Cell Fun

Early termination fees that cell phone carriers charge customers who break service contracts took a big hit when a judge said charges by Sprint Nextel violate California state law.

In a tentative ruling issued today, the judge said Sprint will have to pay $18.3 million to customers who sued over the fees and credit $54.8 million to those who were charged but did not pay the fees.

The same judge is considering other lawsuits against telecommunications companies over their early termination fees, which can range from $150 to $225. This month Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $21 million to settle an identical lawsuit just as trial was starting.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw rejected Sprint’s argument that a state court had no business deciding an issue the company said should be left for federal authorities. And while her ruling isn’t legally binding outside the state, it cut to the heart of an ongoing debate in other state courthouses and in Washington, D.C., over the fairness of the fees.

Wireless carriers say early termination fees are necessary so the companies can recover the cost of mobile phones, which they subsidize when customers sign long-term service contracts.

At a public hearing last month, the FCC sketched out a plan in which the cancellation fees would be reduced over the life of the contract. Three companies - T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon Wireless - already do that and Sprint said it would begin prorating its fees next year.

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Children whose mothers used cell phones frequently during pregnancy are more likely to grow up with behavior problems, new research shows.

Dr. Leeka Kheifets and her team at the UCLA School of Public Health looked at a group of 13,159 children whose mothers had been recruited to participate in the Danish National Birth Cohort study early in their pregnancies. When the children reached age 7, mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their children’s behavior and health.

After the researchers adjusted for factors such as a mother’s psychiatric problems and socioeconomic factors, children with both prenatal and postnatal cell phone exposure were 80 percent more likely to have abnormal or borderline scores on tests evaluating emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, or problems with peers.

Risks were higher for children exposed prenatally only, compared with those exposed only postnatally, but were lower than for children exposed at both time points.

Kheifets notes that a fetus’s exposure to radiofrequency fields by a mother’s cell phone use is likely very small. However, they add, research has shown that children using cell phones are exposed to more radiofrequency energy than adults, because their ears and brains are smaller.

Because cell phone use was so infrequent among children in the study - 30 percent of kids were using a cell phone, but just 1 percent used a cell phone for more than an hour a week - radiofrequency exposure seems unlikely to have caused any behavior problems, they say.

“Another possible explanation for the observed association might be the lack of attention given to a child by mothers who are frequent users of cell phones,” the researchers suggest. They note that mothers who used cell phones frequently were of lower socio-occupational status, more likely to have mental health and psychiatric problems, and more likely to have smoked while they were pregnant.

©2002-2008 Mobiledia Corp. A Cell Phone Resource Site. All Rights Reserved. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only.

Photo: Verizon Wireless G’zOne Boulder Rugged Phone Launched Photo 1

Verizon Wireless today introduced the G’zOne Boulder, a rough and tough push-to-talk phone built to military specifications to withstand shock, water and dust environments.

The G’zOne Boulder has a rugged design that meets military specifications - 810F standards for water, shock and dust resistance; immersion; vibration, salt fog; humidity; solar radiation; altitude; and low and high temperature storage.

It comes with a built-in flashlight and electronic compass.

For fast two-way communication, consumers can use its push-to-talk service on Verizon’s high-speed Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision A (Rev. A) network.

With VZ Navigator, the G’zOne Boulder has audible maps, turn-by-turn directions and location information to over 14 million points of interest.

Field Force Manager lets businesses locate, monitor and communicate with mobile field workers.

Equipped with VCAST Music with Rhapsody, the G’zOne Boulder downloads music to the phone from a library of over 5 million songs. Users also get a master copy for the PC, free of digital rights management software. Music is stored on optional microSD cards up to 8GB in size (sold separately).

Packaged in two finishes, black and silver or orange, the G’zOne Boulder is available online now for $129.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement. Customers may the G’zOne Boulder with or without a 1.3-megapixel camera. It will be available in stores in mid-August.

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©2002-2008 Mobiledia Corp. A Cell Phone Resource Site. All Rights Reserved. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only.

PC World - Whether you’re building an application for the 3G iPhone in the United States or trying to figure out how to deliver health…

Reuters - Sony Corp (6758.T) posted a
bigger-than-expected 47 percent fall in quarterly profit and
cut its outlook, hurt by its struggling mobile phone joint
venture with Sweden’s Ericsson (ERICb.ST), while rival
Matsushita (6752.T) nearly doubled its profit on rising flat TV
sales.

PC World - China Telecom will pay US$6.41 billion for China Unicom’s CDMA business.

TechWeb - InformationWeek - Chinese consulting firm BDA also says that China has the world’s largest number of mobile phone users, with about 560 million subscribers.

AP - AOL splashes images of Bollywood celebrities on its new home page for India. MySpace accepts sign-ups from mobile phones in Japan. Google departs from its customarily spartan home page and peppers its Korean site with colorful, animated icons.

AFP - Nokia will reimburse a German state over 1.3 million euros (two million dollars) to resolve a plant closure dispute that has cost the mobile phone giant tens of millions already, officials said Saturday.

AP - Railroad giant CSX said it has asked two nominees of activist hedge fund shareholders TCI and 3G Capital to join its board, but said it will await a vote review and court action before seating its two remaining members.