“Your home screen is really the soul of your phone…and we think it should be deeply personal,” announced Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, just before revealing the new Facebook Home. And by “personal,” he means “owned by Facebook.”

At T-Mobile’s “Uncarrier” event on Tuesday, John Legere turned heads and dropped jaws with several major announcements and a few choice words. “Stop the bull$#%#!” became his rallying cry as he challenged the traditional model of cell phone service contracts, describing them as “smartphone hell.”

Here at New Covenant Software, we’ve been working around the clock behind the scenes (and over the river and through the woods) on some special projects, with the goal of making your ROSS experience better than ever. You probably noticed that the website received a major overhaul, including the addition of this blog, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Today, we’re thrilled to finally announce that we will be an exhibitor at this year’s biggest wireless industry trade show—CTIA 2013—and that we’ll have something very special to unveil during the event!

The strange unveiling of the Galaxy S 4 might be just the latest entry in the Theater of the Bizarre that has overtaken mobile marketing recently. If this peculiar trend continues, then cell phone advertising could get very interesting in coming months.

Here’s the good news: Researchers at MIT are building a better battery for smartphones, tablets, electric cars, laptops…even missile guidance systems (don’t tell North Korea!). These new smartphone batteries will charge almost instantly and could potentially last for weeks, or even longer, on a single charge. When was the last time your cell phone battery lasted three days without plugging in?

For years now, cell phones have been making wristwatches unnecessary. Ask someone on the street what time it is and they will invariably check their cell phone for the answer. So it’s ironic (or perhaps opportunistic) that the leading smartphone manufacturer, Apple, stands poised to step into the void that it helped create and resurrect the popularity of wristwatches. The latest foray into wearable technology, the iWatch, could be available later this year, according to Bloomberg.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to be told what you do and don’t want, then Time Warner Cable (TWC) has got you covered. Why, just last week they revealed the shocking news that you don’t really want faster Internet — you sure had the rest of us fooled! Hopefully your new self-knowledge will make you feel better while you’re waiting for websites to load.

Dear Cell Towers:

We need to talk. This just isn’t working out anymore. You’re SO high maintenance ($210 billion a year to operate and $50 billion a year for upgrades—are you crazy?), you’re large and wasteful, you’re always sending mixed signals (2G, 3G, 4G…it’d be fine if they weren’t interfering with each other), and don’t get me started on your congestion problems. It was great while it lasted, but I need someone who can handle my data. Besides, just look at all the sexy new technology that’s lining up to take your place—can you really blame me for wanting an open relationship?

Last week, the Internet was abuzz with images and video of a semi-functional transparent smartphone prototype. Almost immediately, however, people began to ask “Why?” 

Here’s a harsh truth: a wireless signal can’t tell the difference between you and a sack of potatoes.

But don’t take it personally; WiFi feels the same way about all of us humans, at least according to Boeing researchers. That’s why they put 20,000 pounds of passenger potatoes on a decommissioned plane in a project known as SPUDS (Synthetic Personnel Using Dielectric Substitution).