Wireless Guide News

MANATEE — A woman was robbed of her cell phone late Tuesday, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman was in the 5000 block of 20th Street Court East when she was approached by someone she knows. During a conservation with her, the suspect all of a sudden snatched her cell phone from her hand, according to a news release.

The suspect fled in an unknown direction on foot.

Hollister residents can now register their mobile phones to receive reverse 911 calls for emergencies in their neighborhood.

In partnership with the Santa Cruz Regional 911 center, the Hollister Police Department announced on Tuesday that it is implementing this new, faster alert system. 

SIGN UP: Click here to sign up your mobile phone for Hollister’s alert system

Typical uses of a reverse 911 call include: evacuation notices, shelter in place notices, be on the lookout for missing children, police Captain Carlos Reynoso said. 

Santa Cruz Regional 911 contracts with CityWatch to provide a geography-based system alert residents about significant events in their neighborhoods.

By utilizing an AT&T database, each resident with a landline phone is automatically enrolled in the service, Reynoso said. Alert call requests are made by l…………… continues on KSBW The Central Coast

A small boy was told by his mother to snatch a cellphone from an apparently unsuspecting victim in the District this week, authorities said.

After the incident, in the 3500 block of 14th Street NW, the woman was arrested, and the boy was referred to a social services agency, D.C. police said.

The arrest was made possible by the deployment of undercover and plainclothes officers as part of the effort to curb smartphone robberies in the city, police said. In many cases, robbers grab the phones from victims’ hands or from restaurant tables.

Police said the suspect “was observed” about 2:40 p.m. Wednesday directing a child to approach a man and take his phone “while he was not paying attention.” Undercover officers “were in a position” to overhear the suspect, police said.

The undercover officers called for other officers to move in and make the arrest.

According to police, the woman was charged with attempted robbery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The child’s age was unclear. An initial police account described him as 3, but a later one said he was 6. It was also unclear whether the victim might have been an undercover officer acting as a decoy.

The next day, undercover officers in the same area, about a half-mile north of the Columbia Heights Metro station, helped bring about the arrest of a ma…………… continues on Washington Post

The Buzzards Bay Film Festival, in partnership with New Bedford’s Pizan’s Pizza and Rose Alley Ale House, will launch “Shoot the Summer!” a weekly contest for the best cell phone videos shot in, on, or around Buzzards Bay.

Every Thursday until Labor Day, the film festival will announce the previous week’s winners and a new contest will begin. The deadline each week is noon Tuesday. The first contest closes at noon, Tuesday, May 29.

Winning videos will be posted on the Buzzards Bay Film Festival’s website, and all entries will be considered for inclusion in a “Shoot the Summer” crowd-sourced film to be screened Nov. 11 at the Buzzards Bay Film Festival at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, 684 Purchase St., New Bedford.

Winning filmmakers older than 21 will win a beer at New Bedford’s Rose Alley Ale House; winners 13 to 20 years old can collect a soda and slice of pizza from Pizan’s.

The videos can be in any style: documentary or narrative, serious or funny, or even a simple record of the Bay’s beauty. Each video must be shot on a cell phone, be less than one minute in length, and be shot on the Bay or in its watershed. Entries must be emailed to Summer@BuzzbayFF.com. Contestants must be at least 13 years old to enter.

For further information contact, Tom Gidwitz at 508-999-6363 or

Published February 17, 2012

| FoxNews.com

HESPERIA, Calif. — A missing, mentally challenged teenager was rescued and a woman was charged with false imprisonment after she befriended the girl and taunted her mother with text messages giving phony information on the girl’s whereabouts, investigators said.

Mayra Gonzalez, 24, was taken into custody late Wednesday after a cellphone carrier zeroed in on the suspect’s Hesperia home, San Bernardino County sheriff’s Sgt. Lon Jacobs said.

Gonzalez was booked for investigation of felony false imprisonment and released on $ 50,000 bail.

Gonzalez is suspected of befriending the 18-year-old victim, who has the mental capacity of a 6-year-old, at a liquor store on Wednesday, authorities said. The girl was unharmed.

A voicemail message left at the Gonzalez home on Friday wasn’t immediately returned.

When the teenager didn’t come home Wednesday, her mother contacted authorities, but deputies were unable to find her.

The mother then began receiving text messages from an unknown number giving locations where the teen could be found. Family members went to the locations but didn’t find her.

Investigators began working with T-Mobile to track the cellphone signal to the Gonzalez home, the Victorville Daily Press (http://bit.ly/ABr2CZ ) reported Friday.

After Gonzalez denied knowing anything about the missing teenag…………… continues on Washington Post

LAKE FOREST, Calif., Feb 10, 2012 – LAKE FOREST, Calif., Feb 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – (http://www.myprgenie.com) — Tens of millions of Americans may be eligible for Lifeline Assistance, the free government cell phones program, and not even know it.According to Time magazine, more than 12,500,000 needy Americans already have the free phones and also receive up to 250 free minutes every month.But considering the remarkable number of ways one can qualify for the program, FreeGovernmentCellPhones.net estimates that as many as 50,000,000 American might be eligible.

“38 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico participate in the free government cell phones program,” Mark Henry, editor of FreeGovernmentCellPhones.net, said. “While big programs such as Medicaid, food stamps and SSI automatically qualify a person for the free phone in all states, each state does have its own unique criteria. That’s why we’ve put together a list of 33 ways one can get the free phone and minutes.” 

“The list of ways to qualify is almost endless,” Henry added. “Check your state’s listing to find all the other ways you can qualify for a free government cell phone.”To read the list in its entirety, click through to “continues on Sacramento Bee

It was no mistake.

Celina Aarons has her two deaf-mute brothers on her plan. They communicate by texting and use their phones to watch videos. Normally, that’s not a problem. Aarons has the appropriate data plan and her bill is about $ 175.

But her brothers spent two weeks in Canada, and Aarons never changed to an international plan. Her brothers sent more than 2,000 texts and also d…………… continues on Chicago Tribune

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) – Some people have complained about changes in Facebook, but not Rolanda Hill, who used the social media site to seek help after an armed robber broke into her home and stole her cell phone.

Hill, 20, was alone in her Chattanooga, Tennessee, apartment Sunday night when she heard a knock at her door and did not see anyone through the peephole, police said.

“When she went to open the door, a gunman stuck a gun through the door and forced his way in,” police spokeswoman Sergeant Jerri Weary said in a statement.

“Once inside, he demanded her money and held her at gunpoint while he took it and the cell phone.”

After the robber…………… continues on Reuters Canada