Nokia Sells Mobile TV Technology Unit

Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, said it has sold its mobile TV unit to India-based Wipro Technologies.
Mobile television broadcasting, the hottest upcoming feature for handsets only a few years ago, has struggled to take off.

"We wanted to focus on the consumer side of things, the mobile TV client in the devices, rather than on the business-to-business side," said a Nokia spokesman.

The mobile TV unit had 40 employees and developed software and hardware which enabled the mobile TV technology on the phone to find and access the broadcasting network.

The company has been implementing cost-cutting measures to respond to the fading demand for mobile phones amid the worldwide downturn.

Last week, Nokia reported its profits plunged 90 percent in the first quarter of 2009. It also announced plans to lay off 1,700 people worldwide.

Tossing your cell phone? Protect your data

Best way to make sure your information is secret? Delete it yourself

Most people wouldn’t give away or sell their wireless phone without first deleting their phone book and other personal information. But you should be just as careful if your phone needs to be repaired.

When a cell phone breaks, you either take it back to the store or send it to the insurance company. In either case, you give them your broken phone and usually get a refurbished one in return. That means you get somebody else’s old phone. And eventually, somebody will get yours.

Today’s smart phones can store huge amounts of data — calendars, documents, pictures, audio recordings, and video files — personal and possibly sensitive information you don’t want to share with anyone, especially a stranger.

What you should?
The major phone companies have programs in place to erase all the data from phones they get for repair, trade-in and recycling.

“But that process can fail,” says Erik Larkin, an Associate Editor at PC World magazine. “If you want to make sure the data is gone, you should do it yourself,” Larkin says.

In fact, the wireless companies I contacted agree with that advice. “Clean it out before you return it or put it in the recycle bin,” says Verizon’s Georgia Taylor.

A true horror story
Imagine how you’d feel if that old phone spilled your secrets. It doesn’t happen very often, thank goodness, but it did happen a few years ago to JoAnn Bishop of Los Angeles.

Bishop returned a broken PDA phone and received a refurbished one. After synching the new phone with her computer, she checked the phone book and saw there were more than 300 extra contacts; names she did not recognize. “I thought, wow, this is bizarre,” Bishop told me.

When she checked the calendar she was horrified to find someone else’s appointments there, including a flight to Rome she wasn’t planning to take. That’s when she knew something was really wrong.

The refurbished phone Bishop received had been turned in for repair by Denver businessman David Levi King. Bishop now knew everything about King, including what he would be doing and where he would be going.

“It was freaky,” she says.

In the phone’s notes section she found King’s insurance information, bank and credit card numbers, user names, passwords, and pin codes.

“I felt like I was looking into someone’s private life.”

King told me he was lucky an honest person received his phone. “There are a lot of things a dishonest individual could have done. They could have used my credit cards, or stolen my identity.”

But wait, there’s more
Bishop was assured this was an isolated incident and was sent another refurbished phone. Guess what? This one came loaded with Bassem Megally’s personal information. Megally, who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had turned it in for repairs. He was shocked when Bishop called to tell him what happened.

“Why would they do such a thing?” Megally asks. “It’s just ridiculous.”

Both Megally and King told me they thought they had deleted the information from their phones before turning them in. And indeed, they may have tried. The problem is erasing all the data stored on a cell phone is often a very complicated procedure.

How to do it right
With a computer, when you “delete” files they are still on the hard drive. You just can’t access them easily anymore. The same thing is true with a cell phone.

You need to find out how to wipe the memory clean to permanently delete everything stored on that phone. Removing the SIM Card (Subscriber Identity Module), if your phone has one, is not good enough.

“You can pull the SIM card and still have a whole lot of your personal information stored internally on the phone,” says PC World’s Erik Larkin.

To permanently delete all that information, you need to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your specific model. And those instructions are different for every phone. They normally include codes and keys to push. With some Palm products you have to insert a paper clip into the reset hole on the back of the phone.

As an example, here’s what you need to do with the Motorola P8767:

1. Press FCN, 0, 0, *, *, 8, 3, 7, 8, 6, 6, 3, 3, STO
2. Press 3, 2, # and wait until display clears
3. Press 0, 1, #

Do that and you’ve wiped out all the stored data. That’s because this phone has what’s called a “master reset.” Many phones don’t have that feature, so you need to delete the data one step at a time.

With the Kyocera SE44 there are nine separate erase functions: phone book, calls list, call timers, text messages, voicemail, organizer, voice dial, voice memo, and wake-up message.

Where do you get information?
Go to http://www.wirelessrecycling.com, a site run by ReCellular Inc., the country’s largest recycler and reseller of used wireless phones. Look for the link to “Cell Phone Data Eraser” and you can find step-by-step instructions for phones made by 22 manufacturers. The site also has a database of more than 40,000 recycling centers that you can search by zip code.

Let’s recap
You never want to give away your phone, for any reason, if it contains personal data. You want to pull out the SIM card (if your phone has one) and do a master reset or individual resets to wipe out all the stored data.

Then go through all the menus and make sure everything is gone – the phone book, calendar, notes, and logs of your calls and text messages.

Remember, everything that has been on your phone will stay on your phone, unless you take the time to get remove it.

Source

LG Viewty II renamed the Viewty Smart, appears on official LG blog

Details have surfaced regarding the LG GC900 Viewty II, supposedly renamed the Viewty Smart, on the official LG German blog. Although the information has been pulled from the site, we can say with some certainly that the information originally posted on the site appears to be valid.

The Smart is less than a half-inch thick and weighs only 3.2 ounces, but manages to pack a lot of impressive technology in that tiny frame.

The Viewty Smart features an 8 megapixel camera and a 3-inch touchscreen display powered by LG's 3D S-Class user interface. The device will apparently shoot video at 720x480 resolution, and will geotag photos with an onboard GPS. WiFI and HSDPA data connectivity will keep the device snappy on the Internet.

Pricing and availability were not detailed, and there is no news on when to expect the device to be officially announced.

T-Mobile adds unlimited mobile-to-mobile at no cost to some individual plans

T-Mobile has revamped its mobile subscription offerings, its most significant change being that its now offering unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling at not cost to all individual plans costing more than $49.95.

The company has unveiled a new myFaves plan for $89.99 that includes 1800 minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, unlimited mobile-to-mobile and myFaves calling to favorite friends and family members.

It has also added 500 minutes at no cost to the $99.99 and $129.99 FamilyTime plans; 500 minutes were also added to the $119.99 and $149.99 myFave family plans, and the prices were lowered by $10.

Is Cell Phone Insurance Worthwhile?

Buying a new wireless phone typically means hearing a sales pitch for cell phone insurance. It sure sounds reasonable. "Peace of mind for that important device that might be lost or stolen," says the sales rep.

But many consumers later find their insurance policy isn't everything they thought it was.

"The U.S. Cellular representative suggested that I needed insurance because the phone was expensive. I figured it wasn't a bad deal for an additional $5.00 per month, so I agreed and signed the paperwork," says Riki of Madison, Wisconsin.

When his phone's speaker was damaged, Riki called his insurer -- The Signal -- and was told that although his model of phone had been discontinued, he would be sent a comparable phone with the same features.

"I constantly use the MP3 feature on my phone, so it was very important the replacement phone have this feature," he said.

Riki received his replacement phone and was shocked to discover it was nothing like his first one.

"The replacement phone didn't have external memory, radio or voice recording, and it didn't even have an MP3 feature, the one thing that The Signal promised I would have."

Contacting the cell phone company usually won't help because the insurance policy is between a third-party insurer and the cell phone owner.

"I called US Cellular and they agreed that I should have at least received an MP3 phone, but there are limits to what the carrier can do because the policy is with another company," says Riki.

He again called The Signal and this time spoke with a supervisor.

"She explained that if they do not have the same phone as a replacement, they could send whatever phone they wanted and if I didn't like it, I could purchase a new phone."

Not Uncommon

In fact, what Riki experienced isn't uncommon because most policies state that a replacement phone might be a different model. Additionally, most consumers don't take the time to read the small print and seldom will a salesperson tell you all the details.

For instance, some policies won't cover a device such as a Treo or BlackBerry, but to know that you would have to read the policy which will tell you to visit the website of the carrier for a list of "ineligible" devices.

Furthermore, the policy will include the amount of your deductible, something that many consumers aren't aware of until they file a claim.

In Riki's case, he paid his premiums for 14 months and then paid a deductible, ending up with a replacement phone nothing like his previous one. He comments, "I've warned my family about this fiasco because they are paying for insurance just as I was."

Most carriers will give you at least fourteen days to decide if you want insurance, so don't be rushed into a decision that will come back to haunt you.

Like extended warranties, phone insurance may wind up being worth a lot less than you pay for it.

Do you need cell Insurance ??

You’ve finally settled on the perfect new cell phone with all the latest features. You’ve chosen the accessories and picked a service plan.  Now the salesperson asks if you want to buy insurance to protect your purchase.

It’s only $4.99 a month and you’ll be covered if the phone is lost, drops in the toilet or is run over by a car. So you say yes. Did you make the right decision?

Your new phone comes with a manufacturer’s warranty. But that only covers equipment failure caused by a defect or malfunction. You’re out of luck if the phone is lost, stolen, or accidentally damaged.

Dwight Moore with Verizon Wireless, says customers like cell phone insurance because they know if something happens to their phone, they’ll quickly have a replacement. In most cases, he says, it will arrive overnight and will be “exactly the same or similar” to the one you had.

Why consumer groups don’t recommend it

“We think it’s almost always a waste of money,” says Consumer Reports Editor-At-Large Greg Daugherty.

“You can insure every gadget in your life if you want these days,” Daugherty says. “We think all this little insurance is just adding up to too much in many cases. People really ought to be focusing on the big risks.”

San Diego’s Utility Consumers’ Action Network (UCAN) also advises most consumers to skip cell phone insurance. UCAN’s Michael Shames tells me they get “lots of complaints” from people who did buy this coverage.

Some complain their replacement phone is used, what the industry calls “refurbished.” Others are surprised by the deductible, usually around $50.

Shames calls that “one of the dirty little secrets about phone insurance.”

Shames says insurance might make sense for some people — those who are prone to drop their phone, get it wet or somehow disable it. “It might be useful if you happen to work on building skyscrapers and you tend to drop your phone 30 or 40 stories,” he says.

It could also come in handy if you’re buying a high-end PDA phone that would cost you $500 or $600 to replace. Just remember, he says, “your replacement phone is likely used.”

An insurance nightmare

Justin Leavens, a businessman in Sherman Oaks, Calif., is one of those who complained to UCAN.

He purchased insurance coverage when he bought a fairly expensive phone from Verizon Wireless. “My cell phone is my lifeline,” he says. “So I couldn’t really be without it for more than a few days.”

When the phone was damaged, Leavens filed a claim with the insurance company, Asurion, and was told he would have a replacement phone “the next day.” When it didn’t arrive, he called Asurion again and was told they didn’t have his phone in stock. His choices were: get on a waiting list or take a different phone that did not have the same features as the broken one.

Leavens says he suggested comparable phones that would make him happy, but the insurance company would not agree to that. He told them his local Verizon store had his phone. He offered to go pick one up if they would pay for it. Again, they said no.

“It really appeared like they were doing everything in their power to get out of paying for my cell phone,” he says.

Totally frustrated, Leavens went to the Verizon store and “basically begged for help.”

To make a very long story short, he says Verizon convinced the insurance company to pay for a new phone. Leavens picked it up right away, but he told me he had to wait 2-and-a-half months for his reimbursement check.I made several requests for a comment from Asurion, but there was no response to my calls or emails.

The fine print
When it comes to insurance, it’s the actual policy that counts, not what you see in the colorful brochure or hear in the sales pitch. The policy is a contract between you and the insurance company, and these cell phone policies have numerous limitations and exclusions not spelled out in the sales material.

For instance, the policy for Cingular phones do not cover “normal wear and tear” or a cracked display “that does not affect the mechanical or electrical function of the unit.”  And while the sales brochure promises, “a replacement is just a call away,” the policy is less generous. It says the company has the right to “repair or replace” the phone. That’s a big difference. And if they do send you a replacement, “colors, features and accessory compatibility are not guaranteed.”

Before making a decision, ask for a copy of the actual policy and see what it covers and what is excluded.

What should you do?
Say no to insurance coverage at the sales counter. Take some time to think about this purchase. You don’t have to make an impulse decision in the store. Cingular gives you 30 days. Verizon Wireless customers have 15 days to decide.

Consider what you’re really buying. While the transaction takes place through your wireless company, you are actually buying the policy from an independent third-party. If your claim is rejected, the wireless company may not be able to help.

Cell phone insurance is not like homeowners or auto insurance. With these policies if you have a covered loss, you get money from the insurance company. With phone insurance you get merchandise — a phone — instead of money.

And consider this. You can go online and get some great deals on used cell phones. If you lose or damage yours, it may be cheaper to simply buy a new one out of your own pocket with the money you didn’t spend on insurance.

Taking action
A class action lawsuit filed in Miami claims the insurance companies selling this coverage are using “deceptive and outrageous” practices. The suit contends the refurbished phones people get are worth less than the original phones.

MSNBC.com has learned a preliminary settlement has been reached in this case and will be presented to the court later this week. If approved, the settlement would affect as many as 13 million people who bought cell phone insurance.