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When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley’s top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president. But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States? Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said, according to another dinner guest.

Last year saw a slew of states review telecommunications laws designed for a bygone era. Tennessee phased out special charges for in-state long distance calls that subsidized phone companies. Florida and Kansas now allow companies subject to price regulations to better compete with new, less regulated providers. Increased competition has resulted from convergence in the industry, as providers once broken into segregated markets (e.g., cable TV, local and long distance phone, wireless, etc.) now all offer similar broadband phone and video services, or at least a pipe to get them. However, state laws have been slow to change, regulating some...

Verizon Wireless plans to charge subscribers a new $2 fee every time they pay their wireless bills online or directly over the phone. A leaked memo from the company first reported by Engadget, showed some of the details of the new plan. And the blog Phone Scoop got confirmation from a Verizon representative on Thursday of the change. The new fee will go into effect starting January 15 and doesn't apply to customers paying their bills with an electronic check or who enroll in autopay using a credit, debit, or AT&T cards, according to the memo posted on Endgadget. Customers...

In recent weeks, I have been interested in Google and in the telecommunications companies. It’s not the typical “institutional left” topic on which I usually tend to focus. At least, not on the surface. The truth is, these industries ARE about the institutional left. And if the Obama administration and the media reformists on the left get their way, the institutional left will achieve some very significant goals over the next few years in their push to see all media publicly owned. That is, unless we all start paying more attention. Before I give you the big picture, let me...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thousands of Verizon workers on strike pushed the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits last week to its highest level in a month. But excluding the work stoppage, layoffs likely fell. That should help ease fears that the U.S. economy is on the verge of a recession. [lol] Investors appeared to overlook the report. Stock futures held most of their early gains.

No vandalism. No violence. No Harassment. No Obstruction. No intimidating. No threatening. No Blocking. No Trespassing. Those were just a few of the restrictions placed on members of the local 827 IBEW bargaining unit, their dependents, minors, households and relatives in an injunction signed by NJ Superior Court Justice Mary Beth Rogers last week. Rogers also set restrictions on picketing, allowing no more than six picketers at the entrance to any Verizon owned property at any one time. Picketers were also advise that no more than two picketers may picket a private residence of a Verizon employee and must stay...

Verizon Communications Inc. reported a dozen cases of sabotaged cable lines and warned of delays in repairs and customer service on the second day of a strike involving about 45,000 employees. The telecommunications company said there have been 12 acts of sabotage to telephone lines and to Internet and television services in Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York since the strike began. Fiber-optic lines were intentionally cut in Tewksbury and several other municipalities on the East Coast, the company said.

Just as 45,000 of Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) wireline union workers go on strike, the ILEC reported that it had to fix at least 12 issues in four of its Northeast states since Saturday and after the strike began on Sunday night. Among the incidents were two instances of fiber cuts in the Bronx, Pomona, Farmingdale and Gilderland in New York, and stolen electronics in Cedar Grove, N.J. affected a local police department. "These acts of sabotage are reprehensible," said Verizon Chief Security Officer Mike Mason. "In addition to inconveniencing our customers, these deliberate disruptions of our network have affected hospitals,...

Verizon Communications Inc. reported a dozen cases of sabotaged cable lines and warned of delays in repairs and customer service on the second day of a strike involving 45,000 employees. The telecommunications company said there have been 12 acts of sabotage to telephone lines, Internet and television services in Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and New York since the strike began. Fiber-optic lines were intentionally cut in Tewksbury and several other cities on the East Coast, the company said. Stolen equipment in Cedar Grove, N.J. affected service to a local police department and a heat system was tampered with at a...

Went to the Verizon store in eastern PA today around 3:00. Couldn't do business because computers were down. Went home and called back about 7:45. Computers are still down and the salesperson said they were down across the entire East Coast. He hasn't been told why.

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.

The latest ComScore results from the last quarter are in, and the US mobile device wars were hotter than ever as 13% more people reported owning a smartphone. Google conquered most users' territory with Android climbing just over five percent (now totaling 36.4%) and still claiming first for mobile software platforms. Apple's iOS destroyer took second place (at 26%) partially due to RIM's S.S. BlackBerry OS sinking about five percent (now 25.7%) to claim third, while Microsoft and HP / Palm rounded out the bunch struggling to stay in the fight with even lower single-digit scores. In the OEM region...

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – US President Barack Obama named Twitter's chief and a high-ranking Microsoft executive among a handful of technology veterans to be appointed as telecommunications security advisors. "I am proud to appoint such impressive men and women to these important roles, and I am grateful they have agreed to lend their considerable talents to this administration," Obama said in a White House press release available online Friday. "I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead," he continued in reference to those he picked to join his National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. The list...

The Royal Collection has announced the launch of the first official ‘Royal App’ about royal weddings of the past, in the run-up to the forthcoming marriage of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton. The Royal Weddings app tells the story of seven royal weddings, from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840, to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in 2005. Royal Collection Apps are the latest way that the Royal Household is engaging with new media and follows the successful launch of the British Monarchy’s presence on Facebook and Flickr last year,...

Google's Android OS has gained an astonishing 7 points of market share in the US smartphone market in the past three months, Comscore says. RIM's market share over the same period collapsed, dropping almost 5 points. Apple's share increased slightly, but is dead in the water and has now fallen way behind Android. Android now has a third of the US market (33%). RIM's share has plummeted to 29%. Apple is holding at 25%. In the "also ran" category, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 did nothing to stop its decline, which fell from 9% to 7.7%. And Palm, which is barely...

Are the glory days over for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone? Market researcher IDC thinks so. In its smartphone forecast released Tuesday, IDC sees Apple’s global market share hitting a plateau of 15.7% in 2011. It sees Apple’s share of the market dipping to 15.3% by 2015. IDC predicts that Apple’s smartphone sales will grow at a compound annual rate of 18.8% from 2011 to 2015, while the overall market grows at 19.6%.

How many have heard of Nadhmi Auchi? Why are we not hearing more about him? Nadhmi Auchi was born in 1937. He is an Iraqi born British-resident and Britain's 22nd wealthiest individual. Nadhmi Auchi co-conspired with fellow Baathist Saddam Hussein in 1959 to assassinate then Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim. Rezko and Obama are both financially connected to him. MSNBC reports that Nadhmi Auchi had helped Orascom (which owns Djezzy GSM), owned by Onsi Sawiris, gain a contract to set-up mobile phone networks in post-Saddam's Iraq. As per Orascom's annual report, page 65, Huawei Technologies is listed as a subsidiary...

The US government may require cars to include scrambling tech that would disable mobile-phone use by drivers, and perhaps passengers. "I think it will be done," US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said on Wednesday morning, according to The Daily Caller. "I think the technology is there and I think you're going to see the technology become adaptable in automobiles to disable these cell phones." LaHood is on a self-described "rampage" against distracted driving, and if making it impossible to use a mobile phone while in a car can save lives, he's all for it — although, according to TDC,...

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest mobile carrier, is satisfied with its three smart-phone platforms and doesn’t need Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, the company’s chief technology officer said Wednesday.Tony Melone told CNET News that the mobile industry could use a third major operating system to join Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. But, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, he said he wasn’t sure Microsoft’s platform is the right one.“I do want a strong third OS out there,” Melone told CNET. “It gives the carriers more flexibility and balances the interests of all the parties. But I still have doubts whether...

With Verizon Wireless preparing to offer Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone starting Feb. 10, the news media have focused most of their attention on AT&T (T) iPhone users who might switch to Verizon. But a new survey shows an even bigger percentage of switchers to the Verizon iPhone coming from Verizon BlackBerry and Android users. A survey by uSamp found that 26% of current AT&T cell phone users are likely to switch to Verizon when it begins offering the iPhone.

The Egyptian government ordered all mobile telephone operators to suspend services "in selected areas" of the country, telecommunications company Vodafone said Friday. In a statement, the company said "under Egyptian legislation, the authorities have the right to issue such an order and we are obliged to comply with it." Britain-based Vodafone Group PLC is one of the largest mobile phone operator in Egypt, with more than 25 million subscribers. It said Egyptian authorities "will be clarifying the situation in due course."

| 1,755 views | 0 recommendations | 1 comment Apple (AAPL) has increased its global shipment goals for the iPhone for the calendar first quarter to 20-21 million units from 19 million units, according to DigiTimes, which citing “sources with Taiwan-based component suppliers.” The company plans to ship 14-15 million of the current version of the phone, with a target of 5-6 million units of the yet-to-be-announced CDMA version of the iPhone that is widely expected to be offered on Verizon Wireless and possibly other carriers early in 2011. The story said December quarter shipments were about 15.5 million units,...

Less than an hour after the Federal Communications Commission approved net neutrality rules, Republican lawmakers began staking their claim in the next potential leg of the debate: repeal. The first calls to roll back the FCC's new net neutrality order came Tuesday from the House's most senior Republicans: House GOP Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, as well as the incoming leaders of the chamber's top tech and telecom committees. The members each threatened to limit the agency's funds or restrict its jurisdiction in the aftermath of the FCC’s vote, with Boehner proclaiming the "new...

Judging by the leaked terms and conditions, Amazon plans to swagger into the Android world with an alternative app download store, fists a-whirling. Are they building it to co-exist with Android's Market...or for an Android-powered SuperKindle? Google isn't exactly a liberal, supportive father when manufacturers want to fool around with their open source software. They actually have some surprising restrictions—though really, they're not that surprising when you consider it's in their best interests to protect the quality of Android and thus, their future lineage.Google's potential suitor, Amazon, has been very successful with its Kindle range—so successful, in fact, that you...

The number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom TV services in the U.S. fell for the first time ever in the second quarter, according to research firm SNL Kagan. The U.S. multichannel TV market lost 216,000 customers last quarter, vs. a gain of 378,000 a year ago. The total number of subscribers to cable, satellite and telecom video fell to 100.1 million in the second quarter, SNL Kagan says.

Google Android began with the greatest of intentions — freedom, openness, and quality software for all. However, freedom always comes with price, and often results in unintended consequences. With Android, one of the most important of those unintended consequences is now becoming clear as Google gets increasingly pragmatic about the smartphone market and less and less tied to its original ideals. Here’s the dirty little secret about Android: After all the work Apple did to get AT&T to relinquish device control for the iPhone and all the great efforts Google made to get the FCC and the U.S. telecoms to...

Android fever has hit Verizon Wireless, which is reportedly preparing to launch several Android-powered devices including the Motorola Droid Pro and the LG enV Touch 2. A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman declined to confirm the phones’ release, saying “We don’t pre-announce our phones.” However, a leaked roadmap detailing the carrier’s plans for the rest of 2010 and further down the road reveal the Droid Pro may see possible release in November, as well as another Motorola device in the works that will run Android 2.2, according to website Boy Genius Report. The Droid Pro will reportedly have a 1.3 GHz CPU,...

Candidate Barack Obama told America that he believed in an open and "neutral" Internet -- one where the owners of the wires didn't get to pick and choose which applications would run on the network. Soon after Julius Genachowski was appointed as President Barack Obama's choice to head the Federal Communications Commission, he outlined a clear and ambitious plan to turn that commitment into a reality. But now Verizon and Google have struck a deal for a legislative template that would allow Verizon to be the gatekeeper for services running over its Internet Protocol pipe, and Google to be the...

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said today that about 200,000 new Android devices are now being sold daily, leading to huge growth in revenue for the search giant thanks to mobile search traffic. When asked about the recent studies showing Android outpacing the iPhone handily, Schmidt added: "People are finally beginning to figure out how successful Android is. The number was about 100,000 (a day) about two months ago. It looks like Android is not just phenomenal but incredibly phenomenal in its growth rate. God knows how long that will continue." While Google does not directly gain revenue from Android...

I know this is going to piss off some Android lovers out there but the story has to be told nonetheless. Feel free to flame this post but it will not stop me from reporting news that might put some dents to DROID/Milestone or any other gadgets in the future. Read on to find out more about those common gripes or complaints about DROID/Milestone, Motorola’s Android 2.0-powered smart phone.

What the numbers say Android’s market share grew by an amazing 886% in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the second quarter of 2009. And as exciting as that sounds, it was pretty much to be expected. Back in Q2 2009 Android had 2.8% of the smartphone market. You can only go up from such a measly number, basically. This time last year, Android was on just over a million of the handsets sold. And almost all of those sales were made up by the HTC Dream/G1. Android 1.5 was released during that second quarter of 2009, but by...

Google's Android OS is still showing excellent growth in smartphone market share, actually topping Apple's iPhone in new purchases for the first half of 2010, according to market researcher, Nielsen. In the first six months of 2010, Google gained 27% of new phone purchases, bettering the iPhone's 23%, but still trailing Blackberry's 33% market share. The Apple iPhone is still the most desired smartphone for future purchases, ahead of both Google and Blackberry.

It's happening, Apple! Google's free and open-source Android operating system shot past its competitors last quarter to become the top-selling U.S. smartphone OS, according to research firm Canalys. Android accounted for 34% of the 14.7 million smartphones sold in the U.S. last quarter, while RIM was 32.1% of the market and Apple was 21.7%, Canalys estimates. That's a huge victory for Google, which was zero two years ago. Yes, Apple's iPhone 4 didn't launch until the very end of the quarter, and Q3 should be bigger for Apple. But the fact that Google is anywhere near Apple's market share --...

Speculation that India is targeting telecom equipment imports from China over security concerns was highlighted again after an Indian newspaper recently released a "blacklist" of temporarily banned telecom firms, nearly all of them from China, which contradicts the Indian government's repeated denials. Both the Indian and Chinese governments declined to confirm the report to the Global Times Thursday. Indian's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said that it was not aware of the reported blacklist. China's Ministry of Commerce said it needed to confirm the report and the Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office of the Chinese embassy in India acknowledged that it...

Are you considering an Android phone. A friend who has a Verizon phone came up to me last week and said that the Verizon Incredible is basically the same as the Sprint Evo. Here are some things to consider: Why Sprint Evo surpasses Verizon Incredible Evo has 4.3" screen vs. 3.7" screen. Evo has 1Gig Rom vs. 0.75Gig Rom (3/4 the size of Evo). Evo is 4G and Incredible is not! Evo comes with 8Gig Micro SD card, Incredible nothing. Evo has 50% higher Video Recording resolution. Evo has front facing camera, "Incredible" doesn't. Evo uses micro HDMI out cable,...

This is for my wife. She's got to upgrade to a 4 gig Iphone (or some such) that has, among other things, email capability. She/we will thus have to have unlimited phone calls, unlimited texting and graphics/pictures, and internet/email. At the present we have AT&T but have to pay extra for texting, pictures and email. What companies/plans would you recommend? thanx so much.

* Google's Android OS in 28 pct of U.S. smartphones in Q1 * Apple U.S. iPhone share 21 pct in Q1 * Research in Motion retains No. 1 rank with 36 pct share SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O) displaced iPhone maker Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to become the second most popular provider of smartphone software in the United States during the first quarter, the latest sign of the increasing competition in the fast-growing mobile market. Smartphones featuring Google's Android operating system accounted for 28 percent of U.S. smartphone unit sales in the first quarter according to NPD...

Here is the story.. I'm looking to get a decent cell phone provider that is good, have excellent phones, and be used in overseas. Right now I have a pay go phone (I used to have trash mobile but long story) and I can't use it globally.. I did ask companies like Boost and Cricket and they can't be used overseas. Out of the 3 which of would you recommend??

NEW DELHI — India has banned telecom equipment from China citing national security reasons, heightening trade tensions between the two Asian economic giants. In a recent order, the government has told mobile operators not to import any network equipment manufactured by Chinese vendors such as Huawei and ZTE. Indian officials say the ban was prompted by concerns that Chinese telecom equipment could have spyware or malicious software - known as "malware" - embedded in it which could give Chinese intelligence agencies access to telecom networks in India. Under strict new conditions, Indian telecom companies will have to get a security...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - AT&T Inc said on Friday it would record a $1 billion non-cash charge for the current quarter related to the new U.S. health care reform law, as lawmakers called on the company and three other large employers to testify about expected cost hikes. AT&T's charge appeared to be the largest in a series of charges announced by U.S. companies this week. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee said on Friday it will call on the chief executives of AT&T, Caterpillar , Verizon and Deere to testify on April 21 about how the reform might adversely affect...

Health Reform: As major businesses lay out the impact of ObamaCare in dollars and jobs, two things are clear: the costs will be enormous, and the president's vow to focus on "jobs, jobs, jobs" can no longer be believed. Early returns on ObamaCare are coming in, and they belie proponents' claims of job creation and cost reduction. The costs will increase. They are merely being shifted to the states and to America's businesses, large and small. AT&T, the country's largest telephone company, announced Friday it will take a $1 billion first-quarter charge related to the new health care law. The...

AT&T said Friday that it is preparing for President Obama's health care overhaul to cost the telecommunications giant an additional $1 billion in expenses in the first quarter, possibly forcing the company to cut benefits it offers to current and retired workers. AT&T is the latest and biggest company to account for the financial impact that the health care overhaul will have on its bottom line. It said the tax ramifications related to the legislation that Obama signed Tuesday will force it to take a non-cash charge -- an expense that does not require cash to be paid out but...

AT&T Inc. will take a $1 billion non-cash charge in the first quarter because of the health care overhaul and may cut benefits it offers to current and retired workers. The charge is the largest disclosed so far. Earlier this week, AK Steel Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Deere & Co. and Valero Energy announced similar accounting charges, saying the health care law that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday will raise their expenses

NEW YORK – AT&T Inc. said Friday it will take a $1 billion non-cash charge in the first quarter related to the health care overhaul. AT&T's charge is the largest announced so far. Earlier this week, AK Steel Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Deere & Co. and Valero Energy announced similar accounting charges, saying the health care law that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday will raise their expenses. AT&T said the charge is to reflect the change of the tax treatment of Medicare subsidies. Companies say the health care overhaul will make a subsidy that companies receive for retiree drug coverage taxable...

AT&T Inc. plans to take a noncash $1 billion charge in the first quarter in anticipating the impact of changes brought by the nation's health-care overhaul. AT&T follows Deere & Co., Caterpillar Inc. and AK Steel Holding Corp. in taking the one-time charge. The companies are taking the charges now even though the impact of the health-care law won't be felt until 2013.

"...Even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a generation ago are ambiguous at best. On Friday, the first federal appeals court to consider the topic will hear oral arguments (PDF) in a case that could establish new standards for locating wireless devices. In that case, the Obama administration has argued that warrantless tracking is permitted because Americans enjoy no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their--or at least their cell phones'--whereabouts. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that "a customer's Fourth...

Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the "Scarecrow Bandits" that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves. FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding to what their cellular towers had recorded at the time of a dozen different bank robberies in the Dallas area. The voluminous records showed that two phones had made calls around the time of all 12 heists, and that those phones belonged to men named Tony Hewitt and Corey Duffey. A jury eventually...

The Justice Department is poised this week to publicly defend a little-known law-enforcement practice that critics say may be the "sleeper" privacy issue of the 21st century: the collection of cell-phone "tracking" records that identify the physical locations where the phones have been. It may come as a surprise to most of the owners of the country's 277 million cell phones, but their cell-phone company retains records of where their device has been at all times—either because the phones have tiny GPS devices embedded inside or because each phone call is routed through towers that can be used to pinpoint...

Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the "Scarecrow Bandits" that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves. FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding to what their cellular towers had recorded at the time of a dozen different bank robberies in the Dallas area. The voluminous records showed that two phones had made calls around the time of all 12 heists, and that those phones belonged to men named Tony Hewitt and Corey Duffey. A jury eventually...

Last week was the final straw for Bruce Bethke and his family. His wife, Karen, answered the phone, and it was a collections call from T-Mobile, demanding payment on the cell phone account of her stepdaughter, Emily Bethke. She burst into tears and told the agent what the family, in increasing irritation mixed with their sorrow, had been telling T-Mobile for months: Emily is dead.....