Wireless and mobile news, today, is too-short-to-report. Here are the latest news stories in small byte-size pieces.
- The Department of Transportation is working on laws to require connected-cars to communicate with other and infrastructure.
- The LG G2 Pro due to be announced at Mobile World Congress will have super image stabilization "Electro Image System" for sharper images and Ultra HD video recording.
- The Nexus 5 is now available in red from the Google Play store.
Updates
- Google Maps for iPhone/iPad/iPod when used in Navigation will notify the user of a faster route when it is available.
- Google Wallet for iPhone/iPad/iPod now adds OCR loyalty-card scanning and storage. Users will be notified when near a reward membership retailer.
- Verizon Wireless reported that during the Super Bowl, data speeds were four times faster than AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile. A Verizon team at MetLife stadium using Ookla and RootMetrics. Verizon had average down speeds of 24 Mbps and upload speeds of 11 Mbps using AWS spectrum.
- AT&T ended the promotion that offered T-Moble customers $450. Instead, they changed their family plans and now offer $100 credit to new or existing customers who add a line.
Big Donations to Schools
- The White House announced that the following companies will contribute to the ConnectED initiative;
- Apple will donate $100 million in free iPads, MacBooks and software to disadvantaged schools.
- AT&T will donate $100 million in free wireless broadband service to middle school students over three years.
- Sprint is also donating $100 million in free wireless service for up to 50,000 low-income high school students over a four-year period.
- Microsoft will discount Windows software for schools.
- Verizon, will support ConnectED through up to $100 million in cash and in-kind commitments.
- Prepaid Aio Wireles from AT&T reduced prices to $40 for unlimited voice/text and 500MB of data before throttling or $35 with auto pay.
- The Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 {($749.99 (32 GB), $849.99 (64 GB)} and Galaxy Tab Pro 12.1 {$649.99 (32 GB)} go on sale next week, preorders stared today. The tablets come with a $25 Google Play card, 3-month Hulu Plus free trial, 6-months Web Ex Premium, 50GB of DropBox (2-years) and 1-year Gogo inflight Wi-Fi.
- FCC chairman Tom Wheeler is skeptical of a merger between Sprint & T-Mobile.