Verizon

In a move to fend off the online piracy companies united to launch a set of rules to slow or restrict the Internet access to consumers found illegally downloading copyrighted films, music or TV shows.

Verizon Communications Inc, Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc, Cablevision Systems Corp and AT&T Inc agreed to alert customers, up to six times, when it appears their account is used for illegal downloading. Warnings will come as e-mails or pop-up messages.

An in-depth investigation will be conducted by the Justice Department to learn whether AT&T's plan to buy of T-Mobile USA break anti-trust laws, says the source familiar with the case.

Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona declined to confirm that the antitrust division had deepened its probe. "Our investigation is ongoing," she added.

Consumer named Verizon the mobile network of the year for the second consecutive year according to the stats given by Harris Interactive.

“Since the change in the portability of phone numbers, switching mobile phones and mobile networks is significantly easier,” said Jeni Lee Chapman, Executive Vice President of Brand and Communications Consulting with Harris Interactive.

“Verizon’s strong brand equity can have a large impact when consumers have a choice.”

Complaints filed by some wireless companies against FCC rules were declined by a US federal appeals court as premature. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted on Monday the Federal Communications Commission's motions to dismiss as premature lawsuits filed by Verizon Communications Inc and MetroPCS Communications Inc.

Both companies filed complaints against FCC accusing the regulator of overstepping its authority in creating new rules aimed at regulating Internet traffic.

Some new details about the next generation iPad have been reported by the Wall Street Journal, who cited people with the knowledge of the matter. Meantime, Apple has made no announcement yet.

The report in the Journal says that the next iPad will be available through both AT&T and Verizon, and will be thinner, lighter, and will have at least one camera on the front. The new tablet will also feature more memory and a more powerful graphics processor.

According to an outlook of R.W. Baird & Co. analyst William Power the number of iPhones to be sold by Verizon in 2011 may account for 25 million, reports All Things Digital.

The analyst believes that Verizon could sell 23.8 million iPhones to its subscribers this year. That figure, combined with the 5.6 percent of AT&T iPhone users who, Baird says, will switch to Verizon in 2011, and you've got a sales number that approaches 25 million, which is more than twice as predicted by other analysts who forecast 9 to 12 million.

While many people are getting excited over the launch of Verizon iPhone 4 it may be so that they shouldn’t hasten to acquire a current model. Consumer Reports graded Verizon's CDMA iPhone 4 a "middle-aged device" and said buyers would be wise to wait for a newer model.

News about the iPhone do not cease being topical as more and more reports are coming about new features and opportunities of Apple’s flagship phone. Now in addition to that Verizon is launching its own iPhone there is a report that the iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless would include new Personal Hotspot capabilities, enabling users to connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices. It should be noted that while Verizon iPhones may get the feature first, all iPhones will have the feature in iOS 4.3.

Apple, AT&T, Target, and Best Buy have reduced prices for the 8GB iPhone 3GS to $49 (with a two-year contract).

The price cut is permanent and reflects Apple’s move to compete with low cost smartphones offered by some mobile operators. Verizon, for instance, sells pre-owned original Droid phones for $50 on contract. Motorola's Backflip also sells for $50 with AT&T.

Apple's iPhone 3GS product page says the phone "starts at an amazing new price" and "takes advantage of all the great features of iOS 4."

Verizon Wireless is reportedly to announce Tuesday the deal with Apple to finally launch its own version of the iPhone. The announcement will be made at a press conference in New York. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that the wireless carrier will unveil its own version of the iconic smartphone, ending the exclusive distribution arrangement that Apple has had since 2007 with AT&T.

While last week Google's Andy Rubin unveiled an upcoming Motorola tablet running the Android OS, codenamed Honeycomb, this week a mobile forum posted some pictures of 10-inch Motorola tablet which revealed that the device will run on Verizon network.

According to the forecast made by ABI Research the next year will see a 15% compound annual growth rate for smartphone shipments to mobile customers. Meantime, the mobile business customer smartphone installed base will surpass 30% across the globe and in North America it will exceed 65%. The researcher says that the domination of the market will be defined by the operating system.

According to the latest rumors reported by a technology and consumer gadgets blog BGR, a new iPhone 4 version is being on its final stage of testing before release. The new device is coded as the "iPhone3,2", a "solid" mole has told website BGR. The current iPhone 4 is "3,1".

Apple continues expansion of the US outlets selling its cutting-edge computer tablet iPad with the announcement made that both Verizon and AT&T stores will stock the device.

The announcement comes after the device has become available at major US retail chains Walmart and Target, and Best Buy's decision last month to begin selling the device at all of its 1000-odd stores.

Verizon Communications chief executive Ivan Seidenberg refuted the rumors about the soon launch of the iPhone on the carrier’s network. He stated that the iPhone won't come to Verizon's network in the very near future (e.g., January), at least not until the carrier implements its fourth-generation (4G) LTE network, a process that's already underway but won't be completed until 2012.