Electronics, Wireless Carrier | featured news

Verizon and Intuit announced Thursday that they are teaming up to introduce a mobile payment system that will let customers swipe their credit cards with their smartphones. Verizon will sell the Intuit Reader smartphone accessory in its retail stores. The Reader plugs into the audio jack of most Android phones, BlackBerrys, the iPhone and the iPad.
The product rollout is intended to make it easy for small-business owners and others to process mobile payments, likely boosting sales of smartphones.

Sprint Nextel abandoned plans to sell a 4G version of the BlackBerry's PlayBook, meaning the 4G tablet currently isn't supported by any of the three largest U.S. wireless carriers.

With many wireless carriers feeling threatened by the growing prominence of Apple and Google, those companies’ success could provide the foundation of Research in Motion’s recovery.

Verizon Wireless plans to scrap its unlimited data plan for new smartphone subscribers beginning Thursday and replace it with monthly packages that range from $30 to $80.

Opponents of AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile filed last-minute petitions to federal regulators Tuesday in hopes of blocking the $39 billion mega-deal. But they are going up against a deep-pocketed telecom giant that’s just getting started on its own campaign to influence the decision.

AT&T has announced the first cities that will get its 4G LTE service. These cities, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio, will see AT&T's version of LTE this summer. Verizon's LTE service, which launched in real (non-beta testing) form late last year, though sans handsets, has vowed to get its LTE service into 175 markets...

An MSNBC investigative report, and related lawsuit, claims that AT&T has “systematically overstated” the data usage of iPhone and iPad customers. Lawyers for the plaintiffs, seeking class action status, hired an independent computer firm to compare the actual amount data used by iPhone and iPad customers with the amount that AT&T bills users for.

Evidence continues to mount to support expectations that Apple's iPhone 4 will finally launch on Verizon this coming January.

Google Inc. is in talks with Verizon Wireless to develop a tablet computer that would compete with Apple Inc.'s hit iPad. The tablet will run on Google's Android operating system ...

It was speculative before given the lack of independent confirmation, but now apparently Apple has gone on record to confirm that the original deal signed with AT&T for iPhone exclusivity back in 2007 was a five-year deal.