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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...

Hello FReepers, Would anyone mind giving a step-by-step on how to edit the APN (or any other settings) on an iPhone (3GS w/iOS 4.1) to run on TMobile's network? The phone has been jailbroken and unlocked; I talk on it and can get on the internet with it via WiFi. Being a TMobile customer, it won't run 3G, so I need to run it with EDGE, which I want to set up. Thank you very much!

Honolulu police shut down the Ala Kapuna off-ramp along Moanalua Freeway Honolulu-bound for about two hours this afternoon to investigate a suspicious vehicle that may contain explosives, police dispatch reported.

"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 —...

While rumors of a possible Verizon-compatible iPhone in 2010 persist, one analyst has predicted that Apple will instead bring the iPhone to another GSM-based carrier in the U.S.: T-Mobile. In a note to investors released this week, Doug Reid of Thomas Weisel Partners said his firm believes that T-Mobile, and not Verizon, will be the beneficiary when Apple's exclusive agreement with AT&T expires next year... AT&T's exclusive contract with Apple for the iPhone is due to expire in 2010... While the iPhone in its current iteration is compatible with T-Mobile's network, it is not capable of connecting to its high-speed...

A server meltdown over the weekend wiped out the master copies of personal data -- including address books, calendars, to-do lists and photos -- accumulated by users of T-Mobile's formerly popular Sidekick smartphone. This computing calamity allows Sidekick owners only a faint hope of backing up the information currently on their devices, and none of recovering anything they'd trusted to online storage. And it leaves T-Mobile and the operator of the Sidekick's data service, a Microsoft subsidiary formerly known as Danger Inc. -- oh, the irony! -- with serious explaining to do. A statement on T-Mobile's site phrased things a...

Users of the Sidekick, a popular mobile device, lost ther contacts, calendar items and photos because of a Microsoft server failure, according to MocoNews. T-Mobile, which sells the device, notified Sidekick users on Friday after a week of problems, MocoNews said. The Sidekick belongs to Danger, a subsidiary of Microsoft, and the public failure is a blow to Microsoft as the company is trying to building up its reputation as a mobile player. The company recently launched a line of Windows Phones, which runs the latest Windows Mobile 6.5 software, and has been panned by many critics.

... Williams said he attempted to use the man’s cell phone signal to locate him, but the man was behind on his phone bill and the Verizon operator refused to connect the signal unless the sheriff’s department agreed to pay the overdue bill. After some disagreement, Williams agreed to pay $20 on the phone bill in order to find the man. But deputies discovered the man just as Williams was preparing to make arrangements for the payment. ... “I was more concerned for the person’s life,” Williams said. “It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his...

When Google announced the Open Handset Alliance (a group of wireless industry players looking to get their names associated with Google's Android open mobile platform project), true open-source smartphones were a great idea that seemed far from commercial realization. This will change on October 22, when the T-Mobile G1 – the product of an exclusive partnership among T-Mobile, Google, and Asian handset manufacturer HTC -- becomes the first shipping mobile device based on the Android platform. The Android platform is open source -- Google has committed to publishing the source code for the entire platform, not just an application-level SDK....

The first smartphone based on Google's Android marries a sophisticated HTC handset with software features that outmaneuver iPhone On October 22, T-Mobile will reap the benefits of its founding membership in the Open Handset Alliance. Through an exclusive partnership with Google and Asian handset manufacturer HTC, the T-Mobile G1 will become the first shipping mobile device based on the Android platform. Google and company have worked hard to make the T-Mobile G1 both affordable and easy to use. And while it's too soon to know how far developers will take the open source Android platform, we now know what to...

Victor may be excited about HTC's upcoming Windows Mobile phone, but I'm far more curious about a model that will run on Google's Android operating system. The stars all seem to be lining up just in time for a major launch, rumored to be slated for Oct. 17. Google is finally finishing work on the operating system itself, and although developers say Google is a pain to work with, they also report that the platform's deep integration of GPS, Internet and search technology makes it a powerful platform for exciting software. T-Mobile, meanwhile, should be offering 3G service in 21...

Bellevue, WA (AHN) - T-Mobile USA is suing popular coffee chain Starbucks Corp. for allowing AT&T to provide customers free Wi-Fi access using T-Mobile's lines and equipment. The company is accusing Starbucks of breach of contract, interference and unfair competition. In its complaint filed June 5 in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan., T-Mobile said Starbucks' deal with AT&T is in violation of a contract that gives T-Mobile exclusive Wi-Fi Internet access rights to at Starbucks until Jan. 4, 2009. "The conduct of Starbucks has caused T-Mobile monetary damages and such damages will continue should Starbucks continue its breaching...

Excerpts translated from Swedish: Eleven years ago Bjarne Riis was the hero of all of Denmark when he won the Tour de France bicycling event. This Friday Riis admitted that he had cheated using blood doping. [Actually not - but he used epo. SB] ..... The Dane said he was not a worthy winner of the Tour in 1996. He also said that he had used doping preparations between 1993 - 1998. This is just the last in a row of recent admissions by former top cyclists that they have used performance enhancing drugs. On Thursady Riis's former team-mate Erik...

(CBS4) BOSTON -- Picking a cell phone service can be pretty confusing. They all offer deep discounts and big promises but which one will really work when you need it? Consumer Reports just tested the biggest cell phone service. It's an ongoing battle. Cell companies are going head to head claiming to be the best. Rosalind Tordesillas says a recent survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center shows one in four people are looking to change their cell service providers. The survey asked almost 43,000 subscribers in 20 major cities about the five major carriers. "Poor phone service, like...