Walt Disney turns off mobile phone service for families…

Walt Disney Co. is shutting down its mobile phone service that enables parents to monitor their children’s phone usage or restrict the times of day or the days of the week when the phones work. The phones also use a global positioning system that enables parents to track a child’s whereabouts. Launched in June 2006, Disney Mobile will close at the end of the year.

The decision — coming a year after Disney suspended a similar niche offering, Mobile ESPN — illustrates the challenges of competing with national wireless carriers that own their networks. Disney leased its network capacity from Sprint Nextel.

Disney was counting on its brand name to attract customers, but a rapidly changing market eclipsed its added services. Major carriers — such as Verizon Wireless and even Sprint — stole its thunder by rolling out similar child-finder services and other family-friendly features. It also struggled to get broad retail distribution of its phones.

AT&T Rescinds Text Message Block…

This morning, after news broke that AT&T had refused to allow the abortion rights group Naral Pro-Choice America to send text messages to supporters, the telecom changed its position. Now, the company says it will allow Naral to send text messages.

Even though AT&T reversed itself, the incident shows what can happen when Internet access providers pick and choose which content to allow over their networks. As last night’s Times article pointed out, that power is at the heart of the debate over whether to pass net neutrality laws, which would prohibit Internet access providers from refusing to transmit certain content or degrading service to some publishers.

Here, AT&T undoubtedly was concerned about the bad press it was receiving for prohibiting a group with a sizable opt-in membership from sending text messages, but it’s not clear how AT&T or telecoms will treat other, less well-known groups. For that matter, it’s also not clear how many nonprofits or political groups AT&T has blocked from sending text messages in the past.

The next time AT&T and others go to Washington to lobby against net neutrality laws, they should be called to account for how they’ve addressed such issues in the past

New cell phone will make international call cheaper…

Cubic Telecom, a small Irish company, is releasing what it’s calling the first global mobile phone in early October. It makes calls to or from 214 countries for 50% to 90% off what the big carriers charge. Cubic is also offering a service at MaxRoam.com, where consumers can obtain phone numbers in up to 50 cities that overseas friends can use to call their cell phone at local rates.

Cubic’s cheap global dialing has nothing to do with the $140 phone. The magic is in the SIM card, the memory card that determines a customer’s account information. For $40, they can buy the card without the phone and slip it into any “unlocked” GSM phone, such as those used in the U.S. by T-Mobile or AT&T phone.

Cubic’s plans are ambitious, disruptive and incomplete. Several pieces of its system have yet to be slipped into place, including tech support, customer service, documentation, data plans and domestic calling rates.

AT&T rolls ou tnew orange campaign…

AT&T is roiling out a new corporate ad campaign, with creative aimed at showing the younger, edgier style of its wireless services. The effort, themed “Your Seamless World,” wants to speak to the on-the-go lifestyle of today’s consumers and businesses.It includes

six TV spots from Wes Anderson, director of films including “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

The company says it will now use orange as its primary corporate color with a color makeover in store for ads, signage and online. “The new initiatives are designed to highlight how AT&T helps connect people to their worlds wherever they live and work,” says AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson. “We want to ensure this message is reflected in our brand.”

Apple announces sell of 1 millionth iPhone…

Apple(R) today announced it sold its one millionth iPhone(TM) yesterday, just 74 days after its introduction on June 29. iPhone combines three devices into one-a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod(R), and the best mobile Internet device ever-all based on Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface and pioneering software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. “One million iPhones in 74 days-it took almost two years to achieve this milestone with iPod,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait to get this revolutionary product into the hands of even more customers this holiday season.”

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.

Bragging lands AT&T in court…

Cell phone companies are big on bragging, with Sprint claiming it has “the fastest and largest national mobile broadband network,” and Verizon touting its network as “America’s most reliable.” And AT&T’s big boast was about how it had the “fewest dropped calls” until a recent change.

While the company says the reason for the change to “more bars in more places” is because “this is what our customers tell us over and over again is important to them,” there could be some legal reasons behind it as well. Ira Spiro, an attorney representing an AT&T customer in a federal lawsuit against the company, calls their explanation “folderol.” His client claims that AT&T knew the “dropped-calls” ads were “inaccurate and deceptive,” and says he was duped into renewing a contract by them.