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Dear ABC News Fixer: Please help! On Oct. 30, I called AT&T to change the name on our family’s multiple cellphone account from my husband’s name to my name, to get an employee discount through my new workplace.

I specifically requested that no changes be made to any of our text messaging, minutes or data plans on our four phone lines. I was assured they would remain exactly the same. We were simply changing the billing responsibility from Robert Del Real to Ivana Del Real.

The following day, one of our phone lines received a text message indicating that it was over the messaging limit.

I called AT&T and was informed that the person who transferred the billing to my name did not transfer any of the data or messaging plans. They also told me that the unlimited data plan was a “grandfathered” plan and is no longer available.

After more than 45 minutes, I got a manager and told my story all over again. In all fairness, this manager was very understanding and proceeded to open a case on my behalf.

Two weeks later, I had not heard back, so I called AT&T. I was told my case had been closed the same day it was opened.

BARCELONA, Spain–Doro, the Swedish phone company that manufacturers handsets geared towards seniors, launched its PhoneEasy 622 in Europe today during Mobile World Congress. The flip-phone is Doro’s first device to feature video recording and works alongside Doro’s mobile ecosystem that enables users to manage a loved ones mobile contacts and calendar.

Design
The PhoneEasy 622 comes in black and burgundy, and measures 4.01-inches tall, 2.05-inches wide, and is a third of an inch thick. It’s lightweight and is sleeker than other Doro phones, like the 618.

It has a smooth p…………… continues on CNET

PHOENIX – State lawmakers are sending a message to new teen drivers: Put down the phone.

On a 3-1 vote Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Public Safety approved a measure to prohibit cellphone use by anyone younger than 18 who is driving on a learner’s permit or for the first six months after getting a license.

The ban would cover both texting and talking.

Stuart Goodman, lobbyist for AAA Arizona, told lawmakers statistics support the move. He said that from 1982 to 2007, alcohol-related fatalities for teens dropped, but the “overall number of fatalities have stayed the same.”

He said “distracted driving has now replaced alcohol-related accidents or fatalities as one of the leading causes of young deaths behind the wheel.”

Special restrictions on young new motorists is not new. Existing law generally precludes them from driving between midnight and 5 a.m., though there are exceptions, like driving to school or work, or if a parent or guardian who has a driver’s license is present.

And anyone licensed for less than six months cannot have more than one other person younger than 18 in the vehicle. Siblings are excepted, as are situations with a parent in the vehicle.

Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, who has attempted to get similar restrictions for five years, said he wrote SB 1241 to be as narrow in scope as possible.

One…………… continues on Arizona Daily Star

more ways to save you real money on your cell phone bill. After our first report helped one family save hundreds of dollars on their bills, thousands of you logged on to let us know, you are going to do it, too, and some of you sent us other ways that everyone can save money. Abc’s paula faris, here once again to put real money in your pocket. Hi. Hey, daddy. Reporter: Remember the barry family in massachusetts? Divorced dad, phil, daughters reagan and ava, who depend on their cell phones to stay in touch. I love you. I love you too, dad. Reporter: We showed phil how to save big on his monthly cell bill by switching to a family plan and applying his corporate nt. Holy mamajama. year. And after our real money story aired, thousands of families around the country found other ways to save. We ended up saving about $ 80 a month. It estimated w…………… continues on ABC News

By PETER SVENSSON, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Research firm Gartner says worldwide cellphone sales fell last year, as economic turmoil dampened shopper appetites.

The decline was 1.7 percent, and it was the first time since 2009 that cellphone sales have fallen, Gartner says. Sales amounted to 1.75 billion units, meaning that one out of every four people on the planet bought a new cellphone last year.

A competing research firm, IDC, last month said that sales grew at 1.2 percent last year.

The firms agree that smartphone sales grew quickly, while non-smartphone sales declined by a roughly equal number.

Samsung Electronics of Korea is the world’s largest maker of phones, followed by Finland’s Nokia Corp. and Apple Inc. of the US, according to both research firms.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. –  The Maryland House Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that would allow law enforcement officials to obtain location records from mobile devices without a search warrant.

Opponents of the legislation said during a House judiciary committee hearing on Tuesday that House Bill 377 lowers the standard of probable cause law enforcement officials must meet before obtaining cell phone tracking information. But supporters say the proposed legislation will provide a uniform standard across the state for obtaining real-time location information of an individual involved in an investigation.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement must obtain a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects. While the ruling did not impose a warrant requirement or a probable cause standard for obtaining real-time location records, both practices became commonplace in several of the state jurisdictions, including the city of Baltimore, for obtaining real-time location information records.

Cell phones register their positions with cell towers dozens of times a day, and mobile carriers are retaining location data on their customers.

A comprehensive log of person’s whereabouts over time can deny a resident of their Fourth Amendment right to privacy, opponents of the bill said du…………… continues on Fox News

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Kelsey Raffaele, 17, was killed in this crash she caused because she was on her cellphone. Since the crash, her mother, Bonnie Raffaele, has pushed for legislation banning cellphone use by novice drivers. (Courtesy photo) Tim Martin | tmartin4@mlive.com  

LANSING, MI – A bill that would ban cellphone use by new drivers in Michigan is headed to Gov. Rick Snyder for his consideration.

The Michigan Legislature gave final legislative approval Friday to Kelsey’s Law — named after a Sault Ste. Marie teenager who died in a cellphone-related crash.

The House approved Senate Bill 756 by a 74-33 vote. The Senate had approved the bill earlier.

“I am deeply grateful to the members of the House and Senate who put partisan bickering aside to pass this important law,” Bonnie Raffaele, Kelsey’s mother, said in a statement.

Raffaele has…………… continues on MLive.com

Use it and lose it – that’s been the motto when it comes to cell phones in classrooms at Hillsborough County public schools.

But beginning next spring in a planned pilot program at a handful of schools, students will be urged to use their cell phones in the classroom.

Not to mention their laptops, tablets, e-readers and other devices, too.

The Hillsborough County School District is exploring a BYOD – bring your own device – policy because the district can’t afford to buy its own technology to put in every student’s hands. It would cost an estimated $ 95 million to make sure every student had some type of personal technology.

“This is something we are compelled to do,” said board member Doretha Edgecomb. “We don’t have a choice any more.”

A recent district survey of 2,000 students in grades three through 12 found that 70 percent of students own a laptop while 58 percent have a smart phone. The overwhelming majority of those students said they would like to be able…………… continues on Northwest News and Tribune

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Sen. Al Franken introduced the cyberstalking bill after hearing of a domestic violence case in which a Minnesota woman’s movements were tracked by her abuser through her phone.

For around $ 50, a jealous wife or husband can download software that can continuously track the whereabouts of a spouse better than any private detective. It’s frighteningly easy and effective in an age when nearly everyone carries a cellphone that can record every moment of a person’s physical movements. But it soon might be illegal.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was expected Thursday to approve legislation that would close a legal loophole that allows so-called cyberstalking apps to operate secretly on a cellphone and transmit the user’s location information without a person’s knowledge.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., would update laws passed years before wireless technology revolutionized communications. Telephone companies currently are barred from disclosing to businesses the locations o…………… continues on New York Daily News

In the latest of our posts checking up on past stories, I’m taking a quick look at the legal fight over taxes on cell phone calls in Chula Vista.

The tax, introduced in 1970, charges a small fee on users of telephones, electricity and other utilities within the South Bay city. As cell phones came into popular use, Chula Vista started allowing phone companies to tax cell phone calls too, and for years it collected and spent that tax money.

The tax on cell phone calls was always on rather shaky ground. It was loosely based on Internal Revenue Service rules governing what can and can’t be taxed. But in the mid-2000s, the IRS lost a number of court cases over whether it could tax cell phone calls and, in 2006, a cell phone carrier wrote to the city of Chula Vista saying it didn’t think it still needed to collect the taxes.

But Chula Vista didn’t st…………… continues on Voice of San Diego

Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would increase the fine for motorists who text or hold a cellphone to their ear.

Brown said the increased fines in Senate Bill 1310 by Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian of Palo Alto were unnecessary.

“I believe the current fines and penalties of $ 213 and $ 336 for cell phone and texting while driving are a powerful deterrent,” Brown wrote in his veto message. “I have found even a $ 50 ticket unpleasant enough. … Upping the fines may satisfy the punitive instincts of some, but I severely doubt that it will further reduce violations.”

The bill would have raised the base fine for motorists who violate the texting or hand-held cellphone bans by $ 10 both for first offenses, from $ 20 to $ 30, and for subsequent offenses, from $ 50 to $ 60. The higher numbers to which Brown referred include other fees that are typically tacked on to traffic fines.

– Dan Smith, Bee Capitol Bureau

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown will consider a bill that would raise the fine for illegally using a cellphone while driving in California from $ 20 to $ 30.

But the real cost for a first offense under the bill approved Tuesday by the state Senate would climb from about $ 160 to about $ 200, when court fees are included.

Repeat offenders would pay about $ 370, up from about $ 280. Repeat violations would also add points to drivers’ records, potentially increasing their insurance costs.

Senators sent SB1310 to the Democratic governor’s desk on a 28-9 vote.

August 27, 2012|By Gus G. Sentementes, The Baltimore Sun

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Legislation that would ban government agencies from disrupting cellphone service without a court order is heading to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The state Senate approved SB1160 on a unanimous vote Monday. The Assembly passed the bill last week.

The bill by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of Los Angeles came in response to the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, which cut wireless service in San Francisco subway stations last year to disrupt a planned protest.

The shutdown sparked a global free speech debate.

Padilla says his bill protects the public’s right to communication services unless an agency has a court order based on probable cause. The bill protects any service used for calling 911, including wireless and Internet-based services.

BART is supporting the bill.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

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Here are some rules of the road:

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Students at Thibodaux High and South Lafourche will be allowed to use cellphones at school again this year, but other schools will remain cellphone-free, school officials said.

While general board policy continues to ban any kind of cellphone use, the School Board approved a pilot program at those two schools last year that allowed cellphones under strict limits.

During school hours, students must keep their phones on silent or vibrate and can’t take pictures or video unless directed by a teacher.

Students can also only use phones in “green zones” — public areas such as hallways and cafeterias. Students aren’t allowed to use phones in “red zones,” which include classrooms, bathrooms, locker rooms or any secluded locations, unless asked to do so by a teacher.

Thibodaux High Principal Glenn Haydel came up with the policy with former South Lafourche Principal Bubba Orgeron, who took a job at the school district’s central office earlier this month. Haydel said the policy was designed to harness the learning potential of Internet-ready smart phones. Students can use their phones in class to take advantage of learning apps, calculators and other tools, and to do Internet research without requiring a move to the…………… continues on Houma Courier