U.S. Transportation secretary Ray LaHood said he will not issue a nationwide ban on using cell phones and hand-free devices while driving, as proposed recently by the National Transportation Safety Board. LaHood believes that hands-free calling is not a problem in the United States, and his stance certainly supports the auto and mobile industries. Ford, for example, equips several of its car models with Ford Sync hands-free technology. A ban on hands-free devices would likely prevent the company from selling ...

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) voted on Tuesday to recommend that all states ban the use of using cell phones while driving, whether for talking or texting. It is also recommending that states ban hands-free devices, which are typically used as a safety measure among those who do place phone calls while driving. “No call, no text, no update is worth a human life,” NTSB chairman Deborah Hersan said. “This is a difficult recommendation, but it’s the right recommendation and it’s...

Now this, is awesome. Sprint and Google have just announced that they have worked together to give practically all Sprint wireless subscribers the ability to start using Google Voice immediately without any effort. It will literally be as simple as entering your number into your Google Voice account; the system will recognize that it’s a Sprint number and ask you if you’d like to use it as your Google Voice number. The best part? Google Voice apps aren’t needed anymore, and this works with p...

According to the latest intel gathered by TmoNews, the nation’s fourth largest carrier, T-Mobile, will begin offering two new, pre-paid international calling plans on March 13th. Aimed at those who frequently dial from the U.S. to friends and family internationally, the plans include unlimited calling to landlines in 50+ countries, unlimited text messaging to any mobile phone in over 220 countries, and discounted calling to international mobile and landline numbers. The plans look like this:$60 –...

AT&T will be launching its Unlimited Messaging with Mobile to Any Mobile plan tomorrow. Just ahead of the launch, BGR has acquired an internal AT&T memo that details exactly what customers will have to do to qualify for said plans. Spoiler alert: not much. Surprisingly, there isn’t any fine print with AT&T’s latest offering. Customers with individual, post-paid lines costing between $39.99 and $59.99 per month are eligible for the unlimited texting and mobile to mobile offer —...

According to a memo acquired by TmoNews, U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile is set to introduce a new, low-cost, international text and calling plan in time for the holidays. The new offering will allow users to send unlimited text messages to cell phones in over 220 countries and call land-line phones in 56 countries without incurring long-distance charges — calls to these countries will count against your plans monthly minute-allowance. The new international talk and text plan will require subscribers ...

According to recent survey, New Yorkers literally don’t have time to talk on their cell phones. In terms of rank, New York is #15 in the nation for total number of calls, yet almost dead last in terms of actual call durations. If you’re from New York, you’re probably shaking your head in agreement as we’re most likely to take a call while doing seven hundred other things; say what we have to say, and jump off. What state would you guess holds the title for most prolific cellphone us...

A U.K. woman armed with a Samsung Galaxy S running the SWYPE keyboard has broken the Guinness World Record for text messaging. The 27-year old managed to swipe out the phrase: “the razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human,” in just under 26 seconds. The time bests the official record, held by a 24-year old American, by over nine seconds. As the Press Association reports, “Ms T...

We scooped it like Houston’s spinach dip back in April and right on schedule, the Samsung T349 is now available from T-Mobile. No, it’s not quite as exciting as some of the other handsets due to drop over the next few weeks and months but the T349 definitely has its place in T-Mobile’s lineup as an affordable messaging phone for tweens. Key features:T-Mobile myFaves® enabledMessaging servicesText messaging (XT9 Predictive Text Technology)Instant Messaging (AIM®, Windows LiveTM Messenger, Y...

More news on the messaging front is coming down from Rogers Wireless today as the company prepares to makes a few text-related changes to its service offerings. There has been a rumor going around for quite some time regarding the elimination of free incoming SMS for customers without text messaging plans and it looks like Rogers is finally getting ready to implement the new policy. Beginning July 7th, incoming SMS will run plan-less subscribers 15¢ per message — the same rate as outgoing texts. Custom...

Big news today for our friends up north who have been plagued with cold sweats and night tremors ever since November when SMS service was disabled in Canada. When the service was initially killed, Twitter cited billing issues as the reason. It may have taken a while to resolve those issues, but Rogers has just announced a partnership with Twitter that will revive SMS and allow users to both send and receive tweets via text. What’s more, the new deal applies to both Rogers and Fido customers. Canadians, ...

News from Boost Mobile this morning brings its subscribers a new international texting and walkie talkie option that will definitely turn heads. Dubbed International Connect, the $10 plan enhancement affords customers unlimited SMS and PTT from the US to Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile. Though the new International Connect option is hardly worldwide as the header on Boost’s press release would lead you to believe, it’s still a hell of a package for $10. No? Hit the jump for the f...

Mobile World Congress might not be for another couple of weeks but that doesn’t mean we have to wait to see some new handsets work their way out through the cracks, or leaks as it were. Here we have another glimpse at a new handset, this time on its way to the US courtesy of LG and AT&T. No, it’s not the sexiest gear in the room, but you can expect the LG Neon to be the envy of tween texters across the country. Start with a painful color palette, mix in some QWERTY slider, add one 2.4″ t...

Well what do we have here? Live shots of AT&T’s upcoming answer to the T-Mobile Sidekick just came in courtesy of one of our ninjas and we thought we might as well share ‘em with you. We’ve all known the Quickfire has been in the pipeline for a while and last month we dropped the very reasonable official price point of $100 after MIR. For a 3G messaging machine with a sliding touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, a music player and GPS – $100 really isn’t bad at all. Of course t...