Thousands of phones sold by Jitterbug, a mobile operator that specializes in simple handsets for limited uses such as emergency calls, are being recalled because they can’t be used to call 911 in some rare cases.
Jitterbug sells bare-bones handsets and no-contract service plans geared toward seniors and other consumers who don’t make heavy use of cell phones. One of its phones, the Jitterbug OneTouch, has dedicated buttons for the Jitterbug operator, one preset number, and 911 in place of a numeric keypad. Jitterbug has service and roaming agreements with many CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) operators around the country.
According to Andy Rubin, speaking at Google I/O, Google’s coming out with 18 or more Android Phones this year.
Rubin claims the releases will come from 8 or 9 manufacturers with faster adoption seen in Europe as US carriers try to "create highly distinctive versions of the Android phone to give themselves an edge." Sure, edge, if that’s what you want to call the US cartel of hoops and handcuffs then go right ahead. Interestingly, Rubin also further clarified the three flavors of Android which break down as follows:
Apple is preparing to launch not one, but two new devices with Verizon, according to yet another new rumor. The leaked product details about an alleged “iPhone lite”. The rumor sprung up after Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed that the company has spoken with Apple executives. “In the last six months.
Although McAdam would not say what the two companies discussed, two people familiar with the subject said talks covered the new smaller iPhone-like device under development. Representatives of Verizon Wireless and Apple declined to comment. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel says: “We are delighted with the iPhone and our partnership with Apple.” The company declined to make an executive available.
Apple is coming up with a new kind of touch-screen device that is bigger than its iPhone but smaller than a laptop.
The device, according to published reports, will be a kind of miniature tablet computer. Like the iPhone, it would be able to access the Internet over cell phone data networks, allowing users to surf the Web just about anywhere. And analysts expect that, like the iconic smart-phone, the retail price would be subsidized by wireless carriers.
Key mobile phone industry players have agreed to fit phones with the same power socket by 2012, industry group GSMA said on Tuesday.
It said handsets would have a micro USB interface, already used to transfer pictures from digital cameras to a computer.
The initial group of companies that have signed for the change include Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
Yahoo announced a new mobile service on Tuesday that will deliver an iPhone-like experience for people who cannot or will not splash out for the iconic but pricey Apple device as times get hard.
Yahoo Mobile will launch at the end of March in a form downloadable to any phone with a Web browser and from May in custom versions for hundreds of smartphones.
“There is a growing number of consumers out there who are not Apple iPhone users but want a rich starting experience,” Marco Boerries, the head of Yahoo’s mobile division, told Reuters in an interview.
Nvidia said it’s ready to show how its Tegra computer on a chip will power a new family of HD mobile Internet devices that could sell for $99 to $200, or nothing at all with a subsidy from a mobile carrier.
The graphics chip maker said this new class of devices will provide users with a full high-definition experience that boasts a cheap price and a battery life 10 times that of current Intel Atom-based netbooks. Nvidia will be speaking more on its latest moves in mobile at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.
