The Justice Department is not the only government entity casting doubt on the legalities of the potential merger. The FCC, which has been reviewing the merger plan, has also spoken out against it as an inhibitor of free market competition. But further criticism comes from obvious sources: additional mobile service providers. Sprint has protested the merger for sometime, and in a recent release has said they approve of the Justice Department’s decision to file suit against AT&T.

AT&T claims that the merger is the only way the company can build their 4G network. Without it they say they will be unable to compete against the 4G network capabilities of Verizon Wireless. But the DOJ investigation that preceded the suit concluded that there were indeed other options AT&T could take to implement a state-of-the-art 4G network. One such option was for the company to simply pay for the 4G network out of their own pocket.

The merger may still happen, since AT&T could simply settle as soon as possible with the Justice Department. But it’s looking less likely that it will happen the way AT&T wants it to. The race to acquire nearly half of all U.S. mobile subscriptions wasn’t going to be easy. If AT&T is headed by smart enough people, then they knew that was the case months ago.

So as far as that T-Mobile contract renewal goes…why not? The worst case scenario is that you avoid cancellation fees, and the best possible scenario is that the iPhone is finally put within your reach. As far as mobile services goes that sounds like best of all possibilities.

This new and innovative application will give them the advantages of a wide array of phone calling services that also involve many customization features and forwarding services. This application is a cloud based one and it is called Office@Hand. This feature is currently being unrolled for the iPhone and Blackberry devices and there are future plans of it being launched for an Android device early in March.

The features that the user will get cover the utility to transfer live calls between both mobiles and landlines. The user will also be able to set custom greetings and enjoy advanced custom business hours call handling rules. There is also the ability to have multiple department and user extensions too. This application is going to be the first Smartphone based one and it is targeted at administrators and small business owners using the Blackberry or the iPhone. With the aid of this application users can avail a host of benefits thanks to AT&T!

In essence, we believe the ads mislead consumers into believing that AT&T doesn’t offer ANY wireless service in the vast majority of the country. In fact, AT&T’s wireless network blankets the US, reaching approximately 296M people. Additionally, our 3G service is available in over 9,600 cities and towns. Verizon’s misleading advertising tactics appear to be a response to AT&T’s strong leadership in smartphones. We have twice the number of smartphone customers… and we’ve beaten them two quarters in a row on net post-paid subscribers. We also had lower churn — a sign that customers are quite happy with the service they receive.

AT&T claims the map is misleading although it clearly states that it is depicting 3G coverage.Verizon began an aggressive series of marketing campaigns targeting the iPhone dynamic duo of AT&T and Apple. It began with the ‘There’s a Map for That’ ads, playing off of the iPhone ‘There’s an App for That’ marketing slogan and illustrating how Verizon has 5 times more 3G network coverage than AT&T. It followed that up with the iDon’t campaign, highlighting weaknesses of the iPhone and stating that the upcoming Android-based Droid can do all of those things and more.

AT&T doesn’t claim that the information related to 3G coverage is wrong, but the customers that view the map are too dumb to understand tahat it refers only to 3G coverage, and not coverage at all.

The claim itself is just silly. People aren’t really that dumb.

The lawsuit may be a bad strategic move for AT&T because it can have the exact opposite effect. AT&T has asked for an injunction to prevent Verizon from continuing the ad campaign so that customers won’t continue to see the stark contrast of the 3G networks from each provider. The result is that the marketing campaign is getting tons of attention and free advertising, and customers are led to question what AT&T is trying to hide.

AT&T marketing claims that it has the ‘fastest 3G network’. For customers who live within the city limits of major urban centers that may be great, but for the people living in the white part of the map in the Verizon ad having the biggest 3G network is a more relevant claim. In an industry that is already moving on to 4G networks, not having 3G coverage is the same as no coverage for all intents and purposes.

What AT&T needs to realize is that it’s a smart phone world. Mobile phones are not just phones any more–they’re being replaced by mobile computing devices. Yes, AT&T has coverage of some sort in the vast majority of the blank white space depicted on the map in the Verizon ad, but that coverage is not sufficient to meet the needs of devices that rely on broadband connectivity.

The above chart, showed by Mary Meeker displays that only two years since the first iPhone was launched the traffic of AT&T has increased tenfold.

It is worth adding that the number of users of iPhone and mobile Internet services is three times more than the number of AOL and Netscape users, registered in the past two years.

As you might know, the BlackBerry 9700 Bold is the successor of classic smartphones branded BlackBerry. The device is designed as candybar with a horizontal screen and QWERTY-keyboard.

The BlackBerry 9700 Bold specifications:

* Operating System: BlackBerry OS 5.0
* Processor: 624 MHz
* Memory: 256 MB internal flash memory and microSD slot up to 32 GB
* Networks: UMTS/HSDPA (800/850/1900/2100 MHz) and UMTS/HSDPA (900/1700/2100 MHz) and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
* Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with UMA support protocol
* GPS module with support for A-GPS
* Screen: 2.44″ with HVGA-resolution (480×360 pixels)
* Camera: 3.2-megapixel with autofocus and LED flash
* Optical trackpad
* Bluetooth 2.1 with support for A2DP/AVCRP Profile
* Battery: 1500 mAh
* Hours: talk time up to 6 hours and 17 (21) day and in standby mode (GSM)
* Dimensions: 109x60x 14.1 mm
* Weight: 122 g

The HTC Pure, which is AT&T’s version of the Touch Diamond2, has already been noticed in several AT&T stores and here are the leaked photos:

HTC Pure should be equiiped with a WVGA touchscreen display, TouchFlo 3D, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS and a 5MP camera with autofocus.

AT&T will sell the HTC Pure for $149.99 with a contract.

The device is quite a simple phone with specifications that include: HSDPA connectivity, external music keys, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Video Share, web browser, email, 2MP camera and a battery that can last up to 4 hours in talk-time mode.

Nokia 6350 will be available via AT&T starting October 4 in two: red and graphite colors. The price is estimated $29.99 with a  2 year contract.

The device was introduced as “the only phone to fully integrate the world’s best selling GPS navigator with voice, data and mobile web”, nüvifone G60 is, basically, a Garmin nüvi device with phone functionality.

The G60 comes with a 272×480 pixels touchscreen display, a “real GPS receiver with Garmin’s HotFix technology”, preloaded maps, Wi-Fi, HTML browser, 3MP autofocus camera and 4GB of internal memory.

AT&T is planning to start the sales on October 4 for $299 with a 2-year contract. The phone will be offered with a 30-day trial of Nüvifone Premium Connected Service, which will cost $5.99 per month after the trial expires.

Here are some of the phones put up to grab:

* Samsung Eternity a867 – The SAMSUNG Eternity™ isn’t just a phone; it’s the total package. It’s a full touch screen full of entertaining features. And it takes full advantage of 3G high-speed technology. You get AT&T Mobile Music, AT&T Mobile TV, a 3.0 megapixel camera, GPS and so much more. With all that entertainment, and 200MB of built-in memory, you’ll be able to enjoy this SAMSUNG for an eternity.
* Blackberry Curve 8900 – The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a great addition to the BlackBerry family, and most high end users will truly appreciate its beauty. The phone is very lightweight and looks great with its crystal clear, bright screen.
* Samsung Impression a877 – The SAMSUNG Impression™ combines a brilliant, widescreen touch screen display with a full, slide-out QWERTY keyboard to give you one very attractive phone. With its full messaging capabilities, PC Studio Manager and customizable Widget Bar, the Impression™ is a complete communications tool that will always make a good impression
* LG Xenon GR500 – Not a bad phone and not a bad purchase. All essential features that one would expect in a phone are present, along with some additional ones that are quite innovative
* Blackberry Bold 9000 – The BlackBerry Bold delivers high-speed browsing and powerful messaging capabilities, and it represents a major step up in form and function over existing BlackBerry models.
* Motorola Tundra
* And many more!

The device has already been demonstrated at the Computex2009 exhibition and is intended for Vodafone, AT&T and Orange  costomers. The exact date of the sales and the price are not yet known.

xpPhone specifications:

* Operating system: Windows XP
* Processor: AMD Super Mobile
* Memory: 512 MB or 1 GB
* SSD-drive: 8/16/32/64 GB
* Hard drive: 30/60/80/120 GB
* Screen: touchscreen, TFT, 4.8-inch diagonal with a resolution of 800×480 pixels
* Networks: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA, CDMA/CDMA2000/EVDO, TD-SCDMA, TD-HSDPA
* Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g, WiMAX, Bluetooth, GPS
* Camera: CMOS 1.3-megapixel
* Interface: audio jack, microphone jack, VGA-connector, USB
* Hours: talk mode up to 5 hours standby mode up to 5 days
* Weight: 400 grams (with battery)

Based on unofficial information we know that BlackBerry Bold 9700 for T-Mobile will support 2G and 3G networks, Wi-Fi, GPS, as well as services such as Amazon MP3 online music store and BlackBerry App World BlackBerry OSapplications store.

But by the time of the release the design of the phone has changed, in addition to the model index it was named as one of  Disney’s heros – Aladdin. The phone is focused on messaging and has already been certified by Bluetooth SIG.

Pantech C790 Aladdin specification:

* Networks: Quad-band GSM, tri-band HSDPA
* Keyboard: alphanumeric and QWERTY
* Screen: 2.2 inch, QVGA
* Camera: 1.3 MP
* AGPS
* Bluetooth
* slot for MicroSD cards

The first customers who will have opportunity to buy Pantech C790 are AT&T users. But no information on release date and price is available.

It is not known yet what other functions of iPhone OS has been changed. It is supposed that support of social networks, playback of songs from iTunes will also be included.

We can also assume that on September 9 new software for players iPod will be released also, but such information exists only on the level of rumors.

This model will be sold for $50 wth a 2 year contract.

Specifications of Nokia Mural (Nokia 6750):

* Support communications standards: WCDMA/HSDPA/850/1900/2100 MHz, GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
* Dimensions: 97,3x47x16,3 mm
* Weight: 110 gr.
* Platform: Series 40,6th edition
* Main display: 2.2 inch, TFT, 240×320 pixels, 16 million colors
* External Display: 1.36 inch, resolution of 128×160 pixels
* Camera: 2 mp with video recording in VGA resolution
* Battery: Li-Ion, 1050 mAh
* Communications: Bluetooth 2.1 (including the profile A2DP), USB 2.0 HS (MicroUSB support battery) and 2.5 mm UHJ
* Built-in games
* Support for microSD memory cards up to 32 GB
* Support for A-GPS navigation with SUPL
* Support for multiple services from operator AT&T

Well, we still don’t know when, but the first live picture of the phone has just appeared in the wild, so it probably won’t take long until the second largest US carrier announces the phone.

As previously reported, the LG Shine 2 should come with the following features: 2.2 inch QVGA display with 262k colors, HSDPA 3.6Mbps, Bluetooth 2.1, 2MP camera, MicroSD card support (up to 16GB), and a 910 mAh battery.

Seeing the phone’s features and design, we’re guessing that AT&T will sell it for a low price on contract. The handset will probably help LG to further expand its market share in the US.

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