Blog | News & Information on Wireless Services & Telecommunications

Mobile Future at CTIA Wireless 2008

Posted: 04/01/08 by Mobile Future Team

Mobile Future is making a splash at the CTIA Wireless 2008 conference in Las Vegas this week. We've created a mini-site dedicated to it. <a href="http://www.mobilefuture.org/ctia">Check it out!</a>

How To Be Kind To Mother Earth

Posted: 03/31/08 by Teri Rucker

I just got my cell phone bill and the bill insert caught my eye, because it looked a bit like something out of the Smith and Hawken catalog, and so I read it instead of tossing it directly into the recycling bin like I normally do.

If I sign up for paperless billing, the carrier will plant a tree on my behalf through the Arbor Day Foundation. Not only that, but the tree will be planted where it is needed most - in Southern California or in New Orleans, where trees are desperately needed but not growing back on their own. This effort is done under the Restoration Project at the Arbor Day Foundation.

After following the easy sign-up instructions, I can get and pay my bill online and no more trees will be killed when I pay my bills.

As if that wasn't enough, the company also provided information on how to recycle and old phone. You can take your phone - any make, model or carrier - to the company's store and they will recycle it. The old devices will either be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way or reused. Not only can you drop off your phone, but all your accessories, too, eliminating the jumble of hands free devices and chargers that won't work with the new phone but collect in that spare drawer in the kitchen. Many times the phones are sold to companies that can reuse the materials and any proceeds derived from selling the phones go to the company's community outreach program.

In one small bill insert, I've found out how to help the planet and my community. Check back here throughout the month of April for more tips on how to be kind to Mother Earth.

The Most Used Appliance in my House: My Cell Phone

Posted: 03/27/08 by Diane Smith

We are a three person home (two adults, one teenager). We have three laptops, two ipod touches, several wireline phones, DSL, two cable-tvs, multiple cd players, Wii, PS-2, you name it. So what's the most used appliance by all 3 of us? Our cell phones.

Some of you might be thinking that "appliance" is better used to describe the refrigerator, the stove or even the washing machine. When you think about it, all these devices were at one time new technologies that were considered luxuries when first introduced, but they made life so much better they are now indispensable to modern life - you simply can't imagine living without them. No one is going to use a wash board or cook over a campfire in the back yard. Heck, I'm not even allowed near a campfire without protective gear.

What does this have to do with my cell phone? When cell phones were first introduced, no one expected they would be adopted at such a rapid pace. They were considered luxury goods or supplements to what was the indispensable wireline phone. Now, my husband, daughter, and I all travel, work, play, and ski with our cell phones. Our move to Montana six years ago was, in large measure, a reflection of our belief that we could "drop out" of urban America and continue to earn a living and stay in touch with our loved ones - thanks to our cell phones! And, we've been right. From my 82 year old mother-in-law to all our East Coast based colleagues, we stay connected via texts, calls, and e-mails. In many ways, we are better connected today than we were 6 years ago when we all lived nearby.

Now, whether we are working, or skiing, or simply figuring out what time to pick up our daughter at volleyball practice, we simply couldn't do it without our cell phones. Take my microwave or dishwasher, I recently even gave up my laptop for repair for a week - all ok. But, lose my cell phone and my family and my business become hopelessly lost.

So, you see that not only are our wireless phones our most used device, but they are an appliance that we simply could not live without.

Video from the Lower 9th Ward

Posted: 03/20/08 by Chris Parandian

Video from NTEN: Learning the Computer

Posted: 03/19/08 by Chris Parandian

Video from NTEN’s Day of Service

Posted: 03/19/08 by Chris Parandian

A Day of Service at NTEN

Posted: 03/19/08 by Chris Parandian

I'll be in New Orleans all week covering the Nonprofit Technology Conference mobile-blogging for Mobile Future.  Listen to my first report from New Orleans below!

Social Networking Goes Mobile

Posted: 03/18/08 by Jonathan Spalter

I became interested in what was going on in the world of Mobile social networking after following Victora Shannon's article last week in the New York Times Victoria Shannon, by the way, is a terrific Paris-based tech reporter who does lots of coverage for the Times' International Herald Tribune. Recent usage statistics are phenomenal. According to the Times, industry sources say some 50 million people are using cell phones for social networking of some sort - be it chat services or media sharing. In five years time, that number will increase about 5 times. The concept of mobilized networking leverages much of the best about wireless technology, adapted for the purposes of growing connected communities of friends, colleagues, and family. The sky is the limit in terms of services and content potentialities.

From "presence" data showing where friends are at any moment to avatar-based chat communities based on texting, to rich media sharing, the mobile platform is adapting itself as a powerful catalyst for technological communitarians. And the global nature of audience development is equally exciting. Some of the early leaders are based in Asia, where Singapore-based BuzzCity's mygamma  can be found. Taking the idea of social networking to new, nuptial levels, users of the mygamma service can opt to get "married", and have messages from friends aggregated for the happy new couples in their mobile "living room", or communicate privately through messages sent within the couple's "bedroom." There even is a "divorce" option if one's mobile relationship turns sour.

The applications and services that are being deployed across these mobile social networks are just beginning to take-off, and it will be very interesting to see which will stick. I am watching in particular how Amsterdam's GyPsii service, which just signed a deal with China Unicom to service the Beijing Summer Olympics will be used. But one thing is certain with an estimated 5X growth rate over 5 years, we can bet that whatever is produced either by or for mobile social networkers, they will be highly innovative.

When a Camera Phone Makes All the Difference

Posted: 03/13/08 by Teri Rucker

Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine whose dad recently had quintuple bypass surgery. He's fine now, but family and friends around the U.S. and the world were really, really worried about him and anxious to hear how he fared.

My friend took pictures of him beforehand, saying that he always took lots of pictures of the family, even at embarrassing moments, and she knew that no matter what happened it was an important family tradition to observe.

After surgery, she e-mailed a progress report and told everyone he was doing well. That was great, but what does "doing well" REALLY mean after major surgery like that? Well, she SHOWED them by taking a picture of her dad with her wireless phone. Not long after surgery he was sitting up in bed eating lunch and looking great. She sent the e-mail and picture immediately from his bedside, which he got an extra kick out of because he could dictate the message to his friends. She sent that picture of him smiling, plastic fork held high -- across the country, to Germany, to Ethiopia -- to the great rejoicing of family and friends.

That is truly a meaningful Mobile Moment.

Here's hoping she will be taking a lot more pictures of her happy, healthy dad for years to come.

Starting a Revolution

Posted: 03/11/08 by Jo-Anne Basile

It was a cool day in October 1981 when they flipped the switch in Chicago, beginning communications revolution for Americans, which we call cell phones.

It boggles the mind to think about where we've come in these 27 years. The number of users is staggering: today there are nearly 250 million users in the U.S. and 3.3 billion wireless devices in use on the planet, and with more than 1,000 activated each minute. What's even more amazing is how many different uses of wireless devices we have today. In a little more than 25 years the use of wireless devices has evolved from the simple voice-communicating, the mundane-to the sophisticated transport of critical data and video - medical, financial and more. Wireless also has the unique honor of providing the link that will fuel economic development for nations throughout the world. Yes, indeed, given the opportunity, humans have discovered endless ways to make use of wireless technology. Although the illustrations are too numerous to list, if we focus on a few, it helps put the communications revolution squarely in place.

A particularly good example of how wireless creates change is how it can jumpstart lesser developed nations into the global marketplace. Confronted with the need for a reliable communications network where little or no infrastructure existed, countries have turned to wireless as the most efficient and economical network to build quickly. This happened in the mid-1990's when many of the Eastern block nations, newly freed from the old Soviet Union, turned to wireless as the only communications tool that could link businesses with vital opportunities. Now, with the ability to connect reliably and quickly to the outside world economic opportunities previously closed off became open.

In less than three decades, about half the world's population uses wireless technology in big and small ways every day. Wireless is not only a revolution in technology but it has created a revolution wherever it has gone. Stay tuned to this spot as we explore more of the "revolution" that wireless built in future blogs.