From the WSJ piece: “Carriers in the U.S. have been raising monthly rates and charging higher fees when customers upgrade to new phones. In Europe, embattled carriers are taking more aggressive measures: Spain’s two leading wireless companies are refusing to subsidize devices for new customers.”

This could hit consumers especially hard since  most upgrade their devices every two years. It’s plausible some will react by lengthening that period, but others might consider upgrading to a new-to-them device that’s still newer than their current phone. If so, this new development could be a boon to retailers who refurbish and sell used cell phones. Then again, if the American economy continues its slow but steady supposed recovery, maybe folks will pony up more cash for brand new phones. OF course, that would worsen the already substantial problem of cell phones piling up in landfills. Hopefully, people will wise up and realize that lightly used phones can do nearly exactly as much as brand new ones.

Even so, as Bloomberg Businessweek points out, they’ve sold so many large data plans to so many consumers that now that people are starting to use the entire allotment of data they’re paying for, the infrastructure is approaching the max-out limit. If you’re unhappy with the network, maybe it’s time to jump ship to Verizon and get used cell phones to offset the cost of breaking the contract.

From the Businessweek story:

AT&T’s first-quarter earnings show that new smartphone customers aren’t the ones straining its data networks. Rather, AT&T’s chickens have come home to roost. Customers are finally starting to consume the big buckets of data AT&T is selling them, taking their fair share of network capacity while not paying more for the privilege. Consequently AT&T is seeing a massive increase in data traffic without a corresponding jump in data revenue.

During AT&T’s Tuesday earnings call, Mobility Chief Executive Ralph de la Vega revealed that AT&T had added a net total of 10 million new smartphones over the past year. The devices now account for nearly 60 percent of its postpaid subscriber base. De la Vega also revealed that AT&T’s wireless data revenue is tracking about $24 billion per year, growing at a steady rate of more than 20 percent per year.

But AT&T has pointed out before that data traffic on its mobile networks is actually doubling each year. So that means a 100 percent annual increase in mobile gigabytes shipped is being driven by a mere 32 percent increase in smartphones. What’s more, AT&T is collecting only a few billion dollars more in revenue to handle that deluge of new data.

Additionally, 44 percent of users are looking for coupons on their devices and 17 percent have already purchased a product via mobile platforms. Of course most are also “liking” certain products or services on Facebook and other social networks, too. GfK coins this “extreme shopping” and says it’s all about the desire for control. Indeed, subjects said they feel “more in control than ever before” of the shopping experience, because these devices help them choose the best products, shop more efficiently and find a broader range of information sources.

Obviously, comparison shopping, via app, your friend’s recommendation on Facebook and coupon-searching is all possible on any smart phone, whether it’s new, used, or refurbished. For those shoppers who have been coupon clipping for decades and envy their smart phone owning fellow customers, this might actually be the thing that actually drives them to finally cave and buy a new phone. Since they’re already so bargain-focused, they’d likely be happy to know they can find a perfectly high-functioning phone at a shop that carries used cell phones. That way, they can get a deal on a new phone in order to get more deals. And who can beat that?

Everything else in America has been expanding in size over the past three decades, from burgers and airline seats to television screens and waistlines. So in this Wall E-esque bloating, why would be expect anything different in our phones? And really, no matter what you think about the implications of the American bloat in other areas, bigger smart phone screens are pretty darn cool. Sure, you can still get a the iPhone 4S with a 3.5-inch screen, but it’s luxurious to be able to navigate Web sites, read copy and view maps on larger touch screens like the new generation of droids.

We can expect the screens on our phones to continue to expand, and even if you want a 4-inch screen without having to buy a brand new phone, you can get used cell phones from a refurbishing shop that specializes in lightly used devices – enabling you to save on spending without scrimping on screen size.

Seems the numbers show there are lots of Aunt Adas burning minutes on their mobile devices these days. Says a piece in Mediapost.com, “Since the dawn of the smartphone, games have dominated consumers’ mobile minutes. In the past year, however, new research shows that social networking has risen to rival gaming on a per-minute basis.”

The proof? Flurry compared the average time smart phone users spent across app categories between the first quarter of 2011 and 2012, and found that gaming dropped by 4% — down to 24 minutes per day — while social networking increased by 60% — up to 24 minutes per day. Peter Farago, the firm’s VP of marketing, told the site, “We take the rise in social networking apps as a signal of maturation for the platform — As game demand may be hitting its saturation point, consumers are also discovering other apps, namely social networking.”

For those of us who peddle phones, this is good news. Because the more popular social networking becomes on smart phones, the more smart phones people will want. And, those of us who happen to sell used cell phones can offer a the Aunt Adas of the world a great deal – a smart phone that’s been lightly used and is Just as adept at calls and apps as a brand new iPhone – at half the price.

We can count on seeing continuing growth based on the current trends. Flurry found huge growth in year-over-year social networking app usage. Time spent increased by 60 percent, and the total time spent on smart phone apps among consumers  went from 68 to 77 minutes, a jump of 13 percent.

The New-York based carrier posted a first-quarter profit of $1.69 billion, or 59 cents a share, compared with a year-ago profit of $1.44 billion, or 51 cents a share, according to a story in CNET. Apple’s beloved device has spurred Verizon’s revenue to rise 4.6 percent, to $28.46 billion.

Analysts were estimating forecasted earnings of 58 cents a share on revenue of $28.17 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

The iPhone has allowed Verizon to grow its ranks of subscribers while other carriers are contending with a fairly saturated digital market  facing stagnant customer growth in recent years, especially on the contract side. And for Verizon, it’s all on the strength of its network, is known for its high quality instead of its maddening plethora of dropped calls. Its fast 4G LTE network has been a real draw for consumers.

Revenue from Verizon’s wireless arm, which it jointly owns with Vodafone, jumped 7.7 percent to $15.4 billion, mostly due to the iPhone. The company sold 3.2 million iPhones, compared to the 2.1 million 4G LTE smart phones sold in the same period. The beauty of using an iPhone on the Verizon network is that you can save money without sacrificing quality by buying a used cell phone for less than half the price of a new one, and still have the vast majority of the high-functioning Apple product’s bells and whistles combined with great reception and service. It’s a no-brainer.

The effort included an array of online games and educational content, as well as toys that provide offline activities in tandem with online apps. Now that infants are so close to technology with the advent of ever-present smart phones and tablets, apps and games are becoming second nature to them. And older children are becoming active on social media at earlier ages.

Examples? Calloway Digital Arts now has apps for Apple’s iOS device that feature digital storybooks with games designed for children’s development. The company’sThomas the Tank Engine stories include have puzzles and coloring e-books.

The conference, and the industry at-large, is focused on developing new ways to fuse sophisticated learning such as reading and information processing and art, with digital play. So whether your kids are using smart phones, used cell phones or your iPad, you can make sure to have educational tools on-hand in addition to the usual Angry Birds-type stuff.

The survey asked some 1,000 technology experts and stakeholders to agree or disagree with a statement asserting that “swiping smart phones” would replace most cash and credit purchases. The answer options were referring to NFC (near field communications) technology, which permits a communication between a sensor in the payment terminal and another in the consumer’s smart phone to complete a monetary transaction.

A full sixty-five percent of the respondents agreed that NFC would be widespread eight years from now. Already, at least 10 percent of mobile phone owners have made payments using their phones, ComScore data reported.

For consumers who rarely use a cell phone at all, much less to conduct comparison shopping price checks at Target, they’re going to need to catch up in order to go shopping. One way to start would be to have a tech-savvy friend help them shop around at some local mobile technology stores and then assist them in buying a used cell phone, one that has been only lightly used or refurbished by a shop that does cell phone repair. That way, they’ll be ready to use their phone for every day transactions when the time comes and without having to spend a large sum of money.

To whit: “Google co-founder Sergey Brin was recently spotted wearing a prototype from Google’s “Project Glass.” People you know may even be wearing sensor-laden wristbands like the Nike+ Fuelband or sneakers like the Adidas adizero F50, which track your speed and workout stats. The military is prototyping dual-focus contact lenses with data displays, while university students experiment with clothing that reacts to our emotions. Nokia has filed a patent for a vibrating tattoo that could alert you when someone calls or texts you — the ultimate wearable.”

A vibrating tattoo. Wow. Next, it’s going to be a vibrating chip inserted into your brain.  In the meantime, we’ll use “wearables” to achieve various goals in fitness, navigation, social networking and media. Just imagine, a brave new world in which the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity can scream at you from your earrings, or your belt can track your abs’ firmness or flab…Sounds fun, right?! Yeah, we’re not too sure, either. It’ll be a while until the niche trend goes mainstream – likely not until they improve battery life and the price point dips – and in the meantime, we’re content to talk on our used cell phones and leave the pundits on the laptop and the old-school television.

The accomplishment – aimed at reducing the enormous amount of plastic and toxic chemicals that, as part of trashed phones, is constantly piling up in landfills – was the result of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, according to CEA, which says the industry recycled 460 million pounds last year, compared to 300 million pounds the year before:

“In the first year of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, our industry has made significant progress toward its goals due to the hard work of our member companies,” Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA, said as part of the announcement. “We continue to push for a national solution to eCycling that will eliminate the costly and confusing patchwork of state regulations.”

We hope this trend will continue, since the lead and other toxins in non-recycled phones leak into the environment and are harmful to animals, plants and humans. Do you part by making sure that instead of throwing your old phones away, you donate or sell them to someone like our friend, who will repair and resell them.