Articles by Jeff Kagan

Not long ago, T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert said the company would start selling a wireless home broadband service. Now, it looks as though it has begun a pilot program of invited users. However, there is an important catch with respect to this new service: the motive behind it If it works and is priced well, and if it is popular with customers, it cou...

The good news is that of the many troubles Facebook has, privacy seems to be front and center for both CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. The question is, will the actions they take to address the company's privacy issues be enough? If not, this is the kind of problem that can and will cause long-term damage to the Facebook brand Zuckerb...

This winter has been very rough on Google Fiber, Alphabet's high-speed Internet service. An overabundance of snow, ice and water have caused service outages. Why do these issues not seem to hamper competitors? The latest news is that the service is leaving Louisville, supposedly due to a faulty installation process. Why not correct the faults? Wha...

Over the last several quarters, I have heard opinions of the pending T-Mobile-Sprint merger from every corner. Those who are pro-merger focus on all the benefits it would bring. Those who are anti-merger focus on what would be lost and how it would harm different segments. Amid the chaotic debate, what really matters is whether the regulators are going to say yes or no...

Many faithful Facebook users had the rug pulled out from under them during the last year. Both Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the U.S. Congress and spilled the beans on how the company had betrayed its members. I don't think the company's leaders realized that Facebook was doing the wrong thing until recently. Now they have a ...

Why have Microsoft and Apple been getting so lazy, testing the sanity and wasting the time of their users? How can both screw up so badly and so often? I cannot believe it. My latest irritation concerns the disappearance of the Microsoft Word "Recent" folder from my MacBook. It was simply gone. Vanished. Poof. Like most people, I have a morning r...

The cable TV industry has been changing over the last decade and lately has been penetrating the wireless space. Brands like Xfinity Mobile, Spectrum Mobile and Altice Mobile have emerged. Cable One, a smaller cable television company, has announced its new brand, Sparklight. Could this be its first step toward offering a wireless service? When Ca...

IBM's artificial intelligence creation Watson wowed the world with its appearance on the TV game show, Jeopardy! less than a decade ago. It was amazing to see a computer play against human beings and do so well. It showed how IBM was on a rapid growth path. However, in the years since, it has been struggling to maintain that leadership position as the AI growth wave has been building, and others in the industry have been coming on strong...

You would think that a successful company like Apple would want to learn what ticks off its customers about its products and services, and then fix them. You would think that it would learn that its negative-thinking artificial intelligence assistant, known as "Siri," is ticking off users. Few people want to hear the opinion of a computer, especia...

There has been so much water under the wireless bridge in the last few years. Sprint has tried to keep up with the big players, but even though it has a good quality mobile product and plenty of spectrum, it seems it just can't catch a break, win market share, and become more relevant. Based on its latest earnings report, Sprint is in better shape...

Many people would like to know the ingredients of the secret sauce that will get their Twitter and LinkedIn follower lists to grow. I just started using these services a few years ago, and I have tried some things that proved successful. I have learned from other successful users as well. Here are a few ideas that have worked for me First, here's ...

Why is Apple taking such a slow approach moving toward 5G with its iPhone models and tablets? Just look around at all the buzz on the rapid rollout of 5G products and services. It seems every wireless carrier, every other handset and tablet maker, and every wireless gear maker is in a mad dash to be first in the 5G race. Everyone is in it except Apple...

Thank you, Apple! You have fixed a big self-created problem that iPhone users have been wrestling with for far too long. It is finally history with the latest iOS update For those of you who have been suffering due to the iPhone's batterygate problem over the last year, I have great news. Apple finally fixed this nagging annoyance....

I have a gripe with the way Caller ID works -- or in fact, increasingly doesn't work -- on wireless phones. I've noticed that most very stinking time I get a call on my wireless phone, the Caller ID information is wrong. Sometimes the number is correct, but the city is wrong. I say if this problem can be fixed, fix it. If not, get rid of it! What do you think?...

Verizon Wireless made a big mistake last week. Like it does with all users who go above their wireless data thresholds, it slowed the wireless data connection to firefighters battling blazes on the West Coast. Errors such as this are becoming a growing problem as we depend more on smartphones and wireless service I was caught in an awkward positio...

T-Mobile and Sprint have embarked on the road to a merger, creating some consternation among competitors. One concern that the combined company would have too much power as a mobile virtual network operator -- possibly controlling as much as 40 percent of the MVNO marketplace. The question is, should regulators require the new company to do someth...

A couple of years ago, one of the hottest new technologies was Google Fiber. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone wanted access to it. Every city wanted to be the next on the list to get it, because it would attract new citizens and encourage existing residents to stay It was thought there would be an advantage to early cities -- Atlanta was one...

There has been a lot of noise in the wireless industry in the last few years. Between the competition among existing wireless carriers and the challenges of new players, the industry has been growing and transforming. However, despite all the chaos, one thing has remained unchanged: Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility are still the top two competitors in the space...

Cable television companies have been rushing to introduce new digital pay-TV products. Traditional cable TV has been on the decline in the midst of a growing wave of new competition and new technologies. The new offerings reflect forward thinking and are a step in the right direction, but too many providers still don't offer good quality digital pay-TV...

Facebook and other social networks appear to have crossed the line with respect to privacy and censorship. Facebook has been accused of helping one side while hiding the other side in many important debates. It has been accused of exposing the personal information of its users, violating their privacy. These perceptions are problems that must be fixed. What's the next step? How can we go from the status quo to living under rules that everyone will accept?...