Mobile

AT&T reportedly begins wide cellular support for FaceTime

AT&T appears to have quietly begun rolling out nationwide support for Apple's FaceTime videoconferencing app for iPhone on its cellular network.

While AT&T has made no official announcement about beginning a nationwide rollout, the move would be a major step toward fulfilling a promise it made in May that its LTE customers would be able to use video chat apps from Apple, Samsung, and BlackBerry over the AT&T network by mid-June.

Customers of the wireless service in New York, Maryland, Georgia, Louisiana, California, and Hawaii tell AppleInsider that they have verified activation of … Read more

Sprint sues Dish, Clearwire to prevent $6B takeover bid

Sprint Nextel has filed a lawsuit against Dish Network and Clearwire seeking to prevent Dish's takeover of the wireless broadband provider.

The No. 3 wireless carrier filed a lawsuit Monday against the two companies in Delaware Court of Chancery, alleging that Dish's tender offer violates the rights of Sprint and Clearwire's shareholders and the laws of the state of Delaware. The lawsuit seeks to prevent Clearwire from accepting Dish's tender offer, as well as other injunctive and compensatory relief.

"Dish has repeatedly attempted to fool Clearwire's shareholders into believing its proposal was actionable in … Read more

Ex-HTC execs can't quit phone game, create startup Kazam

Two former HTC executives are hoping for a fresh start with their own company.

Michael Coombes, former head of U.K. sales at HTC, and James Atkins, former U.K. marketing head for the company, said on Monday that they are launching smartphone manufacturer Kazam. The two executives are promising smartphones that are about "stunning design, robust hardware, and intuitive technology, underpinned with improved customer service. Kazam will focus on the European market.

Coombes will serve as CEO, while Atkins will be the chief marketing officer. The two executives left HTC in March, part of an exodus of several … Read more

Apple's Eddy Cue: Steve Jobs was confused in his e-mails

NEW YORK -- An e-mail from late Apple CEO Steve Jobs about e-book deal terms is no smoking gun, just a confused draft of a message, said a high-level Apple executive Monday during the e-books antitrust trial.

Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of software and services, testified that he never received an email from Jobs that said publishers would have to change their e-book sales terms with Amazon in order to reach an agreement with Apple. Cue said he didn't receive any of the four other drafts of the message, either.

Furthermore, Cue said there's no … Read more

Apple holds a quarter of e-book market, Eddy Cue says

NEW YORK -- Apple sells about a quarter of all e-books in the market, a high-level executive at the electronics giant said Monday.

Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of software and services, estimated that Apple holds a 25 percent share of the market, about on par with Barnes & Noble. He noted the two companies often flip the ranking, with Barnes & Noble sometimes having a higher share than Apple.

"I believe it's close," Cue said in his testimony Monday during Apple's e-book pricing trial. "At different times, we go back and forth.&… Read more

Possible Nokia EOS smartphone for AT&T clears FCC

A new phone model named Nokia RM-877 recently spied at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Web site suggests that AT&T could be among the first carriers to offer the rumored Nokia EOS smartphone.

Details in the FCC documents indicate that the mysterious device features NFC, Bluetooth, dual-band Wi-Fi, and support for AT&T's LTE network through its 4G bands.

A diagram accompanying the filing shows a handset that measures 130.35 x 71.4mm, a shade larger than the Nokia Lumia 925.

Additional information gleaned from the listing show the device as having been tested with … Read more

AT&T's Samsung Galaxy Note 8 LTE sells for $400, $200 bundle

Starting Friday, LTE-hungry tablet buyers will be able to swoop in on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet from AT&T.

With a new two-year service agreement, the 1.6GHz quad-core Android Jelly Bean device sells for $399.99, not including the monthly data connection.

That's a fairly steep price for those on the fence about choosing a smaller slate over a larger one, which is presumably why AT&T will kick off sales with a $199.99 sticker price when you also buy a new smartphone.

Catch all the pros, cons, and even more in CNET'… Read more

Sprint expands LTE footprint by 22 markets

Sprint confirmed on Monday that another 22 markets have officially started seeing the network's 4G LTE data speeds.

With the addition of nearly two dozen new areas, Sprint's LTE footprint now reaches 110 markets across the United States.

The new markets are: 

Baton Rouge, La. Centralia, Wash. Clarksville, Tenn. Corsicana, Texas Dalton, Ga. Dunn, N.C. Fond du Lac, Wis. Gainesville, Fla. Henderson, N.C. Kingsport, Tenn. Lansing/East Lansing, Mich. Longview, Wash. Miami Napa, Calif. New Orleans Palatka, Fla. Raleigh, N.C. Sebring, Fla. St. Cloud, Minn. St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, Mich. Tampa, Fla. Warsaw, Ind. … Read more

AT&T's 4G LTE wins award for 'fastest mobile network'

AT&T has been crowned the leading mobile network provider in a new study from PC Magazine.

The news outlet on Monday posted the results of its mobile network research to determine which company -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon -- had the fastest speeds in the United States. PC Magazine, which analyzed results across 30 cities, found that AT&T had the top 4G LTE network with average download speeds of 16.7 megabits per second and average upload speeds exceeding 7.4 megabits per second.

Although Verizon and AT&T are considered the … Read more