Mumbling Again

Verizon Bluetooth Lawsuit

So when Verizon finally offered a Bluetooth phone, I was thrilled and immediately went out and bought one. I soon found out that almost all the features I wanted were disabled by Verizon. I got pissed and posted this on slashdot:

Verizon Crippled Bluetooth Features in Motorola v710
Apparently Verizon Wireless has put firmware with crippled Bluetooth features in the new Motorola v710 phone. A lot of people have been anticipating a Bluetooth phone from Verizon, only to be dissappointed by lack of OBEX. Verizon says they have no plan to add OBEX because it doesn't fit their business model—greedy bastards. PC Magazine doesn't have very nice things to say either. More discussion here.

I returned the phone under the 14 day trial period that Verizon offers. They gave me a refund and switched me back to my old contact and contract end date. However they've been charging me $10 a month now for my "Free nights & weekends." Each month I have to call up and bitch at them until they refund the charge and credit my account an additional $20 for wasting my time. They always say that it will be fixed on my next statement but it never is.

Anyway, Nuclear Elephant started a hacker rewards pot that grew to over $3,000 for enabling OBEX support, but it failed. Now there's a class action lawsuit against Verizon in California. I don't take credit for this but I do feel like I may have raised awareness a little and contributed in a minor way. Of course, Russell Beattie's blog had a big part in spreading the word.

If you live in California and want to join the class action, the suit is being handled by Laura DiGirolamo Kirtland and Packard, 2361 Rosecrans Ave Ste 450, El Segundo, CA 90245, (310) 536-1000

Anyway, I am pretty sure I am going to switch to T-Mobile and get the Motorola a630. Rumors abound that Verizon just crippled the v710 further by preventing people from transferring files on compact flash cards. God forbid that someone should get their pictures off their phone without paying Verizon 25¢ each for the picture messaging service.