Cody Taylor

Looks like the uproar over AT&T’s recently-tweaked wireless terms of service banning video streaming and p2p activity has caused some hasty rethinking in Dallas.

Looks like AT&T’s taking some aggressive steps to manage network traffic now that it’s offering subsidized netbooks – the carrier updated its data plan terms of service last night to specifically single out and prohibit “downloading movies using P2P file sharing services, customer initiated redirection of television or other video or audio signals.

Hugh Pickens writes “A Pew study last year found that only 38 percent of rural American homes have access to broadband Internet, compared to 57 percent in cities and 60 percent in the suburbs. All that could be about to change with the announcement that Verizon plans to start introducing a new wireless network in the 700 MHz spectrum in 2010. ‘The licenses we bought in the 700MHz auction cover the whole US,’ says Tony Melone, a Verizon Wireless VP. ‘And we plan to roll out LTE [high-speed mobile service] throughout the entire country, including places where we don’t offer our [current] cell phone service today.’ Because the [700 MHz] spectrum is in a lower frequency, it can transmit signals over longer distances and penetrate through obstacles, and because the signals travel longer distances, Verizon can deploy fewer cell towers than if it used spectrum from a higher frequency band, which means it can provide coverage at a lower cost. President Obama’s administration is well aware of the high-speed Internet divide that exists today, and as part of the overall economic stimulus package passed by Congress, the government is allocating .2 billion for projects that bring broadband Internet access to rural towns and communities.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Everybody loves the idea of cheap VoIP calls on cell phones. Everybody, that is, except for wireless carriers who charge usurious fees for voice and data plans. Cellular providers around the globe are placing restrictions on Skype for iPhone and other Internet phone services, and that’s bad news for consumers.

This week brings the CTIA wireless powwow and a bevy of new (mostly smart) phones. Palm’s Pre is on the runway. HTC is launching new Google Android phones (and ads to go with them). Nokia is paying attention to the U.S. again with a thin smartphone. And even Motorola has a phone that looks pretty good.

suolumark writes “The CSIRO has won what could be a landmark settlement from Hewlett Packard over the use of patented wireless technology. The settlement ended HP’s involvement in a four-year lawsuit brought by the CSIRO on a group of technology companies, in which the organisation was seeking royalties for wi-fi technology that is used extensively on laptops and computers worldwide. CSIRO spokesman Luw Morgan earlier said legal action was continuing against 13 companies: Intel, Dell, Toshiba, Asus, Netgear, D-Link, Belkin, SMC, Accton, 3-Com, Buffalo, Microsoft and Nintendo.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

CWmike writes “Clearwire is teaming up with Google, Cisco and Intel to build a WiMax network in Silicon Valley for software developers to try out new applications on the 4G mobile broadband technology. The network will cover the three companies’ campuses and the region in between them and will span roughly 20 square miles, Clearwire’s Ben Wolff said in a keynote address at the CTIA Wireless show. No public access was mentioned, but Clearwire has forecast expanding its commercial WiMax service to the SF Bay Area next year.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Skype announced software for BlackBerries and iPhones, a week after releasing a beta version for Windows Mobile. Earlier this year, Nokia had announced that it would start shipping some handsets with Skype pre-loaded.

LateNiteTV sends in news of a “kill pill” from LM Ericsson AB that a wireless carrier could use to remotely disable a subsidized netbook if the customer doesn’t pay the monthly bill or cancels their credit card. “…the Swedish company that makes many of the modems that go into laptops announced Tuesday that its new modem will deal with [the nonpayment] issue by including a feature that’s virtually a wireless repo man. If the carrier has the stomach to do so, it can send a signal that completely disables the computer, making it impossible to turn on. … Laptop makers that use Ericsson modules include LG Electronics Inc., Dell Inc., Toshiba Corp., and Lenovo.” The feature could also be used to lock thieves out of the data on a stolen laptop.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple has been targeted twice in lawsuits this week by companies that claim patent infringement in the iPhone, the App Store, and even the chips that power its camera. The most notable, from Affinity Labs, accuses Apple of violating three patents for sending information wirelessly to a portable device, including for browsing downloading online co