By calling up Sprint and insinuating he might cancel because they’re taking away his discount, one of our readers was able to get Sprint to credit his account for the same amount they’re taking away from him. [More]
telephony
Sprint Hikes Prices By Dumping Discounts
By 8.9.10
If you’re proud of how much money you’re saving on your Sprint family or share plan because of all the mad discounts you’re getting, get ready for a price hike. After August 27th, Sprint is getting rid of all add-a-phone discounts. [More]
Heart Attack Patient Has No Phone Going On A Week, Time Warner Botches Repairs
By 8.5.10
Thomas is on the 7th day without Time Warner Cable phone service, which is a bit of a problem since his mother just had a heart attack. They’ve promised multiple times to come out and fix it, and either broken those promised appointments or only partially fixed the issue. [More]
This Cellphone Ad Needs More Anxiety!
By 8.3.10
As any Mad Men fan can tell you, ads are all about creating the itch and then selling the cream to soothe it. You stoke the desire and then offer the solution. Sales ensue. But what the modern dreamweavers on Madison Ave have figured out is that the two don’t even have to be related. You could show a bunch of elephants trampling a village – an anxious event, indeed – and then “Pencils! Get 20 for $2” and you have yourself a great ad. Very Eisenstein, and for some reason, this tactic seems especially popular in cellphone ads. I remember a Verizon one where a girl had to have a llama and it was socially awkward. Inspired, I wrote up a short sketch to demonstrate: [More]
Run Android On A Windows Mobile Phone
By 7.9.10
Over at the How-To Geek they’ve figured out how to get the Android OS to run on a Windows Mobile phone, and now they are sharing the information with one and all. [More]
"New" Sprint Phone Pre-Loaded With Porn
By 7.8.10
A Detroit woman is saying “What?!” after buying a supposedly new Sprint phone that had an unwanted free feature: it already had several X-rated porno videos on it. [More]
Gov. Launches Product Recall App For Android
By 7.7.10
This week USA.gov launched a slew of new apps to help citizens, including a product recall app for Android. [More]
How To Fix iPhone 4 "Death Grip" Issue
By 7.1.10
Here’s a custom mod you can apply to your iPhone 4 to fix any “death grip” related signal loss. [More]
Consumer Reports Video Faceoff: Droid X vs. iPhone 4
By 6.30.10
Playing like a polite re-enactment of a gadget blog comments section flame war, two Consumer Reports journalists pit the features of the iPhone 4 against the new Droid X in this video thunderdome. Who will win? Will the iPhone’s Retina blind the Droid’s amber oculus? Or will the Droid’s tapered top-knob bash the iPhone into shards? “Two phones enter… one phone leaves…” [More]
Verizon Retreats From Charging Marine Widow $350 Early Termination Fee
By 6.30.10
After achieving “clarity,” Verizon has decided to not charge the widow of a Marine who died in Afghanistan a $350 early termination fee. The woman had moved back home following her husband’s death so as to be closer to family, and in the new area she had no cellphone reception. In announcing the situation’s resolution, Verizon Wireless also took the opportunity to take a jab at the media for sensationalizing their incompetence. [More]
Nokia Skewers iPhone 4 Grip-Related Reception Problems
By 6.29.10
Nokia takes the piss out of iPhone 4 in a new blog post that asks, “How do you hold your Nokia?” One of the problems with the new iPhone 4 is that if your hands are sweaty and you grip it holding the antenna band it loses reception. A Nokia, the blog says, can be held by the thumb and finger, by balancing it, cupping it, or the four edge grip. Or really any grip at all. [More]
T-Mobile Fixes Broken Arbitration Opt-Out Site Our Reader Spotted
By 6.29.10
A little over two weeks ago, tipped by reader Chan, we told you about how buried in T-Mobile’s online terms and conditions is a way to opt-out of their mandatory binding arbitration clause, but unfortunately the website where you were supposed to do it was down. We gave their PR guy a heads up and now the site, www.t-mobiledisputeresolution.com, is online. [More]
AT&T Ships Empty Box Instead of iPhone 4
By 6.29.10
The big day had arrived. The UPS box containing Logan’s new iPhone 4 sat on his front porch. Picking it up, he noticed it felt rather light. [More]
Verizon: Die Fighting In Afghanistan, Pay $350 Early Termination Fee
By 6.25.10
After a woman’s husband died in Afghanistan, a marine felled by an IED, she moved back to her home town to be closer to her family and grieve. In the smaller town, she couldn’t get any reception from Verizon, so she called them up to cancel. Despite being a widow and Verizon not living up to its contractual obligations to provide actual cellphone coverage, they slapped her with a $350 early termination fee. UPDATE: Verizon Retreats From Charging Marine Widow $350 Early Termination Fee [More]
Sheriff Says Tmobile Delayed Murder Investigation
By 6.24.10
The head of the Major Case Squad of St. Louis is calling out Tmobile for delaying a 20-person double-murder investigation by several days by demanding an unusual $50 fee for accessing victims’ phone records. [More]
Save On Cellphone Bills When Traveling To Mexico And Canada
By 6.22.10
Rather than futz with local SIM cards or Skype, a NYT reporter found that when going south of the border, you can just temporarily switch your coverage plan to a “Nationwide plus Mexico” plan. It’s only about $30 more, so, compared to the $.99 per minute you would otherwise pay, it’s worth it if you make more than a half-hour of phonecalls to the states. [More]
iOS4 Releases Today
By 6.21.10
UPDATE: It’s here. Plug your iPhone into your computer and fire up the iTunes. As even those who live in remote fishing villages probably know, today Apple is set to drop iOS4 on the streets. It’s the operating system that the iPhone4 ships with, but owners of previous generation phones will be able to upgrade to it and enjoy some of the same benefits. A friend of mine who tried it out by installing iOS 4.0 developer’s beta said, [More]
