Bling Nation, a mobile payments provider, announced today it has secured $8 million in Series A funding with $6.3 million coming from lead investor Lightspeed Venture Partners. The remaining $1.7 million was raised primarily from Meck, Ltd., which invested an initial $5.3 million in Bling Nation, and CampVentures.
Founded in 2007, Bling Nation transforms mobile phones into intelligent and versatile wallets. The company enables consumers to pay merchants with the tap of a mobile phone instead of using a credit card or cash. In addition to consumer convenience, merchants reduce interchange fees, and banks increase income.
After tapping the phone at the merchant point-of-sale, the consumer receives an instant text message with the transaction information, an updated account balance and rewards balance.
NTT DOCOMO, INC. has announced a new service that will enable an individual subscriber to use their DOCOMO mobile phone to easily and quickly remit money to another DOCOMO user, beginning on July 21.
Customers of DOCOMO's i-mode mobile Internet service on the FOMA 3G network will be able to remit up to 20,000 yen (about 208 U.S. dollars) per transfer, basically just by inputting the payee's mobile phone number. The payee receives a mail notification via their DOCOMO mobile phone and is given the option of depositing the money in a domestic bank account or having the amount credited to their monthly DOCOMO phone bill. The payee can receive remittances totaling up to 200,000 yen (about 2,080 U.S. dollars) per month.
Pandora Radio is now available on the iPhone and iPod via free download at the App Store. Pandora Radio is a free personalized radio that originally started on the Internet but now can be streamed to your mobile phone also for free. You can create favorite artists and songs and Pandora will create stations that will play the music you like.
If you are already a Pandora user, after you download the iPhone/iPod app you can log in and enjoy your same preset stations or create news ones right from your iPhone/iPod.
The iPhone/iPod Pandora App allows you to:
Tap the album art to see a progress bar, create a station from the current song or artist, or email the current station to a friend.
Read artist bios on the flip side of the album art.
Rotate to landscape to see recently played songs in coverflow.
Would you like to get 1000 minutes, 1000 text or multimedia messages, and 30 MB of data transfer for data phones for $30 per month with no contracts, bills (i.e., 411 charges) or hidden fees? Well good news, you can at Straight Talk. According to Straight Talk, most people use fewer than 550 minutes per month and pay over $76 per month. So Straight Talk is offering less than half the cost.
Straight Talk is a service of TracFone Wireless Inc. Straight Talk only offers 3 cell phones; the Motorola W385, Motorola RAZR V3A and LG200. You can choose to keep your existing cell phone number or receive a new one. You can add your plan online at StraightTalk.com or by calling 1-877-430-CELL. You can refill your plan every 30 days or as often as you like.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. has announced unlimited calling to over 100 countries for $5 per month. MetroPCS customers will be able to make unlimited international calls to more than 100 countries, including more than 1,000 destinations, without any additional charges.
MetroPCS offers a diverse selection of wireless service plans, which allows customers to talk 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, and provides enhanced service options so customers can create a wireless experience that best fits their lifestyles. With MetroPCS service, customers pay by the month, not by the minute, and services do not require a signed contract, deposit or credit check.
Leap Wireless International, Inc., the parent company of Cricket Communications, Inc., a provider of unlimited wireless services, today announced that Cricket unlimited wireless services are now available in the greater Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas. Consumers in these key Eastern Seaboard markets now have access to Cricket’s unlimited, feature-packed 3G wireless service at affordable rates.
Cricket’s coverage area includes both the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metro areas, as well as connecting suburbs and travel routes. The Cricket footprint, which covers approximately 4,810 square miles and nearly 7.2 million covered POPs, brings Cricket’s total nationwide POPs to approximately 91 million.
Cellfire Inc., today announced the expansion of its nationwide digital grocery coupon program, adding Safeway, one of the largest grocery providers in the country. As the leading digital coupon publisher, Cellfire digital grocery coupons are now available via mobile phone or computer, and redeemable at more than 1,500 Safeway stores nationwide under the banners of Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s and Safeway.
With the addition of Safeway, Cellfire bolsters its current distribution channels throughout the supermarket sector. Cellfire’s strong relationships with leading consumer product manufacturers such as Colgate Palmolive, General Mills, Kimberly-Clark, and Unilever allow consumers to save on dozens of their favorite brands and for Safeway, help increase basket size and frequency to the store. High-value discounts are offered on numerous top products each month with Cellfire issuing new grocery offers every two weeks.
Clearwire Communications launched the largest 4G WiMAX wireless broadband network in Atlanta. The CLEAR service is available to nearly three million people across approximately 1,200 square miles. With CLEAR, consumers and businesses can access the Internet wirelessly, at true broadband speeds at home, in the office, and on the go.
Unlike other wireless services, CLEAR delivers a mobile broadband Internet experience on par with speeds typically experienced only on fixed residential and commercial connections, like DSL. For example, some of today’s 3G wireless networks typically deliver download speeds of between 1.0 and 1.7 Mbps. CLEAR customers, however, can expect to see download speeds of 4 to 6 Mbps with bursts exceeding 15 Mbps, far surpassing even the peak theoretical speeds of 7.2 Mbps in upcoming 3G upgrades. In Atlanta, the CLEAR network utilizes an area-wide WiMAX radio system from Motorola.
Now you can use your cell phone to track your running, cycling, walking, rollerblading or similar exercise with SportyPal. SportyPal is a free easy to use intuitive application that you activate when you’re exercising my moving about. In two clicks the app will start to log and map your position, movement, distance, tempo and calories burned. It will not affect normal operation of your mobile phone, so you can still listen to music, receive and initiate calls and messages.
When you finish exercising, the collected performance information will be stored on your mobile. Later you can review it, compare it with other exercises or check your best performance achievements.
SportyPal will present each exercise in a map view, draw elegant graphics charts of your performance or present summarized information. SportyPal is intuitively designed to assist you improve your performance in running, cycling, balding, walking, skiing or other workouts involving similar activities.
From the company that brought you the Call Recorder Card, now they are offering the Stealth Card which is a lite version of the Call Recorder Card. The Stealth Card records outgoing calls, changes the caller ID, change your voice and send recordings with email. While the Call Recorder Card records outgoing calls, listen to your calls online, include recordings in email, download your recordings, change the caller ID people will see and change your voice to male or female.
To use the Stealth Card you simply buy one prepaid card online and you can start calling immediately by dialing a toll-free number and then entering the PIN number that was given to you via email. You then enter the number you want to call and then the caller id number you want to be displayed by following the voice prompts. You will be connected instantly. A free voice changer and recording are included in your purchase. Stealth Card is as easy to use as a calling card. You can also test the service online for free by clicking on the "Try It Now Free" on the top menu!
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. announced the expansion of its service to the Cumberland, Atlantic and Cape May counties. All MetroPCS customers who travel from the Greater Philadelphia area to and from the South Jersey Shore area will enjoy continuous wireless service for no additional cost to their current service. Service will be available in the South Jersey Shore area beginning on May 22, right before the Memorial Day holiday.
MetroPCS offers a diverse selection of service plans which allow customers to talk 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week and enhanced service options so that all customers can create a wireless experience that best fits their lifestyles. With MetroPCS, customers pay by the month, not by the minute, and services do not require a signed contract, deposit or credit check. Service plans start as low as $30 per month, and unlimited long distance service to the 48 continental United States and Puerto Rico is available with service plans as low as $35 per month.
MasterCard has announced that their fully-integrated, on-demand person-to-person (P2P) mobile payment platform for issuers in the United States is set to go live later this month. With this new platform, MasterCard participating bank customers will be able to offer Mobile MasterCard MoneySend P2P payments to their customers. Mobile MoneySend is the breakthrough consumer payment platform that provides a better way to send and receive funds via SMS-text, mobile browser, mobile applet or an Internet PC. Initially, consumers will be able to use MoneySend with a MasterCard prepaid card issued by The Bancorp Bank and then link it to their mobile phone number to send or receive money.
As additional issuers enroll for the platform, their customers will be able to use MoneySend with their everyday accounts, including MasterCard debit, credit, prepaid or checking, as determined by their issuer. Once registered for MoneySend, consumers have the flexibility of directly, easily and securely transferring funds to and from family and friends through their mobile phone, eliminating the need to write or cash checks, visit ATMs, or wire money domestically.
On May 19 U.S. Cellular will launch an industry-leading Battery Swap program, where customers can come into a store and change out a dead or dying battery for a fully-charged one, for free. U.S. Cellular is the only wireless company to offer this service.
There are some things that you can do to extend your battery life that you might not be aware of. Turning your cell phone off while charging not only will help extend the life of the battery, it also acts as a reset similar to your computer. Power cycling, or turning the cell phone off and then on again, will allow your cell phone to use the optimum tower for its location and clears the cache of the phone. If you get stuck on a screen or have problems texting power cycling often helps. If this option doesn’t work for you then it might be time to get a new battery.
Telestial, the largest online travel communications retailer, announces the launch of the Telestial dual-number Passport Roaming SIM, with U.S. and U.K. global cell phone service all in one. The service provides a U.S. and U.K. number, where both numbers are active simultaneously.
The traveler can be called at any time on either the U.S. +1 number or the U.K. +44 number and will also receive text messages on either number. The dual-number Passport SIM provides two mobile services, with two numbers with the ease of a single, prepaid account balance.
The dual-number SIM means that customers who'd like a U.S. and international number no longer need to carry two phones, or one phone and multiple SIM cards. The dual-number Passport SIM is prepaid and works in over 130 countries around the world. Compared to costly international roaming rates that range from $1-5 USD per minute depending on the traveler's location, the new Telestial dual-number Passport SIM provides customers low calling rates overseas.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc., announced today the launch of its low-cost, flat-rate unlimited wireless services with no signed contract in Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Holland. MetroPCS currently offers service in Detroit, Flint, Lansing, Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland.
MetroPCS offers a diverse selection of service plans, which allow customers to talk 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, and enhanced service options so that residents of Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Holland can create a wireless experience that best fits their lifestyles. With MetroPCS, customers pay by the month, not by the minute, and services do not require a signed contract, deposit or credit check. Service plans start as low as $30 per month, and unlimited long distance service to the 48 continental United States and Puerto Rico is available with service plans as low as $35 per month. The first month of service is included with the purchase of a phone and there is no activation fee or hidden charges.
Rogers Wireless announced today that customers can now send and receive updates from popular messaging service Twitter by SMS text message over their mobile phones, via Short Code 21212. The feature comes at no additional cost for customers on text messaging plans.
When the service goes live today, Rogers Wireless customers who subscribe to a text messaging plan will be able to update their Twitter status and receive updates (known as “tweets”) via text messages on their mobile phones. Twitter texts are treated as standard messages under all text messaging plans.
MetroPCS Communications today announced unlimited calling to select locations in Mexico for $3 a month. MetroPCS customers will be able to make unlimited calls to more than 200 landline destinations throughout Mexico and unlimited SMS text messages without any additional charges to four major Mexican cellular carriers: America Movil (Telcel), Telefonica (Movistar), Nextel Mexico and Iusacell.
MetroPCS offers a diverse selection of wireless service plans, which allow customers to talk 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, and enhanced service options so customers can create a wireless experience that best fits their lifestyles. With MetroPCS, customers pay by the month, not by the minute, and services do not require a signed contract, deposit or credit check. For an additional $3 a month, unlimited calling to Mexico can be added to MetroPCS’ $35, $40, $45 and $50 service plans, which already includes unlimited long distance service to the 48 continental United States. MetroPCS offers the first month of service free with the purchase of a phone and there is no activation fee or other charges.
Americans discard approximately 130 million cell phones, less than five percent of which are recycled, totaling about 65,000 tons of waste annually. On this Earth Day 2009, Cricket Communications, Inc, begins a nation-wide handset recycling program. Customers can drop off their unused phones at participating Cricket stores or print a postage-paid shipping label from Cricket’s website and send their phones to the recycling center.
A portion of the proceeds from the program will be donated to Rebuilding Together, the nation's leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities. Cricket has partnered with Rebuilding Together as a President’s Circle level national sponsor for 2009. Together they are focusing on issues of safety and homeownership among the elderly, the disabled, families with children and those impacted by the rising cost of living and falling social service budgets.
Did you know that every year in the United States alone, approximately 800,000 children (younger than 18) go missing, 203,900 children are victims of family abductions every year and 115 children are the victims of "stereotypical" kidnappings each year?
There is a new service called the Amber Alert GPS 2G, which uses the world's smallest, most powerful GPS tracking device. You track your child by placing the device in a pocket, purse, backpack or car, or attach to a wrist, ankle, or belt. You then call or text the AAGPS device, and within seconds you’ll receive a detailed map and address of their exact location right on your web-enabled phone. You can also track one or more devices from your computer.
You can also define a virtual boundary (safe zone) around your neighborhood, school or any where you choose. Receive an alert when your AAGPS is carried outside of that safe zone. You will continue to receive safe zone alerts by text and email (you choose) every 5 minutes giving you a bread crumb location trail.
Phone Finder
