Qualcomm and AT&T are no longer talking about a deal, they’ve agreed to one: pending regulatory checks and other closing conditions, the wireless spectrum that was once dedicated to FLO TV will now be transferred into AT&T’s ownership in a $1.925 billion deal. Located in the lower 700MHz range, this bit of wireless space is said to cover more than 300 million people nationwide and AT&T expects it to play an important role in its future 4G network rollout and development. All that due diligence housekeeping will take the two companies a little while, with the deal expected to be finalized in the latter half of 2011, but at least we can rest assured that AT&T’s serious about not being left behind.

Continue reading AT&T buys Qualcomm’s FLO TV spectrum for a cool $1.9b, promises 4G awesomeness

AT&T buys Qualcomm’s FLO TV spectrum for a cool $1.9b, promises 4G awesomeness originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We don’t normally cover the “business crime” beat, but there’s a pretty interesting gadget angle here. As part of a larger crack down on insider trading, three technology executives and a “salesman for an ‘expert network’” have been arrested for leaking confidential tips to hedge funds. What sort of secrets, you ask? A certain executive for Flextronics, Walter Shimoon, happened to pass on information concerning an iPhone update and the iPad well before they became official (Flextronics supplied Apple parts). “At Apple you can get fired for saying K48 … outside of a, you know, outside of a meeting that doesn’t have K48 people in it. That’s how crazy they are about it,” he said during an October 2009 phone call intercepted by authorities, where K48 wass the codename for the iPad, which didn’t see the light of day until 2010 (we’re assuming here that’s not all he said). The others arrested hail from AMD (leaking financial details) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and a fifth person already plead guilty (a former Dell global supply manager). Remember, kids, crime doesn’t pay.

Apple secrets leaked early by inside traders, arrests reveal originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading MetroPCS brings its LTE network to Boston, Sacramento, and New York City

MetroPCS brings its LTE network to Boston, Sacramento, and New York City originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like the Motorola i1 Android set (not pictured above) will stand as the highest-end Nextel phone ever — Sprint just announced that it’s phasing out the iDEN network sometime in 2013 as it begins a new four to five billion dollar network enhancement project called “Network Vision.” We’ve expected this for a while — the Sprint / Nextel merger has been beset by subscriber losses and rumors of a breakup for years now — but this is the first time we’ve gotten a date. Sprint’s rolling out push-to-talk on its own network to support its 10.6 million Nextel customers, but we don’t have a schedule for that yet. Sprint’s also announcing vendors for Network Vision: Alcatel-Lucent, Samsung, and Ericsson will each handle a region and be tasked with expanding and fortifying Sprint’s existing 1900MHz 3G network while buying 800MHz, 1900MHz, and 2.5GHz spectrum for future use. Interestingly, Sprint’s definitely hedging its WiMAX bets a little — it can upgrade its new gear to LTE with swapping in a baseband card and issuing a software patch, which certainly gives the company some 4G flexibility should Clearwire not pull things together. We’ll see what happens — the underdog’s making some moves.

Sprint phasing out Nextel’s iDEN network, selects vendors for $5b network upgrade project originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So as you probably know, today’s the day that Verizon comes clean with all the details on the commercial launch of its LTE network, having scheduled a press conference for noon Eastern Time. We already know many of the details, but we’re crossing our fingers for some juicy extras in the event, namely any hints of information on when we’ll see LTE-enabled handsets in the marketplace like the rumored HTC Mecha and that unnamed LG. Oh… and some solid plan pricing details would be nice, too. Follow the break for our liveblog!

Continue reading Verizon’s LTE network announcement event live at 12:00 ET!

Verizon’s LTE network announcement event live at 12:00 ET! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Dish Network remote access app comes to Android, your Harmony groans

Dish Network remote access app comes to Android, your Harmony groans originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Following the Ch@t 322′s lead last month, rumor has it that Samsung is gearing up to add another model to the low-end portrait QWERTY lineup, the S3350 Ch@t 335. PortableGear.nl has this one pegged for an initial launch in Belgium with WiFi, social network integration, a 2 megapixel cam, FM radio, and 3.5mm headphone jack, but it’ll be lacking 3G — a telltale sign that it’s gunning for the bottom of the market. Like the Ch@t 322, it’s got an optical trackpad… a nifty feature for a phone you’ll undoubtedly be paying peanuts for, sure, but it’s not going to make up for the fact that you can’t download stuff at breakneck speeds. Then again, what exactly would you download at breakneck speeds on a low-end dumbphone, anyhow?

Samsung Ch@t 335 looks like a winner, if you’re into QWERTY and slow data originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We suspected T-Mobile’s new advertising campaign would ruffle some feathers, but we weren’t ready for quite such brazen trash-talking right off the bat. Of course, it’s trash talk dressed up in a pretty white and Magenta dress and delivered in the most angelic of voices, but T-Mobile makes its point to AT&T subscribers loud and clear: we got 4G, you don’t. Whether you consider the network’s current 21Mbps theoretical max a true representation of 4G or not, we’ll leave up to you; just make sure to join us past the break for the Apple-scented commercial, which also teases the myTouch 4G, a HSPA+ handset that T-Mobile happens to be launching today.

Continue reading T-Mobile starts up 4G ad campaign by poking a stiletto into AT&T’s network (video)

T-Mobile starts up 4G ad campaign by poking a stiletto into AT&T’s network (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 05:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint certainly isn’t out of the woods yet, but at least it’s picking up customers from somewhere. The company’s Q3 2010 earnings were ushered out today, and while its stock fell around ten percent on the news, a few silver linings were present. The carrier saw postpaid subscriber losses of 107,000, but that’s an 87 percent improvement compared to Q3 2009. The CDMA network added approximately 276,000 postpaid customers during the quarter, 471,000 (net) prepaid subscribers and 644,000 total wireless subscribers from a net perspective. It also landed its second best postpaid churn result ever, but the bottom line still looks battered — the operator announced a net loss of nearly a billion dollars ($911 million, if you’re scouting specifics). Of course, phasing out iDEN should probably help things in the long run, but even its 4G advantage could quickly fade if (or more likely, when) Verizon gets its LTE act together next year.

Sprint fails to impress Wall Street with Q3 2010 earnings, still notches 644k net adds originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MetroPCS goes live with LTE in Detroit originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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