Dialed In

The holiday season may be in full swing, but that hasn't stopped AT&T from keeping busy. The carrier announced today that it has expanded its 4G LTE data network to seven additional metropolitan areas.

Ma Bell's most advanced cellular network now covers Reno, Nevada; Richmond, Virginia; Allentown-Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Hattiesburg and Starkvillle, Mississippi; Moscow, Idaho; and Pullman, Washington. That's not a bad day's work. Still, while AT&T says it now blankets 3,000 cities more than its arch-rival Verizon with 4G, an area that includes over 160 million people. That claims AT&… Read more

Samsung Electronics may be looking to blur the lines between a phone and tablet even further.

The Korean electronics giant is working on a bigger, 6.3-inch display for the eventual Galaxy Note 3, according to the Korea Times.

Samsung has pioneered the category that some refer to as the "phablet" segment, or something between a smartphone and tablet. Initially mocked for the size of the device, Samsung saw decent sales of the first big-bodied Galaxy Note, and pushed for wider distribution with the successor Galaxy Note 2, which saw its display grow to 5.5 inches from … Read more

It's a common affliction: you're using your smartphone to navigate in a city with a bunch of big buildings and your phone misplaces your location.

Often the problem often is that the GPS location system just doesn't work well where the satellite radio signals can be blocked or reflected. A company called Locata says it's got an answer.

Locata does what the GPS system does, but it replaces satellites in orbit with radio transmitters on the ground. The result is location services with high precision, better reliability, and indoor coverage, said Paul Benshoof, global business development … Read more

Talks between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are heating up.

Sprint confirmed via a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made public today that it is in talks with Clearwire to buy out the remaining stake in the upstart wireless provider that it doesn't already own.

The company said it believes that it would cost $2.1 billion to buy out the remaining 49 percent stake in Clearwire, valuing the company at $2.90 a share, or a 5.5 percent premium to its closing price on Wednesday.

Clearwire also submitted a filing confirming the talks, but declined to … Read more

Dell has bopped on the head any rumors that it may return to the smartphone market in the near future, but remained optimistic on the future of the PC, despite a global manufacturer slowdown.

Dell president of global operations Jeff Clarke told attendees at the Dell World conference in Austin, Texas, that the company still has "long term prospects" for the PC business, and remains "optimistic."

"I look at the middle class as it grows over the next 20 years from 1.8 billion people to 4.9 billion people and the opportunity for PCs … Read more

Event info posted on CES' press page details a January 8 unveiling of the ZTE Grand S.

We already knew that the Chinese company would announce a high-end smartphone during the January trade show, but more specs reveal that it'll be a thin, 5-inch handset with an FHD screen.

Judging by the event summary, the device may also sport a stylish look, too.

It noted that the phone will be made out of ceramic, feature a "traditional Chinese style," and is perfect for the "fashionable set."

Though ZTE is remaining mum about further details, a … Read more

Redbox said the streaming portion of its Redbox Instant video service, offered in a partnership with Verizon, will cost $6 a month, undercutting key rival Netflix.

The company's primary offering is an $8 a month plan that includes the unlimited video streaming and four one-night credits for DVDs at local kiosks. A plan that includes Blu-Ray discs costs $9 a month, according to a representative for Redbox.

But by pricing its streaming-only service at $6 -- $2 less than Netflix's comparable offer -- RedBox Instant looks to be getting aggressive in taking a chunk out of the paid … Read more

RIM's rumored BlackBerry 10 L series device, code-named London, has just come into sharper focus thanks to new images posted by Vietnamese site Tinh Te and reported by CIO.com. … Read more

It appears that BlackBerry 10 -- Research In Motion's next operating system -- will support deep integration of the online notes service Evernote.

Now that RIM has released BlackBerry 10's SDK and APIs for software-makers to start coding in earnest, one of the apps in the new operating system generating buzz is a personal information manager (PIM) called "Remember." RIM hasn't publicly demonstrated the app, but RIM's developer documentation offers a hint at what's in store.

In addition to organizing functions such as e-mail, contacts, and calendars, the app also features something it … Read more