Hedgehogging: hedge*hog*ging v. Inetrrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube.

Is the wireless industry in a class-action lawsuit feeding frenzy right now or does it just feel like it? We want to sue too: first we’re going to sue all the companies that use Starbuck’s references in their examples. We’re no longer interested. We’d rather you tell us how to find a bar. It’s just a better PR pitch. Then we’re going to sue all of the carriers that sold us a free phone with a two-year contract. Only when we accidentally dropped it in some water did we find out that the phone actually had value. Had we known that, we would have sold it on eBay. Next, we are suing all companies that use small letters before capital ones. They are ruining this nation’s spelling. We’ll start with eBay and iPhone because they have deep enough pockets to be able to handle a class-action from us. (Now stop getting all technical on the Apple vs. iPhone line of reasoning. This is a lawsuit for crying out loud.)
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Suddenly the FCC is all keen to offer up 25 megahertz of spectrum for auction, with the caveat that the winning bidder use some of the spectrum to provide a free service tier. Hasn’t anyone there been reading about all of the failed municipal Wi-Fi attempts? Maybe they should spend some time talking to EarthLink or AT&T or some of the other companies that originally thought this was a good idea. If it largely has not been able to work on a citywide basis, why would it work on a nationwide basis?
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Interesting news out of Japan as the government released a study recommending that children limit their exposure to cellphones. The Japanese government is citing fears that kids are getting too attached to the social-networking aspects of mobile devices, which could have a negative impact on their soft minds. The effort seems to be getting a boost from Japanese super-carrier NTT DoCoMo, which announced it would begin offering over-the-air downloads of songs from Napster. And if there is something kids hate to do, it’s listening to music. Good to see business and government working together on this one.
Speaking of kids and cellphones, word came out this week that Kids Station Toys International Ltd. is recalling 1 million Little Tikes Chit ‘N Chat toy cellphones because of a possible choking hazard. That choking hazard will then pass along to the kid’s parents when the child finally gets a real cellphone and racks up hundreds of dollars in texting overages.
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And finally, our favorite disposable phone company Hop-on unveiled a new $10 “anti-phone” that the company proclaims “loses the display, gains convenience.” The best bit of information from the release touts “a tactile numeric keypad with Braille markings, offers reassuring buttons that touchscreen cellphone users are longing for.” Looks like Hop-on is throwing down the gauntlet against its most likely cross-shopping foe the iPhone. Let’s get it on!