After Years and Millions, VTel’s Wireless Promises Unfulfilled
Springfield, Vt. — When it comes to VTel’s her alded plan to bring mobile phone service to Vermont, the company isn’t talking. The Springfield, Vt., telecommunications company in 2012 and 2013 won separate funding grants from both the federal government and the state to launch wireless mobile phone service to areas of Vermont that do not receive cellular phone service. The federal money was to make mobile phone service available along...
Consumer Confidential: Is the Apple iPhone Really Any Different From Other Consumer Products?
Apple lawyer Ted Olson said last week that the tech heavyweight has good reason not to help federal investigators hack an iPhone that belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters. The company, he said, “has to draw the line at re-creating code” and “changing” its product. To which there’s a two-word response: seat belts. And here’s two more: air bags. In both those cases, the auto industry said federal officials had no right to make...
Ga. Couple to Public: We Didn’t Steal Your Phone
For months now, angry strangers have been showing up at Christina Lee and Michael Saba’s front door with a curious demand: “Give me back my stolen phone!” Sometimes, families will show up; other times, it’s groups of friends or a random person with a police officer in tow, according to Fusion. Despite using different service providers, everyone who bangs on their door has been led to the suburban Atlanta home by a phone-tracking app....
Suicide Prevention Group Offers Youth Help Via Texting
Boston — With younger generations using cellphones less for actual conversation and more for text messaging, suicide prevention organizations are setting up ways that let distraught youths seek help that way. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teenagers and college-age adults, making a text messaging initiative — started this month by Samaritans Inc. of Massachusetts to supplement the more traditional phone help line —...
Siri Integrates Smoothly, Safely in Vehicles
Siri will soon be pulling into a driveway near you, as the Apple iPhone’s digital assistant makes herself at home in dozens of new cars and trucks from General Motors’ Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands. Siri was born to run, based on my test of Apple’s CarPlay interface in a 2016 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. The system’s voice recognition was nearly flawless, the navigation app never set a foot wrong, music apps worked...
