Austrians value their peace and quiet, at least that's how it seems with the new ringtone ban that went into effect in the city of Graz this week. Officials in Graz, the second-largest city in Austria, are protecting the ears of commuters by ordering them to silence their cell phones while on public transportation.

A number of places around the world - from France to the US - have cell phone-free quiet zones on their high-speed trains.
Graz Mayor Sigfried Nagl insists that the ban is a way to make people aware that "they don't have the right to be on the telephone permanently and constantly," according to Cellular-news. However, acknowledging just how ubiquitous cell phone use is, he admitted, "I know I insulted the cell phone goddess a little."

(Image credit: Jupiterimages Unlimited)

Just weeks after the European Commission gave the nod to allow cell phone use on flights across the European Union, lawmakers in the US are already working to make sure the same thing doesn't happen in the States.

PC World reports that Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) has introduced a bill, fittingly called the HANG UP Act, that would make it illegal to talk on a cell phone while flying on a US airline, but wouldn't prevent travelers from using their phones for Web surfing, text messaging and other non-voice activities.

Um, isn't there already a ban on talking on a cell phone on a moving plane?

Reportedly, DeFazio's reasoning is that since Internet access on flights is close to a reality, it's only a matter of time before fliers can start chatting on the phone. He's apparently convinced that most travelers hate the idea of in-flight cell phone use and wants to make sure their interests are protected.

The EU's plan leaves the issue up to the airline's discretion, which seems to us like a more mature decision than an out-and-out ban.

A Fierce Wireless piece on Thursday's CTIA keynote featuring former presidential candidates John Edwards and Fred Thompson notes that the two excelled at "sidestepping pressing issues" that most impact the mobile industry. The duo reportedly spent their time discussing the political and societal issues America is facing as the presidential election draws near.

According to the article, the closest the politicos got to discussing the expected topic of wireless regulatory issues was when Edwards talked about how important text messaging has become to campaign funding.

Gee, you'd think maybe they're politicians or something.

mocoNews has some snippets from RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser's speech at Mobile Entertainment Live this afternoon, ranging from content bundling to advertising and mobile content open networks and, of course, the iPhone.

Glaser said that in areas where Real can bundle a ringtone, a ringback tone and a full song download and sell them at a discount, sales immediately rose. He also warned the industry to be careful with their advertising and mobile content because there are still a lot of phones with small screens running on slow networks out there.

You can read what else Glaser had to say here.

Our sister site PRNewser had a sit-down with FastCompany.tv chief Robert Scoble last night in Manhattan. During the interview, talk turned to what new technology has Scoble most excited. His faves include not only the iPhone, but also Nokia phones that let him stream live video.

You can read the rest of the interview on PRNewser and then come hear what else Scoble has to say at the Mediabistro Circus in May.

As much as the wireless operators would like to pretend it's not happening, mobile users are getting more of their phone content from places other than the carrier's portal. So says a new report from ABI Research.

According to a Fierce Mobile Content article on the survey, of the 14% of respondents who watch videos on their phone, 35% watch them on mobile Web sites, 31% get them from the carrier and 28% sideload videos onto the device from their own collection.

As for music, 35% buy tracks from the carrier and 48% listen to music they've sideloaded.

There is good news for carriers in the game segment, though - some 60% of respondents said they only play games that were preloaded on the phone, the report says.

Intel apparently wants to make sure that there's no doubt about just how small the chips in its latest microprocessor family are; it's calling them "Atom."

The processor maven is coming out with two Atom chips, one for mobile Internet devices such as cell phones and other ultra-portable handhelds and the other for low-end PCs, the Wall Street Journal reports.

There will also be a Centrino Atom chip brand for devices that include Wi-Fi technology. According to the Journal, Intel is insisting that devices that use the Centrino Atom brand must meet certain specs, such as size requirements and wireless networking functionality.

The branding is in place, complete with "Intel Atom Inside" and "Intel Centrino Atom Inside" logos ready to go on certified devices.

Computerworld reports that alternative browser outfit Mozilla is having some "informal talks with mobile operators" about the planned mobile version of its Firefox browser.

Much as it did with the desktop Firefox browser, "Mozilla's mission is to break open a closed market," the article quotes Mozilla VP of engineering Mike Schroepfer as saying.

The article points out that some carriers don't like the idea of a free mobile browser because it upsets their walled gardens and can impact their revenue streams. Others, however, may well take advantage of the open source nature of Mozilla and make contributions to the mobile version of Firefox.

Mozilla expects to have the mobile browser available for embedded Linux and Windows Mobile devices by the end of the year.

InformationWeek reports on some new predictions from Gartner, which includes the forecast that by 2012, mobile workers will depend on "new classes of Internet-centric pocketable devices at the sub-$400 level." InformationWeek posits that Gartner could have saved itself a lot of words if it just said "iPhone."

Gartner's predictions also include lots of open-source software that's interoperable across multiple device types. Which brings us back to those pocket-sized, multifunction, Internet-connected devices that will be replacing today's bulky laptops...

The Hallmark Channel and Limbo, a mobile entertainment site, announced that they've teamed up to launch the cable network's first-ever mobile initiative on January 17. The campaign will "extend and enhance the viewer's experience for the premiere of the network's original movie The Good Witch, on Saturday, January 19."

It was difficult to decipher the press release, but apparently what Limbo is doing is launching an advergame called "Limbo Unique" which is actually a contest to win $2,000 and a one-of-a-kind "Grey Lady" portrait from the movie.

Hallmark Channel Teams With Limbo to Create and Launch Network's First-Ever Mobile Interactive Initiative [Limbo]