Now that we know Apple will be announcing something next week on October 4th, the speculation can continue as to what that will be. And here’s one for today.

Mac Rumors reports that a China Unicom executive apparently confirmed during a presentation at this week’s Macworld Asia that the “iPhone 5″ set to be announced next week will support HSPA+, which is sometimes called “4G.” This technology  offers a maximum theoretical data speed of 21 Mbps.

They’ve even got a photo of a slide presented during the talk that seems to support the assertion. According to the report, research vice president of China Unicom, Huan Wenliang, said the iPhone 5 “will support W-CDMA based high-speed data transfer standard HSPA Evolution” (aka HSPA+) during a keynote speech at the event.

T-Mobile and AT&T both offer 21Mbps HSPA+ in the United States and market the networks as “4G,” although it really should be thought of as more “3.5G” if anything, based on the speed. Apple is reportedly testing a true 4G LTE iPhone but we probably won’t see that being announced next week.

Continue Reading →

To be honest, I’m surprised it took this long. But now it seems our government here in the U.S. has finally decided to take action and attempt to stop a merger that should not take place anyway.

That’s right, the government has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block AT&T’s proposed $39 Billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. According to the complaint, such a deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the U.S. wireless market. Bloomberg reports that the complaint was filed with the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday, and the government is asking for a declaration that the proposed merger would violate U.S. antitrust laws.

“AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low- priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market,” the U.S. said in its filing. AT&T has argued that it needs T-Mobile’s spectrum in order to improve service quality and cover the majority of the U.S. population with 4G LTE service.

Well, I can understand them wanting to improve service quality. However, competition is good and as long as T-Mobile is around, AT&T will have to work that much harder. That won’t hurt them one bit. In fact, it might just help them.

As of today Apple began selling unlocked iPhone 4 handsets in the U.S. only. The smartphone is now available in 16GB for $649 or 32GB for $749, and both models come in black or white.

This marks a change in Apple policy dating back to the first iPhone where the device was only available for AT&T GSM users. Now, it can be used with pretty much any GSM carrier, as long as modifications can be made for those who don’t yet use the micro-SIM card.

Personally, even though the price of the iPhone is high in its unlocked state, I would probably go this way to avoid a long-term contract with any one carrier. Also, this allows people to get their hands on the iPhone 4 now and then use the subsidy pricing to pick up an iPhone 5 once they launch later this year.

Sure, the price is probably too high for many buyers but to some this represents the best scenario when it comes to dealing with carrier monopolies. I, for one, think Apple should have done this a long time ago.

In what may not be completely surprising news but, at least to some, may be disappointing, your choices of wireless carrier in the U.S. look to be dropping by one. Why? AT&T, the nation’s second largest wireless provider, announced late yesterday that they will acquire T-Mobile USA from parent company Deutsche Telekom in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $39 Billion.

What does that mean for you and me? Well, for me at least, it means nothing. I’m a Verizon Wireless customer. For those of you who are not or who enjoy having as many wireless choices as possible, it means you will now have to pick between AT&T, Verizon or Sprint if you want to go with a national wireless company.

Choice and, more to the point, competition, is one of the best things about pretty much any kind of business. Competition forces companies to constantly innovate and hopefully strive to be better and treat customers well so they will stay. Having fewer choices and thus less competition can allow companies to become complacent and not try their best.

With the lackluster reputation AT&T already has with many customers, I can’t see that the company having fewer competitors is a good thing. What’s their motivation to change and be better if the customer has nowhere else to go? The answer is they won’t have any. And that, friends, is not good.

Click through to check out the full press release from AT&T about this announcement.

Continue Reading →

On Monday we brought you news of a report from Consumer Reports that according to the publications’ readers AT&T is the worst mobile carrier in the U.S. That wasn’t a surprise to us and neither is AT&T already fighting back and trying to downplay the report with a report of its own.

Late yesterday, AT&T released information that according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), its network is the best in the country — 0r, at least, its subscribers complain the least. Verizon Wireless had 34% more complaints, Sprint had 115% more complaints and T-Mobile had 207% more complaints.

AT&T also says it has an A+ average rating nationally from the BBB, having received 107 A+ ratings, seven A ratings and one A- rating from local BBBs across the country. Our opinion? Sounds like AT&T is grasping at straws here.

What do you guys think? Let us know in the comments and check out the full press release from AT&T after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Coming as no surprise to the millions of iPhone users whose calls just got dropped, Consumer Reports announced today that AT&T is the lowest-scoring cell-phone carrier in the U.S., according to a satisfaction survey of 58,000 ConsumerReports.org readers.

Of all of the carriers reviewed in the survey, only AT&T suffered a statistically meaningful drop in satisfaction among its customers over the past year. Surprisingly, at least to me, was the fact that U.S. Cellular beat out every major provider, including Verizon Wireless.

The survey covered a total of nine categories, asking respondents to rate their carrier on overall value, voice and data service, phone support, staff knowledge, and resolution of issues, among others. AT&T scored an overall 60 out of a possible 100 points across the various categories; a full 9 points below the nearest competitor, T-Mobile.

Sprint also made an amazing turnaround this year, leaping ahead of T-Mobile and virtually tying Verizon. Consumer Reports claims that Sprint even scored better than Verizon in some aspects of customer service.

Continue Reading →

If you were one of the many people waiting for Google’s Android powered Nexus One smartphone to hit Verizon so you could finally get your hands on one, you’re not going to be very happy after reading this post. Sadly, it seems, Verizon has decided to get out of the Nexus One business and instead, will stick with HTC and the pending release of the DROID Incredible.

While this move may not come as a surprise to some, particularly the folks over at Tech Crunch, it did seem to come out of left field a little. After all, up until the last few days, the release of the Nexus One was trumpeted as coming soon by Google at the site where they sell the phone. Now it directs potential customers back to Verizon’s website to buy a competing product in the Incredible? Again, seems a bit out of left field.

As highlighted over at Tech Crunch, it seems Verizon is choosing to offer the latest and greatest device to its customers and doesn’t seem to think the Nexus One is that device. When it came out, it was the best Android phone on the market. Then, Motorola released the DROID, which has reigned supreme. Now, the Incredible looks to be the top Android phone, at least for now.

Competition is a good thing and often leads to great innovations as companies strive to come to market with better and cheaper products. I the end we may not understand Verizon or Google’s reasons for making certain decisions, but in this case at least, it looks like Verizon’s decision will benefit consumers who want the best Android phone they can get.

Seeing as how I use AT&T daily in Los Angeles and find the 3G service to be spotty and occasionally non-existant, I have a bit of a hard time believing that AT&T’s 3G network speed is actually the fastest. However, based on a recent study conducted by PC World, that seems to be the case.

The study, a collaboration between PC World and wireless analysis firm Novarum, took place from December 2009 to January 2010, and compares the four major U.S. wireless carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile) in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle on both mobile phones and laptop data cards

Highlights of the study include:

• AT&T: average download speed 1410 Kbps, average upload speed 773 Kbps

• Sprint: average download speed 795 Kbps, average upload speed 396 Kbps

• T-Mobile: average download speed 868 Kbps, average upload speed 311 Kbps

• Verizon: average download speed 877 Kbps, average upload speed 434 Kbps

Continue Reading →

In the wake of the recent release of the Motorola Droid and HTC’s Droid Eris, smartphones featuring Google’s Android software are some of the biggest sellers in the market right now. So it comes as no surprise to geeks and Google fanatics alike that this week, Google officially unveiled its very own Android-powered smartphone:  the Google Nexus.

The device, the first smartphone completely designed by Google and manufactured by HTC, features Android 2.1 software and a host of other interesting features such as a 1Ghz processor, Google’s latest map software, an 800 x 480 display, a 5 MP camera with LED flash, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and pretty much any other thing you might want in a smartphone. For the full specs, check out this page. Of course, it is powered by Google’s Android software which also gives you access to thousands of useful applications to enhance your Nexus.

Initially, the Nexus will be released for T-Mobile or unlocked in the US but will also come to Verizon and Vodaphone later this year in the Spring. To order, head on over to Google’s very own order page and get one for yourself.

This week on The Flickcast the band, um, team is back together as Christina rejoins Chris and Matt for the show. This time around, the trio talk about even more cool and interesting topics including the recent troubles with Apple’s Snow Leopard and “Guest” account, the T-Mobile Sidekick’s data loss and the marketing strategy, merits, and box office success of Paranormal Activity. Plus, Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods being converted to 3-D, Chuck coming back to TV sooner, Bryan Singer returning to the X-Men franchise, the ending that Zombieland could have had and a whole lot more.

The team also made some great picks, as they always do. This week its Christina’s pick of the FX comedy Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Matt’s pick of Jim Henson’s 1986 film Labyrinth and Chris’ pick of Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which you can now watch in its entirety on Hulu.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Thanks for listening.