Cell Tower Workers Die for Your '4 Bars'

Two days after PBS aired a Frontline report on high rates of fatal injuries among cell tower workers, one of AT&T's major construction management partners has halted tower work in several states to complete a review of safety practices.

Goodman Networks of Plano, Texas, notified workers of the mandatory stand-down on 24 May, eight days after technician Shad Lierley fell 100 feet from a tower near Austin, Texas. Reports say he was a subcontractor, hired by Goodman for an AT&T project on the site. Goodman confirmed the stoppage; AT&T refused comment.

Interestingly, AT&T had been a focus of that Frontline program, 'Cell Tower Deaths'.

Can Local News Save US Newspapers? | Opinion

Is local news the key to 21st-century newspaper success?

You needn't be a writer to know that newspapers are an endangered species.

Circulation's been in decline for years, with advertising revenue following close behind. Debate on what caused this could fill a library, with fingers pointed at everything from the publishers to Apple's iPad to Google and Craigslist. But what's clear is that even in large US cities, once-thriving publications must cut back or simply shut down.

Enter what may be the most unlikely of highly unlikely duos: the real-life Midwestern billionaire CEO Warren Buffet and make-believe Conservative Libertarian chat show host, Stephen Colbert...

Google Adds Android App Subscriptions to Play Store

Back in April of last year, Apple introduced in-app subscriptions, via iTunes. Realizing they had to keep up, the folks at Google quickly responded by adding...basic support for in-app purchases. Well, we suppose you've got to start somewhere.

Working on the theory that it's never too late, here in May 2012 Mountain View finally catches up with their mobile sector rival. Google's Play Store now provides end-to-end subscription support for all Android applications sold there...

Pres. Obama to US Govmt.: 'Go Mobile. Now!'

Operator, what number do I dial for GMail?

In a new directive, President Obama instructed the White House and all federal agencies to optimize their websites and services for mobile device access. He called for every agency to publish mobile apps for at least two of their public functions, within twelve months.

In a separate statement, Mr. Obama explained...

Nokia World: Smaller, Cheaper, Farther

Nokia Conversations announces major changes to Nokia World 2012.

First held in 2006, Nokia World is traditionally a grand affair playing host to thousands of attendees -- a diverse group that includes Nokia's retail partners, mobile analysts, developers and journalists of all nations -- in a space suited to industry trade shows.

Apparently, this year will be very different tho' the official explanation is a bit vague...

FB Status: Scanning a Pint of Guinness

(Guinness reminds you to never scan and drive.)

Explanations, first: Yes, our lead photo (above) depicts a glass of a very dark liquid with a foamy head. And, yes, that pattern on the glass really is a QR code, the fancy computer-generated barcodes you're starting to see just about everywhere.

To be specific, the fluid is Guinness Irish stout beer, made by the world-famous Irish brewers Guinness & Co.; the unusual container is a Guinness 'QR cup' -- a beer glass with etched QR code -- and that's the creation of world-famous New York ad agency BBDO.

So, Ok -- tasty and clever. Got it? But the true genius is harder to see...

Skype on Nokia's Lumia 610 = HUGE FAIL

Nokia's Lumia 610 has unfriended Skype

More bad news for Microkia.:

After a full month's field-trial (with real customers acting as their unpaid testers), Nokia has decided they were right the first time: Skype won't run properly on Tango-level Windows Phone devices. Some users reportd a 'low system RAM' warning after installing Microsoft's VOIP app, while others complained of laggy performance.

Call it an oversight or call it poor QA, but even MobilePhonesFan would not dare to call it fragmentation...

Android Fragmentation FTW! Week in Mobile

Shout out to da sheeple!

Samsung's Not Just Flocking Around

...Plus 9 More Tails from last Week's Mobile News

Is Cable Giant Comcast Cheating on Their
FCC Net Neutrality Agreement?

Do we really need to tell you?

Successful Android Games Developer
Says,"We like fragmentation."

Surprisingly, they weren't joking. Or drunk.

Nokia Tops Apple in Two Important Metrics:
Factory Explosions = 0; Roof-Jumpers = 0

Ups and downs in the mobile phones biz.

Insane Windows Installathon! Week in Tech

What will they think of, next?

Insane Windows Installathon: DOS 5 to Win 8, in Sequence!

...Plus 9 More Surprising Stories from the Week in Tech

The Interface that Made Milwaukee Famous?
Disposable Touchpad Made from Beer Bottle Label

New Record for Wireless Transmission: 3 GBps
Old Record for IEEE Standards Process: 7 Years

GM to Facebook's Zuckerburg: 'Your Site Sucks'!
Analysts Say Google Has 10x Better Click-Through

Samsung Galaxy S3: 9 million Pre-Orders?

9 million Galaxy S3s: cool. 9 million iPhones: baaaaaad.

According to Reuters, 9 million units of Samsung's Galaxy SIII have been pre-ordered by mobile operators, around the world.

Wasn't it only two months ago we learned Samsung has shipped 20 million Galaxy S2 phones? Now that model's nominal successor, the Galaxy SIII, is halfway there on the basis of pre-orders alone. And since Samsung's been silent about any US release-date, that "100 operators" bit really means, "not America".

Yet.

Samsung's on a tear...

Smartphones Up, Samsung Up, Nokia Down

Nokia smart phone sales take a bath. Again.

It's a classic Good News/Bad News quarterly report from Gartner.

Overall sales of mobile phones hit 419.1 million units, down 2% from this time last year -- the first 1Q drop in three years. Analysts say this reflects fewer products launched in the Asia-Pacific region, in particular during the traditional gift-giving season.

Meanwhile, the elite smartphones sector saw continued growth, rising 44.7% year-on-year to 144.4 million units. Android models accounted for 56.1% of smartphone sales, allowing top licensee Samsung to end Nokia's 14-year reign as world's #1 phone maker.

NASDAQ Open 9:30; Facebook Trades Later

Facebook paper stock certificate (Image: sec.gov)

At 9:30EST today, Mark Zuckerberg will ring NASDAQ's opening bell, but Facebook fans will have to wait awhile before buying a piece of the social networking giant.

NASDAQ offers companies some leeway in the timing of their Wall Street baptisms. The only hard rule for commencement of trading is that it start well before the market's 4PM ET close. So, when will Facebook shares hit the big board? NASDAQ reps declined to comment on Facebook's debut, but we do have precedent to consider.

Facebook Shares Priced at $38 for IPO

Eduardo Saverin, getting a head-start for Singapore...

Facebook is reportedly pricing their IPO offering at $38 per share, at the extreme high end of the previously announced $35-$38 range.

If they get that price, Facebook's total valuation would be approximately $104 billion, with the stock sale raking in some $18.4 billion, total.


via: CNBC; WSJ

Verizon: 4G LTE = No More Unlimited Data

Are you a Verizon customer?

When your contract's up, are you looking forward to an upgrade? Maybe one of those speedy LTE models, like the Galaxy Nexus (by Samsung) or the mega-powered Motorola's RAZR Maxx? And do you still have a Verizon Wireless $30 unlimited data plan, the popular option they stopped selling last summer?

If so, you might want to think twice about that new phone...

Google Bashes Facebook for GM Ad Loss

There's no love lost between these two.

Everybody knows Google's famous internal mantra, "Don't be evil." So, is it evil to kick a competitor when they're down? Less than 24 hours after news that Facebook is losing General Motor's $10 million ad campaign, we were a bit surprised to see one Google executive tweeted a public slam of his employer's social media rival.

And MobilePhonesFan saved a copy for you...

Android Fragmentation: Bad or Worse?

And this is just last year's phones...

OK, let's get this out in the open right away: Android is fragmented. No joke.

In any phones store, you'll see dozens of Android phone or tablet models. The most recent of these will be running either Android 2.3 ('Gingerbread') or Android 4 ('Ice Cream Sandwich'), but if the shop has any leftover stock from late 2011 those devices could just as likely be loaded with Android 2.2 ('Froyo').

So, yeah, fragmentation's right out in the open. It's so obvious, the only question is a matter of scale;  are we looking at a manageable mess or a crushing impediment? Between model SKUs and OS versions, there are thousands of Android device types...and that looks really bad. Our lead photo (above) doesn't do it justice.

But this one does.:

GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Pay Off

General Motors votes with their advertising dollars.

With a long-awaited Wall Street IPO scheduled for this Friday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg must have a million -- or maybe 100 billion -- things on his mind.

Between taking calls from bankers, conferring with lawyers, meeting with staff, fending off reporters, plus killing and slaughtering his own food -- well, we'd guess he's one busy guy. With all that going on, the last thing he needs is word that one of his top customers has taken their money and gone home.

But that's exactly what he got, yesterday...

Tokyo Team Demos 3Gbps Terahertz WiFi

tl;dr Researchers set new record with world's first terahertz-band WifI -- 3Gbps.

That's a big bump over the 'blisteringly quick' 1.5Gbps recorded last year.

Who accomplished this feat? How'd they do it? What are 'terahertz', anyway? How much time would this save if using home WiFi to download every episode of 'Game of Thrones'? And the really important bit: what's the catch?

Excellent questions! Let's take them one at a time...

70% of Mobile App Users Are Cheapskates

I said, the rent is too dam high !

This just in from the tech consultants at ABI Research: 70% of mobile app users are cheapskates who buy very few apps. And even when they do get around to buying some,  they tend to pay very little.

Wait, do you hear that...sort of a high-pitched shriek, somewhere off in the distance? Unless we're mistaken, that's the sound you get when several thousand mobile developers all scream, "No s#@t!"

Time Warner Cable CEO: 'What's AirPlay?"

Can I use this AirPlay thingie with a VHS recorder?

In case you missed (or didn't understand) the title, let's try a re-phrase:

The CEO of Time-Warner Cable doesn't know what Apple's Air Play is.

:ahem:

MobilePhonesFan will now paste the quote, verbatim. Nothing more to add...