SoftBank CEO Critical of U.S. Wireless Market

SoftBank CEO and Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son spoke to lawmakers today about the state of the U.S. wireless market. According to Son, the networks aren't fast enough and consumers are paying too much for them. "American consumers use less data traffic, but pay more. Is that a good situation?" posed Son. Son pitched the idea of entering the home broadband market as an alternative for consumers to companies such as Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T, and Verizon. "We need an alternative. I would like to volunteer, we would like to be the alternative," said Son. "We got the technology, we have to deploy many cells, it requires a lot of capital expenditure, it requires a lot of scale. We are bringing new technology to the States. Speed matters, with better speed we can bring next-generation applications and content." Son hopes his remarks help change the minds of those who might otherwise shoot down Sprint's possible acquisition of T-Mobile.

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T-Mobile Files Cease and Desist Against Verizon Over Ads

T-Mobile today said it has taken legal action against Verizon Wireless for what it claims are misleading advertisements. Verizon has run a series of TV commercials that pit the nation's four largest network footprints directly against one another via coverage maps. According to T-Mobile, Verizon is minimizing T-Mobile's actual coverage. "Verizon's ink blots massively understate our coverage and don't begin to represent the actual customer experience on T-Mobile's network," said T-Mobile CEO John Legere. "So we're setting the record straight - both by demanding an end to the misinformation, and by going straight to the people with the truth." T-Mobile filed a cease and desist demanding that Verizon halt the network map advertising campaign. It accuses Verizon of "cherry-picking a single network technology to depict in its ads rather than accurately reflecting the many technologies widely in use today." T-Mobile is launching a new ad campaign of its own in order to combat Verizon's ads.

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Apple Releases iOS 7.1 with Bug Fixes and New Features

Apple today made iOS 7.1 available to iPhones, iPads, and iPods Touch. The operating system update resolves a significant bug that soft reset iOS devices when being used. iOS 7.1 also adds support for CarPlay, Apple's recently-announced in-car software. The update tweaks the behavior of a wide range of functions, such as the ability to control Siri manually by pressing and holding the home button. Siri gains more natural-sounding voices for Chinese, UK English, Australian English, and Japanese. iTunes Radio was improved with new placement of the search bar, and the ability to buy albums directly from the Now Playing screen. The Calendar app gains the ability to display events in the month view, as well as view country-specific holidays. Accessibility has been improved with a bold font option, and the Reduce Motion function now applies to more apps, including weather and messages. iOS 7.1 also adds new HDR camera tools, improves iCloud Keychain support, automatically clears FaceTime calls, improves Touch ID on the iPhone 5s, improves performance of the iPhone 4, and provides other UI teaks. iOS 7.1 is free to download from Apple.

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Straight Talk Now Selling Nano SIM Cards

Straight Talk, an MVNO that runs a bring-your-own-device service, is now offering nano SIM cards. Nano SIMs are the smallest SIM cards available, and fit devices such as the iPhone 5/5s/5c, Moto X, and select Droids. The nano SIM cards cost $6.99. Customers can buy the SIM cards directly from Straight Talk and use them in unlocked GSM handsets. Service plans for smartphones start at $45 per month and include unlimited voice minutes and messaging, and 2.5GB of high-speed data. Straight Talk's service runs on the networks of both AT&T and T-Mobile around the U.S.

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Google Lowers the Cost of Google Drive

Google today rearranged what it charges for its Google Drive cloud storage service. Beginning immediately, monthly storage plans cost $1.99 for 100GB, $9.99 for 1TB, and $99.99 for 10TB. Google still offers the base 15GB of storage space for free. Google Drive works across Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos. Google said that customers who already pay for storage will be moved to a better plan at no additional cost. Google Drive can be accessed online from Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, as well as PCs.

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Ting Now Supports Apple iPhone 5

Ting, an MVNO that uses Sprint's network, is now allowing customers to bring their own iPhone 5 and activate it on Ting. The iPhone 5 must be a Sprint-compatible version. Ting offers refurbished iPhones through its partner, Glyde. Ting does not yet support the iPhone 5s or 5c, but will later this year.

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Apple Remote App Updated with More Tools

Apple recently updated its Remote application, which lets iOS devices interact with and control the Apple TV. The new version of the app adds the ability to access iTunes Radio on the Apple TV, as well as browse through purchased movies and TV shows directly on the device before playing them back on the Apple TV. Apple Remote 4.2 is free to download from the iTunes App Store.

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