A Web Blog for the Mobile Masses

March 3, 2005: Finally, a cell phone we can all agree on."--Jason Ankeny

February 25, 2005: Speaking in South Korea at the annual LG Technology Forum, MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte had some interesting things to say about the direction of the wireless industry. "The killer application in mobile service is decided by response time,” Negroponte says. "To what extent the service can deliver what users want is the most critical factor in wireless as well as in broadband service."--Jason Ankeny

February 23, 2005: Ever wonder whatever happened to rapper Six Mix-a-Lot, of "Baby Got Back" fame? Me neither. But it seems he's now making original ringtones.--Jason Ankeny

February 11, 2005: Here's a fascinating article exploring the future of music over wireless devices--creating music, mind you, not just listening to it. "Music technologists are pushing new programs that are turning the cellphone into a palm-size answer to the turntable, or a slimmed-down recording studio on the go. In time...the software could recast the phone as a replacement for the electric guitar."--Jason Ankeny

February 7, 2005: Apart from the game's site--Jacksonville's Alltel Stadium--yesterday's Super Bowl was largely free of wireless industry advertising. Verizon Wireless did shell out for a commercial highlighting its new VCast service, employing celebs like Shaquille O'Neal and Christina Aguilera to drive home the idea that tiny is the new cool. Specifically, the ad promoted mobile video and small handset screens as the wave of the future, with shrunken versions of Shaq and Xtina opining that getting small enough for wireless multimedia is the best career decision they ever made. It's an interesting approach--instead of avoiding the issue of small screens, Verizon is not only tackling it head-on, but employing it as a selling point. I don't know--it seems to me the equivalent of advertising an SUV by marketing the vehicle's potential to flip over.--Jason Ankeny

February 2, 2005: Nobody mocks wireless consumer behavior quite like The Onion.--Jason Ankeny

January 28, 2005: The BabyMo--a working mobile handset targeted to four-to-eight-year-old consumers--is being pulled off the market in France because of concerns the devices pose a danger to such young users. The biggest danger isn't radiation, however, but the possibility that Michael Jackson might somehow get these kids' phone numbers.--Jason Ankeny

January 27, 2005: More proof that the wireless phone calls of the future will be virtually indistinguishable from today's "morning zoo"-style radio. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. --Jason Ankeny

January 21, 2005: The customer is always right--except when they're talking on cell phones, or so it would seem.--Jason Ankeny

January 18, 2005: According to a new USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, 68% of respondents are in favor of maintaining rules that ban mobile phone use during commercial air travel. Women and travelers aged 50 or older are the most strongly opposed to in-flight chatter.--Jason Ankeny

January 12, 2005: Crazy, compelling story about a hacker with access to T-Mobile's servers--for a full year, no less.--Jason Ankeny

January 7, 2005: This fascinating article--which first appeared in the Los Angeles Times--points out that the mobile phone has robbed jerks like yours truly of one of life's greatest pleasures: Angrily slamming down the telephone receiver to dramatically end a phone call. Merely hitting the "end" button has no style, no spirit, no pizzazz--to make your point, you need to drive that handset back onto the cradle like you're spiking the football after winning the Super Bowl on a last-second touchdown. Sigh...--Jason Ankeny

January 5, 2005: The results of Consumer Reports magazine's annual survey of wireless carrier customer satisfaction, and once again, it ain't pretty. More than half of U.S. consumers are "less than satisfied" with their mobile service, with the greatest dissatisfaction directed at Nextel for its "network coverage limitations." In general, poor call quality, complex service plans and poor customer service were widely cited as sources of irritation, with almost 70% respondents reporting at least one dropped call in the week before taking the survey. Uh...Happy New Year?—Jason Ankeny