AT&T posts strong Q4, adds 2.7 million wireless subscribers

AT&T is the latest company to turn in their Q4 report card, and so far, things are looking good. AT&T is reporting Q4 revenues of $30.9 billion with a net income of $3 billion. AT&T Wireless boasted a 2.7 million customer net-gain in Q4 — 7.3 million additions for the full year — and trimmed $200 million from operating expenses year-over-year. An increasing customer base, the lowest churn rate in company history (1.44%), and an eighth straight quarter of increased ARPU (average revenue per user) made for a profitable Q4.

Apple announces the iPad, changes the course of history

If you were following this morning’s Apple announcement, it may have been quite overwhelming and your head could be spinning in confusion. We’re here to clear things up and give you additional details over what we posted this morning. What we know so far is that the device itself, in terms of hardware and software, doesn’t disappoint. Out of the box, it can support every single application available in the iTunes App Store right now. There is a new version of iWork available for the iPad — with each application going for $9.99 (which means $30 for the whole kaboodle). The Wi-Fi only version will be available in 60 days, and the 3G and Wi-Fi versions in 90 days.

Today at 10:00AM PST, hundreds of thousands of eyes were glued to computer screens as Steve Jobs made one of the most anticipated announcements in Apple history: the iPad. Some might giggle or scoff at the name, but that’s where the snark stops. The hardware and software had event attendees up on their feet applauding. Before we get into a deep run-down of the device, here are some specs you need to know right off the bat (we’ll continue updating these if there are move developments):
■0.5″ thick and 1.5lbs light
■9.7″ IPS display, capacitive multitouch touchscreen
■Built-in accelerometer, mic, 30-pin connector, 802.11n Wi-Fi, compass, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
■10 hours of battery life and one month standby time!
■1GHz Apple A4 processor
■16GB, 32GB and 64GB Flash storage
On top of all this, the iPad will run the applications you already have for the iPhone. It can appear on the screen one of two ways: pixel for pixel accuracy in a black box or pixel double it and run the application in full screen. Typing on the iPad was made to look like a breeze with a large software keyboard that pops up on the screen when typing is required. That ought to give you all a taste of things to come as the event is still very much in progress, so we’ll get back to you with more details very soon!

Pricing will start at $499 for the 16 gigabyte version, $599 for the 32gig version and $699 for the 64, jobs said.

Last minute Apple tablet leaks: images emerge, books to cost $12.99-14.99, $1 per episode TV shows?

In the waning moments before Apple’s highly anticipated tablet event, a few last minute leaks are stirring up the excitement. The device is encased in a plastic housing, bolted down to a table and covered with a black drape. This cloak and dagger treatment is reportedly standard practice for any super secret Apple device so these images may indeed be the Apple tablet. Apple is also reportedly in last minute negotiations with book publishers and television studios to finalize pricing for its rumored tablet device. Apple is rumored to be pushing Hollywood to offer $1 per episode pricing on television shows in iTunes and is offering book publishers a pricing scheme that would set book prices at $12.99 to $14.99 for best sellers with a basement price of $9.99 for less popular books. Apple would reportedly take a 30% cut of all sales, leaving book publishers with a take home price of $10.49 or less. This could place them between a rock and a hard place with Apple offering a potentially larger audience with less revenue per book, or going with Amazon which offers greater revenue per book with its Kindle but may not have the reach and allure of this rumored tablet.

Nokia launches 16GB X6

A somewhat tame version of the X6 has been announced by Nokia today and will become available this quarter. The new 16GB X6 has half the memory capacity of the 32GB version, and it’s also missing the Comes With Music feature. If you think you can live with that, the 16GB X6 has an impressive battery life of 11.5 hours talk time and 18 days of standby, 4.5 hours of video playback and 35 hours of music playback. Of course, Nokia doesn’t cut any corners with cameras on its high-end devices, and this one features a 5 megapixel shooter with Carl Zeiss optics and a dual LED flash — pretty much par for the course on Nokia devices these days. The new X6 also has in-phone video editing capabilities and TV out support so you can watch your amateur cinematography on a big screen. No details on pricing, but we’d imagine it to be less than the full-fledged 32GB version.

T-Mobile USA gets HTC HD2 with 576 MB RAM

It must have been annoying for the T-Mobile USA subscribers to have to wait three months longer than everybody else to get the HTC HD2. Well it seems their patience will be rewarded with an upgraded version of the device packing 576MB RAM and 1GB ROM. This definitely looks like a good spot for landing Windows Mobile 7 when it eventually becomes available.

And the good news doesn't end there. The T-Mobile USA will receive a 16GB microSD cards in their HTC HD2 retail boxes, instead of the 2GB available in the European/Asia packages.

The rest of the HD2 specs remain intact, but it doesn't change the fact T-Mobile will offer the most powerful HTC HD2 ever made. The rumored requirements for Windows Mobile 7 include 1GB ROM, so it might turn out that the T-Mobile's units will be the only ones to get the OS

Boost Mobile Blackberry 8330 Curve Smartphone "just arrived"

The wait is over! Boost Mobile just launched it's very 1st smartphone to their line-up Blackberry 8330 Curve at $249.99 price point (No contract, no credit check, no activation fee) $60/month unlimited talk, text and full web browser. It's the best deal in town. Visit your nearest upnext wireless authorized Boost Mobile dealer for a hands on experience.

Phone specification includes: RIM BlackBerry OS 4.3 , 32bit Qualcomm MSM6550, 225MHz CPU, 32MiB RAM, 32+64MiB ROM, 2.4" 320x240 color transmissive TFT LCD, 3.5mm audio jack, CDMA800, CDMA1900, cdmaOne, CDMA2000 1xRTT, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rel. 0, Includes a 1GB microSD, microSDHC, TransFlash, mini-USB port, Bluetooth, GPS, Built-in QWERTY-type keyb., 1.9MP cam., flash, 1150mAh removable battery