Michelle Maisto

Washington is talking about WiFi. On June 20, U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., proposed legislation that would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to expand the use of unlicensed spectrum so that more Americans might use it to get online. The same day, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed an update to […]

Google and Microsoft plan to join Apple in incorporating a “kill switch” into their software designs. The feature, which can erase all personal information and render a phone unusable, is intended to deter smartphone thefts. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 30 percent of robberies in major cities involve mobile devices. iPhones running Apple’s […]

The U.S. House of Representatives voted in force June 19 in support of an amendment to curb spying on Americans by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The amendment passed with a vote of 293 to 193, and was tacked on to a $570 billion defense spending bill. The legislation […]

Assembly lines at Quanta Computer in Taiwan will begin churning out Apple’s first smartwatch this July, Reuters reported June 20, citing a person familiar with the matter. Other sources added that the smartwatch, dubbed the iWatch by media outlets that have been anticipating such a device for years, will feature a display that measures 2.5 […]

Citrix, which is celebrating its 25-year anniversary, has evolved from offering people access to stuff from anywhere to also offering them access to other people. While perhaps better known for its GoToMeeting solution, mobile device management tools and large cloud networking solutions, Citrix has also been developing apps—what it calls Experiments—for small businesses or small […]

T-Mobile’s Un-carrier 6.0 strategy is to offer subscribers unlimited streaming music. While this a win for consumers in premise, it raises questions about the practice of treating different types of data differently—a violation of the net neutrality tenet. At its Seattle event June 18, T-Mobile announced that Simple Choice customers can immediately begin streaming all […]

BlackBerry CEO John Chen told analysts June 19 that his team is enjoying a “small celebration of a successful quarter.” During its fiscal 2015 first-quarter, BlackBerry managed to keep revenue, at $966 million, relatively flat quarter-over-quarter, though it was down from $3.1 billion a year ago. BlackBerry also saw hardware revenue on approximately 1.6 million […]

T-Mobile followed its Un-carrier 5.0 Test Drive offer with a surprise 6.0 announcement, offering unlimited streaming music, starting immediately. T-Mobile subscribers on Simple Choice plans can now listen to streaming music from Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Slacker and Spotify without it ever affecting their high-speed data allowances. All T-Mobile customers can also stream from […]

Amazon delivered on most of the rumors when it introduced at a June 18 press event in Seattle its Fire smartphone with an industry-first, 3D-like display. Amazon calls the technology Dynamic Perspective and claims that changes the way users see and interact with the world and enables an experience not possible on other smartphones. Fire […]

T-Mobile’s latest “Un-carrier” move is to let potential subscribers test-drive an Apple iPhone 5S, completely free, for one week. Just sign up online with a credit card and an activated, fully charged 5S will arrive in the mail, offering access to unlimited data, talking and texting, plus 3GB of Mobile HotSpot service. When the week […]

As anticipated, Amazon introduced its first smartphone, the Fire, at a June 18 press event in Seattle. The Fire features a 4.7-inch In-Plane Switching (IPS) LCD HD display, “optimized for one-handed use,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. It has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with an f/2.0 five-element lens and unlimited photo storage in the Amazon […]

BlackBerry will make Amazon Appstore apps available on BlackBerry devices running the 10.3 operating system it will introduce this fall, it announced June 18, hours ahead of Amazon’s own major announcement. BlackBerry World currently offers approximately 130,000 apps, while the Amazon Appstore offers 240,000 Android applications, including Netflix, Pinterest, Groupon and other popular favorites that […]