The Wirelessinfo Blog

Washington State Supreme Court ruled against AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless) saying arbitration clauses in cell phone contracts violate the Consumer Protection Act. Typically arbitration agreements are in the fine print of any cellphone contract and take away the customer's right to create class action lawsuits. Originally, Cingular customers were suing over a roaming charge dispute. When the class-action suit was filed, Cingular tried to block it, citing their arbitration clause.

According to the case, each individual consumer was being overcharged by anywhere from a buck to $40. Now, individually this is utterly insignificant and wouldn't be worth bringing to court, but on the whole, Cingular Wireless overcharged the public by quite a large margin. This situation is a textbook reason why class-action lawsuits exist: to protect the public from corporate nickel-&-dime theft.

Even though the suit itself is still unresolved, this ruling will undoubtedly be a watershed case for business ethics; just because the clause was standard doesn't mean it was ethical. As Cingular was bought out after this suit had been filed, we were left wondering if AT&T had the foresight to factor this PR nightmare into the dealmaking process. Regardless, looks like AT&T married itself to the problem, and now they might have to pay up.

[Via Cellular-news]

Get ready race fans. Soon the familiar orange glow of Jeff Burtons #31 car will be traded in for an AT&T logo. The car currently carries Cingular's logo. In a court ruling this week a judge gave AT&T "the immediate right to put its logos and brand marks" on Burtons car. No word on when the re-branding will begin.

Those of you who are eager to get your hands on an iPhone (and count us among them) will welcome this news: it looks like the iPhone will be available in 2000 store fronts, nationwide, within both Apple and AT&T stores. We’ve mentioned before how Apple are rolling out special iPhone displays, but this mention of in-store storefronts is new.

The teen market is where most of the new cell phones are aimed, and the Motorola SLVR is no exception.  My stepson's teen friends all have "cool" sleek looking phones.  Ryan Sefton of Cupertino,CA loves his SLVR - when asked why, his first thoughts were because it was "indestructable". He has dropped it many times,and it still works like a dream. The keypad allows easy texting and he has had very few dropped calls.

He really loves the MP3 player built-in, and the SLVR comes with iTunes. Call quality is crystal clear, and he loves the Cingular service.  The built-in VGA camera was "good, for a cell phone camera and about what you would expect".

The only drawback to the phone was the ear buds included in the package, which weren't quite so indestructable!

AT&T/Cingular Wireless announced today that mobile banking services will be available later this year for their customers, and that the initial groundwork has been laid by signing agreements with Wachovia Bank, Bancorp South, Regions Financial and Suntrust Banks.   AT&T has been testing this service since last year, and plans to offer it without charge in the hopes that it will draw more customers to its mobile web services. 

Customers will be able to download software directly from Firethorn Holdings, a privately held mobile software company.  New handsets sold in the latter half of this year will have this software included.  Firethorn is highly focused on mobile security, and offers encrypted SSL layer transactions, and phone registration.

[Link via Cnet]

High-quality TV on your current cell phone? It may be possible if your phone’s data link is fast enough and if you combine it with a Slingbox device at your home. Sling Media Inc.’s Slingbox products let users view their home cable TV broadcasts from any PC with a browser and an Internet connection as well as from some mobile devices.

So how good is the result? Not bad when used with a Cingular 8525 Pocket PC phone from AT&T Wireless, according to a video posted at TechEBlog.

 According to FreeConference.com, a division of Global Conference Partners, some major phone companies, including Sprint Nextel, AT&T Wireless (Cingular), and Qwest Communications International Inc. are blocking access to FreeConference because it competes directly with the phone companies’ own teleconferencing services.

Analysts from Merill Lynch recently did a study of the cellular phone market and discovered that Samsung is benefiting from the buzz surrounding the iPhone. While the iPhone in general has brought more traffic into Cingular stores, many customers are opting to purchase the Samsung Blackjack rather than wait for the release of the iPhone. Lynch believes that since the iPhone is not expected to be discounted customers gravitate toward the PDA style Blackjack which is 3G and available now.  

Cellular customers who receive poor service are fed up with early cancellation fees by service providers, and Cingular Wireless/AT&T is feeling the bite.  According to the Associated Press, a settlement was announced today with the California Public Utilities Commission that will result in $18.5M in refunds being issued to the unhappy customers who left Cingular from January 2000 through April 2002.  

About 115,000 former California customers will receive refunds, and the average check is expected to be $160, which includes interest.  These refunds are to be issued within 60 days. 

The commission also upheld a $12.1M fine imposed on Cingular/AT&T in September 2003.  The California courts upheld this ruling and the refund as Cingular knew that their networks were congested and strained, but insisted on imposing the early termination fees in spite of these issues. 

Its about time service providers were held to the same standards of performance as other utilities!

The evolution of Cingular Wireless into AT&T Wireless continued today with the opening of the first remodeled Cingular store in Houston. The new AT&T Experience Store, located on Southwest Freeway across from the former Compaq Center arena, offers 5,000 square feet of retail space and will showcase AT&T’s landline, broadband and entertainment services in addition to AT&T Wireless handsets and services, said AT&T Inc.

Earlier today we showed you the Red BlackBerry Pearl. AT&T also announced today another red wonder, the crimson Treo 680 and we have details. The BlackBerry Pearl is the first to be branded for AT&T and has a 1.3 megapixel still camera, expandable slot memory as well as optional GPS and Push To Talk features. The Treo 680 features a MP3 player, video player, camcorder, and digital camera and can also handle an optional GPS service.

Both the red BlackBerry Pearl and crimson Treo 680 will be available for $199 after rebates with a 2-year contract from Cingular/AT&T.

AT&T/Cingular Wireless announced yesterday that they are soon to be adding a $4.99/month package bringing video highlights from Wrestlemania and other wrestling shows through a new agreement with the WWE. Wrestling videos will be added to its $19.99/month video service, and new ringtones and wallpaper will feature favorite wrestler’s voices and faces for fans. 

World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE has over 15M loyal fans and is growing rapidly. Only fans who have 3G phones can access this new content.

[http://www.cingular.com/media]