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Don't be fooled by the AT&T F160's plain-Jane appearance. It may not cost you a cent when you sign up for a new two-year contract with AT&T, but this isn't the sorry, underpowered clump of electronics you might expect a carrier to throw you gratis.

Instead, you'll find a quite decent cell phone that's perfect for making calls. A very responsive dial pad makes texting painless. This is one phone that definitely grew on us the more we used it. The F160 isn't without its flaws, but it's a … Read more

Verizon Wireless is beefing up its service in and around New York City.

The carrier announced today that it has added 16 new sites around the Big Apple, including one in the city. Verizon customers in Yonkers, Bronxville, and other locations can also take advantage of the improved service. The cell sites will provide better access to the company's 3G network, Verizon said.

"It is important for our customers to know that we are also committed to holding our position as the most reliable 3G network in the nation," Verizon's New York Metro region president, Pat … Read more

Verizon Wireless obviously wants the iPhone, but it will pay a hefty price to get it.

Speaking to several industry analysts, Bloomberg found that Verizon could pay billions of dollars this year in subsidies.

According to UBS analyst John Hodulik, Verizon could sell 13 million iPhone units this year and subsidize each device by $400. Overall, that could mean Verizon will pay $5.2 billion in subsidies.

Barclays analyst James Ratcliffe told Bloomberg that he isn't as bullish on iPhone sales. He expects Verizon to sell about 9 million iPhones and subsidize the smartphone at $350, forcing the company … Read more

For those waiting for a Verizon iPhone, the wait may not be much longer. Citing a person familiar with Apple's plans "who isn't authorized to discuss them publicly," Bloomberg has been reporting that Apple will "probably" introduce a Verizon iPhone after next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But what's interesting about the latest articles is that analysts are already predicting the number of AT&T customers who will defect to Verizon for its new iPhone.

The estimates range from 1 million to 6 million moving from AT&T … Read more

If you're thinking of picking up a simple cell phone for yourself or someone else, the relatively new AT&T F160 can be yours for free with a two-year service agreement.

The ZTE-made F160 (it sounds like a Ford truck, doesn't it?) has some nice midrange features. It's a 3G world phone with Bluetooth 2.0. There's a 3-megapixel camera with camcorder,  mobile e-mail, instant messaging, and AT&T's Mobile Music service. There's also AT&T's stock browser and other bundled aps like Yahoo Mobile.

The 2.4-inch QVGA … Read more

The ZTE-manufactured AT&T R225, is a prepaid, entry-level Go Phone. Design, price, and call quality are the handset's biggest strengths. To that end, this isn't a bad phone for making calls.

However, its feature set tends toward the anorexic. Mobile e-mail and IM are surprise options, but ZTE has overlooked basics like Bluetooth and a volume rocker, two important fundamentals for a phone best-suited for callers. Still, it's a good buy for some people.

Read more, listen to call quality, and see photos of the phone's very nice design in our hands-on review.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Mozilla is considering building a do-not-track feature into Firefox

News Corp. is thinking about selling off MySpace

Panasonic is getting closer to launching its portable gaming system, the Jungle

AT&T adds HBO and Cinemax streaming access to its U-Verse service

Microsoft may be seeking to compete with Netflix for streaming video

The Facebook application that claims to show you who is viewing your profile is a scam

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

The makers of FarmVille are set to launch CityVille

Apple had to battle Amazon and Google for rights to The Beatles' music

AT&T has a MiFi wireless router now too, catching up to the other major carriers

You can now edit Google Docs on a mobile device

Google makes peace with book publisher Hachette Livre in France with an agreement to scan and sell digital books

A Japanese vending machine uses facial recognition to recommend a drink based on demographics

GetJar's mobile app store is now available in AT&T's AppCenter.

Upon downloading the application, AT&T customers can access the company's more than 75,000 applications. GetJar's store has several top titles, led by internationally beloved game, Angry Birds. GetJar also added the Shazam music app to its service yesterday. Apps downloaded from GetJar can be delivered to devices running Symbian, Android, and RIM's BlackBerry OS, among others.

Reuters reports that GetJar's store is available on about 50 different phones sold by AT&T, including BlackBerry smartphones and its "… Read more