Hasta La Gadget!

You heard right. Bloomberg is reporting that the United States government (!) just filed court papers in Washington, D.C. to block the much ballyhooed tie-up between AT&T and T-Mobile USA. Oddly enough, T-Mobile and AT&T promised this morning that a total of 5,000 jobs would be hand delivered to the US if the two telcos were allowed to become one, but it’ll take a heck of a lot more convincing now. For what it’s worth, this doesn’t mean that the deal is or isn’t happening — it’s just another step in the process — but it most certainly doesn’t bode well for proponents. Nor for AT&T’s share price.

According to the report, the Justice Department feels that the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless space. In fact, it boldly stated the following: “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market.” If things end up falling apart, it’s important to remember that AT&T would be forced to pay Deutsche Telekom $3 billion as a break-up fee, which ought to make Tiger Woods’ misfortunes look like an outright bargain.

Update: Full press release is now embedded after the break, and meanwhile, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has issued the following public statement: “Although our process is not complete, the record before this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on competition.”

Update 2: Wayne Watts, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel, issued the following statement (seen after the break)…

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading US government files to block proposed AT&T / T-Mobile merger (update: companies respond)

US government files to block proposed AT&T / T-Mobile merger (update: companies respond) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments

This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of August 15, 2011:

Phone Releases

• Fido launched the Samsung Galaxy Q, also known as the Gravity Smart in the US, on Thursday. [via MobileSyrup]
• The BlackBerry Curve 9360 can already be purchased on Telus for $50 with a three-year contract, and the Torch 9860 will be available on August 30th. [via IntoMobile and CrackBerry]
• SouthernLINC Wireless announced the immediate availability of the Motorola Titanium, offered for $150 with a two-year commitment.
• T-Mobile released the Samsung Gravity TXT, a basic messaging phone that’s on sale for $10. [via UnwiredView]
• Cricket has begun offering a new messaging phone called the Samsung Comment, which offers a full QWERTY keyboard, stereo bluetooth, a microSD slot and 1.3MP camera. It can be had for $90 with no commitment required. [via PhoneScoop]

Other news

• The government of South Korea, in reaction to Google’s planned acquisition of Motorola, now intends to form a consortium of local companies that will work together in building a brand new mobile operating system. [via IntoMobile]
• Randall Milch, Chief Counsel for Verizon, is so frustrated with the patent wars going on that this week he filed an appeal to President Obama, asking for him to provide assistance in the matter. [via PhoneScoop]
• The Motorola PRO is expected to debut in the UK in mid-September, though pre-orders are already taking place at select authorized resellers. [via UnwiredView]
• Leaked posters indicate the BlackBerry Torch 9850 will be offered by Verizon and screenshots show the same phone going to US Cellular, though we’re still unsure of the release date or pricing. [via CrackBerry(1) and (2)]
• Last week we reported on the rumored Sony Ericsson Nozumi, a smartphone that will likely feature a 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm S2 CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, and 4.3-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution. At the time, it was assumed to be only selling in Japan; however, there’s a good possibility the Nozumi will end up available globally instead. [via XperiaBlog]
• Pantech’s LTE phone on Verizon may actually end up being called the Breakout (rather than the “Apache”), according to a leaked screenshot. When released, it’ll feature a 1GHz CPU with 512MB of RAM, dual cameras, and will be preloaded with Gingerbread. Not much to write home about at this stage in the game, considering these are incredibly similar to the specs of the LG Revolution. However, it would be the first 4G phone on Big Red that has a 4-inch display. [via AndroidCentral]
• T-Mobile may be planning to throw a data pay-per-use feature onto any smartphone that currently has its internet access blocked. If this happens, it will affect current customers as well as new ones. [via TmoNews]
• Dish has petitioned the FCC for permission to use 40MHz of allocated spectrum to begin building out an LTE-Advanced network. [via PhoneScoop]

Mobile Miscellany: week of August 22, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 09:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

If this is the same “T-Mobile Sonic” we saw a month back, it’s safe to assume Huawei took the Gingerbread slab back to the drawing board and away from a Magenta debut. Popping up, once again, over at the FCC, and bearing a different model number — U8652 — the new Sonic sports a similar rounded-edge design, although this current incarnation takes on a definite rectangular shape. Gone are both the formerly included NFC functionality and AWS bands, in favor of quadband GSM, UMTS 850 / 1900 / 2100 bands, 3.2 megapixel rear-facing camera, WiFi and Bluetooth. The handset’s radios are tipping us in the direction of an AT&T destiny, but could also very likely indicate a bow on the networks to our north. Will this Sonic ever see the light of day, or will Huawei lob off more bands for an overseas-only birth? We’ll keep an eye out for any new developments, but in the meantime, jump past the break for a closer look.

Continue reading Huawei Sonic reappears at the FCC, ditches AWS 3G and NFC functionality

Huawei Sonic reappears at the FCC, ditches AWS 3G and NFC functionality originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments

Motorola’s XT531 has gone through more name changes than a certain rapper-cum-vodka shilling mogul, and the trend might continue as it makes its way to the US. The budget-friendly handset, known as the Fire XT in Europe and the Spice XT in Latin America, has just surfaced at the FCC toting AT&T-compatible GSM bands, UMTS / HSDPA 850MHz / 1900MHz support, WiFi and Bluetooth. Based on Moto’s official PR for the handset’s Chinese release, we know this 3.5-incher also sports a front-facing VGA / 5 megapixel rear camera, and is set to launch with Android 2.3 onboard. With Google’s newest pal clearly chasing after heat-related naming conventions, we expect to see this one launch with an equally caliente moniker.

Motorola’s XT531 hits the FCC, ready for its US crossover originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments

Because good things come in pairs, yet another Archos tablet has popped up over at the FCC shrouded in mystère. Aside from the tab’s name, the A80S, and its de rigeur WiFi b / g / n capabilities, not much else can be glimpsed from the product’s filings. If the French company’s recently unveiled 80 G9 and 101 G9 offerings are any indication, we could be looking at a dual-core processor setup and some version of Android — potentially even Ice Cream Sandwich. We’ll keep an eye out for any further spec-related developments, but until then, you can satisfy your Archos sweet tooth with this Gingerbread duo.

Archos A80S shows up at the FCC, keeps its specs hidden originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments