Starting on July the 10th, AT&T customers who’ve had their iPhone, Android, or any other smartphone stolen will be able to take action in a way that’s totally new to the carrier. AT&T is currently near ready to launch a stolen phone database with which they’ll be able to cut out voice, data, and SMS messaging from devices reported stolen while maintaining their overall account. This service will be spreading to other carriers soon as AT&T and Verizon, amongst others, have agreed to be part of an FCC pact to make this database a reality.
This database of stolen devices will eventually be working on at least the top four carriers in the United States, while starting in under a week here in the summer of 2012, it’ll be started up on AT&T first. Lockdowns will supposedly occur basically instantaneously once a theft is reported, but the possibility that users will then later be able to unlock the device should they recover them remains unknown.
An AT&T spokesperson spread the message thusly earlier today:
“As announced in April, AT&T is creating a stolen phone database to prevent devices reported stolen from accessing wireless network. We will install this availability next week for AT&T phones on our network and are working toward a cross-carrier solution later this year.” – AT&T
Check out the timeline below to see other recent FCC activity to keep up to date with all of their dealings – and watch out, villains, you’re about to get locked down on.
Stolen AT&T smartphones get lockdown sequence is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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If you’re a fan of portable speakers like the 
The folks over at the FCC must have a pretty fun job, putting numerous devices through their paces each day in order to make sure those devices are ready for action in living rooms and homes across the country. The Eluga Live tablet from Panasonic was caught in the past, where it was slated for a NTT DoCoMo release, but somehow or rather, it seems that this little tablet managed to make its way across the Pacific, arriving at the FCC’s doorsteps, hence allowing us to be privy to its internal specifications.
We already know that the next PlayStation won’t be appearing anytime soon, but it looks like we have more evidence to support the fact. A new PlayStation 3 model has been recently spotted on the FCC ratings website showing us that there still is a lot of life left in the current generation Sony console. Other than its codename, CECH-4000, no other details about the console have been revealed, and we can’t really tell much from the released diagrams. However, the label is in a different place on the PlayStation 3, which means it should be a different model. Perhaps the previously rumored “slimmer” PS3? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. What do you think the CECH-4000 PlayStation 3 is going to be like?
The FCC can be said to be the final pit stop right before a particular device is ready to be released to the mass market, but sometimes, even when it has gained approval, it still did not make it to the market simply for reasons that are better known to the company itself. Well, the Acer Iconia Tab A120 which was first seen at Computex just in June last month was touted to offer a Q3 release date, but beyond that, nothing else was announced. I guess this 10″ tablet has finally gained approval from the FCC, which means it should be able to make its way to stores sooner instead of later. To know what else is available underneath the hood, it seems that we will need to check out whether there are any more filings down the road. Perhaps Santa will arrive a little bit early and give us something to bite on? Are you looking forward to this particular tablet that runs on Android, or do you prefer something from Apple?
