Hasta La Gadget!

From the newsreel archives of British Pathe comes this clip of two women walking down the street and using a “wireless phone” — in 1922.

It’s not exactly high technology. Before they can use the phone, one of the women has to wind a wire around a fire hydrant (to ground it, perhaps?). Then she unfurls an umbrella, around which an antenna wire has been looped.

Once she’s connected, the camera shows an operator cueing up a record on the Victrola. That means that this gadget is, as the Pathe archivist who wrote the descriptive copy exclaims, “An early mobile phone crossed with an early Sony walkman! Excellent!”

Eve’s Wireless newsreel, via Metro.co.uk (Thanks, Cavan!)

AT&T’s latest idea is actually kind of brilliant on multiple levels: totally free Wi-Fi in Times Square. And it could be how they save their network. More »

Plenty of Verizon customers would toss their Nokia, BlackBerry or HTC phones in exchange for an iPhone — if Apple ever delivers the coveted handset to their network.

Seventeen percent of Verizon’s customers would upgrade to an iPhone given the opportunity, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty wrote in a research note, based on responses to the firm’s U.S. consumer iPhone survey.

“There is substantial pent up iPhone demand within the Verizon installed base as 16.8 percent of Verizon subscribers said they are ‘very likely’ to purchase an iPhone if offered on the Verizon Network,” Huberty wrote, adding that this number is higher than the number of AT&T subscribers — 14.6 percent — extremely interested in the current iPhone.

Ever since the iPhone debuted on AT&T in 2007, analysts and journalists have questioned when (not if) Apple will share the iPhone with Verizon. Speculation over the impact of a Verizon iPhone has gained momentum ever since The Wall Street Journal reported a rumor that Apple was producing a CDMA iPhone this fall. CDMA is the standard used by Verizon.

In response to the rumor, AT&T’s CEO Ralph da la Vega said during an investor conference that his company was not fazed by the possibility of a Verizon iPhone. He explained that family plans and corporate plans constitute a large part of AT&T’s customer base, and it’s difficult to migrate multiple devices to a different carrier.

Via Digital Daily

See Also:

• AT&T Sees No Threat in a Verizon iPhone
• Analyst Predicts Verizon iPhone Announcement Next Week
• WSJ: Apple to Produce Verizon iPhone in September
• Verizon to Apple: We Want the iPhone
• Verizon iPhone ‘Unlikely’ in 2010, Says Analyst

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

There’s the good kind of follow-the-leader, and then there’s this. While the world cheered as all four major US wireless carriers implemented prorated early termination fees, we can all hang our heads accordingly for this one: AT&T has just followed Verizon Wireless’ march into the dark, evil corners of contractland by adjusting ETFs higher for netbooks and smartphones. In an email sent out to select customers, the carrier notes that beginning on June 1st (that’s less than a fortnight away), customers who select “advanced, higher-end device[s], including netbooks and smartphones, will have an ETF of $325, reduced by $10 for each month during the balance of the service agreement.” That’s up significantly over the $175 ETF that affects all of AT&T’s handsets today, though still $25 less than VZW’s plan. The silver lining — if you could call it that — comes with this point: customers “who are buying basic and quick messaging phones will have a lower ETF of $150, reduced by $4 for each month during the balance of the service agreement.” Naturally, existing contract customers won’t see any immediate change, but you can bet you’ll be nailed with the new terms once you head in this summer to pre-order that iPhone 4G. The full memo is posted after the break — so much for “rethinking possible,” huh?

Update: AT&T has published an “open letter” explaining the changes. Thanks, Daniel!

[Thanks, L.]

Continue reading AT&T follows Verizon, jacks up ETF on netbooks and smartphones

AT&T follows Verizon, jacks up ETF on netbooks and smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Look at this man. Just look at him. Isn’t it obvious that Boris Johnson gets what Boris Johnson wants? In case you’ve been misinformed about the power this man’s wishes hold, you should know that he’s well on his way to establishing the first muni-fi project to actually work — or so he hopes. By and large, every attempt to sprinkle WiFi onto entire US cities has fallen short in one way or another, but London has a motivator that no American borough ever did: the 2012 Olympics. Boris’ plan is to blanket all of London in WiFi prior to the opening ceremony, with “every lamppost and every bus stop” having a router or repeater in it. The scheme is part of a larger plan to make London the “technology capital of the world,” but unfortunately, your hopes of connecting for free may be dashed. According to the London Evening Standard, “no details of pricing have been given,” and we get the impression that those in charge of the rollout would’ve jumped at the chance to gloat about its free-ness if that were indeed the case. But then again, who are we to question the might of London’s Mayor?

London to become one giant WiFi hotspot by 2012, because Boris says so originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Macworld  |  London Evening Standard  | Email this | Comments