Items tagged with cellular
Researchers at Purdue University and the University of Iowa have just exposed a list of LTE vulnerabilities that could create quite a headache for carriers (and consumers) if not fixed soon. Using a framework the researchers call LTEInspector, eight of the ten new vulnerabilities were tested as working on a testbed with SIMs from 4 different carriers. Vodafone cellular tower in Germany (Flickr: Vodafone Medien) There are many possibilities of the chaos these vulnerabilities could create, but one brought to the forefront would let an attacker spoof the location of a customer, even without the appropriate credentials. In the list (which can be seen below, and was grabbed from the research...
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It turns out the rumors you might have heard about Comcast getting into the wireless phone space were true. Comcast boss Brian Roberts confirmed as much today by announcing plans to partner up with Verizon to launch its own brand wireless service by the middle of next year, effectively making it an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator). There are several hundred MVNOs operating in the United States. The most popular ones tend to be owned by major wireless carriers, such as Boost Mobile (Sprint), Cricket Wireless (AT&T), and MetroPCS (T-Mobile), but that won't be of much concern to Comcast—both it and Verizon enjoy tremendous brand recognition and could make a big splash in the MVNO sector.Image...
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There are a lot of new features coming to iOS 9, the latest version of which is currently in the hands of developers in beta form. Some are pretty ho-hum, like more wallpapers (not dynamic ones, mind you, just a collection of static images), but there's one upgrade that has the potential to be awesome, albeit subtle. It's called Wi-Fi Assist.The thing about iPhones, and smartphones in general, is that they're stubborn devices. They'll hook into wireless connections just fine, but if the connection is poor or otherwise appears strong yet isn't working well for whatever reason, if at all, the iPhone will stay connected. It's a 'for better or worse' kind of deal, and at times it can be frustrating.In...
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Is Google about to win the wireless wars? It's a logical question that needs to be asked, analyzed, re-asked, re-analyzed, and debated. And if you're wondering what the flip we're talking about, it's this -- there's a new report suggesting Google is partnering with select wireless carriers to sell its own brand wireless voice and data plans directly to consumers.Whoa, that's big. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's consider those select carriers. According to subscription site The Information and the "three people with knowledge of the plans," Google will tap into networks belonging to Sprint and T-Mobile for its new service, buying wholesale access to mobile voice and data in...
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For as progressive as California can be, the Red Line subway in Los Angeles is behind the times when it comes to underground Wi-Fi and cellphone capabilities, both of which it lacks. However, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is looking to change that by announcing a two-year, $800,000 project that will bring Wi-Fi service to four underground stations of the Red Line subway by May, and in-tunnel cellular service by August.Los Angeles is catching up to subway systems in other areas such as Washington D.C., Boston, parts of New York, and the Bay Area that already offer underground cellphone service and, in some cases, Wi-Fi access. Part of the reason why L.A....
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Last week, we brought you a review of the Galaxy Note Edge, Samsung's new Galaxy Note derivative with a curved edge display along one side. Reviews on the device have been generally strong (we're fond of it, if the form factor and capabilities meet your liking), but one common complaint about the Note Edge is that the titular curved edge is only on one side of the phone. If you hold your phone in your right hand, the edge works well. If you hold it in your left, it actually degrades the experience of using the device. Now, Xiaomi is apparently planning to offer a dual-edged phone -- neatly knocking that problem out for potential converts and putting pressure on Samsung's flagship devices. The...
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Another day, another security revelation. This time, it comes from researchers in Germany, who've exposed some serious vulnerabilities in the SS7 set of protocols that cellular carriers use to perform many basic functions. At the core, SS7 (or signaling system #7) is used to keep people connected, moving them from tower to tower when necessary, but it's also used for services like call forwarding and SMS.After the NSA's dastardly deeds were exposed last summer by Edward Snowden, Germany has been at the top of its game to keep track of how communications are handled, and monitored. You see, it doesn't matter that a mobile carrier can promise to keep our...
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It wasn't just lip service when T-Mobile re-branded itself as the "Un-carrier," the wireless outfit is making an honest-to-goodness effort to get on par with and perhaps one day surpass the competition. For that happen, fleshing out its 4G LTE network is paramount, and T-Mobile is working on doing just that. In fact, T-Mobile just spent $308 million in cash acquiring 10MHz of Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS) from U.S. Cellular. The acquired spectrum covers a total of 32 million people in 29 markets in the Mississippi Valley region, including St. Louis, Nashville, Kansas City, Memphis, Lexington, Little Rock-North Little Rock, Birmingham, New Orleans, and Louisville. T-Mobile says the additional...
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Samsung has done an exceptional job the past few years building interest and recognition for their Galaxy-branded smartphones. The fervor isn’t quite on the level of Apple's iPhone launches, but if the attendance of their “Samsung Unpacked” event at Radio City Music Hall and the buzz on-line for today’s introduction is any indicator, Samsung has tapped into something big and earned a cult following, very much like Apple has over the years. And the sales figures back this up, of course, all of which show Samsung dominating the Android-based smartphone market. When a company is clearly on top, people tend to scrutinize every move a little (or lot) more closely, depending...
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Samsung has done an exceptional job the past few years building interest and recognition for their Galaxy-branded smartphones. The fervor isn’t quite on the level of Apple's iPhone launches, but if the attendance of their “Samsung Unpacked” event at Radio City Music Hall and the buzz on-line for today’s introduction is any indicator, Samsung has tapped into something big and earned a cult following, very much like Apple has over the years. And the sales figures back this up, of course, all of which show Samsung dominating the Android-based smartphone market. When a company is clearly on top, people tend to scrutinize every move a little (or lot) more closely, depending...
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You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone that could convince us the landline industry is a growing one. By and large, people are turning to mobile phones (and mobile phones alone) for their calling needs, but that's not stopping wireline providers like AT&T from continuing to milk whatever is left. Verizon actually tried something similar with the ill-fated Hub a few years ago, and now AT&T is introducing the Wireless Home Phone in order to give its customers another option for at-home calling. It's a no-commitment phone with a prepaid service option, which allows AT&T mobile users to complete calls from their existing home phone handset using the AT&T wireless network instead of...
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Most phone carriers these days are doing everything they can to hop off the unlimited data bandwagon. Both AT&T and Verizon have rolled out penalties for refusing to upgrade to their new shared plans; AT&T won't let you use FaceTime unless you've got a shared data plan, while Verizon is forcing customers to switch over if they want to keep their discounted phone upgrades. Now here comes T-Mobile -- moving in exactly the opposite direction. Starting next month, T-Mobile will offer Unlimited data plans, as opposed to Unlimited* data plans. The asterisk denotes the invisible limitations on these services. In T-Mobile's case, the existing restrictions are actually pretty good -- the company...
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Are you still enjoying that unlimited data plan on AT&T? Go on and enjoy it, because it may not be attractive for much longer. Eventually, you'll probably want to upgrade to an LTE plan, and perhaps -- if you're thinking about using an iPhone for much longer -- you'll want to make a FaceTime call over cellular data. With the introduction of iOS 6, Apple has enabled FaceTime over cellular data, but it's up to the carriers to enable it. And of course, AT&T has chosen what's perhaps the most consumer-unfriendly way possible to integrate it. The feature will be 100% free for users of AT&T's new Mobile Share data plans, which have proven to be a fairly terrible deal for all but a few folks...
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Six weeks ago, Verizon launched its new "Share Everything" data plans, declaring that everyone would henceforth use these plans or be banned from upgrading their phones at a discount, and unveiled a suite of options that range from $50 for 1GB to $100 for 10GB (not counting per-device fees). Unlimited talk and text is now baked into the per-device base fee, which means that users with minimal data needs could actually benefit from a swap. Now, the company has admitted that its usage plans stretch higher, though these plans are usually offered on customer support lines or in the event of overages. Verizon will sell you 12GB of data for $110, 14GB for $120, 16GB for $130, 18GB for $140, and 20GB...
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