Cell phones, smart phones, and PDAs

You say eether and I say eyether. You say neether and I say nyther.

AT&T says 4G; I say 3G. Let's call the whole thing off.

The confusion around 4G wireless networks rages on as the network indicator on the iPhone 4S changes from "3G" to "4G" after its update to the new iOS 5.1 software from Apple. In this edition of Ask Maggie, I deal with two questions from readers who are confused about what the icon change means for their iPhone 4S's and their service plans.

4G or not … Read more

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer some advice for buying a new smartphone that doesn't require a crane to hoist it up to your ear. And I explain why Nokia's new 41-megapixel technology is on such a lame OS.

Dear Maggie, I've been using the iPhone since it first came out and have not looked back until recently. Now I'm considering switching. But I've run into a huge problem, every new phone is too big for my personal taste.

I would like the latest greatest flagship device, but it seems that every manufacturer … Read more

AT&T has clarified its "throttling" policy for its unlimited data customers who the company says use too much bandwidth. But many users are still confused and angry.

In this Ask Maggie, I explain why the new policy--though still annoying and not customer-friendly--is actually a better deal than what unlimited data subscribers had been getting. Also in this edition of Ask Maggie, I explain why Verizon and Sprint may still not be the best carriers if you plan on taking your phone on your travels with you.

AT&T's throttling mess

Dear Maggie, I am … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--App developers and consumer advocates are unhappy with news this week that AT&T may be considering a plan that would allow data-heavy service providers to pay upfront for the bandwidth their customers may use.

Earlier this week, AT&T's CTO John Donovan told The Wall Street Journal at the Mobile World Congress here that the carrier is considering a kind of toll-free calling for mobile data. The idea is that mobile-app providers whose services consume a lot of data, such as video streaming, could buy 1-800-like service from AT&T so that their users … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Where do the largest telecommunications companies in the world want to be in in the future? In the cloud.

We've all heard this schtick before: Carriers don't want to be the purveyors of dumb pipes. Their equipment suppliers--namely, Cisco Systems and Alcatel-Lucent--also don't want them to be dumb pipe operators. The reason is simple: There just isn't much money in being dumb.

Smart is the way to go.

But for telecommunications giants, what does it mean to be smart? For the CEOs of Deutsche Telekom, Alcatel Lucent, and Cisco Systems, who spoke as part of … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Wireless operators need to stop locking devices and offering overly complicated data plans. That's the message from Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn and eBay CEO John Donahoe here at Mobile World Congress.

Dunn and Donahoe took the stage today as part of a panel discussion about mobile payments. While the CEOs talked a lot about how shopping and payments are changing thanks to mobile devices, they also took a few jabs at wireless operators, challenging them to become more open to help spur greater adoption of their services across a broad range of devices.

While the mobile phone … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain - A year into its partnership with Microsoft, Nokia is filling out its Windows Phone smartphone portfolio and differentiating devices with Nokia-only features and apps.

On Monday, Nokia kicked off the Mobile World Congress tradeshow here with a new low-end Lumia Windows Phone smartphone, the Lumia 610. This is now the fourth Lumia Windows Phone in the portfolio, and it will sell for 189 euros ($254) in Europe before subsidies.

Microsoft announced the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 in October. These were the first Windows Phone devices for Nokia, and they were initially only available in Europe. Now, … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Sony Mobile Communications has a new strategy. Instead of announcing one killer phone at this year's Mobile World Congress, it's announcing a suite of devices that it hopes will attract a wider audience of consumers, particularly those at the low end.

Will the strategy work? It's hard to say. There's a lot of competition out there that will make it hard. Still, with full ownership from its former parent company Sony, executives say they're ready to spend big on making Sony's mobile phones a household brand.

Sony Ericsson (Sony Mobile's former name … Read more

Heading to Europe and wondering how you can avoid coming home to a wireless bill as big as your mortgage payment?

In this edition of Ask Maggie I offer some advice about using a smartphone abroad to a reader traveling to Spain next week for the Mobile World Congress trade show. Getting a local SIM card to pop into an unlocked GSM phone is likely the cheapest option. But if used carefully, subscribers don't have to sacrifice their kids' college funds to pay for a U.S. wireless plan with international roaming. Ask Maggie shows you how. Also in … Read more