Every Tile Cells a Story

7:10 AM -- Hey!

Anyone remember the Celltop concept that Alltel Corp. (NYSE: AT) was pushing back in 2007?

Alltel called the interface "a series of customizable cells to bring the stuff you love to the top of your phone." Celltop would update items like weather reports, sports videos, and news clips every time it was launched, as long as it was set to automatic.

Looks kind of similar to the "Live Tiles" idea from Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), doesn't it? The problem, of course, with these live update concepts is that, unless the user controls them, they can be pulling down data even if the user isn't doing anything. (See MWC 2010: Microsoft Bites Back.)

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile