Call it an Easter miracle, or whatever else you want, but it would appear, at least according to the folks at Engadget and BGR, that AT&T will indeed unlock user’s iPhones beginning this Sunday. Now before you go and get too excited, there’s a couple things to be aware of.

First, this has not been 100% confirmed by AT&T. Even though one spokesman did email a confirmation to BGR. So, take it with a big grain of salt until you see it actually happening. Second, if it turns out to be true, it won’t apply to every iPhone customer using AT&T.

Here’s the rules: A customer’s “account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade policies or paid an early termination fee.”

So, there you go. If you meet the above criteria and have always wanted to jump ship from AT&T to another GSM carrier that can support the Micro SIM and has the same frequencies as AT&T (T-Moblie, for example), now’s your chance. Maybe.

I’ll believe it when I see it. Of course, there’s also other alternatives.

If you follow tech news very much, and Apple in particular, you know one thing is certain: even if you have the “latest thing” from Apple they will be releasing an even better one sooner or later. That’s never been more the case, and more the subject of scrutiny and speculation, than with the iPhone and iPad.

So, it should come as no surprise that pretty much everyone is in the “what will Apple release next” game, including the Wall Street Journal. This time around the Journal is reporting that Apple’s next generation iPad (aka iPad 3) will feature, among other things, 4G LTE wireless connectivity.

In addition, said iPad 3 will be sold at both AT&T and Verizon. That isn’t exactly earth-shattering news, though, as both wireless carriers have had 4G LTE for some time and have hardware that runs on it already.

I’m just going to chalk this news up to the fact that AT&T is tired of all the bad press and bad rap it gets for its subpar network and service. Even if it really is just a way to help its tarnished image, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.

To what am I referring? Well, according to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (via The New York Times), the city will soon be offering free Wi-Fi in 20 of its parks.

AT&T will power the service, which will be available later this Summer in various spots including Prospect Park, Battery Park, and Central Park. That’s a great development and a progressive idea which will no doubt be welcome by residents and visitors alike.

The public will have ad-free access to the free networks for at least the next five years. What happens in five years is anyone’s guess. Perhaps the Wi-Fi explodes at that time? No, probably not.

Also, no word on if this new initiative will improve phone reception in New York for anyone dumb enough to still be on AT&T. My guess is no, it won’t.

This report probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone who uses a Verizon iPhone and also has friends using the AT&T version, but for the sake of confirming what we already know, here’s some interesting info about Verizon versus AT&T. Market research firm ChangeWave today released findings of a recent study analyzing iPhone 4 owner experiences and satisfaction.

The study compared consumer experiences with Verizon Wireless’ iPhone 4 against the same model from AT&T. Following years of complaints of poor service and dropped calls with AT&T, the question to ask with the iPhone’s launch on Verizon Wireless was whether or not service quality would improve. According to ChangeWave’s findings, the answer is yes.

In a survey of 4,068 customers, ChangeWave found that over the past 90 days, Verizon Wireless iPhone 4 users have dropped approximately 1.8% of calls while AT&T iPhone 4 owners dropped 4.8%. In addition, ChangeWave found that Verizon iPhone 4 owners are slightly more satisfied than AT&T iPhone 4 owners, with 82% saying they were very satisfied compared to 80% for AT&T.

With the Verizon iPhone only being out for a short time this report is not exactly definitive proof of anything. There’s just not been enough time and user experiences to make that claim. However, it does go a long way to reinforce what many iPhone 4 users on Verizon wireless have experienced (at least the ones we know) when compared to their friends using AT&T: Verizon’s network is better for calls.

If you’re a Verizon iPhone 4 user have you experienced the same thing when compared to your AT&T using friends? Or, is this study bogus? Let us know your thought is the comments.

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.