at&t

Ubiquitous caffeine conglomerate Starbucks has ended its Wi-Fi partnership with T-Mobile in favor of one with AT&T.

Under the earlier plan with T-Mobile, Starbucks customers needed a paid subscription to access the in-store Wi-Fi service, and T-Mobile HotSpot subscribers will continue to have access to Starbucks Wi-Fi thanks to an agreement between AT&T and T-Mobile. But the new AT&T plan allows all customers 2 free hours per day, with a $3.99 fee for additional 2-hour chunks of time. Monthly subscriptions will cost $19.99 and will enable access to other AT&T … Read more

What? You didn't know that already? I thought I was telling you something you already knew.

In case you missed it, Ad Scheepbouwer, the CEO of a Dutch telecom known as KPN told the Financial Times yesterday that "[He] had [an iPhone] and thought it was a pretty useless phone, to be quite honest. The battery ran out in no time. I didn't like the touch screen."

Of course, the company's CEO still didn't want to leave Steve Jobs and company out in the cold just in case it decides to start selling the iPhone to the Netherlands. Scheepbouwer said that his company would "be more than happy to sell it." After all, he pointed out, his company has "half the market in the Netherlands and hopes it will will be the party of choice."

Even better, this clown has allegedly been wining and dining Steve Jobs at every chance he gets in an attempt to win the deal. Am I missing something? Didn't he say that the product is 'useless'? And didn't he say that the battery runs 'out in no time'? If he believes that, why would Apple want to strike a deal with his company and why would his company want to sell such a junker?

If nothing else, this just goes to show us all how crazy these carriers really are.… Read more

AT&T said Wednesday that it's expanding its third-generation wireless broadband footprint and completing the upgrade of its network to the fastest 3G technology available.

The company is expanding its current 3G network to cover more than 80 additional cities in the U.S. this year. The new network, which will add 1,500 new cell sites, will put AT&T's 3G network in nearly 350 U.S. markets, including the top 100 markets, by the end of 2008.

AT&T also plans to upgrade its 3G network to a technology called HSUPA, or High … Read more

In a direct slap in the face to consumers, tech industry giants including Microsoft, AT&T, and Verizon are frantically engaged in an effort to kill pro-consumer provisions in a data breach notification bill currently being considered by the Indiana State Senate.

The bill would require that the state attorney general act as a single point of contact for data breaches. Any company that suffered a breach impacting one or more Indiana consumers would be required to notify the AG's office. The bill would also make Indiana the only state in the country to to require the attorney … Read more

AT&T has increased the price of its DSL service by $5 a month as the company faces slowing broadband growth, the company confirmed Tuesday.

The pricing change will apply to existing and new customers in AT&T's original 13-state territory who subscribe to one of AT&T's three lower-speed tiers of service.

Customers subscribing to AT&T's new U-verse service will not see a change in their bill, nor will customers who have service in the old BellSouth region. The company is not changing pricing on the $10 and $19.95 standalone … Read more

Some AT&T wireless customers in the Midwest and Southeast are having trouble accessing 3G and EDGE data services on certain handsets, the company confirmed Thursday.

Problems were reported as early as 6:30 a.m. EST, according to Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. Siegel was not able to say how many subscribers have been affected or what exactly is causing the problem.

He also couldn't specify which specific handsets were having trouble accessing the data network. He would only say they were smartphone handsets. Some users on blogs and message boards have reported that the … Read more

It almost seems like every other handset is getting the red or pink treatment in time for Valentine's Day, and the Pantech Duo smartphone is no exception. If you'll recall, this dual-slider smartphone runs Windows Mobile 6, and has features such as a 1.3-megapixel camera, quad-band support, as well as HSDPA/3G speeds. We were not terribly impressed with the Duo's slider mechanism and user interface, but it is one of the cheapest smartphones. It will set you back $99, with an AT&T contract. You can see the red Duo in shelves and online … Read more

Amazingly, almost every product Apple has released over the past decade has performed extremely well and there's no debating the fact that the iPhone is one of them.

But unlike the computer industry or the PMP business, the cell phone industry judges success by how well a device can perform over the long-term and keep a steady revenue stream flowing for both the carrier and the manufacturer.

And while the computing industry has become quite competitive over the past few years, driving prices down and forcing companies to make more compelling products, there's no debating the fact that the cell phone industry is the most competitive and strangely unprofitable of them all. After all, who would have thought that Motorola -- one of the proven leaders in the industry -- may be getting out of the handset business for good?

Knowing this, has Apple gotten in over its head trying to play the same game it always has with its other devices without realizing that the cell phone industry is an entirely different beast altogether? Sadly, I think it has.… Read more