AT&T and Apple this week could announce an end to their exclusive iPhone deal, as the U.S. telco giant plans to bolster its smartphone portfolio.
While the gadget world this week gears up for the expected unveiling on Wednesday of Apple's tablet computer, Hot Hardware reported an unnamed source at AT&T said the operator's iPhone agreement is set to end on the same day.
Although the report made no mention of any rival operators that are planning to offer the coveted Apple device, it wouldn't come as much of a surprise if either Apple or AT&T decided to end their exclusive iPhone deal.
AT&T has been swamped by negative publicity about the quality of its network as it struggles to cope with the exponential growth in mobile data traffic - largely caused by iPhone users. The problems even prompted AT&T's mobile chief Ralph de la Vega to unveil plans to curb excessive wireless data usage.
What's more, the operator during this year's CES made no secret of its plans to offer a greater range of smartphones, including Windows Mobile phones, Palm's latest devices, and Android phones.
We're not quite sure how AT&T offering a wider range of handsets will ease the demands on its network, but not being the only carrier to sell the iPhone might at least ease the pressure somewhat.
As for Apple, it has been rolling the iPhone out on even more carriers in even more markets as consumers scramble to get their hands on one - surely it's in Apple's interest to make available to more punters in its domestic market?
UK stuffed stockings with Tesco telecoms products
U.K. consumers selected Tesco telecoms accessories as Christmas presents, the U.K.-based retail giant announced on Tuesday.
"Like for like sales were [up] 19% year on year as consumers bought mobile and internet stocking fillers," Tesco said in a statement.
The retailer says it sold 5,000 mobile broadband dongles and 10,000 memory cards in the seven days before Christmas alone.
It was also a strong Christmas period for Tesco Mobile, which reported that strong sales drove its customer base above the 2 million mark.
"One customer activated their Tesco Mobile handset every two seconds on Christmas Day," the company said.
Tesco also insists that it saw strong demand for the latest addition to its portfolio, the iPhone, although declined to provide further details.
"Like for like sales were [up] 19% year on year as consumers bought mobile and internet stocking fillers," Tesco said in a statement.
The retailer says it sold 5,000 mobile broadband dongles and 10,000 memory cards in the seven days before Christmas alone.
It was also a strong Christmas period for Tesco Mobile, which reported that strong sales drove its customer base above the 2 million mark.
"One customer activated their Tesco Mobile handset every two seconds on Christmas Day," the company said.
Tesco also insists that it saw strong demand for the latest addition to its portfolio, the iPhone, although declined to provide further details.
Alcatel-Lucent has new knob to play with
Alcatel-Lucent on Monday announced the Green Touch initiative - spearheaded by its research arm Bell Labs and launched in conjunction with 14 others, telcos included - a project designed to create new network kit that will ultimately bring about a 1,000-fold reduction in the CO2 emissions created by telecoms networks worldwide.
But the company had its work cut out persuading journalists at the London launch event that optimising network equipment for energy usage will not impact on other areas, such as performance or price.
Today's networks are optimised for the tremendous growth the industry has experienced in recent years, explained Bell Labs head of research Gee Rittenhouse. "There is [now] an opportunity to optimse for both [growth and power]," he added.
"Now we have a new knob inside of the industry that we can play with too," he said.
Interesting analogy...
But the company had its work cut out persuading journalists at the London launch event that optimising network equipment for energy usage will not impact on other areas, such as performance or price.
Today's networks are optimised for the tremendous growth the industry has experienced in recent years, explained Bell Labs head of research Gee Rittenhouse. "There is [now] an opportunity to optimse for both [growth and power]," he added.
"Now we have a new knob inside of the industry that we can play with too," he said.
Interesting analogy...
The Vitrue 100: Top Social Brands of 2009 « Vitrue Blog - we make brands social
The Vitrue 100: Top Social Brands of 2009 « Vitrue Blog - we make brands social: The Vitrue 100 ranking of the brands most blogged, tweeted, and tagged brings Apple out on top, but also shows good rankings by some other telco brands.
Interesting to see if social dominance also reflects on what users think of their mobile devices - we're gathering votes in our survey for the World Vendor Awards - vote here: http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=448394
Also watch out for TT's branding report in March - see if the same names come out strongly.
Interesting to see if social dominance also reflects on what users think of their mobile devices - we're gathering votes in our survey for the World Vendor Awards - vote here: http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=448394
Also watch out for TT's branding report in March - see if the same names come out strongly.
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