Our lab-coated colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports are still testing various features of the iPhone 4S, so we don’t have their verdict on its battery life yet. But many customers online, including reader Bill, are already complaining that the battery drains much too quickly, and never fully charges to 100%. [More]
smartphones
Cheap AT&T Text Message Plan IS Compatible With iPhone 4s
By 10.19.11
Have you fired up your new iPhone 4S, only to feel lonely because no one is texting you? Don’t be sad. You might still have some friends after all. As reader Hillary discovered, AT&T’s cheapest text plan ($5 for 200 messages) isn’t compatible with the new phone, so people with that combination just don’t get their messages. Update: We heard from an AT&T rep, who told us that there’s no reason why the 4S shouldn’t work with a 200-message texting plan, and isn’t sure why this happened to Hillary. [More]
New iPhone Causes Price Drop In Older Models
By 10.5.11
Apple’s revelation that the iPhone 4S is nigh has started a domino effect that sapped much of the value away from its predecessors. Those who have spent the past several months longing for the iPhone 4 will now be able to grab an 8GB model for $99 on a two-year contract. And the older iPhone 3GS now is free on contract. [More]
Security Vulnerability Exposes HTC Smartphone Users' Info
By 10.3.11
HTC makes some powerful Android smartphones, but owners will have to replace their smug senses of superiority with worries about their personal data. A security vulnerability in recent updates to several HTC phones, including the Evo 3D and Thunderbolt, includes logging tools that potentially allow outsiders to get a hold of GPS, encoded text message data, email addresses and other info for those who use the phones. [More]
Growth Of Texting Craze Starts To Slow
By 9.21.11
Likely thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and the way they facilitate on-the-fly email and instant messaging — as well as widespread social network use — text messaging is no longer the growth cottage industry it once was. According to researchers, adults sent and received a median average of 10 texts per day this spring, the same figure as last spring. The previous fall, the median average was five per day. [More]
Google Wallet Smartphone App Launches With Visa, MasterCard Inside
By 9.20.11
Google’s vision of having cell phone customers buy stuff with their smartphones at cash registers is becoming reality. The Google Wallet app, which allows compatible devices to use their virtual credit cards to make purchases, has gone live. Visa and MasterCard are currently on board, and Google says future updates will include American Express and Discover. [More]
Verizon Starts Throttling Top Data Gobblers
By 9.19.11
After announcing back in February that it would reserve the right to throttle top smartphone data users, Verizon has put the policy into effect. The top 5 percent of data users on unlimited 3G data plans who are in what Verizon calls “congested cell sites” will now face slowdowns that last longer than a month. [More]
Report: iPhone 5 Has Gone Into Production
By 9.6.11
If the iPhone 5 is indeed, as rumored, going to launch early next month, it makes sense that Apple’s contractors are hard at work putting the products together. A report says that Chinese manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron are doing just that. [More]
Study: Sprint Smartphone Users Hog The Most Data
By 8.17.11
Ever since AT&T and Verizon did away with unlimited data plans and T-Mobile offered unlimited-but-throttled plans, Sprint has been bragging about both that its unlimited plan has no cap and that its 4G network is quite speedy. And according to the results of a new study, Sprint users are gobbling up much more data than subscribers to any of the other companies. [More]
Android Market Update Allows Ebook Buying, Movie Rentals
By 7.28.11
Thanks to a beefed-up Android Market, Android smartphones and tablets are now more versatile, allowing for direct ebook purchasing and video rentals. You could do similar things before on Android phones — such as buy ebooks through the mobile Kindle app and stream Netflix — but now Google is attempting to cut out the middle man. [More]
Report: 30 To 40 Percent Of Some Android Device Purchases Are Returned
By 7.27.11
Android phone sales surpass those of iPhones, but to compare the popularity of the two classes of smartphones you have to take returns into account. According to a report, customers return Android devices at a far higher rate than they do their Apple rivals. [More]
Is Wireless Data Still "Unlimited" If It's Throttled After A Certain Point?
By 7.20.11
As we noted in April, when T-Mobile proudly announced that it was offering “unlimited” data plans for smartphones, there should be a pretty sizable asterisk next to “unlimited,” because, after the user consumes 2GB of data in a month, T-Mobile throttles back on the speed at which any further data is delivered. Some would call that a “limit,” but T-Mobile continues to disagree and has rolled out a handful of additional unlimited-with-throttling plans. [More]
Report: Apple May Offer iPhone 3GS For Free Under Contract When iPhone 5 Comes Out
By 6.30.11 — Updated: 11.7.12
According to a research note from RBC Capital, customers who sign up for a two-year contract may be able to score an iPhone 3GS for free in September, when the next version of the iPhone is expected to be released. [More]
Would You Pay $50 A Month To Watch All The Movies In Theaters You Want?
By 6.28.11
MoviePass is a new in-beta service that lets movie buffs watch as many movies in theaters as they want for $50 a month. [More]
Survey: More Than A Third Of College Kids At UAB Use Apps While Driving
By 6.28.11
An apparently unscientific but eye-opening survey found that 35 percent of college students polled at University of Alabama at Birmingham use mobile apps while driving. The sample size was only 93 students, all at UAB, and participants were not selected at random, but the survey was enough to draw the attention of the American Psychological Association, which asked the student who conducted the survey to present her findings at its August convention. [More]
Verizon Wireless Mulls Over Idea Of Offering Family Data Plans
By 5.19.11
With the pending AT*T/T-Mobile merger threatening to push Verizon Wireless out of the lead in the mobile melee, the company is looking for ways to differentiate itself from its (shrinking number of) competitors. That includes the idea of offering family plans for data that would save families money on smartphone costs. [More]
Researchers Discover Security Hole In Android
By 5.18.11
Researchers in Germany recently discovered a small problem with Google’s Android smartphone operating system, one that affects around 97% of Android users and could make their personal info available to evil bastards. [More]
