Staying connected, gaming, listening to music, taking pictures, capturing videos, and yes of course showing off, how can anyone imagine life in the 21st century without a cell phone?

Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay $21 million to settle a lawsuit filed by California customers upset with the company's early termination fees. Early termination fees, charged when a wireless subscriber breaks a contract before it ends, have been in the sights of the Federal Communications Commission, where Chairman Kevin Martin wants to construct a national framework for the way they are assessed. Wireless carriers have long enforced penalties of as much as $175 on subscribers who leave their...

Verizon Wireless announced that beginning July 14 its prepaid customers can send unlimited text messaging to other Verizon Wireless customers and get an additional 250 messages a month for $10 a month. Prepaid wireless plans offer customers rates as low as 2 cents per minute for voice calls and text messages. The plans charge customers an access fee only on the days of use and include Unlimited IN Calling to Verizon Wireless customers. "The addition of our new messaging bundle for prepay gives o...

Apple today announced that more than 500 native applications will be available on the iPhone's App Store when its iPhone 3G goes on sale tomorrow. Applications will be available on Apple's new App Store, allowing users to wirelessly download them directly onto their iPhones. More than 125 applications are being offered to iPhone customers for free. The new iPhone 3G combines 3G networking that is twice as fast, built-in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software whi...

Top cell phone maker Nokia announced today that nine more firms, including telecom operators "3" and TIM, have agreed to support its new open mobile software alliance Symbian Foundation. Nokia said on June 24 it would buy out other shareholders of the UK-based smartphone software maker Symbian for $410 million and make its software royalty-free to other phone makers, in response to new rivals such as Google. Nokia said the fo...