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LAS VEGAS -- AT&T held a massive, 2.5-hour keynote presentation today, showing off its plans going into the first half of 2012. Not only did we get a taste of the company's new HTML5 app store, but we also got a sneak peek at several new phones and tablets the carrier will support. There were also a few surprise guests: Steve Ballmer, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, and HTC CEO Peter Chou. We gathered all the important announcements you need to know about. Keep reading to find out what these big tech execs had to say. SNIP SNIP Microsoft CEO Steve...

President Obama tells anyone who'll listen that from dawn until dusk he's focused on job creation. Apparently, no one in his administration listens, since day after day they keep making job-killing decisions. In fact, when it comes to jobs, Obama's policies are so bad that even his union pals are starting to notice. The latest to take notice is the Communications Workers of America union.

“We predict that a global Arms Trade Treaty will come into force late this year,” a report in the Jan. 2012 issue of the Dillon Blue Press by researchers Paul Gallant, Alan Chwick and Joanne D. Eisen claims. Diplomats are currently preparing for a final negotiating conference, to be held at the UN between July 2 and July 27, 2012. “So, what might an ATT look like?” they ask. Here are two highlights from the report: * We predict that small arms will be included, because that’s what this treaty is all about in the first place. But ammunition has,...

SNIPPET: "MANILA, Philippines—A group of suspected Filipino hackers allegedly financed by a Saudi-based terrorist cell was arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police and the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) disclosed on Thursday." SNIPPET: "The group was allegedly behind attacks on the US telecommunication firm AT&T that resulted in $2 million in losses to the company in 2009. In a statement, the CIDG said the group also had links to the Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)." SNIPPET: "ATCCD chief Senior Supt. Gilbert Sosa identified the suspects as Macnell Gracilla,...

Faced with an unprecedented turn of events, the Federal Communications Commission must figure out how to handle the AT&T/T-Mobile deal now that the companies have asked to withdraw their applications from the agency. AT&T and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom asked the FCC on Wednesday night to dismiss their merger applications without prejudice, which means the companies would be free to refile an amended application at any time. The companies made clear that they plan to continue to fight to win approval from the Justice Department, either at trial or through a settlement. FCC officials have three options: • They can...

House Republicans should not expect a briefing soon from the Department of Justice on AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, now that the agency is proceeding with a lawsuit to block the deal on antitrust grounds. The agency on Monday declined a request made earlier this month by Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, Greg Walden of Oregon and Joe Barton of Texas, key Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee. The lawmakers asked both DOJ and the FCC in a letter for a meeting so members could learn more about their proceedings. The lawmakers also said they had “specific concerns” at...

The recent decision by the Justice Department to sue to prevent the Merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, has given those of us who advocate the spreading free market capitalism a ray of hope. It has been difficult watching the Obama administration and its seemingly conscious disregard for this all important building block of our society. Our education system could not be further from the competitive market that the justice department is arguing to keep in cell phone service.

The recent decision by the Justice Department to sue to prevent the Merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, has given those of us who advocate the spreading free market capitalism a ray of hope. It has been difficult watching the Obama administration and its seemingly conscious disregard for this all important building block of our society. Our education system could not be further from the competitive market that the justice department is arguing to keep in cell phone service.

The Department of Justice has smacked AT&T with an anti-trust lawsuit blocking the company’s attemped merger with T-Mobile, and many advocacy nonprofits are claiming victory. But is this really a triumph for concerned groups of citizens and the nation? Or has Chicken Little just persuaded some neighbors that the sky is falling while she quietly pockets some corporate assistance? The same gang of advocacy groups and donors that oppose every media merger and push for dubious policies like “net neutrality” is thrilled by the lawsuit: Free Press, Public Knowledge, Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (GFEM), etc. “A major victory...

AT&T could divest up to 25 percent of its T-Mobile's assets to keep its $39 billion bid to buy the No. 4 carrier alive, news service Reuters reported Friday. On Wednesday the U.S. Justice Department filed suit to block AT&T from buying T-Mobile USA, which is owned by the German phone company Deutsche Telekom. AT&T vowed to fight the lawsuit, but sources close to the deal who didn't want to be named, told Reuters that AT&T is also trying to line up more meetings with the DOJ to work out a deal. Officials at the DOJ said that they would...

Today it was announced that the Department of Justice will attempt to block AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile. The deal is needed for technical and regulatory reasons to allow AT&T to compete in the 4G wireless market with Verizon, Sprint/Clearwire, and with the upcoming competitor LightSquared. So why is the Department of Justice calling it bad for competition?Enter R. Gerard Salemme. It’s not a well-known name, but it’s been an important one in the Obama administration. It’s also a name that often comes up in the ventures of one Craig McCaw. Craig McCaw is an equal opportunity donor who gives to...

The Justice Department is blocking AT&T’s $39 billion deal to buy T-Mobile USA, saying the acquisition of the No. 4 wireless carrier in the country by No. 2 AT&T would reduce competition and raise prices. The deal has faced tough opposition from consumer groups and No. 3 carrier Sprint since it was announced in March. AT&T could challenge the Justice Department’s action in court.

The Obama administration on Wednesday filed to block AT&T's proposed acquisition of wireless rival T-Mobile USA ...

NEW YORK -(MarketWatch)- AT&T said it will bring 5,000 wireless call-center jobs it has outsourced abroad back to the U.S. if its proposed $39 billion deal to buy Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA is approved by regulators. Late Tuesday, AT&T said it would add the jobs after the deal closes and promised not to cut any more wireless call-center positions. The move is contingent on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice approving the takeover, company spokesman Brad Burns said in an email. The carrier is pressing its case for the merger against opposition from rivals, including Sprint...

AT&T today released the following statement, verbatim:An Update for Our Smartphone Customers With Unlimited Data Plans Like other wireless companies, we’re taking steps to manage exploding demand for mobile data. Many experts agree the country is facing a serious wireless spectrum crunch. We’re responding on many levels, including investing billions in our wireless network this year and working to acquire additional network capacity. We’re also taking additional, more immediate measures to help address network congestion. One new measure is a step that may reduce the data throughput speed experienced by a very small minority of smartphone customers who are on...

"...We urge the PSC to avoid placing conditions and burdensome regulations on the merged company. Merger conditions – extraneous or otherwise – would be extremely detrimental to the innovative tendencies of the wireless industry. Such conditions would be levied against a single company, picking winners and losers in the market, creating an un-level playing field, and disrupting the merger’s prospects on a national scale. "Today’s wireless market is highly competitive, and it will remain that way following the merger. Over the past decade, there have been five major telecom mergers. Yet, wireless prices have been cut in half during that...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   U.S. Senate Stands with NRA in Strongly Opposing U.N Gun Control Efforts   Friday, July 22, 2011   For nearly 20 years, the NRA has worked tirelessly to oppose any United Nations effort to undermine the constitutional rights of law-abiding American gun owners.  The latest attempt by the U.N. and global gun banners to eliminate our Second Amendment freedoms is to include civilian arms in the current Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which will be finalized next year.In order for any treaty to take effect, however, it must be ratified by two-thirds...

The media reform cabal is at it again. The same professional Soros-funded astroturfers who brought us Van Jones to demand “media justice” and SaveTheInternet and Net Neutrality have been focused on a new target. For months now, Free Press, Media Access Project, Public Knowledge, Consumers Union, and the New America Foundation have been thwarting the proposed merger of cell phone providers AT&T and T-Mobile, saying the move would raise prices for consumers and cost jobs. As the deal sits with the FCC, which just this week temporarily halted its review of the proposal, AT&T and T-Mobile have tried to reassure...

The Federal Communications Commission has stopped its 180-day review “shot clock” for AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile, saying it needs more time to evaluate new information AT&T promises to deliver to the commission later this month.

Last week I went to New York to attend a meeting that should concern every gun owner and freedom-loving American in this great nation. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and I attended a committee meeting at United Nations headquarters to send a simple, unequivocal message to the international bureaucrats who want to eliminate your right to keep and bear arms: An international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that in any way, shape or form affects the constitutional rights of American gun owners is completely unacceptable. NRA will make no compromise on this critical issue. In 2009, at the behest of...

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- A UN committee wrapped up a week-long series of meetings on a massive treaty that could undermine both U.S. sovereignty and the Second Amendment. This is the third round of meetings by the so-called “preparatory committee” on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) as the UN gears up for final negotiations in 2012. The most comprehensive treaty of its kind, the ATT would regulate weapons trade throughout the world on everything from battleships to bullets. And as information trickles out of Turtle Bay in New York City, it is obvious the UN is getting more clever about taking...

EDISON — The husband of an AT&T manager who died from a blood clot after sitting at her desk for more than 10 hours one night is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, an appellate court ruled today. In 2007, Cathleen Renner, who worked for the communications giant for 25 years, died from a clot in her lung about an hour after she finished working a long, sedentary shift at her computer in her home office in Edison, the ruling states. "There’s an awful lot of people that do nothing but sit in front of computers for work these days, and...

AT&T is lining up support for its acquisition of T-Mobile from a slew of liberal groups with no obvious interest in telecom deals — except that they’ve received big piles of AT&T’s cash. In recent weeks, the NAACP, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance, and the National Education Association have each issued public statements in support of the deal. The groups all say their public positions have nothing to do with the money they received from AT&T.

John Donne famously said no man is an island. He didn’t live to see the Media Marxists and their absurd policy positions. These Leftist alleged media “reformers” incessantly demand massive government insertion into and interference with every free market-media nook and cranny. Insertion and interference in which almost no one else has any interest. Save, of course, for the other forces of Big Government – Big Government being always interested in expanding its authoritarian sway. We have noted this previously. For instance, the Media Marxists have all along been strident proponents of Network Neutrality – a government takeover of the...

Several users have written in to note that AT&T is sending out notifications that their terms of service have changed. The update includes a large number of things AT&T users need to be made aware of, including new language addressing AT&T's new cap and overage plans, mandatory binding arbitration, mandatory migrations from legacy DSL to AT&T U-Verse service, and even language giving AT&T the right to terminate your service should you get angry about any of these changes and take it out on an AT&T representative. The new TOS can be found here and acceptable use policy here, both designed...

In the news last week was the surprise acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. NEW YORK/FRANKFURT, March 20 (Reuters) – AT&T Inc (T.N) struck a $39 billion deal to buy Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DTEGn.DE) T-Mobile USA, to create a new U.S. mobile market leader and bolster its constrained network against a near insatiable appetite for videos and data from Apple iPhone and iPad users. The reaction was as big as the news with the largest reaction coming from those who claim that the merger will reduce choice and stifle competition. The newly formed corporation would boast the largest collection of cell...

Commerce: Lawmakers, bureaucrats and busybody groups have expressed reservations about AT&T's plan to buy T-Mobile. Why should a voluntary, peaceful agreement between private groups be any of their concern? AT&T, the country's second-largest wireless carrier, has agreed to buy T-Mobile, the fourth-largest, for $39 billion. The combined company would become the biggest wireless carrier in the nation, serving more than 40% of the cellphone market. But first, the deal must be OK'd by meddlesome legislators and useless regulators. The acquisition needs the approval of the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, as well as the...

The regulatory committee that needs to approve the merger between T-Mobile and AT&T may give the companies a hard time, due to potential antitrust concerns. The biggest news worth talking about over the past week has been AT&T's announcement that it plans to buy rival mobile carrier T-Mobile. Much of the analysis and speculation has surfaced as though the deal is a fait de compli, but now the FCC is telling everyone to take a step back. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, an FCC official said, "There's no way the [FCC] chairman's office rubber-stamps this transaction. It...

AT&T press release follows verbatim: AT&T Inc. and Deutsche Telekom AG today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at approximately $39 billion. The agreement has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile USA provides an optimal combination of network assets to add capacity sooner than any alternative, and it provides an opportunity to improve network quality in the near term for both companies’ customers. In addition, it provides a fast, efficient and certain solution...

AT&T announced on Sunday that it has agreed to purchase T-Mobile U.S.A. from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion in cash and stock. If regulators approve the deal — a big if — it would combine the No. 2 and No. 4 U.S. wireless phone companies. Consumer groups will surely oppose the deal. They’ll argue that Verizon Wireless, co-owned by Verizon Communications (VZ) and U.K.-based Vodafone (VOD), will be waiting in the wings to swoop in and buy Sprint Nextel (S). That hypothetical deal would marry the No. 1 and No. 3 wireless firms in the U.S.

AT&T said Sunday it would be buying rival T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for cash and stock valued at $39 billion. In a press release AT&T said both companies boards had approved the deal.

Part of being a smart consumer is understanding how technology works, why we use it the way we do, and what that barrage of acronyms and PR jargon means. We're here to help you make sense of it all, and to give you a better appreciation of how those transistors, pixels, and antennae come together to deliver the conveniences of the modern world to you. If you thought our guide to 3G tech was confusing, the 4G scene is about as convoluted as 'Jersey Shore' sleeping arrangements. As was the case with 3G, there are different technologies competing to become...

Ernesto "Che" Guevara's famous beret is gone. His iconic beard is filthy and matted against skeletal cheekbones. One bushy eyebrow arches over his half-open eyes. As a Bolivian country surgeon methodically saws off his lifeless hands, Che appears vaguely amused. Gustavo Villoldo, a stocky figure in green army fatigues, stands just inside the tiny laundry room where the Cuban revolutionary's corpse rests atop a sink. For five months, the CIA operative has led soldiers hunting Guevara through the rough crags and valleys of southern Bolivia. Less than 24 hours ago, his team had captured and executed him in a village...

BGR has confirmed with a source close to Apple that the company has blacked out employee vacation requests between February 3rd and February 6th — Thursday through Sunday. The four-day vacation freeze has been confirmed to be in effect in several regions in the United States. A recent report suggested the vacation black-out would cover a period of three weeks beginning in late January and extending into February, which still could be true in some regions. Back in June of last year, Apple picked the dates of 24th to the 27th for its iPhone 4 weekend launch — also a...

I'm pleased to inform you that Consumer Reports has rated AT&T as the worst of all major cell phone carriers.  I can assure you that they deserve the honor, at least with regard to their customer service telephone line. A few months ago, I had some trouble with my broadband connection.  I was told to call the AT&T customer service number for technical support.  Half an hour later, I wearily hung up the phone after having endured something like this: (1) Welcome to the American Thinker! Si Usted lee sola en español, por favor vaya al (14).  If this...

Have you recently tried calling someone outside of your local area code only to receive a confusing message about your long distance call not being a local call so you need to contact your carrier or call 305-848-8288? If so, the person or business you are trying to reach is using magicJack. And you are not alone in your woes... Starting Friday November 12th, problems began to occur when long distance callers received this unexpected recording: "Please listen to this entire message. Your phone carrier has routed this call improperly. This call is being identified as a local call, and...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Extradited Hacker Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Masterminding First-Ever Hack Into Internet Phone Networks Defendant Also Ordered to Pay Over $1 Million in Restitution NEWARK, NJ—The first individual ever charged with hacking into the networks of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers and reselling hacked VoIP services for a profit was sentenced today to 120 months in prison, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Edwin Andres Pena, 27, transmitted over 10 million minutes of unauthorized telephone calls over the victims' networks. Pena, a Venezuelan citizen, fled the United States...

Pat Fleet's "AT&T" is one of the most recognized sounds in the United States. Described as a "mega star" of phone voices by Ted Koppel on ABC's Nightline and affectionately called "Ma Bell" by telephone workers, Pat has been the voice behind literally tens of thousands of telephone recordings since 1981 - speaking to millions of callers daily with coin and credit card requests, explaining services or just thanking them for using AT&T... Her digital studio and online ordering over the internet make recording & delivering voice-overs whenever you need them incredibly easy.

Verizon Wireless might get an iPhone this January? It's about time. Or is it too late? New reports show that Google's Android is eating the iPhone's lunch. And by clinging to AT&T exclusivity and staying clear of Verizon, Apple is effectively serving up that lunch on a shiny silver platter. For a decade, Apple played Ice Man in a calculated dogfight of product design and marketing. It rarely made a misstep, and its successes were legendary as a result. This year, Apple has not shown itself to be so level-headed. You could cite Antennagate or the missing white iPhone as...

"A security researcher created a $1,500 cell phone base station kit (including a laptop and two RF antennas) that tricks cell phones into routing their outbound calls through his device, allowing someone to intercept even encrypted calls in the clear. Most of the price is for the laptop he used to operate the system. The device tricks the phones into disabling encryption and records call details and content before they are routed on their proper way through voice-over-IP. The low-cost, home-brewed device ... mimics more expensive devices already used by intelligence and law enforcement agencies — called IMSI catchers —...

SMobile System's Global Threat Center (http://threatcenter.smobilesystems.com/) has performed an in-depth analysis of over 48,000 applications currently available on the Android market and discovered the following threats: 20 percent of applications in the Android market grant a third party application access to private or sensitive information that an attacker could use for malicious purposes, such as Identity Theft, mobile banking fraud and corporate espionage5 percent of applications have the ability to place a call to any number, without requiring user intervention Dozens of applications have the identical type of access to sensitive information as known spyware 2 percent of market submissions...

"It is shockingly easy to gain access to an AT&T customer's voicemail using caller ID spoofing techniques. What's worse is that AT&T knows about it. On your Android phone, download one of the two caller ID spoofing programs. Input the number of your target as the destination number and then enter the same number as the spoofed caller ID. Then connect your call. If the target has not added a voicemail password (the default is no password), you will be dropped into a random menu of their voicemail and eventually can drill up or down to get what you want....

Verizon Wireless will be the first company in the U.S. – and among the first in the world – to launch LTE with a sizeable footprint. We will launch our 4G LTE network in 25 to 30 markets late in 2010, covering approximately 100 million people; we’ll double that in 2012. And we plan to cover our entire existing 3G footprint with 4G LTE by the end of 2013. Verizon Wireless plans to utilize our nationwide, contiguous 700 MHz spectrum to deploy 4G LTE. This spectrum covers the entire lower 48 states and Hawaii, and gives our customers the nationwide...

AT&T is a cell phone carrier that knows how to make a successful promotion. Take a look at these great posters using just hands and a phone. The American carrier recreates a popular idea of painting hands into the colors of different countries. A little lightness for you in a crazy world. There's more where this came from. Come see and enjoy.

Apple has suffered another embarrassment. A security breach has exposed iPad owners including dozens of CEOs, military officials, and top politicians. They—and every other buyer of the cellular-enabled tablet—could be vulnerable to spam marketing and malicious hacking. The breach, which comes just weeks after an Apple employee lost an iPhone prototype in a bar, exposed the most exclusive email list on the planet, a collection of early-adopter iPad 3G subscribers that includes thousands of A-listers in finance, politics and media, from New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson to Diane Sawyer of ABC News to film mogul Harvey Weinstein to...

And customers gripe that $20 tethering fee comes minus data allowance Computerworld - iPhone owners who want to use tethering must give up their unlimited data plan, AT&T confirmed today. The new feature, which turns the iPhone into a mobile hotspot that a laptop or other device can use to connect to the Internet, will be available when Apple ships iPhone OS 4, its mobile operating system upgrade. Apple is expected to unveil details of iPhone OS 4 -- including its release date -- on Monday when CEO Steve Jobs delivers the opening address at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference...

AT&T announced today that they are ending their unlimited 3G data phones. As Dan Indiviglio wrote for our site, this is not a bad thing for most smartphone users, who don't chew through anything like the new 2 GB cap on their premium data plan. But it may be a problem for iPad users, several million of whom just bought the things on the assumption that they'd be able to do a whole lot of data-intensive browsing. iPad users don't have contracts; they're allowed to purchase by the month. They're feeling a bit burned, given that the company seems to...

_KiTA_ writes "AT&T announced today that the iPhone will gain tethering, finally, at an extra $20 a month, but only for people on a new 2GB a month plan. They also quietly announced at the same time the real news — that the $30 Unlimited Data plan on the iPad 3G will be axed in lieu of the same data plan. Yes, this would be the same 'revolutionary data plan' that Steve Jobs was so proud of during the iPad unveiling — it lasted just a month after the 3G model was delayed to May 7. People feeling vibes of...

When the Conservative Examiner presented proof in a 7-part series that the Obama government is engaging in covert activities to rob citizens of their liberties, naysayers dismissed the information as 'inconclusive,' despite the reliability of the unnamed sources for that information. However, ABC News interviewed a whistleblower who exposes a massive government intrusion into the privacy of all citizens by reading their emails and Instant Messages, listening to their phone calls, monitoring their movements on the Internet, and tracking the 'Patriot movement' as a 'violent threat' to national security, although no one in the Patriot movement has engaged in such...

AT&T paid about $2.4 billion last year to cover medical costs of its 283,000 active workers, according to one document. If the company were to push all those workers onto subsidized exchanges, AT&T estimated, it would only have to pay an annual penalty of $600 million, or $2,000 a worker.