According to the report, Sprint’s burgeoning LTE infrastructure will not be supported in the LTE model of the next-gen Apple tablet. Nevertheless, bringing it up to speed on Verizon and AT&T will make the iPad 3 even more attractive, and will lessen the impact of LTE-powered Android tablets in their attempt to differentiate themselves from the industry-dominant iPad brand.

The prospect of an LTE-equipped iPad has been the subject of iPad 3 rumors previously, but as we now have an official date for the tablet’s unveiling and the time continues to clock down, details are sliding into place. The other well-known fact about the iPad 3 is that it will have an incredible high-resolution screen known as a Retina Display, in addition to a quad-core processor. We’ll see the full details when the unveiling event happens on March 7.

[via WSJ]

The late-night sketch showed an exaggerated version of Verizon’s “kitech sink” approach, which is to throw a whole lot of jargon about 4G and LTE, while inundating viewers with a wide selection of phones without trying to focus on a single one. Back when Verizon’s marketing campaign was essentially all about the Droid, it managed to make that device the most popular Android phone in the market. Today, though, what is the equivalent of the ubiquitous Droid?

There isn’t one, as the skit shows. Twitter lit up with comments from tech heads who appreciated the clip. “Verizon SNL skit is so true. They need some serious brand work. Their equity is too fragmented across phone manufacturers,” wrote on euser. “No lie, Verizon IS an old person’s nightmare,” wrote another. The sketch depicts an aged man trying to understand what the overly energetic Verizon salesperson is trying to peddle, but ultimately it ends up with the customer asking what happens if he drops is phone or tablet in the toilet. “It breaks instantly,” the salesman says. Verizon did not comment on the skit.

[via Wall Street Journal]

There’s also an 8-megapixel main camera with LED flash and 1080p Full HD video recording, a front-facing camera for video calls, and WiFi hotspot support for tethering other devices. Motorola has splashed plenty of enterprise-level software at the DROID 4, too, with government-grade encryption (FIPS 140-2) and the Citrix Receiver app preloaded.

However, even if you’re planning on using the DROID 4 for play rather than work, the 1.2GHz dual-core processor should be easily sufficient. OS is Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, but an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade is in the pipeline.

More on the Verizon DROID 4 by Motorola in our hands-on and unboxing from earlier this week; stay tuned for the full SlashGear review.

The LTE-enabled Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be given to each Suns player complete with the team’s playbook, video from team practices and games, and scouting reports on opponents. It will also be easier for the team to manage their master itinerary and other travel plans.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab will also be used by the Suns throughout US Airways Center on game-nights such as for showing clients interactive views of game seating, presentations for season ticketholders, and other in-game promotions. The tablets will also be integrated into the Suns’ TV and radio broadcasts as a way to interact with digital fans via social media.

In line with other ‘free phone’ promotions T-Mobile has offered in the last year, this one-day event includes an impressive selection of free-after-contract phones, including the SpringBoard and the Galaxy S II. There will even be “select tablets” at no cost to those who sign up for a new two-year service agreement. Some of these devices are as much as $200 on a normal day so this deal is nothing to sneeze at.

“T-Mobile has a commitment to make the 4G experience affordable and accessible to everyone, so this sweet deal on smartphones and tablets is our Valentine’s gift to consumers. No matter where loved ones live, T-Mobile wants to bring them closer with unlimited talking, photo sharing, video chatting, texting, and more,” said T-Mobile in a statement.

The same goes for the 5GB ($50) and 10GB ($80) plans, which double up to 10GB and 20GB respectively. However the promotion is only valid for new smartphone subscribers or those upgrading for the first time to a 4G smartphone from a 3G model; those buying tablets, modems or mobile hotspots are also left out in the cold.

After two years, if you renew your contract then Verizon will let you keep the doubled data for as long as you keep paying, though who knows what new plans will be on offer by then. The carrier hasn’t said how long the deal will be offered.

The new promotion comes just in time for the release of the Verizon DROID 4 by Motorola, which goes on sale this Friday. It’s priced at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement and mandatory data plan.

On the back there’s an 8-megapixel camera with Full HD video recording, while a 1.3-megapixel camera is up front for video calls. The 4G connection can be shared out with up to eight WiFi-tethered devices, and there’s WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth along with GPS.

Motorola is also pushing the Lapdock 500, complete with its full-sized keyboard and 14-inch display, for those willing to spend another $299.97 turning their smartphone into a notebook. More details in our full hands-on.

Motorola DROID 4 hands-on:

Verizon is promising an Android Ice Cream Sandwich update for the DROID 4, though there’s no timescale for its release; until then, you’ll be using Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread.

[via Android Community]

The smartphone has a 1280 x 800 display and uses an active digitizer to work with the digital pen. That can capture and annotate screenshots, be used to write and draw on photos and even video clips, or simply to navigate the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS with Samsung’s own TouchWiz interface. There’s also an 8-megapixel camera and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

Opinion is split as to whether the Galaxy Note counts as a phone or a mini-tablet, though you could argue it offers the best of both worlds. Samsung made it the centerpiece of its Apple-skewering advert for the Super Bowl this weekend.

More details on the AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note LTE in our full hands-on with the smartphone, and you can find more on the tablet functionality in our review of the European version.

The Huawei MediaPad features a 7-inch IPS multitouch display with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. The rear camera is capable of 4X zoom, AF, and 1080p Full HD video capture. The tablet also sports HDMI output and has a 4,100mAh battery for a six-hour battery life.

Although Huawei is set to launch MediaPads with the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on board, this MediaPad for AT&T will not. Instead, it will running Android 3.2 Honeycomb with the ICS update likely to come over-the-air sometime this first quarter of 2012. It’s not clear if AT&T will be releasing a more consumer-targeted version in addition to this enterprise offering.

[via PRNewswire]

“As LTE networks are deployed alongside 3G networks,” Cristiano Amon, senior vice president of product management at Qualcomm said in a statement, ”the ability for multimode 3G/LTE mobile devices to connect to different network technologies will be an important part of providing the best possible mobile voice and data experience to consumers.”

The demo used Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC), allowing a single radio to shift a call between 3G and 4G networks. Existing LTE devices have used CSFB (circuit-switched fallback technology) which automatically step a radio down from 4G to 3G when a voice call is to be made. Paired together, manufacturers can use a single 3G/4G chip rather than two separate radios.

Verizon is tipped to be trialling VoLTE in two US cities currently, with a full rollout believed to be intended for 2013. The carrier demonstrated the technology in early 2011, though not with transition to a 3G network, and has since committed to including LTE support in all its future smartphones.

The Apple A6 processor, meanwhile, has the model number S5L8945X. Details on the A6 have not been released by Apple, but the chipset is expected to have not only four cores but upgraded graphics capabilities driving a “Retina Display” panel running at 2048 x 1536 resolution. Despite their legal differences currently clogging up courts worldwide, Samsung is believed to be manufacturing the A6 for Apple.

As for connectivity, LTE has been well-rumored and would certainly fit in with Verizon and AT&T in the US. The combination modem would also make sense for the multiple countries without 4G LTE networks, presumably offering HSPA+ connectivity as well.

Of course, this sort of screenshot would be relatively straightforward to fake, and so – as with most Apple rumors – we’ll take them with a heaped serving spoon of salt. It’s unclear whether the tablet will be the iPad 3 or, as other rumors have indicated, that Apple will push out an iPad 2S first as a more incremental update.

There’s also an 8-megapixel main camera with 1080p Full HD video recording, and a front-facing camera for video calls. Inside lurks Qualcomm’s dual-core Snapdragon 1.5GHz processor along with HSPA+ for when you’re outside of AT&T’s growing LTE network, plus WiFi b/g/n and GPS.

AT&T will also be offering a range of official Galaxy Note accessories with the smartphone, including the Desktop Dock, the Spare Battery Charging System and a Protective Flip Cover Case (in multiple colors including tan, black, pink, red, white and blue). There’ll also be the Galaxy Note S Pen Holder Kit, making the stylus fatter and easier to hold.

Pre-orders will begin at AT&T’s online store from February 5, with deliveries from February 17. That will be followed by in-store availability on February 19. The AT&T Galaxy Note will be available in carbon blue and ceramic white.

More on the Galaxy Note in our full review of the European version.

According to the document, “iPhones will only be capable of reaching Edge (2G) upload and download speeds on the T-Mobile network because the devices does not include the WCDMA 1700/2100 band.” So the current iPhone architecture just doesn’t work with T-Mobile’s network. Period.

The carrier classified the experience as “Poor” for anyone using an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, or iPhone 4S on T-Mobile. Meanwhile, it grouped its high-end Android phones as all delivering “excellent” customer experiences. As such, the internal communication goes on to tell its employees to “free” customers from the iPhone and “right-fit” them to an Android HSPA+ compatible device.

Of course, it’s believed that Apple will, in time, tailor an iPhone to T-Mobile’s specifications. And of course, at that time, T-Mobile will start bending over backwards to peddle the Apple gadget to everyone. That’s just the way the world works. For now, though, if you’re stuck in T-Mobile contract land, you’ll just have to wait.

[via TmoNews]

The March 18 date isn’t final and could change, the source reckons, since the Lumia 900 is still going through technical acceptance and that might introduce delays. Still, it’s the price that will make the biggest waves; $100 for a 4.3-inch device with LTE is a stand-out figure, and – along with Microsoft’s hefty marketing budget for Windows Phone in the US – should make some waves in the US market.

As we wrote earlier this month, AT&T, Nokia and Microsoft need to be ambitious with the Lumia 900 pricing if they want the smartphone to stand out from the overwhelming crowd of Apple and Android. We won’t know final pricing until AT&T announces it, however.

More on the Lumia 900 in our full hands-on from the launch at CES, and in the video below.

No mention of specific iPhone sales has been given, with Verizon instead content to namecheck its recent LTE device announcements. They included the DROID RAZR and HTC Rezound in Q4 2011, as well as several more LTE devices shown off at CES 2012 earlier this month.

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is up 2.6-percent among retail users over the same period last year, while postpaid data ARPU is up 14.3-percent. Elsewhere in the company’s business, 201,000 FiOS Internet and 194,000 FiOS Video net subscribers were added, with FIOS customers each spending $148 on average per month.

The quarter saw Verizon’s highest number of retail wireless net additions in the last three years.

Although the UK was among the countries to get the original Nokia Lumia, the 800, first, neither it nor the Lumia 710 include a front-facing camera. Right now little in Windows Phone actually makes use of that secondary camera, but that’s expected to change as Microsoft readies a version of Skype for the platform.

Otherwise, it’s the familiar polycarbonate unibody casing and a ClearBlack AMOLED display, still running at WVGA resolution but using an RGB matrix panel for improved visuals. It seems Carphone Warehouse jumped the gun in announcing the smartphone, which so far Nokia is yet to date for a European release.

AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 hands-on:

More information on the AT&T Lumia 900 in our full hands-on from CES earlier this month.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

The Aspire A0722 packs a 1GHz AMD Fusion C-50 dual-core processor with Radeon HD 6250 graphics, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. It’s six-cell battery offers a long battery life, although the specific rating was not listed. It also comes with a webcam, three USB ports, VGA, Ethernet, and HDMI.

The A0722 is available now via www.att.com for $449.99 without an annual contract. But with a two-year service agreement that requires a 3GB monthly data plan, the netbook can be had for $39.99.

[via AT&T]

Currently, 4G devices on Verizon’s network use LTE for data, if the service is available, but rely on 3G for voice calls. VoLTE, however, would route voice over the capacious data network, with Verizon demonstrating the technology back in early 2011 on a prototype LG Revolution

A full launch in 2013 wouldn’t, of course, preclude a more limited-scale roll out in 2012 as originally promised, and since the tech requires LTE coverage anyway it would give Verizon a chance to further extend its 4G network.

Verizon has already committed to including LTE support in all its future smartphones, including presumably the next-gen iPhone, and to have nationwide LTE coverage completed in 2013. “We’re continuing to work on VoLTE and the services it brings,” a Verizon spokesperson said on the rumors, “and will share any launch or availability plans in due course.”

[via Android Community]

At the same time, Atlanta, Houston and Spokane, Wash. will all get increased 4G coverage, meaning more room to wirelessly roam without dropping back to a EVDO Rev.A signal. Verizon is quoting average speeds of 5-12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2-5 Mbps on the uplink.

Although AT&T had more new LTE devices at CES 2012 last week, that wasn’t to say Verizon came to the show completely empty-handed of 4G phones. As well as the DROID RAZR MAXX, with its boosted battery, there was the QWERTY-toting DROID 4 and the LG Spectrum. Meanwhile those looking for bigger screens got the promise of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE.

Verizon has committed to LTE support in all of its future smartphones, as well as tablets, mobile hotspots and netbooks. Apple is yet to confirm an LTE iPhone, though the iPhone 5 is widely expected to offer 4G support later in 2012.

There’s also an 8-megapixel camera with flash on the back, capable of recording Full HD video, while a front-facing camera serves for video calls. Unlike many Android slates, there’s a memory card slot for a microSD card, allowing you to upgrade the storage.

Connectivity includes HDMI, USB and the usual bevy of WiFi, Bluetooth and sensors. You also get DLNA streaming support, and LG is talking up its interactivity features between the Optimus Pad LTE and its other hardware, such as smartphones and TVs.

Battery life from the 479g tablet is up to 10hrs, and there are various apps preloaded including a video editor to allow you to whip your 1080p footage into shape. The LG Optimus Pad LTE will go on sale in South Korea first, though we’d hardly be surprised if LG then expanded its reach to LTE networks in North America.

Neither A&T nor Nokia would be drawn on exactly how much the Lumia 900 will cost when it eventually goes on sale. Going by previous LTE smartphones, however, $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement and mandatory 4G data plan would on the fact of it seem most likely.

Still, AT&T is working hard to push LTE down through the price range. The Pantech Burst and Samsung Exhilarate didn’t exactly grab attention like the Lumia did, but AT&T has promised them for $50 apiece (again, with contract). 2012 may well end up being the year for relatively affordable LTE devices after all.

Will any of those be bearing the Nokia logo, however? The Finnish company has been ambitious with its Lumia 800 pricing in Europe, undercutting Android and iOS rivals and negotiating decent subsidies with networks to make the Windows Phone more affordable. As an exclusive on AT&T, however – something both companies have repeated ad-nauseum – there’s always the suspicion that the carrier will use that rarity to milk subscribers of a little extra cash.

That would potentially be death to Nokia’s chances in the US market, however. It may still be the number one mobile phone company in the world, but Nokia’s standing in the US is embryonic at best; if AT&T slaps a $200 tag on the Lumia 900 it’ll lose a huge chunk of potential audience who might be willing to give Windows Phone a punt. Offer it for $100, however, and all of a sudden there’s a lot more appeal. Do the unthinkable and opt for free-on-contract – just as the 800 is sold in many European countries – and you could have a real success on your hands.

Nokia has long made a point of highlighting its supply chain and experience in producing hardware, which combine to help the company drive down prices. Stephen Elop has even recently namechecked that as a reason why selling off its smartphone division to Microsoft simply wouldn’t make sense.

Now it’s time for Nokia to put its potency to work. It has one chance to storm the US market and convince analysts, investors, geeks and consumers that it has caught up with its rivals, and a bulging marketing budget isn’t enough, on its own, to do that. Price the AT&T Lumia 900 right, and Nokia could take its first step on a comeback campaign it’s been paying lip-service to for months.

Nokia Lumia 900 hands-on:

Inside, there’s a 1.4GHz single-core processor, also as in the Lumia 800. On the back is an 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash and autofocus, supporting 720p HD video recording; that resolution is a limit of Microsoft’s smartphone OS, at present, rather than whatever the optics in the phone itself (indeed HTC’s 16-megapixel Titan II is also limited to 720p). Still, you do get Carl Zeiss f/2.2 optics on the new Lumia, and a front camera has an f/2.4 lens.

Nokia has used the extra space inside the injected polycarbonate single-piece casing – another thing carried over from the smaller Lumia and the N9 before it – to accommodate a 1,830 mAh battery, and the phone itself will be available in either black or cyan. Preloaded is a special CNN app, with iReport features.

Neither Nokia nor AT&T are saying exactly when the Lumia 900 will go on sale, bar “in the coming months” and nor will they confirm pricing. More info at Nokia Conversations.

There’s also an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p Full HD video recording, 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot, along with Mirror Mode for outputting the display on a TV. Plug in that way, and you can access the full Firefox browser and use the multi-window Webtop app; you can also dock the DROID 4 with the Lapdock 100 or Lapdock 500 Pro.

Despite the specs, the DROID 4 by Motorola is only 1/2-inch thick. It has mobile hotspot support for up to eight WiFi-tethered devices, and MotoCast for streaming multimedia and documents from your home or work computer.

The Verizon DROID 4 by Motorola will go on sale “in the coming weeks”; the carrier is yet to announce pricing, though we’re guessing it’ll be $200-250 with a new, two-year agreement.

Along with LTE there’s also WiFI b/g/n, Bluetooth and GPS, along with a 3-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera. The main cam can shoot 720p HD video, too. A mobile hotspot app can be used to share the 4G LTE connection with up to 10 WiFi devices or a 3G connection with up to five.

16GB of onboard storage gets a microSD card slot to augment it, and there will be various accessories on offer. A keyboard-dock will have a 3.5mm audio output and charging support, while a multimedia dock will HDMI out, audio out and a charging port. A USB/SD adapter, HDMI adapter and Book Cover Case round out the options.

Verizon isn’t saying how much the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE will be, nor when exactly it might launch, but we imagine we’ll find that out soon enough.

In fact, Verizon reckons you can use the Jetpack in over 205 countries, more than 125 of which will deliver 3G speeds. The display is a low-power OLED panel and the buttons are touch-sensitive, while the WiFi is b/g/n with WEP/WPA/WPA2 and VPN pass-through support.

The whole thing measures in at a bag-friendly 3.49 x 3.49 x 0.70 inches and 4.7 ounces, and receives data allowance updates via SMS message that are then shown on the display. Verizon isn’t saying how long the battery will last, however, which gives us some pause for thought: most mobile hotspot devices average out at around two hours, but LTE does have a reputation for guzzling through power.

We’ll know more when Verizon confirms pricing, full specs and availability over the next few weeks.

There are a couple of minor changes – the earpiece is larger on the Ace, a long slit rather than a small hole – and the LED flash on the rear of the phone has been moved from above the camera lens to the side of it, as on the N9. The camera itself is believed to be the same, however, running at 8-megapixels with autofocus and 720p HD video recording.

AT&T has also thrown some of its own software at the smartphone, though the exact details of what apps are preloaded haven’t been shared, while there’s also said to be ESPN, Spotify, Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive onboard.

Finally, despite what reports over the weekend suggested, the Ace will use the same polycarbonate construction and design as the Lumia 800, not a “metallic” finish. We’ll know all the details when AT&T and Nokia officially announce the smartphone later on today.

The back holds an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and 1080p Full HD video recording, while a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera does video calls. Standard storage is 4GB, with a microSD card slot to add to that (a 16GB card will be preloaded), plus there’s WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. The MicroUSB port does HDMI-MHL, and there’s hotspot sharing for up to 10 WiFi-tethered clients.

The Spectrum measures a not-inconsiderable 135.4mm x 68.8mm x 10.4mm and 141.5g, though LG does at least use that heft to accommodate a 1,830 mAh battery. A second, extended battery with 3,000 mAh to play with should hopefully keep up with power-hungry LTE.

The LG Spectrum will go on sale January 19, priced at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement. An Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is promised for the first half of this year.

Now that the money it was expecting isn’t coming in, DT is left looking for alternatives. The company still wants to shed T-Mobile, but with the US regulators making it clear that a sale of T-Mobile assets to one of the larger wireless firms out there isn’t going to happen, other options are being explored. Intomobile reports that T-Mobile might be parted out.

DT is reportedly considering selling off the cellular towers that T-Mobile owns. I am sure that there are other options being considered. As Intomobile points out, T-Mobile could approach Dish Network. Dish has ambitions for rolling out a nationwide LTE network, and that T-Mobile spectrum would help greatly as would the towers. That said, as hard as T-Mobile has worked on its network, it’s not great outside of major cities and interstates so Dish may want something more robust.

[via Intomobile]

There’s also HSPA+ roll-back, for times when you step out of LTE coverage, though you’ll obviously see a reduction in speed too. AT&T already operated its LTE network in Athens, Ga.; Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Charlotte; Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth; Houston; Indianapolis; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Oklahoma City; San Antonio; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Washington, D.C.

The timing for the network going live is interesting, as AT&T is expected to join Microsoft and Nokia in officially unveiling the Lumia 900 “Ace” smartphone at CES 2012 next week. That device is tipped to support LTE – in fact to be the first Windows Phone 7 handset to do so – as well as include a 4.3-inch display and 8-megapixel camera.

According to AT&T, the LTE roll-out will be “largely complete” by the end of 2013. We’ll have more on the new AT&T Ace when SlashGear hits CES next week.

RIM denied the supposed-insider’s comments as “inaccurate and uninformed” and reiterated that the launch later this year was a strategic one around next-gen LTE chipsets rather than being prompted by internal struggles. Nonetheless, analysts remain unconvinced, with Evercore Partners’ Alkesh Shah describing the chipset wait as “a contributing factor in a number of factors that led to the delay,” the NYTimes reports.

“They can’t get the infrastructure and the operating system ready in time” Peter Misek, analyst, Jefferies & Company

In fact, the spreading suspicion is that RIM has simply been unable to bring BlackBerry 10′s power and battery demands down to a level where current-gen chipsets are capable of delivering a competitive experience. Poorly performing prototypes convinced RIM that there was no choice but to delay production until the new frugal and potent chips arrived later in the year.

“One of the problems is the delay in the BB 10 software and that may have led to the selection of chips that caused the most recent delay” Rod Hall, analyst, JPMorgan Chase

QNX, the RIM acquisition at the heart of BlackBerry 10, may not have been as up to the challenge of smartphones as the company believed, ABI Research’s Michael Morgan suggests. Although the OS is widely deployed already, those implementations are often in cars and other situations where power consumption is a minor issue. Even the PlayBook struggled with QNX’s comparative frugality, and now the OS “is being applied now in a place it hasn’t been before” Morgan concludes.

An image purportedly of the AT&T Ace leaked last week, showing the carrier’s logo as well as a 4G icon and front-facing camera. The assumption is that the Ace 900 will be one of AT&T’s first 4G LTE Windows Phones, tipped to go on sale sometime prior to the middle of 2012.

Other specs include 512MB of RAM and – despite a presumed carrier lock to AT&T – the inclusion of the 1700MHz band necessary for 3G on T-Mobile USA. The device is supposedly codenamed “Eloko” and will ship running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, rather than Tango as some earlier rumors indicated.

Pocketnow threw together a size comparison mockup based on leaked dimension details of the Lumia 900, next to the existing 800, which you can see below.

The $9bn figure has come from RBC Capital Markets analyst Jonathan Atkin, but carrier CEO Rene Obermann has refused to countenance shareholder payout cuts for 2012. Investors will get an annual dividend of at least €0.70, he confirmed this week, while Deutsche Telekom has reiterated its intention to buy back €1.2bn in shares over the next three years.

“Achieving growth is very, very difficult, that’s why the shares need another attractor …  achieving growth is very, very difficult, that’s why the shares need another attractor” Rene Obermann, CEO, Deutsche Telekom

That pressure to keep investors happy means customers may end up suffering. T-Mobile USA has to share Deutsche Telekom’s attentions with the company’s businesses in Germany and other European countries, meaning that $9bn injection to keep its 3G/4G service in line with carrier rivals may prove tough to scrape together.

As for AT&T, some analysts believe it “should be fine strategically” but, Baird analyst William Power suggests, “ it begs the question what might be next for it.” Contrary to the FCC and Justice Departments concerns that AT&T buying T-Mobile USA would have been bad for competition, analysts reckon the opposite is true.

“Without the combination, we think the wireless industry will be further weakened by continued hyper-competitive activity,” Nomura analyst Mike McCormack wrote to investors this week, “particularly regarding subscriber acquisition costs.” Each quarter, carriers spend considerable time and effort with promotions and discounting to try to lure customers away from rivals, a pattern that has seen ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit) drop as monthly bills are slashed.

The OnStar video call system for vehicles was shown off last year as a preview and was in conjunction with Verizon. At CES 2012, OnStar will again be showing the system off, this time the voice chat will be in a Volt. OnStar has tipped that the system will support cloud streaming of information and entertainment. The saving grace may be that the system is being pushed for back seat passengers.

The hard tech specs for the system aren’t offered. There are two potential ways that streaming of this sort could go down. One is that the car could connect with a smartphone to provide the data service needed for streaming and download. The other is that the car could have its own 4G modem inside. Either way, people that don’t live in one of the few 4G areas won’t see as much benefit out of this as those in 4G areas. Parents with kids that go long long road trips would really appreciate this sort of system.

[via MotorAuthority]

The carrier is yet to give any suggestion as to what may have caused the outage, or indeed publicly confirm the problems. Downtime does not appear to be consistent across all areas, though a brief glance at the support forums suggests locations in California, Ohio, Michigan, New York and more have been affected.

Bandwidth for data has been high on Verizon’s agenda in recent weeks. The company has agreed several acquisitions of AWS spectrum from cable providers, including a $3.6bn deal with Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House, and grabbing Cox’s spectrum for $315m.

We’re waiting to hear back from Verizon as to what the issue might be and whether there’s a timetable for it to be addressed. Until then, a WiFi hotspot is your friend.

Update: Some are reporting 3G is working fine for them, and only Verizon 4G is down. Verizon tells us it is looking into the problem.

Update 2: We’re hearing multiple reports that 4G is back online; is it working for you? Still no word from Verizon as to what, exactly, went wrong.

Update 3: Verizon has given us the following statement:

“Verizon Wireless 4G LTE service is returning to normal this morning after company engineers worked to resolve an issue with the 4G network during the early morning hours today. Throughout this time, 4G LTE customers were able to make voice calls and send and receive text messages. The 3G data network operated normally.”

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

The name of the handset is unknown, though it’s expected to launch on AT&T in the US. It will have a 4.7-inch display, like the HTC Titan - resolution unknown – and is supposedly set to be released on February 5, indicating a CES 2012 reveal is likely.

However, whereas 2011 has seen HTC pepper the market with handsets in the – perhaps desperate – hope that some of them will find favor, 2012 will supposedly see a more reserved, careful company. Q1 is said to be “shockingly quiet” for the most part, while there will be fewer devices overall through the year.

That, it’s suggested, is the end result on a renewed focus on quality rather than quantity, something we’ve argued HTC desperately needed to do for some time now. The company’s November revenues dived amid underwhelming me-too smartphones, while the two attempts at tablets have similarly fallen flat. HTC CFO Winston Yung has confirmed that a “focus on the product” is the Taiwanese firm’s new strategy; ridiculous “Congressional” names aside it sounds tentatively like HTC is going about it the right way.

As we found in our Ice Cream Sandwich review, the new upgrade makes a significant difference to the usability of Android. Several of the features introduced in Honeycomb, Google’s tablet-centric version of the platform, have been pulled across and integrated into a phone-scale UI, though ICS will also start showing up in tablets themselves come early 2012.

For now, though, the Galaxy Nexus is the only official way to get hold of ICS, and in the US that means heading down to Verizon and checking out their LTE version. Off-contract pricing is $649.99. Let us know in the comments if you’re planning on picking one up.

For more on the Galaxy Nexus, check out the full SlashGear review of the HSPA+ model; we’ll have full coverage of the new Verizon LTE version very soon!

According to testing that was conducted on October 31 to November 4 of this year, Lightsquared does cause significant interference with GPS devices. The study was conducted by the US government and determined that millions of GPS units in the field are not compatible with the LightSquared reports Bloomberg News.

The study draft Bloomberg saw noted LightSquared signals caused interference to the majority of GPS receivers tested. LightSquared was hoped to be an answer to providing wireless internet access to rural areas. To help reduce the issues with interference LightSquared is proposing a lower power level that would only affect about 10% of GPS devices out there according to the company. LightSquared and Sharp teamed up in October to develop tablets.

[via Business Week]

There are three versions of the larger slate – in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities – while the smaller model, known as the “Media Edition” outside the US, only offers either 16GB or 32GB. Both have front and rear facing cameras, WiFi a/b/g/n and a 1280 x 800 IPS display, together with HDMI connectivity and an infrared port, which – thanks to the preloaded Dijit app turns the XYBOARDs into universal remote controls.

Nonetheless, with data plans at a minimum of $30 per month, even the cheapest of the two Motorola tablets comes in at almost $1,150 over the course of the two-year agreement. We’re having flashbacks to the original Motorola XOOM at the beginning of the year, which Verizon triumphantly secured the US exclusive on but then priced far too richly to compete with Apple’s iPad.

Telecom rival Verizon Wireless has already launched its LTE network to not only cover major cities, like San Francisco, but also provides lightning-fast LTE coverage to adjacent cities in major metropolitan areas, such as eastwards to Oakland, and southward to San Jose and Silicon Valley. So AT&T’s LTE network isn’t the first in the area, although its speeds are up to par to what I’ve seen with LTE. What do other Verizon LTE bay area users think? What download and upload bandwidth speeds are you getting?

San Francisco denizens with 4G LTE devices on AT&T, are you seeing any speed improvements on AT&T’s newly launched network? Readers in the bay area, help us out by reporting your findings and results on this LTE network debut (whether formal, or not). Feel free to post your speeds and thoughts in the comment section below.

[via Engadget]

Reports initially suggested that the downtime was limited to the midwest, with customers in Chicago, lower parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa all reporting issues getting online with their 4G smartphones, tablets and modems. That quickly spread to impact other areas, however, until users across the US found their LTE had become unreliable.

Verizon had confirmed the problem around 17 hours ago, though at the time was saying that 3G data was unaffected along with calls and texts. Some users suggest that’s not been the case, however, though the service seems to be back up and running again now.

Nonetheless, rumors have circulated that the outages have impacted the launch of high-profile devices like the Galaxy Nexus and the DROID 4, which were widely expected to hit shelves this week but remain unannounced. Earlier this month, Verizon announced plans to buy the AWS spectrum from US cable companies, in a $3.6bn deal which would give it copious amounts of space to further develop its LTE offering.