Verizon to preload PlayPhone-backed Games Portal on Android devices

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div class="copy post-body" dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="Verizon to preload PlayPhonebacked Games Portal on Android devices" data-src-height="340" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/playphone-games-portal.jpg" /></div>Carriers often want to provide unique device software as a lure for their services -- like it or not -- and gaming is undeniably one of the more attractive hooks. It makes sense, then, that Verizon now says it will use PlayPhone's SDK as the framework for a new hub, Games Portal, on its Android devices. The effort will give any optimized titles direct carrier billing and a social component, as well as theoretically better exposure than what they'd get on a very crowded Google Play. Verizon will preload the portal on new devices from this spring onwards, in addition to updating some existing hardware. The code should be comparatively simple to implement, but we'd add that there's no guarantee of success: Verizon's last experiment with reviving the carrier-controlled app gateway didn't quite pan out.<br /> </div></div>

Verizon to preload PlayPhone-backed Games Portal on Android devices

Carriers often want to provide unique device software as a lure for their services -- like it or not -- and gaming is undeniably one of t...

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FTC report on mobile payments raises concerns about 'cramming' on carrier billing

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/02/visapaywavesamsung.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">The FTC held a workshop on mobile payments last year, and it's now followed that up with a full report that raises a few concerns and offers some recommendations for the industry. Those include the expected issues of privacy and security, which the FTC encourages companies to step up their efforts on, as well as the issue of billing disputes. On that latter front, the FTC draws attention to one problem in particular known as "cramming," in which companies or individuals place fraudulent charges on a user's cellphone bill. As the FTC notes in the report, "there are <span>no federal statutory protections governing consumer disputes </span><span>about fraudulent or unauthorized charges placed on mobile carrier bills," and it further adds in a blog post that "t</span><span>he way mobile carrier billing works makes this a challenging problem to solve." It goes on to outline some consumer protection measures it says all carriers should adopt, and notes that it will further address the issue at a roundtable on May 8th. You can find the full report at the source link.</span></div></div>

FTC report on mobile payments raises concerns about 'cramming' on carrier billing

  The FTC held a workshop on mobile payments last year, and it's now followed that up with a full report that raises a few concerns an...

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Mobile Miscellany: week of January 21st, 2013

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><hr /> <div class="copy post-body"> <div class="image-container" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="Mobile Miscellany week of January 21st, 2013" data-src-height="400" data-src-width="619" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/01/mobile-misc-mini-1359181564.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought a new smartphone from Xolo to India, HTC's crackdown on a custom ROM distributor and the UK's largest mobile spectrum auction to date. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of January 21st, 2013.</div><h3 id="title0" style="text-align: left;"> Xolo A500 debuts in India with Android 4.0</h3><div class="image-container" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="Mobile Miscellany week of January 21st, 2013" data-src-height="397" data-src-width="464" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/01/mm-lava-xolo.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> A new Android 4.0 smartphone known as the Xolo A500 became available within India this week, and from all appearances, it's entirely run of the mill. That said, with a price of ₹6,999 ($130), it may just turn a few heads. The Xolo A500 sports a 4-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, along with a dual-core 1GHz CPU (Snapdragon S4 Play) and dual-SIM functionality. You'll also find a 5-megapixel rear camera, along with a front-facing VGA shooter. The device includes a 1,500mAh battery, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage and supports microSD cards up to 32GB in size. [Fone Arena]</div><h3 id="title1" style="text-align: left;"> Ofcom kicks off 4G spectrum auction in UK</h3><div class="image-container" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/11/winstonvic.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> The largest mobile spectrum auction to date in the UK began this week, which is set to nearly double the wireless resources available to Britons. In all, 28 lots of spectrum are available across the 800MHz and 2600MHz bands, which will add 250MHz of spectrum to the 333MHz in use today. Telefonica (O2), Vodafone, EE, Hutchison (Three), Niche Spectrum Ventures (BT), HKT and MLL are participants in the auction, which carries a total reserve price of £1.36 billion. According to UK regulator Ofcom, the auction will take place in several rounds over the coming weeks. [Android Central]</div><h3 id="title2" style="text-align: left;"> AT&T CEO reveals interest in smartphone financing</h3><div class="image-container" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="Mobile Miscellany week of January 21st, 2013" data-src-height="410" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/01/mm-randall-stephenson.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> Verizon's Lowell McAdam now has some company. During this week's earnings call, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson revealed that AT&T is similarly monitoring T-Mobile's shift to drop the subsidized business model and instead provide customers the ability to finance their new smartphone purchase. While Stephenson may lack grace with his words, the intent is clear: "We expect there to be some dynamics in the marketplace that -- and we'll have to respond to some of it -- we find interesting, like the handset financing that they're doing." Curiously, Stephenson admitted that AT&T has considered the approach in the past, but like Verizon, much of how his company responds will depend on consumers' reception of T-Mobile's new approach. [FierceWireless]</div><h3 id="title3" style="text-align: left;"> US Cellular now offers carrier billing for online shopping</h3><div class="image-container" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="Mobile Miscellany week of January 21st, 2013" data-src-height="412" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/01/mm-buy-more-stuff.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> US Cellular announced this week that it now supports carrier billing for online purchases. The system was launched in partnership with Boku, and subscribers may pay for goods at participating merchants by entering their mobile number at checkout and then confirming the purchase with a text message. From there, customers will find the total amount of the purchase added to their wireless bill. [PhoneScoop]</div><h3 id="title4" style="text-align: left;"> AT&T working to integrate Data Sense for Windows Phone 8</h3><div class="image-container" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/11/lumia822-dsc04086-review.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> Data Sense is one of the more unique features of Windows Phone 8, which allows users to monitor their data usage and squeeze more from their data plan through the magic of server-side compression. Verizon is the only carrier to support the feature within the US, but that may soon change, as AT&T has revealed that it's "exploring Data Sense and how to optimize the experience" for its subscribers. About damn time, right? [FierceWireless]</div><h3 id="title5" style="text-align: left;"> HTC forces shutdown of custom ROM site</h3><div class="image-container" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="Mobile Miscellany week of January 21st, 2013" data-src-height="319" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/01/mm-htc-aggressive.png" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> A provider of many popular Sense-based ROMs is no more. This week, <em>HTCRUU</em> closed its doors and took its repositories offline in acquiescence to legal threats from HTC. Historically, HTC has taken an admirably lax approach to distribution of customized Sense ROMs, which are popular among enthusiasts of the company's smartphones. Naturally, many other sources exist for custom Sense blends, which raises the question of whether this move was but a one-off showing of legal force, or whether HTC will take a more active approach to ending the underground custom ROM community. Those interested can learn more of the situation on <em>Reddit</em>. [Android Police]</div><h3 id="title6" style="text-align: left;"> Other random tidbits</h3><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> Following in the footsteps of Android and iOS, Microsoft has upped the mobile data cap of app downloads and updates for Windows Phone to 50MB. [WPCentral]</li><li> The Meizu MX2 is now available as a subsidized handset for customers of China Unicom. The smartphone can be gotten for free with all two-year plans of ¥226 or more per month, or with all three-year plans of ¥156 or more per month. [GSM Arena]</li><li> Colombia's state-owned telecom, UNE EPM, announced that it would invest $2.5 million to bring LTE services to Barranquilla -- the country's fourth most populous city -- which sports a population of approximately 1.8 million. [RCR Wireless]</li><li> An internal leak has revealed that the HTC 8S will become available at Bell Mobility on February 1st. [MobileSyrup]</li><li> Videotron has announced that it'll begin selling the Nexus 4 on January 30th. Similarly, Fido is accepting reservations (and a requisite $40 deposit) for the smartphone, which it's targeting for an early February arrival. [MobileSyrup 1, 2]</li></ul><div style="text-align: left;"> [Buy More Stuff photo credit: jbhthescots / Flickr]</div><div style="text-align: left;"> [Mobile Miscellany photo credit: Thristian / Flickr]</div></div></div>

Mobile Miscellany: week of January 21st, 2013

If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened th...

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