cellular

The operators of the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway system temporarily shut down cell service last night in four downtown San Francisco stations to interfere with a protest over a shooting by a BART police officer, a spokesman for the system said today.

"BART staff or contractors shut down power to the nodes and alerted the cell carriers," James Allison, deputy chief communications officer for BART, told CNET. The move was "one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform," he said in an initial statement provided to CNET earlier this afternoon. … Read more

Let's cut to the chase. U.S. Cellular's Samsung Character is an affordable slide-out QWERTY messaging phone with the kind of traits that place it in the teenage camp. Running Samsung's proprietary TouchWiz Lite interface, its home screens are ruled by widgets, and its apps by texting and music. There is one extra feature I like, but I'd like it more if it showed up as a widget. Watch the video above and read my full review for more on the Samsung Character.

Look, it's a phone that makes calls! U.S. Cellular has not forgotten the lowly basic flip phone with the LG Envoy, which went up for sale today for only $9.99. It doesn't have too many features going for it aside from dual displays, a VGA camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, text and multimedia messaging, simple WAP browsing, and that's about it. Hey, sometimes that's all you need from a phone, especially if you're trying to save some cash.

Cellular South's Android lineup is set to grow by one more now that the Samsung Admire has landed on the carrier's Web site. Though it stops short of officially announcing the handset, the wireless provider gives us a handful of specifications and images for its first Gingerbread device.

The Admire will feature a 3.5-inch touch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Additional details include a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD expansion port, live 3D wallpapers, and DVD-quality video playback.

Cellular South currently offers just over half a dozen Android phones, … Read more

If you're of the school of cell phone design that leans toward messaging cell phones with full QWERTY keyboards, U.S. Cellular's newest phone is meant for you.

The Samsung Character, released today, features a 2.8-inch QVGA touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and of course, Bluetooth support. There's also an onboard music player.

The Character runs on Samsung's custom TouchWiz Lite interface, with three home screens. It costs $39.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, and is available in blue and gray.

Researcher Don A. Bailey will be showing at the Black Hat security conference next week how easy it is to open and even start a car remotely by hacking the cellular network-based security system. Even more disturbing is the message that demonstration brings, that cars aren't the only things at risk.

"We are seeing more GSM [Global System for Mobile Communications]-enabled systems popping up in consumer culture and industrial control systems. They're not just in Zoombak [Global Positioning System] location devices and personal security control systems, but also in sensors deployed for waste treatment facilities, SCADA [… Read more

The last time we checked in with U.S. Cellular, the carrier was promising no less than seven Android devices by the end of the year. At the time we had a few clues about possible manufacturers, but we were largely left in the dark as to what to expect. Thanks to a recently leaked road map, however, we now have a clearer picture as to what lies ahead for the nation's sixth largest carrier.

As expected, HTC figures to play a prominent role in the second half of 2011 with two phones and tablet on the horizon. Tech-savvier Android fans will enjoy the Desire 2 (Desire S) while new smartphone buyers might gravitate more toward the entry-level Wildfire S. Both of these handsets should replace current offerings and join the U.S. Cellular lineup at some point in October. Before that, however, the HTC Flyer is expected to arrive in August, presumably as part of a back-to-school offering. The 7-inch tablet and stylus combination could make for a good digital assistant, especially if the price is right. … Read more

The LG Cosmos Touch has arrived for U.S. Cellular in the form of the LG Attune. It's essentially the same phone but with a slightly different button layout and it comes in a red color scheme instead.

It has a 2.8-inch touch screen, a four-row QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, GPS, and microSD support for up to 16GB cards. The LG Attune is meant as a basic messaging phone with a touch-screen interface. It's available now for $49.99 after a $50 rebate and a two-year contract. A data plan is required with the … Read more

Even glancing at U.S. Cellular's smartphone lineup, one thing stands out. With the exception of a couple of BlackBerrys, Android completely dominates. Or it did, until the HTC 7 Pro muscled its way in, a rebranding of Sprint's HTC Arrive.

As staunch supporters of mobile platform diversity and consumer choice, this is a very good thing. The handset, while heavy, has some interesting design elements, including a screen that tilts up when you slide open the QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard itself has rubbery buttons that are easy to press, and the HD video capture and playback are … Read more