April, 2013

• 15 April

  Boston Marathon: Text, social media help get out updates

  

  As news spread of the blasts at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon, people in the area reported that phone lines were down and cell phone calls could not get through. However, smartphones enabled some to send text messages and update social media accounts. People took to social media sites like …

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• 15 April

  Location information to make mobile ads more valuable

  

  NEW YORK–Hyper-targeted advertising based on your location is coming to mobile phones and could finally bring money into the mobile advertising market, say experts at the All Things D mobile conference here Monday. In two separate interviews, the CEO of the mapping app Waze and ad executives Jason Spero from Google and Mollie Spilman of Millennial Media talked up the …

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• 15 April

  T

  

  T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert boasted that the carrier had “one of its biggest weekends in the history of the company” thanks to the launch of the iPhone on Friday. T-Mobile on Friday launched the iPhone in its stores for the first time, finally catching up to its larger rivals, and even smaller regional carriers. Sievert told CNET that …

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• 15 April

  Freephone to be free for mobiles as Ofcom tackles 08 numbers

  

  Freephone numbers could finally be free to mobile phones. Telecoms watchdog Ofcom is giving a much-needed kicking to expensive call charges for customer service, directory inquiries and Freephone numbers. Ofcom today sets out changes to rules around call charges to numbers starting 08, 09 and 118. These ‘non-geographic’ customer service numbers to shops, banks, utility companies, directory inquiries, public bodies …

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• 15 April

  Dish

  

  Consumers may potentially get an even bigger price break if Dish is able to snap up Sprint Nextel. Dish’s $25.5 billion unsolicited bid for Sprint certainly adds a wrinkle to Sprint’s existing merger plans with Japanese wireless carrier SoftBank. But a deal with Dish may be a boon to consumers, particularly ones looking for a mix of video, mobile, and …

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• 15 April

  Is the HTC One ad LOL or DOA?

  

  HTC roped in James Van Der Beek and Funny or Die for an ad campaign that parodies The Bachelorette. (Screenshot by CNET) HTC’s CEO Peter Chou has spoken at length about how he feels the company let itself down with poor marketing. So we assume that getting Funny or Die to make an ad with James Van Der Beek for …

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• 15 April

  HTC One launch video is cringeworthy

  

  Here’s the US launch video for HTC’s flagship handset, the HTC One. The struggling Taiwanese company has employed the people behind Funny or Die to make a parody of US dating show The Bachelorette. That’s right, it’s a corporation doing comedy. Dawson’s Creek’s James Van Der Beek is also on board to dole out some yuks. But I think it …

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• 15 April

  Windows RT demand is weaker than hoped, Dell exec says

  

  Microsoft had grand ambitions for its Windows RT operating system, but more signs are pointing to trouble. A Dell executive today said demand for the company’s first Windows RT device, the XPS 10, has been weaker than hoped, largely because consumers still don’t really know what the operating system is or what it can do. “Demand is not where I …

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• 15 April

  Dish launches $25B bid for Sprint

  

  Dish Network has submitted a merger proposal for Sprint Nextel valued at $25.5 billion, putting itself into competition with Japan’s Softbank to take over the wireless carrier. Dish announced this morning that it is offering Sprint shareholders a total consideration of $25.5 billion, consisting of $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. Sprint shareholders would receive $7 per …

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• 15 April

  Samsung ‘worried’ S4 build quality doesn’t match HTC One

  

  Samsung seems a little jealous of the HTC One. That’s according to a source who’s told SamMobile the Korean company has seen its rival’s design and build quality, and is “worried” the Galaxy S4 doesn’t measure up. It’s the HTC One’s aluminium body that’s got Samsung green with envy, not its Sense 5 user interface. Samsung even produced an all-metal …

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