Wireless Fount

These companies are considered the top wireless phone carriers in the US. They form the foundation of the burgeoning wireless phone industry.

Alltell
This wireless Corporation's headquarters is located in Little Rock, Arkansas. This company provides wireless services to residential and business customers in all 50 states. It is technically the the largest cellular network in the U.S. because some areas use Alltell partners.

As of this moment, the company owns wireless networks in parts of 35 states. Alltell has roaming agreements in place to provide coverage in all 50 states and in Canada. Alltel and Verizon Wireless are working on a merger.

AT&T
This company is based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The company took on the iconic AT&T moniker and the T stock-trading symbol after its acquisition of American Telephone & Telegraph Company.

This company is recognized as the leading worldwide provider of IP-based communications services to businesses and the leading U.S. provider of wireless, high speed Internet access, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services.

Sprint Nextel
This company is a global Tier 1 Internet carrier, and, as such, makes up a portion of the Internet backbone. It also operates the one of the largest wireless broadband network and long distance provider in the United States.

This company has earned recognition developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving about 54 million customers at the end of the third quarter 2007.

T-Mobile
This company is a national provider of wireless voice, messaging, and data services capable of reaching over 268 million Americans where they live, work, and play. It has approximately 29,000 employees.

T-Mobile USA is the US operating entity of T-Mobile International AG, the mobile communications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT). Deutsche Telekom is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, with more than 80 million customers worldwide.

Verizon Wireless
This company is based in Basking Ridge, N.J. and based on revenues it is possibly the largest U.S. wireless company and largest wireless data provider.
it serves more than 63 million customers and employs about 68,000 people.

This company claims to operate the nation's most reliable wireless network. It has the unique 30-day network test-drive pledge that pays for calls if a customer isn't satisfied and switches to another carrier.

Check out Wireless Network Info for more information and news on the top wireless phone networks or carriers.

Early this year, Palm announced its next-generation smartphone, the Pre. According to Palm the Pre is :
"always thinking ahead to make your life easier. Pre pulls your different online calendars into one view, bringing you the information you want without having to search for it. Pre links your contacts from different sources, giving you one place to find what you need. And Pre delivers incoming messages1 and notifications in an intuitively subtle way, letting you react or respond however you want. People, events, information that matters. With Palm Pre, it'll come to you."

This new device sports a 3.1-inch touch display with 320 x 480 resolution. It has EVDO Rev. A for connectivity, as well as GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR with stereo support. It has 8GB of on-board storage, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, replaceable battery, and 3.5mm headset jack.

The Palm Pre comes with a 3 megapixel camera with LED flash. Palm also introduced its next-generation mobile platform, called webOS. It includes gesture-based input for interacting with the device

The Pre will be launched on the Sprint network in the first half of 2009. Palm later confirmed that it is also working on a WCDMA version of the Pre. However, didn't say when or where the Pre would be made available.

The N97 has a large 3.5-inch screen (640 x 360 pixels, 16:9 wide-screen) for touch-based input, as well as a full physical QWERTY keyboard for messaging.

The N97 is the first Nseries device to have a QWERTY keyboard, which slides and tilts when open. The N97 offers an extensive set of features, including S60 5th Edition, a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, dual LED flash, Carl Zeiss optics and video capture at 30fps in the 16:9 format.

It has 32GB of built-in storage (expandable to 48GB), as well as Wi-Fi, aGPS, FM radio, and FM transmitter. It carries quad-band GSM and HSDPA for 3G connectivity. It supports Flash Lite 3.0, as well as Flash Video in the Internet browser. It has Bluetooth 2.0+EDR with A2DP stereo, as well as a 3.5mm headset jack with TV out, and stereo speakers.

The N97 was built for social networking, and has what Nokia calls "So-Lo" (social location) services. The N97 will be available in the first half of 2009 for approximately $695. A version with 3G for the US will be available shortly after the European version.

Sprint Nextel has nnounced that it has agreed to acquire Virgin Mobile USA. This is not unexpected since Virgin Mobile is an MVNO that uses Sprint's network to provide cellular services.
last Year, Virgin acquired Helio, another MVNO that used Sprint's network.

Sprint will pay about $483 million to assume control of Virgin and its 5.2 million customers. Sprint already has a 13.1% stake in the company.

Sprint says that Virgin Mobile will be maintained as a separate brand and offered along side its Boost Mobile pre-paid service. The CEO of Virgin Mobile USA will continue to run the Virgin Mobile division, and will report directly to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.

Sprint believes the acquisition will strengthen its pre-paid offerings, reduce operational costs for the two combined companies, increase cash flow, and bolster Sprint's management. The deal is expected to close in late 2009 or early 2010.

Voice-Enabled Search on the iPhone
Google is set to make a new application available to the iPhone that will allow users to conduct searches by speaking their queries into the handset rather than typing them in.

Questions asked are converted into digital files and sent to Google's servers for processing. Once processed, the text is sent to Google's regular search servers and the search results are then returned to the iPhone. It will also use GPS information to return results that are relevant to the user's location.

Google competitors Microsoft and Yahoo already offer similar services via their TellMe and oneSearch applications. The application will be available through the iPhone Apps Store.

MMS App for the iPhone being Developed

A Swedish company called Mobispine is currently developing a true MMS application for the iPhone. According to Mobispine, the application is still under development and has not been approved by Apple.

The MMS app will be carrier-branded and also promoted by the carriers. Downloads of the app will probably be done through the iPhone Apps Store after the app is approved by Apple. With the app, users can both send and receive true MMS from an iPhone to any phone. Because the application will be carrier-dependent, it is up to the carriers to make the app available.

In the U.S, for instance, the application would need to be sanctioned by AT&T Mobility. No carriers have yet said that they will offer Mobispine's MMS application to subscribers.

Update Adds More Features to the Apple iPhone

Apple released firmware version 2.2 for the iPhone. The updated software brings several new features to Google Maps, including Street Views; Public Transit and walking directions; the ability to see the address of dropped pins; and the ability to share user location information via email.

It brings some updates to the email application, including fixes to mail retrieval and better formatting for HTML emails. The update also stabilizes Safari, decreases call failures, improves the voice quality of visual voicemail messages and makes podcasts available for download from within the iTunes application. The update is free

The Motorola i760 is described as a basic phone that has good qualities that makes it a solid cell phone for seniors. Let me discuss the attributes that makes this device a good choice for senior citizens.

When I saw pictures of the Motorola i760, the first thing I noticed was the handset's big display. The size of the display is one of the important elements that can be found in good cell phones for seniors. Old folks usually have poor eyesight so a large display would make reading the information on the device easier. Thus this device offers a display that is suited for the weak eyes of the elderly.

I also read some reviews from customer who have experience with using the phone and I noticed that they were very satisfied with the keypad. The keypad is also a vital element in choosing cellphones for seniors. A device with small buttons that are placed close together will make it difficult for an old person to dial numbers or compose a text message. The Motorola i760 has large buttons which are separated well from each other so senior citizens will have no problem dialing numbers when using the phone.

Users also praised this device because of the high earset volume, and good sound quality. These attributes also make this handset a good choice as a mobile phone for seniors. Our hearing usually degrade when we grow old, so a device that has good volume and sound quality can allow seniors to communicate well with their families.

The Motorola i760 also has features that make it a good choice for seniors. For instance, it supports Push-to-talk (PTT). This technology allows the user to instantly talk to other people owning a PTT phone on the same network. With a simple push of a button, the user can make a call. This eliminates the need for old folks to push several keys in order to make a call.

However, there are also some negative attributes associated with this phone. Those who have used the device complained that it has an unsatisfactory battery life and do not have many of the features that are found in most mobile phones. Nevertheless, the Motorola i760 has several attributes that make it a solid cell phone for seniors.