Uncle Sam says no to AT&T eating up T-Mobile: The Department of Justice has filed an antitrust suit against AT&T, Bloomberg reports. Things just got real. More »
How do you compete with Google’s new Wallet mobile payment system? Well, a $100 million cash infusion certainly couldn’t hurt. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have plans to invest just that amount in Isis, sources told Businessweek. That sum is likely to grow, since taking on Google is no small feat, especially considering Wallet is already off the ground, with nationwide retail partners and support for MasterCard PayPass. Though Isis first made its debut last year, Google Wallet, which was announced in May, has clearly taken the lead. Isis is little more than a top-level website at this point, though with three of the nation’s largest carriers providing support, it could have a chance to catch up — especially if the carriers elect not to partner with Google, leaving Sprint as the sole wireless provider. We’re glad to see some potential healthy competition for Wallet, especially considering that it was looking like Google was poised to create a monopoly. We expect much more to come on the Isis front, but in the meantime, hold on to those wallets — cell phone payments may be in your future, but for now, paper and plastic are where it’s at.
AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon give Isis mobile payment network a $100 million boost originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Hey look! There are three new Symbian phones out today. What? Where? Why, they’re over there, next to the pennyfarthings and the ham radios: the obsolete section. What the crap is going on here, Nokia? More »
It may be the second largest computer manufacturer in the world, but things are not looking good for Acer. The Taiwanese company lost 6.79 billion New Taiwan Dollars (TWD), about $234.1 million, in Q2, far more than the already sizable anticipated shortfall of 3.3 billion TWD (around $114.7 million). That’s a dramatic drop off from the 1.19 billion TWD profit the company posted in Q1. Things are expected to improve in Q3, but Acer still expects to operating in the red until at least Q4. Some of the problems can be blamed on recent restructuring that has the vendor increasingly focused on mobile devices and less on netbooks, which were successful for the company but have quickly declined in popularity. The extremely brief PR can be found after the break.
Continue reading Acer loses $234 million in worse-than-expected Q2
Acer loses $234 million in worse-than-expected Q2 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
Reuters | Email this | Comments
AT&T’s killing their $10/1,000 text plan. Now, you’ll have to choose between $20 for unlimited, or forgo a plan and pay $0.20 per message. AT&T calls this “streamlining.” We call it what it is: an outrageous, gigantic scam. More »
Last week, a partly redacted document about the AT&T-Mobile merger was oh-so-briefly posted on the FCC’s site by Arnold & Porter LLP, a law firm working on the deal for AT&T. Outlining some of AT&T’s confidential LTE plans, it was quickly taken down. Well, here it is. More »
Is Microsoft preparing to fill in Google’s old mobile boots? It could very well be, now that the search king has firmly committed to the hardware side of the mobile business. According to a report on GigaOM, MS was one of many potential suitors circling Motorola’s treasure trove of patents, effectively forcing El Goog to swoop in for the $12.5 billion kill. Moto’s portfolio of 17,000 patents and 7,500 patent applications would have significantly strengthened Redmond’s attack on the Android platform, but it appears the loss might actually benefit MS in other unintended ways. Despite the cheery, public well-wishing from handset makers, insider rumblings indicate a possible mass OEM defection to Windows Phone 7 could shortly be afoot, paving the way for a fierce, three-way mobile OS fight. For its part, Google doesn’t seem too worried about the competition, considering the deal’s hefty $2.5 billion break-up fee — a percentage three times that of the AT&T / T-Mobile merger penalty — a confident financial sign it intends to win this wireless race.
Google’s Moto Mobility deal may have had Microsoft roots, comes with $2.5 billion break-up fee originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
FOSS Patents | GigaOM, Bloomberg | Email this | Comments
Google’s announcement today of its planned Motorola Mobility acquisition may come as a surprise to some, but Moto’s dedication to producing Android handsets, along with its recent $56 million Q2 net loss and comprehensive patent portfolio, make this a logical next move for Mountain View’s search giant. Operating independently — for the near-term, at least — both companies will cooperate to grow Android, while Google claims that it will remain committed to its other partners as well. So what will this mean for Google and the future of the smartphone industry as a whole? Jump past the break for our thoughts.
Continue reading Editorial: Engadget on Google’s Motorola Mobility acquisition
Editorial: Engadget on Google’s Motorola Mobility acquisition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
After Google bought Motorola Mobility this morning, Google naturally had a conference call with their investors. We listened in and got a little rare insight into how the Nexus program works. More »
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
