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T-Mobile’s whole “uncarrier” thing, an occasional series of events where CEO John Legere gets on a stage and puts down his cellular competition, has been going on for a few years now. But for its tenth event, T-Mo went big. Say goodbye to video streaming nomming away your data.We had a feeling this was coming, and Legere just confirmed things during an event in LA, describing the move as “disrupting the scam” that is cellular data. It works a lot like Music Freedom, which T-Mobile introduced in June last year. It works with 24 different services including Netflix, HBO, Hulu,...

EXCLUSIVE: Tech company which maintained Hillary's secret server was sued for 'illegally accessing' database and 'stealing White House military advisers' phone numbers' The Internet company used by Hillary Clinton to maintain her private server was sued for stealing dozens of phone lines including some which were used by the White House. Platte River Networks is said to have illegally accessed the master database for all US phone numbers. It also seized 390 lines in a move that created chaos across the US government. Among the phone numbers which the company took - which all suddenly stopped working - were lines...

A coalition of dozens of former AT&T business partners are raising alarms about the telecom giant's past cooperation with the National Security Agency (NSA), which could pose problems for its $48.5 billion merger with DirecTV.AT&T violated privacy laws by voluntarily handing over to the spy agency data about Americans' phone and Internet communications in the years after Sept. 11, 2001, critics told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a letter late on Wednesday.In light of that cooperation, they urged the FCC to think carefully about approving the merger with DirecTV. If it does, they want the agency to require AT&T to enact...

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd unveiled its latest Galaxy S smartphones, featuring a slim body made from aircraft-grade metal, in a bid to reclaim the throne of undisputed global smartphone leader from Apple Inc. Designed from scratch in an operation dubbed "Project Zero", the Galaxy S6 and its curved-edges variant are critical for Samsung's plans to reverse plunging smartphone revenues that led to its first annual earnings fall in three years in 2014. A warm initial reception sent Samsung shares rising as much as 3.9 percent on Monday to their highest in nearly nine months. Some technology publications described...

An Ubuntu-powered smartphone is coming to the market a year and a half after a previous attempt to launch a model via crowdfunding failed.The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu edition relies on a card-like user interface that is not focused on apps. Unlike the original proposal, the handset does not become a desktop PC when plugged into a monitor. It is initially being targeted at "early adopters", who developers hope will become advocates for the platform. The British company Canonical, which developed the Linux-based operating system, said it hoped to emulate the success of Chinese companies including Xiaomi with its launch...

After years of failing to do much more than embarrass Samsung Electronics in legal battles over patent infringement, Apple has rapidly obliterated Samsung's mobile division profitability, rendering it as barrenly unprofitable as every other Android or Windows licensee with razor thin margins in the phone, PC and tablet market. Samsung's collapse in profits caused by Apple, not Xiaomi While Apple's critics might prefer to credit Xiaomi for Samsung's decline, the South Korean giant's plummeting profitability is not due to a major drop in its low priced, high volume phones and tablets but rather an implosion of Samsung's profitable, high end...

“Eight years ago, on January 9, 2007 to be exact, the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco to introduce the first iPhone. “Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone,” Jobs proclaimed. Jobs wasn’t overstating the impact of his announcement. The iPhone, like the Mac and iPod, redefined the category. It was the world’s first modern smartphone and it became the template for wannabes the world over. The smartphone revolution started by the iPhone has put a powerful computer into the hands of billions of people worldwide. Steve Jobs’ iPhone unveiling...

Telecom Sector Shoots Higher On Unprecedented Windstream Announcement

(Regarding Cellphones) The Supreme Court has handed down a unanimous decision in Riley v. California, and it's good news for digital privacy advocates. The Court decided that once someone is arrested, the police may not search the person's phone without a warrant. The ruling stated that "the term 'cell phone' is often misleading in shorthand; many of these devices are in fact miniature computers that also happen to have the capacity to be used as a telephone. They could just as easily be called cameras, video players, rolodexes, calendars, tape recorders, libraries, diaries, albums, televisions, maps, or newspapers." Before just...

As head of a Chesapeake defense contracting firm, Roderic Smith thought he had to "pay to play." He thought bribery was all part of the government contracting game. "The pattern and amounts of payments were very formulaic and routine," his lawyers said in a court filing. The scheme "was a scheduled system to provide continuous access to compete and win contracts." Smith would learn that this was not routine, but when he tried to get out, he was extorted by a co-defendant to stay in. It went on for more than eight years before federal authorities stopped it. Smith, 50,...

Just the latest in John Legere's history of madcap soundbites T-Mobile CEO John Legere is hardly known for speaking delicately, but his most recent outburst, at a Wednesday press event, might take the proverbial profanity cake. Business Insider reports that Legere had harsh words for competitors AT&T and Verizon. “These high and mighty duopolists that are raping you for every penny you have,” he said. “The f—ers hate you.”

In light of the ongoing net neutrality battle, many people have begun looking to Google and its promise of high-speed fiber as a potential saving grace from companies that want to create an "internet fast lane." Well, the fact is, even without Google, many communities and cities throughout the country are already wired with fiber—they just don't let their residents use it. The reasons vary by city, but in many cases, the reason you can't get gigabit internet speeds—without the threat of that service being provided by a company that wants to discriminate against certain types of traffic—is because of the giant...

Full Title: iPhone users are disappointed with the iOS 7.1 software update that's draining their batteries, erasing their contacts, and flipping their keyboards With every new I-phone software update comes the potential for problems and the iOS 7.1 released on Monday is no exception. Customer's say it's killing their phone batteries among other pesky glitches. The iOS7.1 is the first major update to Apple's newest operating systems for iPhones and iPads and the apple community is lamenting poor battery charges, disappearing contacts, bad Bluetooth connections, keyboards oriented the wrong way, and the list goes on, reports the Huffington Post.

[Samsung] spent an estimated $20 million on ads to run during breaks in the Academy Awards broadcast on Sunday night. But Samsung may have got more promotional mileage from Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres during the show itself. Ms. DeGeneres toyed with a white Samsung phone during the broadcast, including when she handed a Galaxy Note 3 to actor Bradley Cooper so he could take a "selfie" photo of himself and other stars including Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Lawrence surrounding the host. While the stunt felt spontaneous, it wasn't entirely unplanned. As part of its sponsorship and...

The TV business is having its worst year ever. Audience ratings have collapsed: Aside from a brief respite during the Olympics, there has been only negative ratings growth on broadcast and cable TV since September 2011, according to Citi Research. Media stock analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson recently noted, "The pay-TV industry has reported its worst 12-month stretch ever." All the major TV providers lost a collective 113,000 subscribers in Q3 2013. That doesn't sound like a huge deal — but it includes internet subscribers, too. Broadband internet was supposed to benefit from the end of cable TV, but...

Just one major telecommunications company refused to participate in a legally dubious NSA surveillance program in 2001. A few years later, its CEO was indicted by federal prosecutors. He was convicted, served four and a half years of his sentence and was released this month. Prosecutors claim Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio was guilty of insider trading, and that his prosecution had nothing to do with his refusal to allow spying on his customers without the permission of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. But to this day, Nacchio insists that his prosecution was retaliation for refusing to break the law on...

Apple announced that it sold over 9 million iPhones during the opening weekend of sales. This is much better than analysts expected. Analysts were forecasting 5 million at the low end, and 7.75 million at the high end. The stock is up ~6% on the news. Last year Apple sold 5 million iPhone 5s during the opening weekend, so this is a huge increase. The new iPhone drew huge, enthusiastic crowds and long lines when it was released last Friday, despite the fact that there were no external changes to the device. Part of the reason there were big lines...

Sprint also now free to move forward on Clearwire share snap-up The $21.6bn acquisition of Sprint by Japan's SoftBank is now a go: as expected from rumors earlier this week, the FCC has ruled unanimously to approve it. "Today is a good day for all Americans who use mobile broadband services," acting FCC chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said in a statement accompanying the lengthy ruling. "After thorough review, the Commission has found that the proposed Softbank-Sprint-Clearwire transactions would serve the public interest." Clyburn expressed her opinion that the merger would be "likely" to speed mobile broadband roll-out, enhance competition and innovation,...

Not only is Big Brother President Obama watching you, he’s going to start messaging you if you own an iPhone with AT&T service. AT&T subscribers with an iPhone 4S or 5 using iOS 6.1 or higher are going to start getting presidential alerts on matters of “national importance” whether you want them or not. As part of AT&T’s new Wireless Emergency Alerts, once a user updates their operating system, AMBER and Emergency alerts are automatically sent to the phone. However . . .

FYI....Verizon's Privacy Policy regarding information shared outside of the Verizon Family of Companies.