Apple, At&t | featured news

The bottom line, if you're considering an iPad purchase and you plan to take it outside of your house for any length of time, be it the park, the bus, the train, or the Internet free zone at the grandparents' house, the always connected 3G is the sure way to go. Without the Internet, the iPad is a severely handicapped device. Trust me, you're going to want the Internet. After all, this is the best Internet browsing device I've ever used.

In our early testing, iLounge has learned that some video delivery applications act differently over the 3G network than they do on Wi-Fi. The iPad's built-in YouTube application strips both standard and HD videos to a dramatically lower resolution over the cellular data connection, something that iTunes Store video previews notably do not do, instead staying at a higher quality and consuming a greater amount of data.

Line2 takes a big step toward a future when cellphone users won’t need to rely on a cellphone carrier’s service.

Apple is making some of its iPhone models available at full price without a contract from AT&T.

AT&T says it has worked hard to improve its much-maligned third-generation (3G) network over the last eight months — erecting hundreds of new cell towers, using better-performing wireless spectrum, and souping up its cell sites across the country — and the results of our latest 13-city, 3G network performance tests suggest that the network has indeed undergone a drastic makeover.

Here’s another Apple Tablet rumor for you: Both AT&T and Verizon will carry the Tablet in the United States, subsidizing the up-front price of the device if you sign a contract to pay for their 3G data networks.

And yet another game of cat and mouse begins. Over the past 24 hours, Apple has released updates for both iTunes and the iPhone beta SDK. While both are seemingly minor on the feature front, each packs a bit of disappointment for those who had been using loopholes to their advantage.

AT&T's exclusive deal to carry the iPhone in the U.S. expires next year, according to people familiar with the matter, and Mr. Stephenson is now in discussions with Apple Inc. to get an extension until 2011.

Analyst Shawn Wu spotted a trend among mobile carriers to lower prices in a effort to retain subscribers, which puts further pressure on AT&T to revise its current rate plans for the iPhone.