Cellular Telephones

In the first study to assess the quality of L.A.'s wireless networks, L.A. Cellular's network performed better than those owned by AirTouch Communications, Sprint PCS and Pacific Bell Mobile Services. The survey did not include Nextel Communications, which built its service out of radio dispatch systems and sells mainly to business customers. L.A.

Looking to buck the line at the Regency Bruin in Westwood? It's fine if you bring your smartphone. Within a few weeks, you'll be able to skip the box-office line and head straight to your seat by swiping your mobile device over a scanner. It can read the bar code of an electronic ticket purchased with an app that also gives show times, movie reviews and seating information. Phones in the theater were once regarded as a nuisance, or worse -- the embodiment of a mobile revolution that was dragging consumers away from the multiplex.

The human race seems to be falling for the space aliens' devious scheme: We're watching more television than ever, according to a report released Monday. If you've seen that Hulu.com commercial starring Alec Baldwin, you know that TV is a plot devised by aliens to turn our brains into mush so they can scoop them out and eat them. Computers, the ad says, are making our brains even mushier by giving us more places to watch TV. The Nielsen Co.'

In a rare nod toward digital openness, Apple Inc. on Thursday loosened rules about the types of applications and advertisements that can run on its iPhone family of mobile products. Earlier this year, Apple had in effect choked off a range of applications that were originally created for other devices — the personal computer or Android-based phones, for instance — forcing developers to adopt specific Apple-approved programming methods. That didn't sit well with many programmers, who generally like to win the largest audiences they can by getting their games and apps on a number of different devices.

If you're like most cellphone users, you probably think you're paying less than 10 cents per minute for calls. Think again. When you do the math, you find the average cellphone customer actually pays more than $3 per minute, according to a report being issued this week by the Utility Consumers' Action Network, a San Diego consumer advocacy group. I got a sneak peek at the report the other day. Researchers arrived at the average $3.

UCLA's neuropsychiatric hospital has banned all cellphones and laptop computers after a patient posted group photos of other patients on a social networking website, officials confirmed Monday. Dr. Thomas Strouse, medical director of the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, said in a statement that the decision was part of "UCLA Health System's ongoing efforts to enhance patient privacy and confidentiality in compliance with California's patient rights law."

Like so many other multi-tasking Californians, James Joseph Lizotte bides his time in line at the bank by chatting on his cell phone. What makes Lizotte unusual, FBI officials alleged Tuesday, is that he robs the bank once he gets to the front of the line. Sometimes, authorities said, Lizotte hits up more than one teller at once, slamming his gun on the counter to show he means business.

Kids have odd-ball hours, evening practice, weekend games and a penchant for movies and malls. How's an anxious parent to keep in touch? Fortunately, there are plenty of solutions, whether your kids are off to grade school across town or to a college across country. The most popular option is the cell phone, but there are others. Here's a rundown of the top prospects: Cell phones These days, there seems to be a mobile phone in every pocket, purse, backpack or briefcase.

Is time running out for the wristwatch? Surveys and sales data show that young shoppers are shunning watches for snazzier time-telling gadgets, such as cellphones and iPods. Last year, the number of people who bought watches not in the Rolex and Patek Philippe stratosphere dropped 12% from 2004, according to a leading market research group. The runaway favorite brand for teens, Fossil Inc. of Texas, acknowledged an 18.6% decline in wholesale U.S. sales of its namesake brand. Oakley Inc.

A man was arrested Thursday after sheriff's deputies raided his home and seized 15 illegally cloned cellular telephones and the laptop computer used to program them, officials said. Patrick Ray, 21, was taken into custody without incident at his apartment in the 600 block of Bonita Avenue and was being held on $25,000 bail, the deputies said. Ray may be responsible for cellular phone company losses of "close to a million dollars," Sgt. Steve Biagini of the sheriff's Temple City station said.

Think your commute is safer now that California requires drivers to use hands-free cellphones? Maybe not. A new study from the Highway Loss Data Institute released Friday found that the rate of crashes before and after the landmark law took effect in 2008 has not significantly changed. The research also found that California's auto accident trends before and after the cellphone law took effect mirror those of neighboring states such as Arizona and Nevada, which don't have hand-held phone bans.

The Federal Communications Commission asked the nation's major telecommunications firms and Google Inc. to explain to the agency the industry's often unpopular practice of charging consumers to end their cellphone service early, a penalty known as an early-termination fee. The agency sent a set of questions -- including asking why the fees are needed at all -- in letters to AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp., T-Mobile USA and Google. "This is an essential step to ensuring that consumers have the information that helps them make informed choices in a competitive marketplace," the FCC said.

Google Inc.'s new cellphone has gotten a winning endorsement from Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak. Wozniak, a self-proclaimed "gadget freak" who left Apple in 1987, remains one of the biggest fans of its products. He stood in line in 2007 to buy the first iPhone because he couldn't wait for Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs to send him one. He didn't have to wait for the Nexus One. Google Inc. executive Andy Rubin gave one to him. Wozniak first praised the phone this month at an NBC station in the Bay Area.

Google Inc. said Tuesday that the launch of two new mobile phones in China has been delayed, a move that showed the company's clash with Beijing is crimping more than just its search business. Google-powered handsets from Motorola Corp. and Samsung were scheduled to be unveiled today from China Unicom, one of the Asian nation's largest telecommunications providers. Google said last week that it might shut down its search engine in China in the wake of a sophisticated cyber attack originating in China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from the company's servers, as well as the targeting of human rights activists' e-mail accounts.

A new nonprofit group dedicated to discouraging people from using cellphones while driving says it will model itself on Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the organization that has been so successful in raising awareness about the dangers of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Called FocusDriven and sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the organization has several members who have lost loved ones in traffic collisions involving drivers who were distracted by their mobile phones.

In an ambitious bid to expand its reach even to consumers on the go, Google Inc. on Tuesday unveiled the widely anticipated Nexus One smart phone as it launched a bold new business model that could shake up the mobile phone industry. The Internet giant began selling the phone -- manufactured to its specifications by a Taiwanese firm -- directly to consumers through its website rather than through retail outlets and service providers. Although initially available only with T-Mobile service, the phone could eventually be used on other networks, including Verizon Wireless and Vodafone Group in Europe.

GM Hughes Electronics has developed technology it says will increase the capacity of cellular phone systems fifteen-fold--a boon to overcrowded systems in cities such as New York and Los Angeles. The entrance of the General Motors Corp. subsidiary into the race for the next-generation cellular technology appears promising, but it will only increase an industry battle over which system eventually will be used, industry analysts said. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Assn.

When Darcy Ahl's 16-year-old son tried to answer his cellphone while driving with her on the interstate she was rattled to the core. The car started swerving and Ahl frantically instructed her son to end the call. "I wondered to myself what would have happened if I hadn't told him to hang the phone up," the Darien, Conn., resident said. "I wondered what would have happened if I weren't there." Immediately after that scare, Ahl, an executive recruiter, went back to her office to figure out a way to keep teenage drivers from using their phones while driving.

San Francisco officials are debating whether to make this famously liberal city the first in the nation to require retailers to prominently post the amount of radiation emitted by cellphones. Although there is no scientific consensus that the ubiquitous devices cause health problems, Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to call for an ordinance next month that would require the conspicuous display of radiation levels wherever the phones are sold. Some hail the proposal as evidence of San Francisco's long tradition of environmental activism; this was the first city in America to ban plastic bags and prohibit a class of chemicals called phthalates from use in children's products.