text

General
September 21, 2010
by

T-Mobile being sued for blocking medical marijuana text messages

By on September 21, 2010 at 11:41 AM.

T-Mobile being sued for blocking medical marijuana text messages

U.S. mobile provider T-Mobile is being sued after blocking text messages sent by company Ez Texting on behalf of a medical marijuana website. Ez Texting is alleging that T-Mobile blocked the short code 313131 (come on, not 420420?) that is affiliated with website WeedMaps.com. WeedMaps is “a community where medical marijuana patients connect with other patients in their geographic region to freely discuss and review local cannabis co-operatives, dispensaries, medical doctors and delivery services.” Which, for those living under a rock, is all nice and legal in California.

“We were told that T-Mobile didn’t approve of the Web site, which is totally legal,” said Ez Texting’s CEO. “But we feel this is illegal blocking and that consumers have the right to send and receive any text message of their choosing.” Ez Texting’s motion for early relief was denied and a court date of September 30th has been set. T-Mobile is calling the claims made by the lawsuit “meritless.” More →

81 Comments
Exclusive
September 13, 2010
by

GV Mobile + submitted to App Store, we talk with Sean Kovacs

By on September 13, 2010 at 8:04 PM.

GV Mobile + submitted to App Store, we talk with Sean Kovacs

We just got off the phone with our buddy Sean Kovacs, aka the Google Voice king of iOS, and he filled us in on the latest with his app and the development and submission process. If you aren’t aware, (please stop reading this site) Apple removed all Google Voice-related applications over a year ago when it decided that the apps “duplicated” functionality on the phone (phone app). People have been debating the real issue behind Apple’s move since then, but with the recently updated and reasonably straight forward developer guidelines now published, Sean Kovacs is deciding to try his hand again. Hit the jump for our conversation. More →

40 Comments
mobile
August 26, 2010
by

Latest cell phone study: New Yorkers talk less than almost everyone else

By on August 26, 2010 at 10:30 PM.

Latest cell phone study: New Yorkers talk less than almost everyone else

According to recent survey, New Yorkers literally don’t have time to talk on their cell phones. In terms of rank, New York is #15 in the nation for total number of calls, yet almost dead last in terms of actual call durations. If you’re from New York, you’re probably shaking your head in agreement as we’re most likely to take a call while doing seven hundred other things; say what we have to say, and jump off. What state would you guess holds the title for most prolific cellphone users? That would be Georgia. Because everyone is friendly in Georgia. Some more quick data from the study: teens send almost 3,000 text messages a month, and women talk on the phone 22% more than men. Though I doubt anyone is surprised by those last figures… More →

33 Comments
Humor
August 25, 2010
by

BGR reader unofficially bests text messaging world record

By on August 25, 2010 at 2:37 AM.

BGR reader unofficially bests text messaging world record

A BGR reader (and fellow blogger) by the name of Brian stumbled upon our post about a U.K. woman who bested the Guinness World Record for text messaging speed. The 27-year old, named Melissa Thompson, used a Samsung Galaxy S — with the SWYPE keyboard — and managed to squeeze out: “The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human”, in under 26 seconds. Brian — age 19 — videotaped himself texting the same sentence, on an iPhone, in just under 22 seconds. Now, this obviously wasn’t an “official” or “controlled” setting, but the feat is still pretty damn impressive. Hit the jump to see Brian slay that quirky sentence. Anyone think they can beat 21.8 seconds? More →

80 Comments
General
June 30, 2010
by

chatr, Rogers' unlimited talk and text brand, gets official

By on June 30, 2010 at 7:25 PM.

chatr, Rogers' unlimited talk and text brand, gets official

chatr-logo

Did we nail it or what? Today Rogers announced the creation of chatr, the low-cost wireless brand we exclusively told you about last week. Created to serve what Rogers calls a “niche” market that is not currently served by its flagship and value brands Rogers Wireless and Fido, chatr will offer no contract voice and text plans as well as unlimited talk and text plans. Data is not a part of chatr’s game plan. According to Rogers, the big draw of chatr is not only its great plans, but that for the first time it gives urbanites who simply want to make calls and send texts affordable service from a “network they can trust.” We were pretty curious about the timing of this launch, what with WIND Mobile now being half a year old and Mobilicity having only been on the scene for six weeks, so we asked Rogers about it. Surprisingly, they were adamant that they could not care less what their competitors are doing or where it is they are operating. They were quick to point out that chatr has been one year in the making and that it actually designed to mimic business model that allowed MetroPCS to go from a small time carrier to the 5th largest in the United States. Sadly this was about as much extra information as we could squeeze out of Rogers. As much as they want to get chatr up and running today, they’ve still got a few more things to do behind the scenes before it launches by the end of summer. This means that they can’t get into specifics about when the network will launch. But as we have said before, thanks to our connects we know that Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and Ottawa are a lock. Anyone planning to wait with baited breath?

More →

26 Comments
Breaking
January 15, 2010
by

Verizon Wireless announces unlimited talk and text plans

By on January 15, 2010 at 10:23 AM.

Verizon Wireless announces unlimited talk and text plans

verizon-wireless-logo1

Like we exclusively reported yesterday, Verizon is overhauling most of their voice, text, and family plans. To start things off, there’s an Unlimited Talk rate plan which will run $69.99/month that can also be upgraded to $89.99 to be all inclusive of text, photo, and video messaging, dubbed the Unlimited Talk & Text plan. Continuting the revamp, we have new Family SharePlan plans like $119.99 which will get you unlimited voice, and $149.99 which will include voice as well as unlimited messaging. Those rates apply for the first 2 lines, and each additional line is $49.99. Our other exclusive scoop on Verizon redoing featurephone data plans also turned out to be spot on, as Big Red will now start requiring a $9.99/month 25MB data plan with select “multimedia” handsets. You can look for these new plans to get into effect starting January 18th. Hit the link for the rest of the details! More →

84 Comments
General
July 14, 2009
by

Boost Mobile slashes price on 'UNLTD by Boost' plan, now $50

By on July 14, 2009 at 4:51 PM.

Boost Mobile slashes price on 'UNLTD by Boost' plan, now $50

Good news for Boost Mobile customers as the carrier has just matched its $50 unlimited iDEN plan pricing for CDMA customers. Starting today, customers on an UNLTD $50 Unlimited Talk, $60 Unlimited Talk & Text or $70 Unlimited Talk, Text & Web plans will automatically be switched to the new $50 per month plan which offers unlimited nationwide talk, text and web in the 13 states where Boost’s CDMA service is available (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas). Customers on any lower-priced Boost Mobile plan can stay at their current price point. Boost has also removed the home calling areas, allowing subscribers to make calls anywhere on Sprint’s CDMA network without incurring a roaming fee. No roaming fees and $50 for all-you-can-eat minutes, text messages and web — what more could you ask for?

Read

25 Comments
Services
May 5, 2009
by

Twitter SMS fever returns to Canada courtesy of Rogers and Fido

By on May 5, 2009 at 10:00 AM.

Twitter SMS fever returns to Canada courtesy of Rogers and Fido

Big news today for our friends up north who have been plagued with cold sweats and night tremors ever since November when SMS service was disabled in Canada. When the service was initially killed, Twitter cited billing issues as the reason. It may have taken a while to resolve those issues, but Rogers has just announced a partnership with Twitter that will revive SMS and allow users to both send and receive tweets via text. What’s more, the new deal applies to both Rogers and Fido customers. Canadians, rejoice! Shortcode 21212 has officially been revived and any and all texts exchange will be covered by your SMS plan. In other words, feature phone users no longer have to worry about how to tell all their friends about the string of minutia that combines to make up each day. Woo!

Read (Rogers)
Read (Fido)

9 Comments
News
January 15, 2009
by

Boost Mobile to offer $50 unlimited iDEN plan starting January 22nd

By on January 15, 2009 at 5:55 PM.

Boost Mobile to offer $50 unlimited iDEN plan starting January 22nd

Boost Mobile

Sprint’s Boost Mobile will launch a new “Monthly Unlimited” plan that includes unlimited minutes, unlimited text messaging, wireless Web and PTT services for $50 per month. The new low cost plan severely undercuts pretty much every competitive unlimited offering and is expected to snag consumers who are looking for a low cost alternative. Even though it runs on the slower iDEN network, the extremely low price point should definitely be attractive to budget minded consumers who use their phones primarily for voice and texting. The new plan is expected to be available starting January 22nd and will launch with new phones including a candy bar and a rumored but not yet confirmed unnamed smartphone. Our only request? Please Boost Mobile ad team – and we can’t stress this enough – leave Mickey Avalon out of the new commercials…

Read

39 Comments
General
June 30, 2008
by

Alltel Adds Messaging to My Circle

By on June 30, 2008 at 1:08 PM.

Alltel Adds Messaging to My Circle

Sure, you probably want to put Chad and his wizard friend through a wall just like us, but it’s hard to deny that Alltel has a pretty solid wireless offering. Its My Circle calling feature in fact is likely one of the most attractive plan enhancements on the market here in the US. Now Alltel has upped the ante with the addition of My Circle messaging packs that can be added to any My Circle plan. My Circle messaging is indeed exactly what you would imagine is; unlimited SMS and MMS messaging to anyone in your circle. There are two flavors of My Circle messaging packs available. The first is $7.99 and includes an additional 400 SMS / MMS per month for people outside of your Circle and the second is $12.99 while includes 1,000 SMS / MMS. Beyond these new additions, Alltel still offers unlimited messaging and mobile web for $20 per month. Chief Marketing Officer Frank O’Mara’s snippet:

Alltel’s ‘My Circle’ provides customers the ultimate in choice and value by giving them the ability to call or text any five, 10 or 20 numbers. Whether talking or texting, our new “My Circle” message packs provide customers the most cost-effective plans for staying in touch with friends, families and business associates.

Read

6 Comments