Rand McNally, TCS Bring Traffic Warnings to Cell Phones
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Ziff Davis - The software, which users download from their phone provider, shows traffic congestion on maps on the phone's screen "in fairly real time." Sprint, Cingular and others have already signed on.
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Major mobile voice and data carriers in the United States have pledged to open their networks to outside handsets and applications, but regulators and customers need to be vigilant to make sure those promises are fulfilled, one member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said.Carriers including AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless have promised to open up their networks, but the FCC will need to watch the prices that carriers charge customers who bring their own devices to the networks, said the FCC&#39;s Michael Copps, speaking Tuesday at a New America Foundation forum. The FCC will also need to monitor the complexity of certification for new devices and applications, he said.Mobile carriers still dictate what features can be used on most phones, with Wi-Fi features unavailable on most U.S. mobile phones because of carrier opposition, Copps said. The FCC needs &quot;trust but verify&quot; the open network promises from the carriers, Copps said.&quot;I hope it is as good as it sounds,&quot; he added. The FCC should step in if the carriers don&#39;t live up to their promises, Copps added.Carriers have in recent months taken steps to block text messages and some types of applications, Copps added. They need to pledge to &quot;no blocking, no locking, and no discriminatory degradation of service,&quot; he said.Copps, a Democrat, seemed to disagree with the FCC&#39;s Republican chairman Kevin Martin, who was quoted in The New York Times as saying the issue of open networks has &quot;melted away&quot; as AT&amp;T, Verizon Wireless, and other carriers have moved to open their networks.Advocates have been pushing for customers to be able to take their mobile devices from carrier to carrier for about a year. Weeks after&#160;Google announced its Open Handset Alliance&#160;in November,&#160;Verizon Wireless announced it would open its network&#160;to outside devices and applications by the end of this year.About a week after the Verizon announcement, AT&amp;T announced that it&#39;s long been its policy to allow outside devices and applications onto its mobile network.But Copps and critics of the carriers said Tuesday it&#39;s too early to tell if the carriers are serious about open networks. For example, mobile carriers could discourage customers from bringing their own devices by charging higher prices, Copps said.Carriers have often argued that they need to sign up customers using lengthy contracts because they&#39;re subsidizing the cost of a mobile phone. But if customers bring their own phones, there&#39;s no carrier subsidy, so&#160;the plan should cost less, said Robert Frieden, a professor of telecommunications and law at Penn State University.Right now, &quot;you don&#39;t get a discount for bringing your own phone,&quot; said Frieden, author of a New America Foundation paper calling on the FCC to regulate open network access.Some of the same companies pledged to offer stand-alone DSL service more than three years ago, and in many cases, customers have to fight through layers of customer service to get DSL without accompanying wireline phone service, added Christopher Libertelli, senior director for regulatory and government affairs at Skype.A Skype handset that allows calls to be made over Wi-Fi or a mobile network is available in parts of Europe and in Hong Kong but not the United States because carriers have opposed it, he said.&quot;Sitting here, we can&#39;t predict how these press release will turn into real consumer rights,&quot; Libertelli said.But representatives of Verizon Wireless, AT&amp;T, and T-Mobile said they were serious about offering customers choices of devices and applications.Verizon Wireless wants to encourage new types of devices and work with developers and handset makers to create innovation, said Anthony Lewis, vice president of the company&#39;s Open Development Initiative. &quot;This will not work if I dictate to my customers,&quot; he said.AT&amp;T will monitor devices for bandwidth hogging and security, but otherwise, the company is open to outside devices, said Robert Quinn Jr., AT&amp;T&#39;s senior vice president for federal regulatory affairs. AT&amp;T customers want to be able to use more devices on the network, he said.Asked, however, if AT&amp;T would unlock Apple&#39;s iPhone to use on other networks, Quinn said the company couldn&#39;t do that.
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The recent stir created by Verizon Wireless when it turned down a text-message campaign from an abortion rights group, and then quickly reversed itself, is a reminder that wireless carriers, just like their wired counterparts, should not decide what kind of traffic rides over their rails.
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New penalties against drivers who use hand-held mobile phones at the wheel have come into force.
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Saying current standards for cellular E911 are not enough, the Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to push for better accuracy in pinpointing a cellular user's location.
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Utah researchers find that drivers on cell phones drive sluggishly, clogging traffic on highways and lengthening your commute
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The digital roadside advertisements are springing up around the US, raising safety concerns.
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Motorists caught driving dangerously while using a mobile phone, sat-nav or an MP3 player could be jailed for two years, under new guidelines issued on Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules requiring wireless telephone providers to move toward testing location-based emergency dialing service at the local level. The FCC late Tuesday opposed regulations that require wireless providers to phase in testing of enhanced 911, or E911, dialing services over the next five years. E911 allows emergency dispatchers to pinpoint the location of callers. Until now, wireless providers have been able to test and report the E911 location accuracy on a regional or statewide basis. But the new rules would require wireless carriers to provide the FCC with local accuracy information. The old way of testing "does not provide public safety with the information it needs to do its job effectively," said FCC chairman Kevin Martin. "Meeting location accuracy standards on average in the entire state of New York by providing enhanced 911 capability in Manhattan does not help first-responders in Buffalo." In many cases, E911 does not work well with wireless phones, critics have said. In some cases, callers can't be pinpointed closer than several hundred meters, or on the right floor of a high-rise building, critics say. FCC commissioner Robert McDowell said the FCC may be moving ahead too fast. In May, several wireless providers, tech vendors, and public safety advocatesÂ told the FCC they don't yet have a plan for better wireless E911, he said. "We must walk before we can run," McDowell added. CTIA, a wireless trade group, criticized the FCC's action. The wireless industry has is committed to improving location accuracy and the FCC's action will "hamper that effort," Steve Largent, CTIA's president and CEO, said in a statement. "I am concerned that the commission's action may lead to unrealistic -- and potentially harmful -- consumer expectations." CTIA wanted the FCC to move forward with a collaborative effort involving the wireless industry and public safety officials, Largent added. However, the National Emergency Number Association praised the commission's decision, calling the new rules a step toward improved safety. It is "essential" that the accuracy of E911 be improved, said NENA president Jason Barbour, 911 director for Johnston County, N.C.
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By Jerry Berrios, The Miami Herald  Sep. 10--Florida highways are about to get a lot more high-tech thanks to a new wireless initiative proposed by the Florida Department of Transportation.
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NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters Life!) - The majority of young U.S. drivers admit they chat on their cell phones and text message while driving -- and almost a half of them see no reason to stop.
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While TV viewers and radio listeners have long suffered through ear-piercing emergency-alert tests, the system has had a spotty record in actual crises. That's why critics are leery of plans to expand the system to cell phones and PCs. By Randy Dotinga.
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Drivers still learning how to talk on cell phones and maneuver at the same time are headed for an even more complex world.
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By Vicki Lee Parker, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.  Sep. 10--An e-mail is making the rounds that warns people not to dial area codes 809, 284 and 876 because their accounts will be billed $2,425.
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WASHINGTON -- Drivers who talk on cellphones drive as if they were elderly, with slower reaction times and a tendency to miss what is in front of them, US researchers said yesterday.
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School bus and commercial bus drivers should be prohibited from using cell phones while operating their vehicles, except in emergencies, U.S. safety investigators recommended on Tuesday.
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U.S. mobile phone users might not have to stop and ask for directions as often thanks to a new service from MapQuest.com that sends color maps and directions to their phones.