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politics
TelCos bought wiretapping immunity for a song
The average contribution from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint to the 94 Democratic congresscritters who change their votes from "no" to "yes" on the bill which would grant the companies immunity from charges of illegally wiretapping American citizens? $8,359. How much for all 293 "yes" votes, total? $2,830,087. Eleven California dems changed their votes — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, scored $24,500 in sweet, sweet lobbyist contributions. [MAPLight.org] (Photo by AP/Susan Walsh)
politics
Google called "Robber Baron" by National Black Chamber of Commerce
The National Black Chamber of Commerce has weighed in against the partnership between Google and Yahoo, suggesting that by gaining control of Yahoo's search advertising inventory, it will create a single auction market for search ad placement and lead to higher prices. More »
apple
iPhone 3G's true cost is $1,237
Everywhere you look, a new iPhone price hike turns up. At $199, the phones themselves may be cheaper — but Apple and AT&T, the phone's exclusive carrier in the U.S., are charging users by other means. The iPhone data plan by itself is going up $10 to $30/mo. In a GigaOm interview, AT&T wireless chief Ralph de la Vega reveals that the 200 text messages previously included will cost iPhone users an extra $5/mo. ($20/mo. for unlimited messages, which seem practically obligatory.) And then there's Apple's MobileMe subscription, without which the iPhone's new synching features won't work, at $99 a year, or just over $8 a month. Add it up, and iPhone users will be paying about $43 a month, or $1,038 over the two-year course of the AT&T contract they signed up for — all to get an iPhone at $199. More »
wireless
AT&T, Apple scrap iPhone revenue-sharing deal
Apple is known for innovating in gadgetry. But in business models? AT&T has announced that it and Apple have tossed aside last year's agreement to share revenues on the iPhone. Apple now gets paid upfront, with AT&T selling iPhones at a loss to attract subscribers. The 3G data plan, at $30 a month, is $10 more than the previouse rate — and because AT&T's not sharing that revenue with Apple, AT&T will be making $18 more a month from subscribers, according to estimates of Apple's previous take. AT&T described the deal as "consistent with traditional equipment manufacturer-carrier arrangements." So much for remaking the telecom world. Steve Jobs may have wowed the crowd at the Worldwide Developers Conference with the iPhone's new features. But as far as AT&T is concerned, Apple's nothing special.
3G iPhones will choke wireless networks, as any EVDO user will tell you
One of the reasons that 3G data networks are so fast, especially here in the United States, is that relatively few people use them. However, go to a technology conference where the density of EVDO users reaches a critical mass and suddenly those zippy downloads begin to slow. A room full of iPhone owners frustrated by slowdowns over AT&T's network isn't the customer experience I think Steve Jobs was imagining. [GigaOm]
One of the reasons that 3G data networks are so fast, especially here in the United States, is that relatively few people use them. However, go to a technology conference where the density of EVDO users reaches a critical mass and suddenly those zippy downloads begin to slow. A room full of iPhone owners frustrated by slowdowns over AT&T's network isn't the customer experience I think Steve Jobs was imagining. [GigaOm]
history lesson
The Internet according to "Vanity Fair" -- the 100-word version
In a nine-chapter opus, Vanity Fair clean-up hitter Keenan "Coverline" Mayo and Peter Newcomb pitch the inevitable book deal for an oral history of the Internet. In it are all sorts of unchallenged assertions by various leading lights, from early stories of the Arpanet to Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams complaining about getting friend invites from "Pounce" when he's not taking undue credit for building the first social network. (Six Degrees, anyone?) But what stood out to me were two anecdotes that illustrate the plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose nature of business in America. Namely, the cycle of monopolies which the Internet has done little to stop and will probably spin Google's way next. After the jump, 100 words that changed the world — without the pleasantly distracting Angelina Jolie pop-up ads spewed by the Vanity Fair website. More »
wi-fi
Starbucks' desperation means free Internet for card customers
With the purchase of a $5 gift card, or by entering your personal information in the company's database for a rewards program, Starbucks will allow you to sip on two hours of free Wi-Fi from AT&T at stores. The Seattle-based fast food chain may be one of the first to be hit by any economic downturn as Americans cut back on the affordable luxury of $4 caffeinated drinks and spend that money at competitors like McDonald's. One look at the stock's performance over the last year, down over 30 percent, and you can see why CEO Howard Schultz would look to freebies like Wi-Fi to keep the company's FrappucinoTM junkies coming back. As our very special correspondent once put it, "Wi-Fi isn't a luxury or even a commodity. It's a condiment."
rumormonger
Kevin Rose pumps his own Apple stock with $200 iPhone rumor
Digg founder Kevin Rose is back with another iPhone rumor. This time, the shaggy entrepreneur declares that part of the expected June 9 announcement will be an entry-level model priced at $200. Which jibes with other rumors that Apple and AT&T were considering subsidizing the iPhone, as most other carriers do. Or Apple's just looking to dump unsold stock. Either way, expect the customers who have been waiting in lines for current models priced at $399 to be nonplussed. Apple fans never learn, do they?
deathwatch
Akimbo's last-ditch plan: Porn!
An Akimbo employee detailed the twists and turns in strategy at the now dead startup, mostly from the point at which Tom Frank (pictured) took over as CEO. Frank stalled development on content for investor AT&T, killed a product a month after it was shipped to Novato-based Sonic, switched products on client CenturyTel with two months notice, then decided they needed to acquire Canadian startup iWave's software. Only after founder Jim Funk left, along with legions of engineers, did executives decide to resuscitate tech built in-house. The nail in the coffin? More »
Ding, dong, Akimbo's dead
Akimbo, the online video company that just laid off most of the staff, has finally closed its doors. Its failure comes only months after a fresh infusion of $8 million from investors, including AT&T. The telco giant was looking for Akimbo's content to fill out the company's HomeZone TV offering. Only problem? Akimbo lost all its content licensing deals, according to a tipster. [VentureBeat]
Akimbo, the online video company that just laid off most of the staff, has finally closed its doors. Its failure comes only months after a fresh infusion of $8 million from investors, including AT&T. The telco giant was looking for Akimbo's content to fill out the company's HomeZone TV offering. Only problem? Akimbo lost all its content licensing deals, according to a tipster. [VentureBeat]
online video
Netflix and Roku hope to avoid the curse of the set-top box
What makes Netflix's new living-room box for Internet video downloads different from all the other set-top flops? Everything. The price is low: At $99, it's much cheaper than the $229 Apple TV. It connects to regular TVs as well as HDTVs, and can stream video in variable quality depending on your Internet connection speed. And you can eat all you want from the buffet of available titles on Netflix, with movies available online that happen to be in your Netflix queue already lined up and ready to go. Hardware partner Roku has introduced it with a chipset that other manufacturers can license, and Netflix has a huge domestic subscriber base as potential customers. So what three things could doom this product to the same fate as every other Internet-video set-top? More »
great moments in pr
AT&T waffles on free Wi-Fi for iPhone subscribers
Yesterday AT&T added language to its website that promised iPhone subscribers free Wi-Fi hotspot access to the company's listing of features for customers. A few hours later, the offer was removed from the site. The rollout for free Wi-Fi for iPhone subscribers on AT&T's network isn't going so smoothly — after the unannounced program was discovered, hackers shortly discovered they could log any device onto the network quite easily. (Photo from Jajah)
AT&T plots Skype rival
AT&T and as many as 15 other big phone companies are planning to launch a rival to Skype in 2009. Why don't they just buy it from eBay? That seems easier. [GigaOm]
AT&T and as many as 15 other big phone companies are planning to launch a rival to Skype in 2009. Why don't they just buy it from eBay? That seems easier. [GigaOm]
AT&T turns off free Wi-Fi
AT&T meant to make Wi-Fi free only for iPhone users. But a hack made it free for laptop users at Starbucks and other network points controlled by AT&T. The free Wi-Fi has now been disabled. Guess the hoi polloi stealing bandwidth ruined it for iPhone owners. [Gizmodo]
AT&T meant to make Wi-Fi free only for iPhone users. But a hack made it free for laptop users at Starbucks and other network points controlled by AT&T. The free Wi-Fi has now been disabled. Guess the hoi polloi stealing bandwidth ruined it for iPhone owners. [Gizmodo]
wi-fi
Get free Wi-Fi at Starbucks with or without an iPhone from AT&T
AT&T is offering iPhone owners free Wi-Fi at hotspots managed by the company, including those at megachain Starbucks. But all the system checks is the user-agent string supplied by the iPhone's Safari browser and a phone number from a working iPhone. So anyone with a laptop can simply change their browser's user-agent string, put in the phone number of a friend with an iPhone, et voila! Free Wi-Fi. Why you won't get? The phone number of the cute barista you've been flirting with in vain. (Via Slashdot, photo by Synthesis Studios)
your privacy is an illusion
FBI to Internet: Yeah, we'd tap that
Head honcho of the federales, Robert Mueller, let his fantasies run wild in hearings held by the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee on Wednesday:[G]ive us the ability to preempt that illegal activity where it comes through a choke point as opposed to the point where it is diffuse on the Internet.With Comcast admitting to throttling file sharing traffic, AT&T promising to filter for copyright infringement, Google under fire for all sort of privacy concerns and the NSA already jumping our backbones, who isn't tapping that? (Photo by AP/Lawrence Jackson)
politics
