Here’s a quote from the head of the Windows Phone unit at Microsoft: “So, I think that what our strategy is is to put things in place that allow us to leapfrog, and I think that’s how we’ve gone from worse browser to the best browser, and I think the same is true with hardware.” It’s not a statement that will fill investors or potential Windows Phone buyers with a ton of confidence. I think. There is a personality and a swagger that is attached to mobile phones. It happens on the user end and is often a result of the confidence exuded from the top. When Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone, there was…

The trends are heading in different directions. As devices become more mobile-data capable and applications push towards a mobile internet, service providers are shrinking, throttling, and increasing the prices of data plans. In  three minutes, AT&T and Verizon user UrgoClips encapsulates the frustration of the nation. Call it #firstworldproblems, but it’s still frustrating to many to have access to these wonderful new toys but to not have the service infrastructure to truly take advantage of them affordably. Listen to this video editorial and ask yourself if you’re “mad as hell…

While the privacy war wages on one end of the spectrum with people, companies, and even governments going after Facebook, Twitter, and Google about how they handle the information that people give (or do not give) them, the other end of the spectrum is using their mobile devices to announce anything and everything they’re doing and where they’re going. The differences are striking. More and more people are giving stalkers everything they need to keep track of them. Mobile devices are using automatic tracking and one-touch check in features to put our whereabouts out there to the public web. As…

It’s no secret that mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have exploded in popularity over the last 3 years. Apple has sold nearly 30 million tablets in the last year and a half alone. As users get more accustomed to using the devices to make purchases, the promise of a strong mobile commerce system is finally starting to take form. Despite the speed in which it is growing, the industry was supposed to be moving faster. The release of the iPhone and Android phones marked a new venture for companies wanting to cash in on the technology by creating apps that could be universally used. Big dreams…

One might think that AT&T was expecting Sprint to file suit against their plan to buy T-Mobile based upon the speed of the response. With a very aggressive style and stance, AT&T had choice words for their competitors and the attempt to block the formation of a super-cell-provider: This simply demonstrates what we’ve said all along – Sprint is more interested in protecting itself than it is in promoting competition that benefits consumers. We of course will vigorously contest this matter in court as AT&T’s merger with T-Mobile USA will: help solve our nation’s spectrum…

Just in case the United States Department of Justice is unsuccessful in their bid to stop AT&Ts attempt to purchase T-Mobile, Sprint has joined the fray by announcing a lawsuit of their own. As predicted, the roadblocks are coming up from every possible direction. “Sprint opposes AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile,” Sprint litigation VP Susan Z. Haller said in a statement. “With today’s legal action, we are continuing that advocacy on behalf of consumers and competition, and expect to contribute our expertise and resources in proving that the proposed transaction…

As mobile technology continues to become more prevalent in use and present in our hands, so too do the “bad guys” make gains in skill and tools. As such the recent malware report (PDF) released last week by McAfee showed a 22% increase in malware over the same period last year. Android was hardest hit with malicious software disguised as legitimate apps. The attacks are getting more sophisticated as well, finding exploits through downloads of common apps with hard-to-detect holes that open up for more malware to be downloaded behind the scenes. Much of this can be blamed on Google’s “less rigorous…

There is little doubt that technology has changed things completely for western society in the last two decades. Computers are smaller and much faster. Games are graphically enhanced to resemble reality. Just about anything we would want to know that used to require a trip to the library can be found on Google or Wikipedia. The internet might be the most profound technological advancement in the last 20 years, but cell phones in general and smart phones in particular have made the transition to a digitally-driven world much more pronounced. Do you remember what it was like when you got your first…

J.D. Power and Associates is reporting in their U.S. 2011 Wireless Network Quality Performance Study that performance levels for networks differ greatly depending on whether devices are used for voice, text, or data. Voice calls are the most challenging for wireless customers, followed by data. For data, slow downloads are the biggest complaint over connection failures or email problems. The same type of complaints are associated with calls, as audio quality has eclipsed dropped calls as the top concern. “Based on the varying degree of consistency with overall network performance, it’s…

If the statistic is true (and there’s no reason to believe otherwise – heck, it’s on the internet!), then there was an average of 30 million daily tweets between June 13th and July 13th this year that mentioned the Copa America Tournament in soccer (football). Stat. Blows. Mind. According to the same study, there were 7,196 tweets per second during the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Apparently, only a few came from Barack Obama. More amazing statistics: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona acquired 6.6 million “likes” on his Facebook page… in one hour. A stadium in Kansas City can handle 18,000 WiFi…