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Quick little iPhone story to kick us off here. So it appears that an enormous line formed at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in NYC yesterday. Why? No reason, really. Was it a hoax on some 60 people regarding the 3G iPhone? I hope people aren’t that gullible. The improv group Improv Everywhere were blamed as the culprits, though their director denied the allegations. Which means that yes, it was them.

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: Verizon, Nokia, iPhone, LG…

Easy come, easy go. Sources familiar with the issue are now saying that the FCC-proposed early termination fee agreement with carriers might be in the dumps, though talks officially continue. Though, it might not be a terrible thing. Sure, we’d love to do something about these fees, but the trade-off proposed in the matter doesn’t seem like one consumers would unilaterally accept. The deal, simply, is that carriers would gain protection from lawsuits, while we would shed ETFs.

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I’ll bet you’re wondering what “control” means in the title. It’s from a study conducted buy IBM. See, it turns out that 80 percent of people want more control over the services and applications on their cell phones. You don’t say. They want to do a lot of things on their phones, and have control over what they do. I’ll make a mental note of it. Might want to hand it to one of the big carriers.

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: AT&T, Mobile Web, HTC Diamond, Control…

If there are two things I love writing about, it’s baseball and Sprint. Baseball for love of the game, Sprint for love of the “what did they do now?” factor. The company, as we all know, continues to bleed subscribers, much to the delight of their competitors. The Washington Post sat down with the embroiled company’s CEO Dan Hesse to talk about what Sprint his doing, and how it’s going to take a while. And yes, Hesse said that the company was in the third inning of their rebuilding phase. But it seems like Sprint is playing like the Yankees right now, so it could still be a long game.

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I was going to leave this piece about Verizon off the Notes today, but since I got the other three carriers, I might as well. It appears they’re letting you know that you can maintain control over your VZW account, even when you’re away. Check minutes used, data remaining, and other account features from your handset. It’s stuff that’s been around for a while, but Verizon is promoting it for the summer.

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon…

Early Termination Fees. ETFs. The bane of the cell phone subscriber’s existence. No one wants to pay $175 or $200 to rid themselves of a service they don’t like, or can no longer use. But that’s the way it is in the cell phone industry. While some companies, like Verizon and AT&T, have announced pro-rated early termination fee initiatives, it’s still not a standard in the industry. That is, until the government stepped in. Reports are that they are working with cell carriers to work on a way to make these fees a bit more reasonable.

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How do you go about shopping for cell phones? Personally, I’m an Internet guy. Of course, I like playing with the phone before I buy it. But I tend to do research online, and the sale usually occurs over the Web, since the price is further discounted — or in the case of Verizon (among others), your mail-in rebate becomes an instant rebate. And you can never discount the power of an instant rebate over a mail-in one.

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: Cell shopping, T-Mobile, Sprint, Video streaming…

The number of handsets sold in the U.S. during the first quarter took a swift dive, as manufacturers saw a 22 percent dip from the first quarter of last year. This isn’t wholly surprising, though, given the current economic environment combined with the post-holiday lull. And, just so things don’t seem so bad, sales revenues only dropped seven percent, which isn’t a whole ton ($2.9 billion to $2.7 billion). I suppose it speaks to more expensive handsets being purchased. After the jump, how the manufacturers rated in the U.S.

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Hello my name is Stuart and I’m a recovering cell phone jerk. It has been one year since I last disobeyed the basic tenets of cell phone etiquette.

My parents brought me up well and taught me to be courteous and respectful to others. Normally I’m a polite and dashing young fellow, with oodles of charm and a rapier wit. However, there is a little switch inside my brain that turns me into a complete ass, whenever I get a vibration in my pants or I hear the Grand Vals excerpt.
Read the rest of How I Stopped Using Bad Cell Phone Etiquette…

So not only do we get to talk about the iPhone today, but we also touch on one of my favorite subjects, in-flight calls. I sat next to two guys on a plane last week who were presumably from the same company. The one guy had a spreadsheet open and just talked to his associate for the duration of the flight. It actually wasn’t that bad. Then again, people have a tendency to TALK REALLY LOUD ON THEIR CELL PHONES, so that might be my issue right there.

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: iPhone (duh), Windows Mobile, Pregnancy, In-Flight Calls…