Michelle Maisto

Western Union has released its Bill Payments Money Mindset Index, a survey of the financial habits of this country’s largest age demographic: Millennials. Or, as they’re also known, Generation Y, a group born between roughly the early 1980s and early 2000s. While the winners of the burgeoning mobile payments market are far from being decided, […]

Apple has agreed to pay out a minimum of $32.5 million to users of its devices, to settle a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) involving in-app purchases made by children. The FTC’s complaint said that Apple violated the FTC Act by failing to make clear to parents that by entering a password (their […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has released an 81-page judgment on the case of Verizon vs. the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), siding with Verizon. Verizon sued the FCC in 2011, challenging its Open Internet Order, which insisted that all Internet traffic must be treated equally—a practice also popularly referred to […]

Verizon Communications, alongside a major National Retail Foundation convention in New York City Jan. 13, hosted a retail-focused panel discussion on how to build trust in an increasingly mobile, connected (and vulnerable) world. It also announced a major retail customer win. Verizon will be consolidating, centralizing and converging Tesco’s worldwide infrastructure, it said in a […]

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on “expanding liberty” and “strengthening free enterprise,” hosted a discussion Jan. 13, ahead of what it said is an expected decision on the FCC vs. Verizon suit from the U.S. Court of Appeals and in light of the controversy surrounding AT&T’s new Sponsored Data plan, […]

Smartphones Were Plentiful, but Not Center Stage at CES by Michelle Maisto Sony Xperia Z1 Compact Has 4.3-Inch Display Sony introduced the waterproof Xperia Z1 in September (T-Mobile will begin selling it online Jan. 13 and in stores Jan. 22) and, in keeping with the trend, followed with a smaller version, the Xperia Z1 Compact, […]

Tom Wheeler, the newest chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), shared his personal philosophy on regulation Jan. 9, during a speech at the Computer History Museum before Silicon Valley technorati (and some party-crashing hecklers). As mobile communications increasingly factor into the lives of Americans, the rulings of the FCC have arguably never impacted us […]

AT&T’s President of Emerging Enterprises and Partnerships Organization Glenn Lurie announced on the opening day of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that AT&T plans to “lead the future of the connected car.” AT&T then went on to show how it intends to do this. It announced the creation of a connected car mobile platform, […]

John Chen took over at BlackBerry in November, and already things are looking up for the company. Shares have risen 30 percent since November, according to CNN Money; analysts are feeling upbeat about the company’s prospects; and missing from the media reports from the Consumer Electronics Show was the snark and doom-saying that have nipped […]

AT&T on Jan. 6 introduced Sponsored Data plans, which let businesses pick up the tab for mobile users so they can watch sponsored videos, engage with apps or shop on a site without spending a cent of their own on data costs. Pushback from consumer-advocacy groups was near-instant, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has […]

T-Mobile, as expected, announced it will pay individuals and families to switch from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint to its network. “It’s not a promotion; it’s not a switching gimmick. It’s the end of contracts,” said Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert during a Jan. 8 press event at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Starting Jan. […]

Sprint joined AT&T and T-Mobile in using the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) as a podium from which to announce a new wireless plan. Sprint, in what at first might seem a typo, introduced the Sprint Framily Plan, a group plan that acknowledges that family is more than the people we’re related to. The Framily […]