Carrier IQ issues lengthy report on data collection practices, sticks to its guns

After having already tried to explain itself with metaphor, Carrier IQ is now taking its floundering PR campaign back to basics, with an ostensibly thorough primer on its practices and a slightly less convoluted defense of its privacy standards. This morning, the controversial analytics firm released a lengthy, 19-page document that attempts to explain “what Carrier IQ does and does not do.” In the report, titled “Understanding Carrier IQ Technology,” the company explains the benefit it offers to its clientele of network operators, many of whom rely upon Carrier IQ’s diagnostic data to make sure their infrastructure is up to snuff. It also provides a breakdown of how it collects data, as well as a defense against Trevor Eckhart’s findings, though, as you’ll see, these arguments likely won’t put this saga to bed anytime soon. Read more, after the break.

Continue reading Carrier IQ issues lengthy report on data collection practices, sticks to its guns

Carrier IQ issues lengthy report on data collection practices, sticks to its guns originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceCarrier IQ (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

FCC restarts review clock for AT&T’s spectrum purchase, gives itself 180 days

Back in August, the FCC decided to freeze the 180-day review clock on AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Qualcomm’s 700 MHz spectrum, citing lingering concerns over the carrier’s ongoing T-Mobile saga. Now that AT&T and Deutsche Telekom have withdrawn their merger application, however, the Commission has decided to re-open the review period for the Qualcomm acquisition, giving itself a fresh 180 days to make a decision. In a letter published Friday, Wireless Bureau chief Rick Kaplan announced that the timetable would be reset, with a retroactive start date of November 29th — the very day that the FCC granted AT&T’s pullout from the T-Mobile deal. No word yet on when we can expect a decision, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for the latest developments. Read the letter in full at the source link below.

FCC restarts review clock for AT&T’s spectrum purchase, gives itself 180 days originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceFCC (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Label outs AT&T 4G LTE version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 creeping through the FCC

If you’re in the crowd holding out until the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hit Ma Bell’s 4G network, get ready to pull the trigger. The code-named SGH-I957 rolled through the FCC sporting a label for AT&T’s LTE service on its backside. It appears the carrier will offer the 10.1-inch slate alongside the similarly sized HTC Jetstream. Don’t forget, the latter of the two will set you back seven whole Benjamins… on contract. The AT&T Galaxy Tab should save you a few bills, though, if the pricing is comparable to VZW’s LTE offering.

Label outs AT&T 4G LTE version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 creeping through the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceFCC  | Email this | Comments

Verizon throws Galaxy Nexus signup page live, claims exclusivity

In case you were still wondering, yes, the Galaxy Nexus is Verizon bound. We certainly didn’t need to see another signup page to tell us that, but if you find your way to Verizon’s mailing list form through the outfit’s own search bar, you might find an interesting banner: “Exclusively from Verizon,” it reads, “Galaxy Nexus.” Well, that certainly flies in the face of a certain FCC filing we’ve seen, not to mention Samsung’s own Galaxy Nexus signup page and all of our hopes and dreams. With any luck, the handset will still launch on multiple carriers, perhaps only landing on Verizon’s grid first. If old rumors hold true, however, Verizon customers won’t be the only folks seeing red on November 10th.

[Thanks, John]

Verizon throws Galaxy Nexus signup page live, claims exclusivity originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceVerizon  | Email this | Comments

Nokia Lumia 800 hits UK carriers this November, Xbox 360 used as bait

Nokia fanboys and girls across the British Isles are getting the Lumia 800 love as early as November. Confirmed on a trio of carriers earlier today, Espoo’s “first real Windows Phone” is slated to hit Vodafone, Orange and 3 UK sometime next month, though no specific street date has yet been revealed. You can hit up the operators’ respective sites now to sign-up for the availability updates, or go whole hog with an in-store pre-order in the case of 3 UK. At least one of these networks is sweetening the pot for potential subs, as Orange’s enticing lure of a free Xbox 360 with handset upgrade is sure to reel in bargain hunting customers. So, what are you waiting for? Hit up the source below to hand over your deets and claim your spot in this Finnish Mango queue.

Nokia Lumia 800 hits UK carriers this November, Xbox 360 used as bait originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceOrange, 3 UK, Vodafone  | Email this | Comments

Sprint announces Q3 earnings: net subs reach five year high, net losses at $300 million

Sprint has just unveiled its Q3 earnings report, and it’s looking pretty bittersweet. According to the company, net operating revenues reached $8.3 billion during the quarter (about two percent higher than Q3 2010), while additions of new wireless net subscribers reached a five year high, with 1.3 million customers hopping onboard. Of those 1.3 million, 304,000 were of the postpaid variety, 485,000 were prepaid and about 835,000 were wholesale. Sprint lost about 44,000 net postpaid customers this quarter, but that’s a major improvement over last quarter, when a little over 100,000 jumped ship, and marks a 59 percent improvement over last year’s report. At the same time, however, the carrier reported net losses of $301 million — lower than Q2’s figures, but not exactly encouraging, either. As far as the future goes, the folks at Overland Park expect to end the year with even more new subscribers, though it remains to be seen whether that long-awaited LTE rollout can make much of a dent in its bottom line. Check out the press release in full, after the break.

Update: Listening in on the earnings call it’s clear Sprint is really counting on the iPhone to help it run with the big dogs. According to some convoluted metaphor, the carrier is the Oakland A’s in Moneyball and Apple’s handset is A-Rod (who never spent a day with the Athletics… but we digress). Still, Sprint expects more loyalty and bigger profits from customers who choose the iPhone — at least for the next four years, after which it’ll have to negotiate a new deal with the Cupertino crew.

Update 2: Sprint also clarified that, in addition to its deal with LightSquared, it will be working with Clearwire to deliver LTE network coverage. The carrier has reached a preliminary agreement with its WiMAX partner, but expects to announce a wholesale deal soon.

Update 3: We already knew that the iPhone 4S launch was the company’s best launch ever for a family, but now the company’s confirming that it was its best launch ever for any device.

Continue reading Sprint announces Q3 earnings: net subs reach five year high, net losses at $300 million

Sprint announces Q3 earnings: net subs reach five year high, net losses at $300 million originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Motorola RAZR open for unlocked bootloader business, if the carrier says so

Promises, promises. Motorola wasn’t exactly fibbing when it said all future phones would ship with unlockable bootloaders, as it appears they will. There’s just one teensy obstacle impeding the joy of ROM flashers worldwide: it’s up to the carriers’ discretion to keep it that way. In a chat with AusDroid, Moto’s VP of Enterprise Mobile Devices, Christy Wyatt, revealed that the RAZR would indeed be the OEM’s first device to ship with a software unlock. Unfortunately, as in the case of the DROID variant, operators like Verizon have chosen to put the smack down on any custom hackery, citing the typical concerns over security. But it’s not all grey wireless skies, the handset’s global version will ship with the code on board, so your best bet for CM7 and MIUI looks to be an off-contract option. Or, you know, there’s always that Big Red Galaxy Nexus.

Motorola RAZR open for unlocked bootloader business, if the carrier says so originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceAusDroid  | Email this | Comments

AT&T’s profits are down, but the carrier is still smiling

There’s good news and bad news in AT&T’s third quarter report. The carrier’s profit dropped to $3.6 billion for the quarter — that’s down from $12.32 billion from this time last year. That drop could be due in part to the loss of iPhone exclusivity (a matter recently compounded with the addition of Sprint as a carrier for the 4S) and the fact that the company pulled in profits from the sale of assets in 2010. AT&T activated 2.7 million iPhones during Q3, a marked drop over previous quarters. (Though, admittedly, last Q3 saw the launch of the iPhone 4 — this Q3 saw people waiting for an iPhone 5.). On the up side of things, the sale of Android devices has more than doubled, year over year. AT&T added 2.1 million wireless subscribers, passing 100 million, which the carrier seems quite pleased with, as evidenced by the exceedingly chipper video below.

Update: AT&T dropped us a line to point out that the gains from a one-time tax settlement also significantly contributed to the company’s 2010 profit and by extension the drop in profits year-over-year. According to an AT&T spokesperson, “If you take those one-time items out of the mix, profit was actually up 13-percent year-over-year. In addition, wireless margins were up significantly, which means wireless profits increased.”

Update 2: AT&T also announced this morning that it had activated one million units of the iPhone 4S as of Tuesday. Press release is included underneath the video below.

Continue reading AT&T’s profits are down, but the carrier is still smiling

AT&T’s profits are down, but the carrier is still smiling originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The New York Times  |  sourceAT&T  | Email this | Comments

Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus launches in November on NTT Docomo, Verizon, and more

On stage at Samsung and Google’s joint event they’ve finally confirmed launch (November) and one carrier (NTT Docomo) for the Galaxy Nexus superphone with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The leaks let us know it’s coming to Verizon too, and its pentaband with AWS and HSPA+ means it will play nicely with AT&T and T-Mobile once it’s released as well. It’s over and we’re still without any additional carrier announcements, exact release dates or pricing, but you can relive all the glory in our liveblog here.

Update: You can add Three UK to the official list, we’ll keep an eye out if any others pop up. [via Android Central]

Update 2: Throw one more European carrier in the mix, as Vodafone has informed us they’ll also offer Samsung and Google’s finest next month.

Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus launches in November on NTT Docomo, Verizon, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus launches in November worldwide on NTT Docomo, Verizon, and?

On stage at Samsung and Google’s joint event they’ve finally confirmed launch (November) and one carrier (NTT Docomo) for the Galaxy Nexus superphone with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The leaks let us know it’s coming to Verizon as well, and its pentaband with AWS and HSPA+ means it will play nicely with AT&T and T-Mobile once its released as well. We’ll let you know if any other names get dropped before its over, but you can follow along on our liveblog here.

…developing

Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus launches in November worldwide on NTT Docomo, Verizon, and? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments