That sound you're hearing is the screams from Garmin and TomTom

Google has announced their own FREE turn-by-turn with voice directions GPS app for all Google Android phones, starting to the Verizon/Motorola DROID. And yes, they have confirmed it is coming to the iPhone as well. This could be the beginning of the end for the old GPS manufacturers.

Droid - The Reality behind the 'iDon't" Commerials

If you watched any sports over the weekend, you saw the commercial below played ad nauseum. This is a teaser cooked by Verizon to build buzz over their intended iPhone-killer, called DROID.


It appears that this phone is real, not just another Verizon vaporware phone, and is running Google Android 2.0. Allegedly, the Droid was co-designed by Google, Verizon, and Motorola and is intended to replace the Blackberry Storm as Verizon's flagship smartphone for the 2009 holiday season. And Boy Genius Report has pictures.

The real question is whether Apple has any reason to be worried. The phrase "iPhone Killer" has been thrown about so much - and to so little effect - that it is nearly meaningless at this point. The Palm Pre is the only phone to come close in terms of original thought and usability, and its relationship with Sprint the anemic Palm have held it back from really taking off. And Verizon has a long history of hyping phones, and then killing them off with horrible execution and upgrade policies. Still, a thriving competition in the smartphone space would keep Apple honest, and be good for consumers overall. I hope Droid is better than history would predict.

Analog Cell Phone Networks to Close Monday

Do you have a relative who bought a cell phone in the early 90s and has refused to upgrade again and again? Do you live somewhere that only analog cell phones reach? Well, to the chagrin of upgrade-phobics and farmers alike, AT&T and Verizon are ending their analog networks on Monday. Other major providers like T-Mobile and Sprint never had analog networks/

The biggest U.S. mobile operators, AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless, will close down their analog networks that day. At the same time, AT&T will turn off its first digital network, which uses TDMA (Time-Division Multiple Access) technology. (Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA don't have analog networks.) Calls to some small, rural mobile operators indicated that most of them plan to shut down AMPS, too.

There aren't many mobile phones out there that will go dark after the analog sunset, according to the big carriers, which have been warning subscribers about the change for months and offering them incentives to switch over.

"We're talking about a very, very small number of customers here," said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel. He estimated that 99.9 percent of AT&T's traffic is carried on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis estimated that less than 1 percent of that carrier's subscribers were on analog even before it started a big effort to reach them last year. Neither gave exact numbers of subscribers. But given that those operators have about 60 million subscribers each, the number might still be in the hundreds of thousands.

It will be interesting to see what the actual outcry is, especially since those most likely to be impacted are the old and poor. Exactly those least able to deal with change or spring for a new phone.

Verizon wants your call info

When I was a Verizon customer, I was very satisfied. They had GREAT coverage - even in the parts of my home town where no other cell carrier had any signal. I left them over high prices and the lack of a really good SmartPhone for me. In my times since, I have enjoyed various Sidekick's under T-Mobile and now the iPhone under AT&T Wireless, but neither have as good coverage as Verizon. But now, Verizon is quickly destroying any positive sense I have for then with a new policy that would allow them to use your call history for whatever they want.

Verizon Wireless has been contacting its customers via snail mail to inform them of their intent to share CPNI data with its "affiliates, agents and parent companies (including Vodafone) and their subsidiaries." The company says that customers who do not want their CPNI data shared need to call 1-800-333-9956 to "opt-out." Upon dialing the opt-out number, Verizon customers will be prompted for their phone number, billing ZIP code, and last four digits of their Social Security Numbers (in the case of businesses, their Employer ID numbers). Failure to opt-out will be interpreted by Verizon Wireless as "consent" to the company's data-sharing practices.

This data would most likely be used for targetted advertising (call NetFlix customer service and get a text message advertising Blockbuster) but could also be used to advertise themselves to your friends and family who are not yet Verizon Wireless customers. If you are a Verizon customer, please call now. If not, think twice before making the switch.