May 5, 2008

T-Mobile USA launched its first commercial high-speed wireless service in New York City, and plans to expand the service to 20 to 25 other major U.S. markets by the end of the year.

April 23, 2008

The battle over cell phones in schools ended with the state's appeals court voting to uphold a ban on cell phones in public schools in New York city.

April 15, 2008

Cuban government has eased restrictions on buying cellular phones for the first time and also allowed registering those they had held illegally.

April 10, 2008

The FCC has approved a new nationwide alert system that will send text messages to cell phones to alert Americans when an emergency, disaster or attack occurs. The plan itself will deliver three different types of charge-free text alerts to mobile phone users.

April 8, 2008

The European Union has approved in-flight cell phone use for all of its 27 member nations. An on-board base station will relay phone signals to either a satellite or ground towers.

April 2, 2008

AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega said that AT&T was expecting a 3G iPhone within the next few months., when asked about plans to sell a third-generation (3G) iPhone.

Cell Phones Are a Drag on the Commute

Drivers talking on cellphones are probably making your commute longer, a new study concludes.

According to research from the University of Utah, cell-phone users drive more slowly than their non-cell using counterparts.

Driving while chatting on the phone isn't just dangerous - it's also a drag on traffic, University of Utah researchers contend.

A team of psychology and engineering specialists at the U. parked undergraduate students in front of driving simulators and put them on hands-free mobile phones. The result is that the distracted drivers moved more slowly and were less likely to switch lanes when there was a clear advantage in doing so, the researchers reported.

Multiplied by the many people who might be talking while driving in any given rush hour, the findings indicate that mobile phones are slowing commutes.

The research ultimately found that "when drivers conversed on a cell phone, they made fewer lane changes, had a lower overall mean speed and a significant increase in travel time in the medium and high density driving conditions," the researchers wrote.

Further, "in low-, medium-, and high-traffic density, cell phone users spent 31 percent, 16 percent and 12 percent, respectively, more time following within 200 feet of a slow lead vehicle than undistracted drivers. That meant they spent 25 to 50 more seconds following another vehicle during the 9.2-mile drive."

(January 3, 2007)