If you are a customer of Disney’s Mobile Phone services, you probably already know that they are ceasing business as of December 31, 2007. What to do for a phone service to go with your new MoGo headset?

Not to worry, several other kid-focused cell services are courting Disney customers in a big way.

Firefly is offering a free  phone plus $10 credit is you switch from Disney to Firefly (6 month minimum contract, executed prior to Oct. 31).

The recently re-vamped flyPhone  is a fully functional kid-tough phone with a cool ‘morphing keypad’ feature that changes the keypad display to adjust to the controls needed to make calls,  play MP3’s, videos, or games. It can store up to 500 phone numbers.

It also has some of the parental-control features that lured customers to Disney in the first place, including :  : limiting incoming and outgoing calls to numbers stored in the phone book while also restricting what numbers are held in the phone book. There are also texting controls, pay-as-you-go plans,

The glowPhone, meanwhile,  looks and works much like the younger-child restricted phones previously offered by Disney. Kids are restricted to only numbers that parents have placed in the address book and a couple of ’speed dial’ buttons on the keypad.

What’s missing? The ‘Child Find’ services that utilize the phone’s built-in GPS to allow you to see where your child is whenever you wish.

This may be part of the reason that Disney is recommending Verizon for their customers.  Verizon is offering Disney-switch  customers Disney ringtones and wallpapers as well as 3 months free of their Chaperone service, their package  that locates the child’s phone from either your PC or your Verizon phone.

What’s missing from this plan is the gee-whiz kid-friendly phones .  Verizon’s offer comes with the same selection they make available to all grown-up new customers, with no products specifically geared for the younger set. Parents may be a little nervous about giving their 6 year-old a RAZR headset, and with good reason. Children are notoriously rough on their kit, and cell phones are hardly an exception.

Kajeet is also attempting to lure form Disney customers with kid-freindly services and a $50 credit.

Their phone offerings are also from the traditional line, although the prices are reasonable . However, they  do add a feature many Disney customers grew to love - the configuration management software. This allows parents to block the use of the phone during set hours (like school hours) except for calls to/from specific numbers (like 911 or a parent), as well as track  who your kids is texting and talking to.

Kajeet was the option Yahoo tech mom Dory Devlin chose in switching from Disney. Her review of her experience is here.

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I mentioned it last week, and this week, it’s true.  With the falling of the Autumn leaves, comes the official falling of Sprint’s Head Honcho, CEO Gary Forsee.

Apparently the official stepping down has already taken place, and been announced by Sprint but the search for a replacement is still on, and will remain on until they are confident the perfect match has been found.  For now, “Board Member James Hance will take on Forsee’s chairman of the board role and Paul Saleh will take over as acting CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement.”  Sounds good, and I have to be honest, I’m really excited to see what will become of Sprint with some new leadership.

Nevertheless, Forsee is done, and was sent off with these kind words:  “On behalf of the entire board and the Sprint Nextel employees, we want to thank Gary for his dedication and leadership and all of the contributions he has made since becoming chief executive of Sprint in 2003.”

Stick around for more news on this one, for anyone at all into the mobile warrior lifestyle, Sprint is a big player and this could lead to a lot of changes!

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Q. When will I get my new MoGo x54?

A. First of all, if you have ordered a new MoGo mouse and the delivery has not met the schedule you were given, please feel free to contact me or MoGo’s support line. We are here and want to help if you are having problems.

Secondly, if you order today then you should be quoted about a 4 week delivery time. Gateway, for example, is giving out mid-November for a ship date.

By the end of the year, expect this lead time to drop. In the meantime, please accept our deep felt thanks for being some of the first  to buy these exciting new products!

Q. When will UK orders ship?

A. The lead time internationally is the same as domestically. If you order now, then you can expect it to be shipped mid-November.

International reviewers, like the UK’s Pocket-Lint, have already received their models to try out and talk about.

Q. Where can I buy them outside the US?

A. To make life easy for you, here’s that link again: . Find your nearest MoGo retailer here.

Elizabeth is a professional writer & geek with most of the last decade spent in senior management at a leading global IT provider. Thousands have attended her seminars in the US & Canada on subjects ranging from basic TCP/IP networking to high-end data storage solutions.

Got a question? Ask Elizabeth.

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Here you go friends, a happy little Thursday Press Release, that should make every single Verizon Wireless customer very, very happy.  I know it made me happy, and that’s saying something when it comes to ol’ VZW.

Without further ado, here is the official press release from Verizon:

10/01/2007

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — In yet another step aimed at offering American consumers the “most customer friendly” experience in the wireless industry, Verizon Wireless today announced that it will provide all of its customers the ability to change calling plans without requiring contract extensions.

Starting October 7, new and existing customers will have the option to change their voice and data calling plans – selecting current plans with different minute allowances or text messaging and data use options – without changing the end date of their contract. The policy will become part of the company’s industry leading customer promise, the Verizon Wireless Worry Free Guarantee®. (more…)

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Ok, this blog covers a whole heck of a lot concerning Mobility, and being the ultimate Mobile Warrior.  In that same vein, I don’t know how much more of a Mobile Warrior you can get when the time comes that you’ll be able to make a phone call from the very tip top of Mt. Everest!

Yeah, fairly sure when that day comes, and according to new reports, it is closer than you think, we’re all mobile warriors.  According to an article over at MobileCrunch:

“China Mobile has hired Huawei Technologies to install a GSM Base Station on Mt. Everest. The base station will be positioned at 6,500 meters and can run on solar power. The base will be positioned so communication can be made between base camps and the main rout to Everest’s summit. It will be able to communicate with satellites, so a call from the mountain can reach almost anywhere on the globe. The installation should be ready for the Beijing Olympics 2008 Torch Relay Team which will reach the top of the mountain for the opening ceremony.” 

Wow.  For some reason that’s just plain, well, cool.  Although, with technology advancing like this, it’s getting harder and harder to find excuses as to why you didn’t answer the telephone.  No longer can you say “I just couldn’t get service!”  Try it and they’ll look at you and just simply say, “Everest.”  Enough said.

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Although the laws did not address the concept of file sharing when it became technologically possible, record companies quickly took note of the millions of song files that began to be digitally shared.

The (Recording Industry Association of America) RIAA , a group that represents record companies (not the artists) was made their voice in the fight to control the tsunami. And US Courtrooms became the battleground.

It was a war to be fought with deep pockets and a single vision - to aggressively attack downloaders until the world was scared away from the practice.

It was only a matter of time until the fight created martyrs. And it appears that it has happened with the very first of these cases to go to trial.

Jammie Thomas, a Minnesotan and single mother, was found guilty of making music available to download on the peer-sharing site KaZaA. The RIAA lawyers made the case that it doesn’t matter if anyone actually downloaded the music - she violated their exclusive right by offering it for downloading on her computer.

This argument won the day with a jury. They found Ms. Thomas liable for 24 songs and ordered her be fined $220,000.

The legal grounds of this case set a precedent that has many infuriated and willing to join the fight.

The civil concept of ‘intent’ is a legal gray area that rings a lot of civil liberties bells. When the jury found that the RIAA did NOT have to prove any actual theft, just that Ms. Thomas, by sharing songs, had intent to do so, it became the verdict hear ’round the world.

However, even more have rallied simply because of who the defendant is.

Ms. Thomas is a young, rural mom making about $36,000 a year and trying to get by. Just hiring lawyers to fight the RIAA would have bankrupted her, much less the $220,000 judgement. (A website, Free Jammie, has been set up to assist her with legal costs and fines.)

This has continued the tren RIAA seems to have of picking targets that outrage and further their image as corporate Darth Vaders.

In 2003, they filed suit against a 12 year-old girl for sharing music.

“Are you headed to junior high schools to round up the usual suspects?” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked an RIAA executive during a senate hearing afterwards.

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Happy Monday friends!  Hopefully your Autumn weekend was good and you had plenty of time to rest, relax, and enjoy the changing of the seasons…if indeed your seasons change.  That said, the winds of change aren’t just hitting the weather patterns as of late, no no, looks like they have officially hit Sprint Nextel too.

That’s right, rumors are abound that Sprint Nextel might be hunting for a pretty sizable change,  like a whole new Chief Executive.  Wow.  Apparently, according to the article I read, “Poor stock performance, less than expected profits and low subscription rates are given as reasons for making an executive change.” Whatever the case may be, an 18% drop in stock rates is big, very big, and Sprint might just be looking out-of-house for their next CEO.

I guess we’ll see, but who knows, maybe a new Captain at the helm could bring some exciting new changes.  Remember, it IS the season for change, and technology might be changing right along side it.  Stay tuned!

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Q. Will my Bluetooth Mouse work with my Linux system?

A. Yes.

If you’re using the commercially available desktop GNU/Linux platform, then you should already have the Bluetooth kernel drivers compiled as modules and ready to load once your systems detects a Bluetooth hub and/or a Bluetooth peripheral device.

If anything, you may need to buy a Bluetooth USB adaptor, like MoGo’s about-to-be released Daptor.

Tyler wrote a great post on this a few month back. Andthis article is a little old but has tons of good information about Linux and Bluetooth.

Q. Will MoGo products work with Vista?

A. They already do.

Issues with Vista getting Bluetooth peripherals to work almost always have more to do with how the platform handles the Bluetooth protocol than any specific Bluetooth device (like the MoGo Mouse).

Here are the official Microsoft instructions for setting up any Bluetooth device with Vista. The Microsoft TechNet has a bunch of answers for the common problems you may encounter.

Q. I don’t live in the U.S. and don’t want to pay the outrageous shipping to buy a MoGo mouse from a US retailer. Tell me there are international sellers!

A. OK, there are International Sellers!

It’s true. Find your nearest MoGo retailer here.

Elizabeth is a professional writer & geek with most of the last decade spent in senior management at a leading global IT provider. Thousands have attended her seminars in the US & Canada on subjects ranging from basic TCP/IP networking to high-end data storage solutions.

Got a question? Ask Elizabeth.

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Record Breaking

On its first day of release, Halo3 broke records with US$170 million in sales. Now the numbers are in - and Halo3 broke more records in its first week of sales, with over US$300 million. The game, which is available exclusively for the XBox 360, is now officially the fastest-selling video game in history.

According to this morning’s press release from Microsoft, Bil Gates is calling the game a “cultural phenomenon.”

“…The launch of ‘Halo 3′ is an important milestone for XBox 360 and for video games as entertainment and as an art form,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “‘Halo 3′ embodies our vision for the future of entertainment, where some of the world’s greatest creative minds will deliver a new generation of interactive storytelling.”

The HALO World 

For those of you unsure what all the hype is about. the “Halo” games are a militaristic sci-fi based scenario. Played first-person, the main heroes are “Master Chief” (human super-soldier with advanced armor) and Cortana (an AI companion). It is humans vs. aliens in several scenarios played out on the space station “Halo”. You can find the specific storyline and details of Halo3 here.

Single-Platform 

There had been some rumors that the game would be available for Nintendo, but those plans have been abandoned. The exclusive partnering with XBox has driven up sales of that gaming platform exponentially.

Meanwhile, proponents of the other gaming platforms - especially  Nintendo, but also Wii, have voiced their anger over the exclusivity deal with XBox. Like Apple’s recent corporate marriage to AT&T in regards to the iPhone, however, the customers now find themselves on the losing side of a war with their own product providers.

Security Issues 

Halo3 is  has an integrated online game version for XBox LIVE subscribers that allows players to join up, do battle, and communicate in the virtual overworld of HALO.  This has been somewhat controversial because ‘LIVE’ gaming gives access to players to communicate with each other without the kind of parental safety controls available on for Internet.

Additionally, there have some security breaches highlighted this past summer with the Windows Live ID service that is used for identity with XBox . The breaches allowed many scammers to create false identities - accounts that have not, as yet, been completely flushed out.

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Following on Tyler’s post from yesterday - there’s a lot of noise about that iPhone update.

According to the BBC, the Scobleizer, and a host of others, Apple’s v. 1.1.1, which was coded to render altered iPhones inoperable, may be causing a lot of problems for the unaltered ones as well.

The alterations they were targeting make the iPhones compatible with any mobile carrier.

Originally, the gadgets came hard-wired to work only on the AT&T mobile network as part of an exclusive deal.

But not everyone who wanted an iPhone wanted to get in bed with AT&T. Some, including a lot of techies (who, despite the bureaucratization of the field, still hang onto a cowboy mentality) were just plain outraged at being told what mobile carrier they had to use.

So the moment the iPhone went into distribution, software wizards around the world began ripping them apart to find a way to make iPhones compatible with any mobile carrier.

This, by the way, was perfectly legal. Farhad Manjoo at Salon wrote clearly on the particulars, which boil down to this: Apple does not have the right, once you legally purchase their gadget, to force you to use it with AT&T.

Soon, dozens of ‘SIM unlocks’ were available - for free and purchase. And thousands took advantage of them.

Apple reacted by voiding the warranties of anyone who used one of the unlocks. This move opened them up to lawsuits, because the laws around a company’s right to void their warranties pretty much says Apple can’t do that.

But then Apple went a step farther and announced that a planned update (”v 1.1.1″) would leave unlocked iPhones “permanently inoperable” in other words, ‘Bricked‘. Or, forever turned into pretty-looking paperweights.

The update was pushed last week, and true enough - thousands of iPhones immediately died.

This included many that were never altered - both Scoble and the New York Times are carrying accounts of customers whose pristine iPhones were also bricked in the recent update. Which is what many are pointing to as the big deal.

But the heart of the matter is really how these actions have revealed Apple to be both retaliatory and uncompromising against their own customers.From a brand that made its reputation as being counter-culture and ‘Not Microsoft’, the trail of decisions has been a blow to their loyal fans and their image.

Incubated in the days when they cheekily named one of their error noises ‘So-Su-Mi’ because it sounded something like a competitor’s ding, Apple has worked hard to be round in a world of square and organic in a world of finite choices.

This was shattered with the launch of the iPhone. The gadget itself is everything Apple - sleek, bright, and intuitive. The marketing and management, however, has been practically Orwellian.

The long-term will tell us if this is just a cultural mis-step in the corporation’s growth or a more enduring change in attitude.

Back in the immediate future, Apple is working to put out the fires of bricked unaltered phones. The legality of update v 1.1.1 and subsequent bricking is still being debated, leaving many mainstream techno-sites sitting uncomfortably on the fence. And hackers are hard at work at polishing a counter agent software, some versions of which are already available.

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