Hasta La Gadget!

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has today taken up the battle cry of numerous legislators before her, calling for wireless carriers to enable new anti-theft technology on handsets.

According to the Senator, one-third of robberies involve cell phone theft, resulting in an estimated $30 billion in lost or stolen phones.

That said, Klobuchar has written a letter to the heads of the major wireless carriers, including Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular.

In the letter, she requests an explanation as to why “the most advanced security features” haven’t been provided to consumers.

This comes on the heels of Apple’s iOS 7 launch, which included an Activation Lock feature inside Find My iPhone. This essentially worked as a kill switch, requiring the owners passcode to reactive an account, wipe the device, turn off Find My iPhone, or sign out of iCloud.

The NYT reported last month that Samsung was trying to bring a similar technology to handsets but that it was rejected by carriers.

After all, the carriers make a pretty penny from insurance policies protecting against lost or stolen phones, which has become a huge issue in major cities. Cops have even lovingly given iPhone theft a name: Apple picking.

Meanwhile, carriers have made light of phone theft with stupid commercials. All this while people get hurt.

Here’s the full text of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s letter:

Dear Messrs. McAdam, Stephenson, Hesse, Legere, and Meyers:

I am writing to express my concern regarding the increase in crimes involving the theft of mobile devices across the country. As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, I understand that consumers are utilizing more mobile technology and this is spurring growth in our economy. Unfortunately, more and more consumers are also at risk of being targeted by criminals looking to steal cell phones and other devices for illegal resale. I appreciate the work the industry has done in creating a database to keep stolen phones from being reactivated, but more action is needed.

According to the Federal Communications Commission, almost one-in-three robberies involve phone theft and the cost to consumers of lost or stolen phones is more than $30 billion each year. I’ve heard from local law enforcement officials about the continued call for the wireless industry to engage with them further and to adopt “kill switch” technologies on devices. Additionally, state Attorneys General have suggested that wireless carriers have not taken adequate steps to fight cell phone theft.

As Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, I expect wireless carriers to compete against one another to ensure consumers are offered the most advanced security features and offerings. Your five companies are the nation’s leading wireless carriers, collectively serving more than 90 percent of the nation’s wireless subscribers. With that market share comes an obligation to do all you can to utilize technologies available to protect consumers.

While I understand your companies are continuing to work with law enforcement on the stolen cell phone database, it is clear that consumers want and deserve a comprehensive strategy to prevent mobile device thefts. That is why I respectfully request that each of your companies provides my Judiciary Subcommittee detailed information on the following issues by January 9, 2014:

· Information explaining whether you have had offers by handset manufacturers to install “kill switch” technology, and, if so, why your company has or has not adopted such technology.

· Information about whether you have considered including this solution on handsets made by manufacturers now competing with Apple’s activation lock technology that operates as a “kill switch” on iPhones. If not, please describe your reasoning behind the decision made by your company.

· How your company will include such technology options at no cost to consumers in the future and how your phone security offerings differ from your competitors.

Identifying ways to curb mobile device theft is a top priority of mine and I will continue to advocate for the American wireless consumer. I also believe additional action to protect wireless consumers is necessary and that’s why I am asking you for this information. The status quo is not acceptable.

Sincerely,

Amy Klobuchar

T-Mobile’s GoSmart brand of plans is about to get a new trick: looking at Facebook without chewing up your mobile data. Starting next month, folks on GoSmart plans will get unlimited access to anything and everything on Facebook, no data plan required. [AllThingsD]

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Magenta has started making waves again. A few days back T-Mobile CEO tweeted that the carrier is going to remove another customer “pain point,” he didn’t offer much details except that we should wait for T-Mobile’s uncarrier 4.0 announcement. Invitations have been sent out to the media, T-Mobile is going to make its hyped announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show 2014 in Las Vegas, next month. The media event has been planned for Wednesday, January 8th.

T-Mobile started off with its string of uncarrier announcements earlier this year, the first eliminated traditional two year service contracts on the carrier as well as device subsidies. The carrier also unveiled its Jump! program which lets subscribers upgrade their devices without worrying about eligibility. Only recently T-Mobile announced that it will offer unlimited global data roaming at 2G speeds with no extra cost. As per recent rumors, the uncarrier 4.0 announcement might be related to covering ETF or early termination fees for new subscribers that are switching from other carriers while their contracts are not yet up. Since these subscribers will be charged early termination fees by their carriers, T-Mobile would apparently cover that so these subscribers don’t have to pay a hefty fee just because they want to switch. There’s no confirmation of this as yet, so just wait until January 8th to find out what’s next from T-Mobile.

T-Mobile Uncarrier 4.0 Announcement Will Be Made At CES 2014 original content from Ubergizmo.

A couple of days back T-Mobile CEO tweeted that an uncarrier 4.0 announcement is going to be made soon. Throughout this year the carrier has made a number of “uncarrier” announcements which radically changed the way T-Mobile does business. With the first announcement T-Mobile stopped requiring subscribers to sign a conventional two year service contract, it also unveiled its Jump! program which lets them upgrade their smartphones without having to worry about eligibility. Another daring announcement was 2G global unlimited data roaming at no extra cost. Uncarrier 4.0 which is apparently internally referred to as Project Houdini will reportedly cover ETF or early termination fees for people switching over to T-Mobile from other carriers.

It is claimed that T-Mobile will position this new deal towards families with up to five lines of service, giving them instant credits for the smartphones from their previous carriers that they trade-in. When T-Mobile receives a copy of their final bill, it would issue credit to cover the early termination fees that the other carrier charges. The maximum credit for smartphones is said to be $350 and for feature phones it is said to be $200. While the folks at TmoNews have two sources who claim that Project Houdini exists, no official announcement has been made by T-Mobile as yet. They haven’t even given a hint of what uncarrier 4.0 is. An official announcement is rumored for January 15th, so we’ll just have to wait until then to be absolutely sure.

T-Mobile’s Project ‘Houdini’ Will Reportedly Cover ETF Fee For People Switching Carriers original content from Ubergizmo.

T-Mobile has made a number of announcements this year, under the “uncarrier” umbrella, that have totally redefined its way of doing business. It first announced the Jump! program, which was soon followed by AT&T, Verizon and Sprint with similar offers. T-Mobile subscribers don’t sign conventional two year service contracts now, the carrier allows them to upgrade their device while paying equal monthly installments for the device. Today, CEO John Legere hinted at yet another announcement, but didn’t say when we can expect to hear more about it.

In his tweet, Legere says that “#ItsAboutCustomers” and that its time to remove another “pain point” that customers have to endure on their carriers. “Time for #Uncarrier4?,” Legere asks. It is too soon to speculate right now exactly what this announcement is related to. The tweet itself doesn’t offer any hints as to what and most importantly when we can expect Legere to make this announcement. Another “uncarrier” move that T-Mobile made earlier this year was opening up unlimited 2G global data roaming at no extra cost. These moves were much appreciated, so there’s no doubt in the fact that subscribers and the industry are looking forward to what T-Mobile has in store next. On a separate note, Sprint might be looking to buy T-Mobile.

T-Mobile CEO Hints At Yet Another ‘Uncarrier’ Announcement original content from Ubergizmo.