Verizon wireless has received notification that they are being sued in a class action lawsuit in the state of New Jersey.  This class-action suit from the law firm of Goldman Scarlato & Karon, P.C. has been filed on behalf of cell phone users that do not have smart phones.  They are claiming that these users have been charged for data transfer services that they have never actually used.  This is in regard to customers being charged accidentally the $1.99 per megabyte for accessing the web or using any other data services.  Verizon stated that these charges are only access to those users that stray away from the Verizon home page and obtain other applications and services.  The lawsuit claims that Verizon has charged customers even though they have not accessed this type of service.  The lawsuit is looking to be able to return the money is improperly charged back to the customers.

In other news, the major United States carriers, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, along with Google have begun to respond to the FCC in regard to the early termination fees that customers have to pay.  It has long known that these carriers as well as others have had extremely high early termination fees in order to cover the costs of the cell phone devices that they provide at a discount through their plans.  Google has stated that their $350 fee for customers that use the Nexus One and break their contract is fair.

In the past, Nexus One users have had to actually pay early termination fees to both Google and T-Mobile.  They have begun to reduce some of these early termination fees and have actually lowered it to $150 for new T-Mobile customers.  The make your carriers also explained that they would be making sure that they fully disclose the early termination fees to all customers.  This is just one more reason why unlocked cell phones are probably one of the best ways to avoid the unnecessary fees from the major carriers in the United States.

When Google announced their new social network, Buzz, they did not fully take into account how important people think their privacy is.  Two days after it was first launched, Google had to make several revisions to the platform.

Originally, the application was Google’s answer to Twitter but with some extras.  Buzz was to let you use Google Maps with Buzz in order for you to focus on your actual location and synching it with your Gmail address book.  The application lets you share your location with others and gives additional information about the place you are visiting.  This app syncs with your Google Nexus One unlocked cell phone and your computer.  This would let your followers know where you are and what you are doing.

Unfortunately when it was released, it allowed everyone to see your public profile.  As a user, you had to block the public from viewing your information.  On February 12, 2010, Google made some changes so you could block anyone following you that you did not want following you.  They based these changes on the amount of user feedback stating that this was an invasion of privacy.  Google enhanced Buzz with features to improve privacy settings and giving the user more control about how information would be shared.

This must not be enough for some users as a lawsuit was filed this week in San Jose (CA).  The class action was filed in federal court and states that Google has invaded privacy issues by how it released Buzz.  Most times, applications state that you must opt in, while Buzz made it so that you had to opt out.  This made over 31 million users of Gmail affected by the way Buzz was introduced.  The suit could actually include every Gmail user.  Google has not made any official statement, as they have not yet taken a look at the lawsuit.  You would have thought that Google would have taken into consideration these kinds of privacy issues prior to the release.  Make sure that your public profile is excluded before you use Buzz on your mobile unlocked cell phone like the Google Nexus One.

There were a few things I noticed last night while watching the Super Bowl. I personally thought that many of the commercials fell flat. I most certainly expected a bit more flash. The Vizio ad was stunning and of course Betty White was hilarious. But one of the most surprising things was the Google Ad. This was certainly an unexpected ad coming from the company that does not spend any money on television advertising. The story it told was really fun and full of nice sentiments. We watched someone’s life unfold through Google searches.

I thought that they should have used a cell phone using Google search and the Google map application on the Nexus One phone. This could have been a great way to highlight their search engine on the cell phone. Most everyone already knows how to Google, but everyone may not know about the Google options for their cell phone. But it was certainly fun to watch and created quite a stir that they even placed an ad during the Super Bowl.

I also thought it was really cool that as the New Orleans Saints were running onto the field at the start of the game that some of the coaches were taking either pictures or videos with their cell phones. This just goes to show you how far we have come in regard to cell phone technology. The clarity and how easy it is to use our cell phones, like the Nexus One, to take great pictures and video is replacing the need for a bulky camera. I am sure that with a 5-megapixel camera, that they got some great shots, and with a touch of a button, they can share those pictures quickly.

The game was exciting to watch and most of the commercials were good. The Google ad and the David Letterman spot were both surprises and made for a great night of football. I cannot wait until next year to see what the Super Bowl will bring.

Google has announced that it is offering an updated version of its mobile map applications. This is available for many users of the 3.4 version on their phones. This newer version is for use with the android platform. It has many new features that will enhance the map using experience. This also comes on the heels as Google announced a software update for the Nexus One. This software update began setting the stage for Nexus One users to be able to get some of the enhanced features with Google maps.

The biggest thing about this update is it becomes much better to synchronize some of the operations between your PC and your mobile phone. Like so many people we sometimes search for something at home, get in the car and because we didn’t write it down, we forgot where we were going. We could send a message to ourselves, but that seems silly, since our phone and our computer should be able to talk each other better. This is why Google has introduced the new software to be able to use personalized suggestions and starring features for Google maps on your Android.

You will be able to pull up your searching history from your cell phone to be able to see some of the places that you wanted to go. With the starring feature, you can actually save this information and be able to access it at any time. This will show you some of the details about the business or restaurant that you want to visit. Not only will you be able see this on your mobile phone, but you will also be able to see it on your desktop computer.

To use the feature, you will have to be signed into your Google account and your web history needs to be turned on. Many people that own Nexus One unlocked phones will be able to download the update at any time. For any other of the android cell phones, you will be able to get it directly from the Android market. This is a really cool feature that can make life a lot more simple. I cannot tell you how many times I have decided to go somewhere, thought I knew the address, got in the car, started driving and did not know where I was going. This should be able to help make life a lot easier and getting places much more simple.