Communications News

AUSTIN, Texas - Whole Foods Market said Thursday it has launched a mobile Web site designed for people who browse online from their cell phones. Full Story »

Signs and sources say that AT&T is undergoing a massive effort--both behind the scenes and out in front--to improve the performance of its oft-maligned 3G network. Full Story »

The Wireless Gigabit Alliance, or WiGig, has completed a new specification that makes possible high-performance wireless display and audio with rates 10 times faster than current-generation wireless LANs. The new spec works to extend Wi-Fi technology and supports backward capability with existing Wi-Fi devices. WiGig members will have access to the spec to provide faster wireless in new products in the first quarter of 2010. Full Story »

The Federal Communication Commission receives up to 35,000 complaints every year about wireless providers, but the average consumer does not complain to the commission and the FCC doesn't really know what to do with the complaints it does receive, according to a Thursday report from the General Accountability Office (GAO). Full Story »

AT&T, the whiny wireless carrier, is back at it again. Fresh off whining in court about Verizon's map ads, AT&T is now whining to financial analysts about its customers. And it is warning that customers should use less of the company's all-you-can-eat data service, lest it become portion-controlled in the future. Full Story »

AT&T, the whiny wireless carrier, is back at it again. Fresh off whining in court about Verizon's map ads, AT&T is now whining to financial analysts about its customers. And it is warning that customers should use less of the company's all-you-can-eat data service, lest it become portion-controlled in the future. Full Story »

The Wireless Gigabit Alliance has completed its specification for a technology to deliver as much as 7G bps (bits per second) over a very high unlicensed frequency band. Full Story »

The WiGig Alliance said Thursday that it has completed its first specification, paving the way for tri-band Wi-Fi routers as early as 2010. Full Story »

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia will close its only two flagship stores in the United States, in a sign its retail strategy of flashy brand-booster outlets is needing a refresh. Full Story »

Acer plans to launch as many as six new smartphones with Google's Android mobile operating system in the first half of next year, a company executive said Thursday. Full Story »

The energy in the air turbulence behind cars could be harnessed to power cell phones or other electronics inside a vehicle, says a Discovery News report citing City College of New York researchers. The scientists are working on a device that uses strips of piezoelectric material, which generates an electric current when compressed. The flow of air around the device causes it to vibrate, producing electricity. Full Story »

Attention, iPhone users: You require some education. You don't understand what a megabyte of data truly means, you see, and you're not aware of how much data you're using. If only you'd allow AT&T to reach out and teach you, all would be well in the world of 3G. Full Story »

In the aftermath of a bruising advertising battle with Verizon Wireless that highlighted the limitations of AT&T's 3G network, an AT&T executive told investors that high-bandwidth iPhone users could face higher usage charges. Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's head of consumer services, told investors at a UBS conference in New York that people who consume a large amount of data could receive incentives to "reduce or modify their usage," the Associated Press reported. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. got a boost Wednesday after a Citi Investment Research analyst upgraded the telecommunications company and said a combination with T-Mobile USA in the next 12 months is more likely than not. Full Story »