AT&T rated worst cell phone carrier for second year in a row

AT&T may be huge and generating boatloads of cash every quarter, but when it comes to service, the carrier has a lot of work to do.
For the second year in a row, AT&T was ranked last in Consumer Reports' annual customer satisfaction survey. The company was hit especially hard by complaints over poor voice service and phone-based customer care. Even worse for AT&T, the company's 2011 rating is slightly lower than last year's.
Consumer Reports' survey examines voice, data, and text-messaging service, as well as customer care. The specific ratings are available to subscribers.
So, who fared best? Believe it or not, it wasn't a big carrier. Consumer Reports found that Consumer Cellular--an MVNO that uses AT&T's network and focuses on senior citizens--topped the list this year. It was followed closely by regional carrier U.S. Cellular. Even Credo--an MVNO that uses Sprint's network and donates to progressive nonprofits--beat out the big four.

"Our survey indicates that subscribers to prepaid and smaller standard-service providers are happiest overall with their cell-phone service," Paul Reynolds, electronics editor for Consumer Reports, said in a statement. "However, these carriers aren't for everyone. Some are only regional, and prepaid carriers tend to offer few or no smartphones."
For major carriers, Verizon Wireless took the top spot in Consumer Reports' study, earning high marks for texting and data service. Sprint and T-Mobile followed with slightly lower scores. Last year, Verizon also ended atop the Consumer Reports survey with Sprint and T-Mobile following closely behind. However, all three companies saw their scores drop this year, compared with last year's figures.
AT&T's customer service troubles aren't solely a Consumer Reports finding. In July, the carrier earned the lowest score of 751 in a J.D. Power and Associates customer care study. Verizon Wireless took the top spot with a score of 770.
However, AT&T continues to add new customers to its service, despite its apparent service problems. In the third quarter alone, AT&T added 2.1 million new subscribers bringing its total customer base to over 100 million.
Consumer Reports surveyed 66,000 online subscribers for this year's study. The organization's full findings will be available in the Consumer Reports magazine's January 2012 issue.
AT&T did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment on the Consumer Reports findings.

News from Cnet

Xbox update delayed, executive says

Microsoft has delayed a much-publicized update to its Xbox 360 video game console that is supposed to offer more content options and Kinect controls, according to a programming executive.
The update was supposed to go live this morning, but Larry Hryb, the director of programming for Xbox, said on Twitter and Google (GOOG)+ that it has been pushed back.
"FYI: The timing for Xbox 360 dashboard update has been slightly delayed. I'll have a status update later today," Hryb tweeted.
Hryb announced Monday that the update was scheduled for availability for all users no later than 7 a.m. PST.
The software update is supposed to include access to a swath of new digital entertainment content, including video channels from the likes of YouTube, HBO and Epix, and digital music from iHeartRadio. Subscribers to Comcast's pay television service will be able to access all of the company's on-demand video via the Xbox.
Microsoft also promised a universal search feature that will allow users to search for movies and other content across various digital content providers. And it will let owners use Microsoft's Kinect accessory to navigate the entire Xbox interface. Previously, users could access only a handful of functions through Kinect.

News from Mercury News

Dot-XXX Domains Go Live, Escalating Battle for Smutty URLs

More than 100,000 porn websites sporting the .XXX domain went live today. The public launch of the .XXX domain is a culmination of years of struggle between the adult entertainment industry, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers and ICM Registry, now the official registry of the new domain.

All available .XXX domain names will be released for registration later today, and they can only be purchased via accredited registrars on a first-come, first-serve basis. The new domain names start at around $80 per year and each site will be scanned daily for malware with McAfee tools -- a first for any domain names so far.

In theory, the .XXX domain is meant to safely filter adult content on the Web under one domain name that would also give users an advanced heads-up over what they will find once the website has loaded. "While adult entertainment is enjoyable to many adults, it is not appropriate for all audiences,” said Stuart Lawley, chief executive of ICM Registry. “We created .XXX to address the unique needs of the online adult entertainment industry.”

All .XXX registrants are also obliged to follow a set of self-regulation practices drawn up by the adult industry, which include safeguarding children from being marketed or targeted online and accurate labeling and meta-tagging so that .XXX domains can be blocked more easily by parental controls filters.

The fallout over .XXX domains
As you would expect, anti-porn and religious groups have been against the .XXX top-level domain, arguing this will make porn sites more visible and would be an endorsement for the adult entertainment industry. Plus, it’s not a requirement for .XXX domain owners to ditch their .com or .net domains in favor of the new domain. But it’s not only these groups that are against .XXX.

Movers and shakers in the porn industry are against it, as well as businesses worried about domain squatting. “We oppose the .XXX domain and all it stands for,” reportedly said Fabian Thylmann, managing partner of Manwin, which runs Playboy sites as a licensee. “It is my opinion that .XXX domain is an anticompetitive business practice that works a disservice to all companies that do business on the Internet.” Manwin announced last week that it has banned all activity between its brands and .XXX websites (including advertising), on top of an antitrust lawsuit it filed last month.

Businesses are seeing themselves forced to buy .XXX porn domains in order to protect their trademarks. One of the UK’s largest registrars, Easyspace, said four out of five businesses that have preregistered .XXX domain names this year have no direct connection to the adult entertainment industry. Instead, it’s argued the .XXX domain is a burden for businesses that wish to protect trademarks against domain squatters, as large companies would pay thousands per year to domain registrars (the winners in this case) just to keep their .XXX domains safe.

ICM is now offering a service where companies can pay a one-off fee to have their domains permanently excluded from .XXX registration, but the fees can be significant, as they vary between registrars. Meanwhile, an arbitration program has been launched in order to help resolve complaints over the new .XXX domains, which is similar to the policies applied to most domains under ICANN. The .XXX's Rapid Evaluation Service is meant to result in a takedown of an infringing domain name in just two business days.

News from PCWorld

Google Wallet on Galaxy Nexus: Another NFC Fail

Verizon has blocked the Samsung Galaxy Nexus from running Google Wallet, Google's NFC-based pay-by-phone service, according to Computerworld, presumably because Verizon backs a competing standard called Isis.
This is just another blow to NFC, the little technology that just can't get a break in the U.S. because nobody's willing to settle on a standard for mobile wallets.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: there's just too much money and too many customers at stake for any of the big players—mobile OS providers, carriers, banks, and credit card companies—to give up control to any of the others. So we aren't likely to get a single NFC payment standard, and we're going to have to wait until devices (including phones and payment terminals) support multiple standards.
Google Wallet is Sprint, Google, Citibank and Mastercard.
Isis is the three other wireless carriers, but so far no banks or credit card companies.
There's wide speculation that Apple will deploy yet another system next year, based on iTunes and exclusive to iDevices.
Google and Isis aren't taking a cut of mobile payments, so the concern here is more subtle; it's about ecosystems and control. Each payment system can connect seamlessly with coupon systems, loyalty cards, mobile advertising and point-of-sale terminals, and there's a potential for profit in each of those steps.
There's an additional benefit for companies like Apple, which would both sell products and control a payment system. Apple has understood this for years, and it's the whole basis of Amazon's business: once you have someone's payment info on file, it becomes very easy to get them to buy things from you, because buying things becomes very easy.

News from pcmag.com

Kindle Fire owners report problems with Wi-Fi connection

Some Amazon Kindle Fire owners are reporting problems with the device's Wi-Fi connection.
The Wi-Fi-only Fire was released three weeks ago, but many users are complaining they can't connect to their Wi-Fi networks, while some users have reported that the Fire will connect to their router, but not the internet.
More than 170 users have addressed the problem on an Amazon Kindle forum.
"Have just opened Kindle Fire. Can connect to wifi but no internet," wrote one user. "All other wireless devices in home are working fine connecting to internet. Signal is strong. Have turned "Wireless Networking" on and off several times. Still showing X on wifi icon after obtaining IP address and no internet connection."
Some users have reported that downloading a Kindle software update, version 6.1, fixed the problem, though others reported continued problems even after the update.
Amazon still hasn't officially addressed the problem or responded to a request for comment.
The company did recently release a version 6.2, but said simply that it "provides improvements to the operation of your Kindle Fire."
Other recommended fixes from users are to reboot the WiFi router and cable modem or contact Amazon customer service.
Some users are reporting no success with any of the software updates or suggested fixes.
"I had this problem: Kindle Fire connects to Wi-Fi, but cannot go to the Internet," said another user on Saturday. "Resetting (power cycling) of the router and the cable modem did not help. Update to the 6.2 firmware did not help either. Spent an hour on the phone with tech support - no result."

News from TechFlash

The new YouTube: Simpler, more like TV

Ooh la la! YouTube just got what it's referring to as a "fresh coat of digital paint," and that's making quite a difference. The newly redesigned video-sharing site sports a cleaner, simpler layout with a focus on channels — which makes it feel more TV-like than ever.
According to the official YouTube blog, the new design is supposed to make it easier to find and follow channels, browse recommendations, customize your homepage feed, link YouTube to your Google+ or Facebook accounts, and more.
The YouTube homepage is where most of the changes happened. It places the "homepage feed" — which was launched earlier in the year — smack-dab in the middle of things and pushes you to consider the site as a collection of channels and programs (rather than a pile of individual videos).
Of course, while the homepage appears to have been the focus of the redesign, the site as a whole has been tweaked to offer more consistency. There are consistent backgrounds, bigger thumbnails, and a streamlined "watch" page.
You can check out how all of that looks in action in YouTube's demo video below:

Siri’s Abortion Stance, and 4 Other ‘Insensitive’ Technologies

When it was discovered that the new voice assistant on the iPhone 4S, Siri, didn’t identify nearby abortion clinics when asked, it created a firestorm of controversy. After the story circulated widely (with even the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation chiming in on the issue), Apple spoke out, saying that the omission was completely unintentional and that it would be amended in a future update.

It’s far from the first time technology has displayed inadvertent insensitivity to social issues or politics. Gadgets, software, and equipment are only as perfect as the humans who made them, after all, and if history is any indication, that’s pretty imperfect.

From webcams that don’t recognize people with a certain skin tone to video technologies that make certain people sick, technology sometimes stumbles upon politically incorrect landmines in its at-times clumsy march toward the uncharted future. Engineers can’t predict every possible use of a piece of software or hardware, and sometimes feelings are hurt in what they exclude, typically not by design.

Siri accidentally wading into the abortion debate is just the latest chapter in this saga. It won’t be the last.

News from Mashable Tech