablets, its chief rivals see plenty of room for competition.

Nick DiCarlo, VP of product planning for Samsung Mobile, noted that the market has shown that, despite Apple’s pronouncements, there is a demand for a range of tablets, including smaller, 7-inch models. DiCarlo also noted that the company knows how to quickly come from behind. It wasn’t that long ago that his company had only a tiny part of the phone market and it is now a serious player. He said he sees the same thing happening in the tablet space.

“I think it is very, very early days,” DiCarlo said in a CTIA panel moderated by AllThingsD co-Executive Editor Walt Mossberg.

Taking aim at his main rival, Jamie Iannone, president of digital products for Barnes & Noble, said that the Nook Tablet clearly outshines the Kindle Fire in a head-to-head comparison.

Iannone noted that its color tablet is a second-generation product designed specifically for reading, while Amazon used another manufacturer’s design.

“As you know, the Fire was built off a reference-design product to get it out quickly,” Iannone said, adding that the product suffered as a result.

As for Apple, Iannone noted that many iPad owners also have one of its E-Ink Nook devices because the iPad isn’t ideal for long-form reading.

Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile CEOs Square Off in New Orleans

Ina Fried — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:22:40 +0000

It’s easy to hear what one of the major carriers has to say.

After all, their ads flood TV screens, their billboards dot the highways and it often seems there is a store at every strip mall.

But it’s harder to hear all four carriers at once. Such a gathering was expected at last year’s CTIA show, but T-Mobile’s CEO pulled out after AT&T announced its proposed deal on the eve of the show. The three remaining CEOs did share a stage in a panel moderated by CNBC’s Jim Cramer.

This year, though, top executives from all four are slated to face off in an afternoon keynote again moderated by Cramer.

AllThingsD will have live coverage starting in just a few minutes, at 4:30 Central Time (2:30 pm PT).

Earlier:
4:38 pm: CTIA chief Steve Largent is onstage, introducing the four chiefs.

4:39 pm: Dan Mead is onstage now, talking on his own. Checking into what is going on…

Of course, left to his own devices, the Verizon Wireless CEO is talking about the spectrum crunch. If preaching to the choir were illegal, most of the folks at CTIA would be in jail by now.

I thought this was supposed to be a roundtable. But we are getting a stump speech. I hope there won’t be four of these, but starting to fear the worst.

4:44 pm: Okay, I’m told that there will be a roundtable, but first we have to sit through four speeches.

4:45 pm: Mead is advocating for Verizon’s pending deal to acquire spectrum from the cable companies.

We’re confident regulators will understand this purchase is good for Verizon Wireless customers and the entire broadband economy, Mead said.

Mead touts Verizon’s recent offer to sell off some other spectrum if regulators give the cable deal the okay.

4:47 pm: All right, Mead’s done. Next up: Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.

Hesse is talking LTE, or as he calls it “Lots to Explain.” Many customers don’t know what 4G is and Hesse says the industry has itself to blame.

He notes that even the oil industry gets higher satisfaction ratings than cellular carriers do.

4:52 pm: Hesse takes aim at well-liked tech companies like Apple and Amazon.

“They are called over-the-top players because … they ride over the top of our enormous capital investments.”

4:54 pm: Next up in Hesse’s speech is talk about trust and privacy. There’s a lot of talk, Hesse said, but “it’s difficult to separate myth and reality.”

A lot of politicking and shrill talk from interest groups, Hesse said. “For most consumers, it is just too complicated.”

Sprint promises it will offer independent audits and other moves so customers don’t have to offer “blind trust.”

Now he’s touting the Sprint Guardian services that it introduced earlier today.

5:00 pm: Hesse promises a new mobile advertising program coming soon, giving consumers control and options.

Hesse said Sprint will enlist an outside firm to verify the company is delivering what it says, like financial auditors do for the books.

Hesse said the industry can also work together in some of these areas. “Collectively we need to build trust,” he said.

5:03 pm: Hesse wraps up, ceding to T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm.

5:05 pm: T-Mobile is back, Humm begins, echoing the refrain he has been repeating since the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Humm offers a subtle take on data and congestion — “Intelligent unlimited rate plans are the future,” Humm said. One can assume that by intelligent, he means plans like T-Mobile’s that throttle users once they hit a certain data cap.

5:07 pm: Yep. Now he’s touting T-Mobile’s take on data plans, offering unlimited with no overages but limits on how much 4G data they can consume.

Humm promises more of the same to come.

“That won’t be enough,” he said, noting that T-Mobile and others need innovative technology and additional spectrum.

In the U.S. the spectrum problem is particularly acute.

Humm touts what T-Mobile is doing to make the best use of the spectrum it has. Will be interesting to see if he jabs back at Verizon, which T-Mo has accused of warehousing excess spectrum.

So far, he’s just talking about other technologies like Wi-Fi offload and off-peak delivery.

5:11 pm: “We had nine tough months under the pending AT&T deal, as you can imagine.”

The company releases first quarter earnings on Thursday, so Humm isn’t saying much about where things are at right now.

5:13 pm: T-Mobile tripling business salesforce as the company attempts to evolve into a serious business-to-business player.

Humm said T-Mobile wants to be known for more than just low prices.

5:15 pm: T-Mobile is back going after AT&T and the iPhone. New ad shows Carly on a motorcycle speeding past the AT&T iPhone.

OK, last of the stump speeches as AT&T Mobility unit President Ralph de la Vega takes the stage.

5:17 pm: De la Vega touts a PC World study that found AT&T’s LTE network to be the fastest (Verizon touts a separate one that found its network fastest).

5:18 pm: De la Vega now pitching the home security service it introduced on Monday.

I never thought I’d say these words: “I can’t wait for Jim Cramer.”

5:32 pm: De la Vega wrapping up, leaving just under a third of the 90 minutes for the roundtable.

5:33 pm: Boo-yah. Here’s Cramer.

5:35 pm: Cramer starts by giving each company one minute to answer a few questions. Biggest innovation since last year.

De la Vega: A year ago there were more PCs than smartphones and tablets. Now that’s changed. “The Internet is going mobile.”

Hesse: The fact that T-Mobile’s Humm is onstage. “He was tied up with a gag a year ago.”

Mead: Video delivery over mobile devices.

5:37 pm: Next question: What are we going to have a year from now that we don’t know about now.

Mead: I think you are going to see a lot more activity of consumers exploring what they can do on LTE.

Humm: Evolution from access provider to service providers. Voice and text will decrease in importance.

Hesse: Privacy, safety and security will replace speed and technology as the main point of discussion.

De la Vega: Mobile payments. “It’s time for the smartphone to replace the wallet.” Partnerships are coming together.

5:44 pm: Cramer challenges Mead on whether Verizon has too much spectrum.

“We don’t have the most spectrum,” he said. “We have the most effective use of spectrum.”

5:47 pm: Hesse expands on challenges facing wireless carriers. “Our Achilles’ heel is trust and reputation,” Hesse said, calling it a “crisis.”

There is an opportunity to sell more to consumers if the industry can turn things around. “If they trust us they are going to buy from us.”

Cramer asks about T-Mobile’s new ad touting its network as being faster than AT&T’s iPhone.

“It ain’t true,” de la Vega. “That’s why this industry has a bad rap because we take the truth and we stretch it.”

Humm clarifies that the ad is pointing out that the iPhone is slower, not AT&T’s LTE network, which is faster.

5:55 pm: Cramer asks Humm if without an iPhone to sell, isn’t T-Mobile forced to just race to the bottom on price?

“Pure price competition would be the wrong way to go,” Humm said, saying that it needs to find different kinds of unlimited offerings.

5:56 pm: Asked about the impact of cellphones in uprisings across the globe, Hesse noted that phone ownership varies and so does the impact.

Very high in places like Egypt, but lower in Syria and very very low in North Korea, at 4 percent.

The privileged are the ones who have cellphones and they are not going to want to upset the applecart, Hesse said.

5:59 pm: Could T-Mobile USA go public? “I think it is the perfect audience here to make a big announcement,” Humm said, before, of course saying little.

Hesse won’t comment on whether Sprint is looking at any big deals, but notes the company is focused on its network transition. “A deal would have to be very compelling for us to do it at this time.”

6:01 pm: Cramer asks the panel if Facebook is a good thing for the industry. All agree that it is, but Mead won’t comment on whether it should be worth more than Verizon.

6:02 pm: Is Apple a friend, foe or both?

Friend, said de la Vega.

Skype?

“I don’t see Skype as a threat,” Hesse said. “To us, a bit is a bit.”

Amazon?

Amazon is a friend, said Humm. “Our industry lives on coopetition.”

Google?

Mead: “A lot of people in this room are customers and suppliers and competitors. That’s the nature of our industry.”

Google is a friend and Mead thinks Google would say the same of Verizon. “We helped put Android on the map.”

6:07 pm: And … we’re out.

Remember Carrier IQ? Well, It's Still Around and Kicking.

Ina Fried — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:47:33 +0000

After being at the center of a privacy storm last year, Carrier IQ is aiming to rebuild its business.

For those who don’t remember, Carrier IQ is a start-up that sells software that tracks various goings-on inside a cellphone to help cellular carriers and device makers better understand problems on the device.

An uproar occurred last November after a report suggested that the company might be logging all of a user’s activities. Even as Carrier IQ clarified what it was and wasn’t doing, concerns over the product remained.

The Mountain View, Calif., start-up didn’t lose any of its major customers entirely, but its software is definitely installed on fewer phones now than it was before the controversy.

But its executives insist that software that resides on the device, like its own, is critical to understanding connection issues, battery drain and other problems that plague today’s smartphones.

“Having us there is really the only way the industry is going to make improvements that are necessary,” VP Andrew Coward said in an interview at the CTIA trade show in Orlando. “Our technology can take 10 minutes off a customer support call.”

Carrier IQ has taken a couple key steps in its effort to change its image.

Earlier this year, Carrier IQ announced plans to create a way for customers to see firsthand some of the data that is being captured on their phones. That process is still ongoing as Carrier IQ works with the cellular firms to suss out which data they want to share and in what forms.

On Tuesday, the company announced it has hired former Verizon lawyer Magnolia Mansourkia Mobley as its new general counsel and chief privacy officer.

Mansourkia Mobley said that the company is looking to be a strong voice in a broader industry discussion around privacy.

“I don’t think this is something that is limited to Carrier IQ,” she said, saying it is an issue affecting the whole online world. “We plan to be an active member of those discussions.”

The solution, she said, isn’t for Carrier IQ and other small companies to do a lot of work creating their own customer Bill of Rights.

“I don’t think that’s an effective way of delivering something that is meaningful to a consumer,” she said.

The company has also shifted some of its attention more globally. For example, while the company had a booth at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, it opted not to do the same here in New Orleans.

Although it would always love more U.S. business, Coward said the company is already well known here and counts three of the big four U.S. carriers (not Verizon) as its customers, along with Leap Wireless.

“We’re spending a lot of time in Europe right now,” Coward said. “The same issues with handsets exist globally. It’s not just a U.S. issue.”

Sprint Product Exec: Launching LTE Devices Before Network Just Makes Sense

Ina Fried — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:52:18 +0000

Sprint isn’t too concerned that it is selling LTE devices but has yet to officially launch the high-speed service anywhere in the U.S.

“I think it is much to-do about nothing,” Sprint VP Fared Adib told AllThingsD in an interview on Tuesday. Customers sign up for two-year contracts, Adib said, and it makes sense for customers who want to have the latest technology get a device that will meet their needs throughout that time. People should be more concerned if Sprint weren’t doing that, he said.

“We’ve done this before,” he said. “So has every other carrier.”

Adib noted that Sprint’s LTE deployment, which will start with a few cities around midyear, will be faster than the rollout of prior technologies, including its 2G, 3G and WiMax networks.

Speaking of WiMax, Sprint may not be introducing new phones for its flagship brand, but it is now extending that technology to its Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile prepaid services. Virgin and Boost both announced plans to start selling a WiMax device from HTC. (Virgin has a variant of the Evo 3D, while Boost will sell a phone similar to the traditional Evo 4G.)

The company has said it plans to continue offering WiMax service through at least 2015.

Also on Tuesday, Sprint announced a new bundle of family safety and security applications under the Sprint Guardian banner. The effort consists of a $10 per month service from Location Labs’ Safely unit and a $5 per month security service from Lookout.

Both services cover up to five devices, which could be a savings for families that have a bunch of Sprint phones.

Adding such services can help increase loyalty to Sprint among families with multiple devices — already a traditionally loyal group and a key source of revenue for all the major carriers.

“You might change phones and plans but you don’t change carriers,” Adib said of those customers.

One area where Sprint hasn’t been all that aggressive is in introducing devices running Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. Adib said that Sprint certainly took note of the slow initial sales globally for the first crop of Windows Phones.

Still, Adib said that the company is a longtime partner of Microsoft’s and expects to offer future Windows Phones, likely after the debut of Windows Phone 8.

“I don’t want to give you any specific dates,” he said.

But he said he is “very bullish” on Windows Phone overall and said the company has rapidly closed some of the gaps it had in terms of performance and capabilities. Adib said he has also been pleased to see the work Nokia has done in reintroducing itself in the U.S. with its first Lumia devices.

“I think we are going to continue to see that,” he said.

FCC Chairman: Rejection of AT&T's T-Mobile Deal Isn't Causing Higher Prices

Ina Fried — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:23:50 +0000

AT&T has recently made the case that the failure of its effort to buy T-Mobile is behind recent price hikes.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski isn’t buying it.

In a speech at the CTIA trade show in New Orleans on Tuesday, Genachowski said that it shouldn’t lead to higher prices and that, indeed, more competition will ultimately lead to lower prices for consumers.

Signaling that the agency isn’t closed to all deals, Genachowski said that rejecting one over-the-line deal “simply proves that there is a line.”

Genachowski said that, by and large, the U.S. wireless industry is in good shape.

“The kinds of challenges we have in mobile are the kind we want — challenges stemming from mobile demand,” Genachowski said.

The industry is clamoring for more spectrum, an effort that has gained some momentum, but is moving too slowly for many in the industry. And unsurprisingly, AT&T took issue with Genachowski’s take.

“The merger AT&T proposed last year was all about creating more capacity by combining the spectrum holdings and networks of two companies,” responded Jim Cicconi, Senior Executive Vice President, External and Legislative Affairs. “The FCC was within its rights to withhold its approval. But it is incorrect when it denies the impact such decisions have on the price of wireless services. Basic economics, and the law of supply and demand, apply to the wireless industry as to all others. In the case of wireless, without additional capacity, which would have been created by our transaction, prices rise.”

Genachowski also used an appearance at a cellphone trade show to tout a list of recent accomplishments — everything from progress toward incentive auctions to approval of unlicensed “white spaces” spectrum, and an initiative to create a database of stolen phones.

“These successes are worth celebrating,” he said.

Genachowski began with a bit of stand-up, as he noted the long-awaited Senate confirmation Monday of two FCC commissioners.

“I’m not saying their confirmation was overdue, but they were nominated by President Truman,” he said.

Ahead of Genachowski’s speech, CTIA boss Steve Largent issued his familiar call for more spectrum, and incoming CTIA Chairman Patrick Riordan — whose day job is as CEO of Cellcom — showed a video explaining just what his company does. For those who have never heard of Cellcom, it is a rural carrier serving Wisconsin and Michigan.

Riordan is interesting, in that he gives voice to the issues of rural carriers, which often take a back seat to the “big four.”

“The issues of rural and large carriers aren’t always complementary,” Riordan said. “We can’t ignore them, but rather we must face them.”

Boingo Adds VPN and Crowdsource Hotspot Data to Its Wi-Fi Software

Ina Fried — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:00:29 +0000

Boingo’s free Wi-Finder software for iOS is gaining two useful new tricks.

First of all, it adds technology that can help users when logging in to unprotected hotspots. Traditionally, so-called virtual private networking (VPN) software was used to log in to a corporate firewall. But VPNs also serve another important purpose — they help secure the data that is being sent.

Secondly, Boingo is adding data on a whole bunch of new hotspots — some 70,000 — that its users have sniffed out during the past year. The software adds only those networks that people have been successful at connecting to.

Indeed, Boingo has learned a lot since introducing the software a year ago.

For instance, it now knows some of the most popular Wi-Fi network names. In addition to AT&T’s vast network, among the most popular networks are Denver’s airport, Hilton hotels and United’s airport clubs, as well as the default names of popular router vendors like Netgear and D-Link. Good old “Internet” is also in the Top 10.

As for countries where Boingo users found the most free hotspots, the U.S. was, naturally, first, followed by the U.K., Canada, Brazil, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and South Korea.

In the U.S., the most crowdsourced free hotspots were found in Miami, Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles. San Francisco did not make the Top 10.

As for who contributed the most data, Boingo isn’t naming names, for privacy reasons. But it did say the top contributor connected to 69 different networks in a 100-day period, generating more than 2,000 connections.

T-Mobile CTO: Network Should be Ready for iPhone Users by Q4

Ina Fried — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:29:44 +0000

While much of the attention on T-Mobile’s planned $4 billion network upgrade has centered around its plans to launch LTE next year, there is another key component to the strategy.

T-Mobile is also looking to free up space in another part of its spectrum that should finally allow iPhone users to run on its network at full speed. The company has about a million iPhone subscribers, even though those devices can only run at slow 2G speeds. T-Mobile USA does not sell the iPhone itself.

At a dinner event in New Orleans on Monday, CTO Neville Ray said that the effort to reclaim some of its 1900 MHz spectrum should reach a critical mass in the fourth quarter of this year, allowing the company to more aggressively court AT&T subscribers that are no longer under contract.

Ray declined to comment on whether the company would directly target iPhone users in a big marketing push planned for later this year.

“It would make sense,” Ray agreed, but added, “We’re not there yet.”

The company announced on Monday night two of the companies that will help it build out its next-generation network: Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.

Interview: AT&T's Glenn Lurie on Being the New Sheriff in Town

Ina Fried — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:45:48 +0000

Some people were scratching their heads a bit Monday after AT&T announced its plans to get into the home security game.

For his part, AT&T’s Glenn Lurie says he’s a bit surprised by everyone else’s surprise. The move, he says, is a natural fit for the communications company.

First off, the security business today is highly fragmented. Only ADT, with about 6 million homes, has much scale. Secondly, he says, there is an opportunity to offer far more services than are typically provided.

“It is ripe for someone to come in and do something new,” Lurie told AllThingsD in an interview at CTIA in New Orleans on Monday.

The company announced AT&T Digital Life — a service that uses wireless to provide all manner of home security and automation services. AT&T plans to offer everything from basic security service to full-scale home automation, with its workers handling everything from installation to monitoring. Pricing has not been announced.

It’s all part of AT&T’s broader plan to find new businesses to complement its wireless and landline business. Lurie says it’s not unlike its move into the TV game several years back, with U-Verse.

“Companies like us have to continue to look for these opportunities,” he said.

To show off its plans, AT&T has rented an 1860s-era house in New Orleans’ Garden District. It took only a couple of hours, Lurie said, to outfit it with a full set of sensors and monitors. With jazz playing in the background and a spread of appetizers that included alligator sausage, the company took reporters on tours of the house, showing off how an iPad can be used to monitor things throughout the home.

AT&T plans to test the Digital Life service this summer in Atlanta and Dallas. AT&T hasn’t announced how it will grow for now, but Lurie said the company’s plan is to offer it nationwide.

“We do view this as a significant growth opportunity, revenue-wise, in 2013,” he said. The company paved the way for the service with its late 2010 acquisition of a company called Xanboo.

The company is also working with carriers overseas to allow them to offer similar services. AT&T divulged its plans in that area back in February and several carriers have signed on, Lurie said, though he didn’t have any names to share.

Another Day, Another PayPal-esque Digital Wallet: Here's MasterCard's High-Tech Billfold

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:30:33 +0000

No surprise here: MasterCard also has a digital wallet strategy.

Jon Simon / Feature Photo Service

The global payments provider is making the announcement tonight at a special event tied to CTIA, the wireless industry’s annual conference in New Orleans.

MasterCard is the latest — but probably not the last — to unveil its plans for the future of credit card transactions.

To date, a host of other competitors, spanning Visa, American Express, PayPal, Google and the U.S. wireless carriers, have also made announcements.

While all of the payment companies are approaching the digital wallet space with a slightly different product, from the consumer’s perspective they all end up looking somewhat the same — like PayPal.

In the case of MasterCard, PayPass Wallet will allow consumers to buy things online without having to memorize a 16-digit card number or in person by tapping a payment terminal with their phone. The solution is similar to Visa’s V.me digital wallet and American Express’s Serve-branded wallet.

For example, when checking out online with retailers that support PayPass, consumers can choose to enter a username and password to access their wallet. The PayPass Wallet will support multiple accounts, including competing payment providers.

“We spent a lot of time on the underlying technology,” said Ed McLaughlin, MasterCard’s chief emerging payments officer, in an interview. “It is designed for our partners to make sure consumers have a great experience online or in-store on your app. The ability to use any device you have and any account you’d want to invoke is a different approach to the closed-loop accounts.”

MasterCard will allow consumers to sign up for the wallet on its site, but it is primarily relying on banks to get users interested. This summer, it will be going live with the help of a dozen or so banks worldwide, including Citibank. Other major merchants are committing to adding PayPass to their online checkout systems, including American Airlines, Barnes & Noble and Newegg.

Mark Hung, a research director at Gartner, said it’s natural for MasterCard, American Express and Visa to move from the physical world of payments to online because consumers are already entering their credit card number online to check out. “They would like to see the same user experience, whether they are transacting online or offline,” he said.

With banks and retailers on board, Rick Oglesby, a senior analyst with Aite Group, said the focus for MasterCard will have to be on getting consumers interested in signing up.

“There’s definitely going to be some risk of consumer confusion,” Oglesby said, given the dozen of digital wallet options. “They are going to have to invest quite a lot in branding. … Even though the traditional payment companies are entering the space, the brands are relatively unknown. There will be confusion for consumers and merchants alike, and therefore, will require a signficant investment in terms of investing in new brands.”

CTIA Gets Down to Business in the Big Easy

Ina Fried — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:42:27 +0000

With the New Orleans Jazz Fest now over, it’s time for the cellphone industry to get to work.

In town for the annual CTIA trade show, the mood shifted back to business on Monday, at least until the evening parties kick off. The U.S. cellular trade association moved the convention from March to May (and to a party town) in hopes that the event can avoid being lost in the shadows of Mobile World Congress and the Consumer Electronics Show.

Although the main part of the show doesn’t begin until Tuesday, the first bits of product news were announced this morning. Verizon debuted the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE, while AT&T announced a $49 Samsung LTE Windows Phone as well as its plans to enter the home security business. This afternoon, MasterCard announced its new PayPass digital wallet.

AT&T is planning a press event later on Monday, with further news expected.

Samsung Focus 2 Brings Another Affordable Windows Phone to AT&T

Bonnie Cha — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:09:44 +0000

AT&T’s foray into the home-security business might seem a curious move, but one area where the carrier is no stranger is Windows Phone devices.

Of the four major U.S. wireless providers, AT&T offers the biggest selection of Windows Phone handsets, and its collection continues to grow with today’s introduction of the Samsung Focus 2.

It’s the fourth model in Samsung’s Focus series (following the original Flash, the Focus S and Focus Flash) and features a four-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, a five-megapixel camera with 720p HD video-recording capabilities and a front-facing camera for video calls.

The Windows Phone 7.5 smartphone is also 4G LTE ready.

However, the most attractive aspect of the handset might be its affordable price tag: $49.99 with a two-year contract.

Of course, at that price, there are some trade-offs — such as a smaller screen and camera — when compared to some of the more expensive models, including the $99.99 Nokia Lumia 900 and the $199.99 HTC Titan II. Still, not everyone needs all the bells and whistles, and the Focus 2 looks to be a nice entry point for first-time smartphone buyers and those on a budget.

The Samsung Focus 2 is set for release on May 20, and comes only in white.

Faster HTC Droid Incredible Heads to Verizon

Bonnie Cha — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:34:48 +0000

The CTIA wireless trade show kicks off in New Orleans this week, and Verizon is getting the party started with the announcement of a new addition to its Android family.

Available in the “coming weeks,” the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE improves on previous versions of the phone by bringing more advanced multimedia options and faster data speeds, thanks to its compatibility with Verizon’s 4G LTE network.

The media features include an eight-megapixel camera that lets you capture photos and HD video at the same time, which is nice, since you no longer have to fumble with switching between video and camera mode. Along the same lines, HTC promises a faster camera-activation time, so you don’t miss out on that perfect Kodak moment. Meanwhile, on the tunes side, the smartphone uses Beats Audio technology to deliver richer sound.

In addition to the speed and media enhancements, the Droid Incredible 4G LTE runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, along with the latest version of HTC Sense. The smartphone is also equipped with a four-inch super LCD qHD touchscreen, a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and a microSD expansion slot.

Verizon did not announce an exact release date or pricing for the Incredible at this time.

AT&T Aims to Break Into the Home-Security Business

Ina Fried — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:01:40 +0000

After hinting at opportunities in the automation and security markets, AT&T is just about ready to enter the fray.

At CTIA on Monday, Ma Bell is announcing AT&T Digital Life, its competitor to ADT and other security services. The idea is that AT&T installs a home base unit that taps AT&T’s cellular networks and can connect via Wi-Fi and other methods to any number of devices in the house, from cameras and window sensors to locks, thermostats, appliances and motion detectors.

The company plans to have trials of the service this summer in Atlanta and Dallas. During the trial, customers can use their own wired broadband to connect to their system and then remotely control the system from phones, tablets or PCs.

“We’re planning a unique suite of services, from start to finish, that will give homeowners control of their property and their possessions through an easy to navigate user interface,” AT&T Senior VP Kevin Petersen said in a statement.

Interview: CTIA Boss Steve Largent Aims To Keep Conference From Being Lost in the Shuffle

Ina Fried — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:45:53 +0000

While the U.S. mobile industry is thriving, its annual trade show has struggled to stand out.

Coming on the heels of both January’s Consumer Electronics Show and February’s Mobile World Congress, the CTIA event in March had become something of a rehash of products announced at those earlier events.

In response, the show’s producers have pushed this year’s event back to May, a move aimed at creating some separation from the other conferences.

“We were told by a lot of people ‘I’m out of breath,’” CTIA chief Steve Largent told AllThingsD. “We heard that. We listened.”

This year’s event takes place next week in New Orleans, at the end of that city’s popular jazz festival.

By changing the timing, CTIA is also hoping that some companies may be ready to announce products due to ship by the back-to-school shopping season.

“I would say the verdict is not in yet but all the indications are it is a good move,” Largent said.

It seems some companies aren’t waiting for CTIA to make announcements.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, for example, is announcing news at its own developer conference this week, while Samsung is using a May 3 event in London to announce its next flagship Galaxy device.

Some device makers and carriers have said to expect noteworthy announcements at the show, while others are planning just meetings and social gatherings at the event.

As for formal events, the highlight is likely to be a panel on Tuesday afternoon featuring top executives from the four major U.S. carriers. CNBC’s Jim Cramer is set to moderate that. The conference wraps up on Thursday with a speech from former President Bill Clinton.

Last year’s show, in Orlando, was dominated by the news announced on the eve of the event that AT&T was planning to buy T-Mobile in a blockbuster $39 billion deal.

No iPhone 4S at CTIA Show, but Plenty of Fun iPhone Accessories (Video)

Ina Fried — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:00:49 +0000

Wandering the show floor at the CTIA trade show on Tuesday, there was no sign of the iPhone 4S — though there were several options if you wanted to take Apple’s latest creation for a swim.

A North Carolina company called Dry Case sells a universal bag that can be used to take most phones or cameras underwater, while Vermont-based Drisuit Technologies had a waterproof case designed just for the iPhone.

In addition to waterproof cases there was an assortment of add-ons to show off, protect and accent the iPhone and other smartphones.

What the show floor lacked was a whole lot of whizbang new hardware. The spring CTIA show, Mobile World Congress and even the Consumer Electronics Show are far better venues for that.

Samsung and Google had been slated to introduce the first device running the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, but that launch was scrapped. Among the few new products at the show were Huawei’s tablet for T-Mobile and Samsung’s keyboard-equipped Stratosphere for Verizon. AT&T also announced the coming arrival of several Android phones, including the Motorola Atrix 2.

It’s probably not destined to be a bestseller, but one phone that caught my eye was a device from a little-known company called Burg — a $200 unlocked watch phone. Eat your heart out, Dick Tracy.

[ See post to watch video ]

Wireless Carrier Execs Trade Jabs, but Land No Major Punches

Ina Fried — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:24:43 +0000

Six months ago, the heads of Verizon, AT&T and Sprint shared a stage just hours after AT&T announced its plans to buy T-Mobile USA. That discussion, moderated by Jim Cramer, was a pretty fun hour of theater.

At the fall CTIA show on Tuesday, the same executives were assembled, but things weren’t nearly as fun. First of all, there was no Mr. Boo-ya. More importantly, the executives appeared one after the other, rather than agreeing to again share a stage.

The result was more stump speeches than discourse.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, who is also the chairman of the CTIA, kicked things off with a talk largely focused on environmental issues, noting that the industry trade group plans later today to announce new guidelines for product reuse, recycling and packaging.

“We’re making real progress,” Hesse said. He also noted that it was cellphones that transmitted dramatic imagery from the Middle East as governments changed, and wireless phones that helped after natural disasters in the U.S. and around the globe.

Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility, focused on some of the investments his company has made, including $80 million to open research “foundries” in Palo Alto, Calif.; Plano, Texas; and Israel.

The speeches weren’t totally devoid of zingers. Hesse did note that de la Vega looks a lot like Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, who was also an actor. Speaking after Hesse, de la Vega noted the observation came from Hesse, “a guy who is the best actor in wireless we have today.”

De la Vega was followed by Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead.

Like de la Vega, Mead spoke about his company’s investment in facilities that help network equipment makers, operating system creators and app developers to collaborate. Verizon opened an application center in San Francisco earlier this year, following on the heels of an earlier 4G LTE center in Waltham, Mass.

Mead also spoke about the impact the industry has had on society in the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, when, he said, the wireless business established itself as a key aid to first responders in the aftermath of crises.

“Since that time, we’ve responded to hurricanes and tornadoes and floods, helping people to cope,” Mead said. “We have rescued hikers, boaters and others who have lost their way. We have used our technology for the greater good again and again.”

Although Mead and others talked about the competitiveness of the industry, Tuesday was more lovefest than slugfest.

“Collaboration has played and will continue to play a major role in our success,” Mead said.

Carriers Sweat as Texting Cools Off

Anton Troianovski — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 07:00:34 +0000

Growth in the volume of text messaging is slowing sharply, just as new threats emerge to that lucrative source of wireless carrier profits.

While U.S. cellphone users sent and received more than one trillion texts in the second half of 2010, according to CTIA, a wireless industry trade group, that was just an 8.7 percent increase from the prior six months. It was the slimmest gain since texting exploded last decade.

Text traffic will come under more pressure in the months ahead. This week, Apple Inc. showed off an application that will allow iPhone and iPad owners to bypass carriers and send text messages over the Internet to other people with Apple devices.

Google Inc., whose Android software is the most popular operating system on smartphones, has also recently worked on a messaging application, a person familiar with the matter said.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

World Health Organization Unit Warns Cellphones May Cause Cancer

Ina Fried — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:00:00 +0000

A unit of the World Health Organization on Tuesday took the step of labeling the radiation emitted by cellphones as possibly cancer-causing, citing a new analysis of existing published studies.

The group, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has looked at more than 900 agents and classified more than 400 as carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, or possibly carcinogenic to humans. The IARC has added cellphones to that last group.

“The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans, based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer,” the WHO said in a statement. “This has relevance for public health, particularly for users of mobile phones, as the number of users is large and growing, particularly among young adults and children.”

The organization said because there appears to be some risk, the issue needs further study.

“Given the potential consequences for public health of this classification and findings,” said IARC Director Christopher Wild, “it is important that additional research be conducted into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones. Pending the availability of such information, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure such as hands-free devices or texting.”

Naturally, the cellphone industry trade group took issue with the finding.

“Today, an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group in Lyon, France categorized radiofrequency fields from cellphones as ‘possibly’ carcinogenic based on ‘limited evidence,’” said John Walls, vice president of public affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association. “IARC conducts numerous reviews and in the past has given the same score to, for example, pickled vegetables and coffee.”

Concern over health issues related to cellphones and the radiation they emit have lingered since the advent of such devices, with different regulations in different geographies requiring cellphone makers to measure and disclose the amount of radiation coming from their products.

Walls noted that the study didn’t definitively conclude that cellphones do cause cancer, and said that other organizations have examined the same data and come to different conclusions.

“Based on previous assessments of the scientific evidence, the Federal Communications Commission has concluded that ‘[t]here’s no scientific evidence that proves that wireless phone usage can lead to cancer,’” Walls said. “The Food and Drug Administration has also stated that ‘[t]he weight of scientific evidence has not linked cellphones with any health problems.’”

FCC Proposes Giving Signal Boosters a Boost to Dismay of Cellular Industry

Ina Fried — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:58:31 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed allowing broader use of signal boosters that can be used to improve in-building cellular coverage, much to the dismay of the wireless carriers.

Unlike a carrier-favored approach, known as femtocells, signal boosters work with all flavors of cell signal as opposed to a single network. However, the industry says that improperly designed gear can lead to signal oscillation, which can cause interference.

In a statement, FCC Commisioner Mignon Clyburn said the devices can help address an important issue with regard to service gaps, while ensuring they don’t cause interference.

“These devices have demonstrated they can help address the coverage gaps that exist within the wireless service areas in both rural and urban environments,” Clyburn said.

Clyburn praised the commission for working with the cellular industry and the makers of the gear to come up with rules that should help minimize the chance of interference. Among the proposed rules is one that would require devices to shut themselves down if they are operating outside of technical guidelines.

However, the cell industry says it is still worried about interference.

“While we have yet to read the (proposed guidelines), we remain concerned that poorly manufactured or improperly installed boosters can do much more harm than good for both consumers and public safety officials,” Brian Josef, CTIA vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a statement. “The record is full of examples of such harm. One of the leading advocates for changes in the commission’s rules, who also happen to be one of the leading manufacturers of boosters, has marketed and sold devices that have caused significant harmful interference.”

Sellers of such gear, meanwhile, applauded the ruling.

“In short, the FCC is formalizing what most of us have known all along: cellular coverage is not good enough,” The Repeater Store said in a blog posting. “In the modern age we are ever more reliant on our phones for important calls and increasingly data services. The FCC recognizes that the task of providing this service cannot fall on the carriers alone and is moving to make cellular signal boosters part of the solution.”

Lloyd R. Meese, CEO of Wi-Ex, which makes such a booster, praised the move, noting his company’s gear already complies with the proposed regulations.

“We recognized from the beginning that oscillation could be an issue and developed patented technology as a solution to the problem,” Meese said in a statement.

In a blog post, AT&T expressed hope that the new proposal would at least clarify the rules and make it easier to go after offending equipment.

This action comes in addition to a separate move by the commission to require carriers to allow data roaming of rivals onto their networks at terms set by the commission. Verizon and AT&T had opposed that move, though Sprint praised the decision.