While you can now use WiFi to check your email, play games, go online, or watch a movie on a plane, you generally still can’t use it to make a phone call. The FCC is making sure this no-phone refuge remains, by ditching its long-in-the-works plan to lift its ban on in-flight cellphone calls. [More]
cell phones
$25M Government Study Finds Cell Phone Radiation Causes Cancer In Rats
By 5.27.16
A newly released study from the National Toxicology Program, a division of the National Institutes of Health, has found a link between the kind of radiation emitted by cell phones and cancer in rats. [More]
Motorola Heading To That Cellphone Store In The Sky As Parent Company Lenovo Starts Phasing Out Brand Name
By 1.8.16
Clutch your Razr tight and give the StarTAC under your pillow a pat — the Motorola name will soon be a thing of the past. [More]
Lawsuit Alleges Uber Is Spamming Consumers With Illegal Texts
By 8.11.15
The concept of ride-sharing service Uber is built around consumers’ use of mobile phones: the company sends text messages confirming the creation of an account, users hail a cab through the company’s app, and the company routinely informs customers their ride is on the way via text. While this may be convenient for Uber customers, a new lawsuit claims Uber is violating federal law by sending unsolicited texts to people who want nothing to do with the service. [More]
How Does Your Cell Phone Service Stack Up? Rate Your Carrier And Help With A Handy Project
By 10.22.14
A team at our parent company, Consumer Reports, is working on a project that needs your help. Click over to Crowdsignal.org and take a short quiz about your mobile phone carrier’s performance to contribute. [More]
Lawmakers: Phone Calls On Planes Are Unsafe Because People Will Have Fights
By 9.26.14
Flying is painful enough as it is. Between arduous lines at security and ever-shrinking legroom, passengers are already plenty on-edge. Adding cell phone chatter to an already-tense high-altitude situation could be a recipe for disaster, and 77 members of Congress agree. [More]
Anti-Theft Kill Switch For Smartphones Could Save Consumers $2.6 Billion A Year
By 3.31.14
Smartphones are a popular target for thieves, in fact nearly 1.6 million phones were stolen in the United States in 2012. The anger knowing that you’ll have to shell out big bucks to replace it is almost comparable to the feeling of helplessness and rage one feels after having their trusty phone snatched away in the first place. But one simple change to all smartphones could lessen those feeling and keep $2.6 billion in consumers’ collective pockets. [More]
The DOT Wants To Know: Should Cell Phone Calls Be Allowed On Planes?
By 2.21.14
Back in December when the Federal Communications Commission announced it would start investigating whether or not it’s a good idea to lift the ban on cell phone calls on planes — from a technological point of view — the Department of Transportation was all, “Hold on, we’re going to look into this too.” The DOT is now turning to the public to hear your thoughts. [More]
Study: Texting While Walking Turns You Into A Robot, A Menace To Society And Yourself
By 1.23.14
Whenever I’m walking and texting I am fully aware of death glares shot my way by my fellow pedestrians. And I know why — they expect me to not pay attention and bumble right into them, so I try not to text for too long. But you could also be hurting yourself with this ambulatory multi-tasking, say Australian researchers in a new study. [More]
Blogger Admits He Maybe Overreacted By Calling 9-1-1 To Report Cell Phone Use In Theater
By 9.10.13
Your head is on fire. A spaceship spewing bug-eyed aliens just landed in the backyard, and they look mean. Someone in the movie theater is using a cell phone, but the staff doesn’t seem to care. The neighbors have turned into ravenous zombies intent on noshing on your brains. Three of the aforementioned scenarios are all emergency situations and thus warrant calling 9-1-1 for help, while one is not. Let’s take a guess which is an inappropriate reason to get emergency responders involved. [More]
Jennifer Lopez Shilling Wireless With Debut Of Cellphone Stores
By 5.23.13
Are you a Jennifer Lopez fan that has been feeling woefully disconnected from the singer/actress/business mogul/whatever else she’s up to these days? Jenny from the block has got the perfect solution, in the form of her new chain of cellphone stores under the Viva Movil brand name. Will you be able to dial her directly if you buy a phone at one of 15 authorized Verizon resellers? Well, no. But you will help her earn more buckets of money, so yay for you? [via Associated Press] [More]
Newt Gingrich Needs Your Help To Name These Newfangled Internet Phones
By 5.13.13
It would appear that we aren’t the only ones who have trouble keeping up with all the new technology these days: Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich posted a video on YouTube recently informing consumers that while they might think they’re holding a “cell phone,” they’re wrong. “If it’s taking pictures, it’s not a cell phone,” Gingrich explains. It’s time to find a name for this thing, and Newt says he needs our help. [More]
San Francisco Backs Off On Law Requiring Retailers To Post Info On Cell Phone Radiation
By 5.9.13 — Updated: 5.10.13
Back in 2011, the city of San Francisco rustled up an ordinance that would require cell phone companies to post information telling consumers about the potential dangers of radiation in retail stores. The industry fought back, claiming the law violated its free-speech rights, and after a court held up an injunction against the law, the city has decided to throw in the towel. [More]
The First Mobile Phone Call Was Made 40 Years Ago Today
By 4.3.13
You talk to it everyday, stroke it, keep it close by when you sleep and use it to share your world with those close to you. Cell phones are as ubiquitous today as well, we can’t really think of any other product consumers cherish so universally. And it all started 40 years ago with the first public call made from a mobile phone. [More]
ACLU Files Suit To Stop Police From Searching Cell Phones Without Warrant
By 3.20.13 — Updated: 1.17.14
A decade ago, searching someone’s cell phone would give you a list of names and numbers, maybe some recent texts. But now, the average smartphone could contain as much personal and sensitive information as a desktop computer, yet many law enforcement agencies argue they don’t need a warrant to search these devices. That’s why the American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against the city of San Francisco and its chief of police. [More]
T-Mobile Doesn’t Believe Loyal Customer Will Really Leave
By 12.31.12
So long, T-Mobile! Mark was looking for a new phone to replace his, and has been a loyal T-Mobile customer since 2007. What’s that worth to Big Pink? Not all that much. He saw a great deal reserved only for new customers. Here’s the catch: that deal included a nice price on a smartphone and a $50 per month unlimited no-contract plan. They weren’t about to let a contract customer move on to a dissolute, contract-free lifestyle. No way. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Uncover Ancient, Indestructible Nokia Phone
By 11.26.12 — Updated: 10.9.13
Do you ever get nostalgic for old technology, missing your Nokia dumbphone from 2001 or your Sony Mavica camera that saved photos to 3.5-inch floppy disks? Thanks to hidden caches of treasure in Walmart’s vast warehouses, you don’t have to. Wally World puts these items, brand-new and shrinkwrapped, on the shelves at comically high prices. Brave Consumerist readers seek out these rare finds and send their discoveries to us. We call these brave souls the Raiders of the Lost Walmart. [More]
Verizon Says I Owe Overages For iPhone I Returned 8 Months Ago
By 11.7.12
This past spring, Steve bought a shiny new iPhone 4S. It seemed like a good choice because his son was about to be born, and the 4S has a pretty nice camera for photographing adorable babies. When he got home, he discovered that Verizon’s coverage wasn’t so great there, so he brought the phone back within the initial 14-day return period. They took it back, charged him a restocking fee, no problem. Then, more than six months later, the collection calls began. Wha? [More]
