at&t

AT&T defends plan to detect customers' Net piracy

WASHINGTON--An AT&T executive on Wednesday sought to defuse fears that forthcoming tools aimed at identifying pirates on its network will harm the average Net surfer's online experience.

The planned tactic is "not about heavy-handed tactics that go after the vast majority of our customers that want to consume content legally," AT&T assistant vice president of regulatory policy Brent Olson said at an antipiracy summit here hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "It's about making more content available to more people in more ways going forward."

In June, AT&T announced that it was collaborating … Read more

Episode 574: Ripping is stealing

iPhone bricking: I blame AT&T

After a while with my newly dehacked iPhone, I'm left with Tap Tap Revolution withdrawal, many fewer icons and a loss of some of the features I had come to appreciate from my iPhone.

Could you say I'm bitter? Perhaps. But what may surprise you is that I've had a bit of a change of heart. (In my pre-update post), I told you that if Apple decided to brick iPhones and disrupt hacks, it will have single-handedly destroyed its ability to maintain its post as the world's most influential tech company.

But after analyzing the update that actually came out, I don't blame Apple anymore. Instead, I blame AT&T for forcing Apple to do something that it has never done before and effectively become the bad guy while AT&T laughs its way to the bank.

Shame on you, AT&T.… Read more

Democrats quiz telecom companies about spy program role

More than a year has passed since reports surfaced that certain major U.S. telephone companies had granted government spies access to customer records as part of a Bush administration warrantless wiretapping program. Now a congressional committee has decided to investigate those claims.

The Democratic leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters on Tuesday to AT&T, Verizon and Qwest Communications International posing a detailed set of questions about their procedures for supplying records in response to government demands. Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.), telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and oversight … Read more

Episode 572: AT&T, your world, censored

Apple: Next iPhone update could break unlocked phones

Apple issued a statement Monday afternoon warning users of unlocked iPhones that the next software update it ships will probably break their phones.

It's not clear how many people have unlocked their iPhone to run on networks other than AT&T's, but there has definitely been some interest among early adopters who want no part of AT&T's network. Most of those folks were always operating under the assumption that Apple might relock their iPhones with future software updates, but were they expecting Apple to actually disable the phone?

"Apple has discovered that many … Read more

AT&T suspends parental control service

AT&T confirmed Monday that it has suspended a new service that lets parents limit usage on their kids' cell phones after the company realized that there was a potential issue with 911 emergency services.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday that the "Smart Limits" service, which was launched on September 4, has been temporarily suspended. Smart Limits is a new parental control service that allows parents to restrict phone calls to and from their kids' phones during certain times of day. This feature allowed parents to limit or block cell phone use on their children'… Read more

LG CE110 on AT&T

We spotted the LG CE110 on AT&T's site today, and it looks to be a pretty basic camera phone offering.

It has a VGA camera, Bluetooth, e-mail and multimedia messaging--but not much else.

Still, for the unbeatable price of free with a two-year service agreement, we can't complain too much.

The LG CE110 appears to be available now from AT&T's site.

Is Steve Jobs really smarter than anyone else?

With Apple announcing its entry into the European cell phone market on Tuesday on the back of O2, the United Kingdom has officially rejoiced at the possibility of having the iPhone that Americans have been coveting for so long.

But amid the excitement and hype, everyone seemed to gloss over one important fact from yesterday's announcement: Apple's iPhone business model is second to none, and Steve Jobs really is smarter than the rest of the world.

The new deal with O2 highlighted two interesting points: first off, O2, much like AT&T, is more than happy to share revenue with Apple. Secondly, it displayed the naivete of O2 to actually believe that Apple will stand by it through thick and thin. Hasn't O2 watched any of the iPhone-unlocking news hitting the wire in the past few weeks? Steve Jobs doesn't care about O2; he only cares about profits. And with this new deal, Great Britain may become the best profit center Apple has ever seen.… Read more

Give me my credit! Apple's $100 iPhone credit arrives

And, after the week Steve Jobs promised, the $100 credit comes to fruition. And, via text. Just click this link and the rest, after entering your phone number and serial number is handled via SMS text. It's pretty fast - I got my access code within 30 seconds! Paperless (unless you want to use it at physical retail store, in which case it'll print). Slick. Now, iPod classic or Apple care? Hrmmmm.