Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

AT&T drops $39B bid to buy T-Mobile; ‘duopoly’ averted

The two companies would have controlled almost 80 percent of the cell-phone market had the deal gone through.

AT&T Inc. is hanging up on its $39 billion bid to buy smaller wireless provider T-Mobile USA, nearly four months after the U.S. government voiced concerns that it would raise prices, reduce innovation, and give schools and other customers fewer choices.

The long-expected announcement left AT&T grumbling about a shortage of airwaves to expand its services, while scrappy competitor T-Mobile remains up for sale by German parent Deutsche Telekom.

The formal end of the deal was heralded by critics. No. 3 wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. had feared “an undeniable duopoly” between the proposed new entity and current market leader Verizon Wireless. The two companies would have controlled almost 80 percent of the cell-phone market had the deal gone through.…Read More

iPad coming to Verizon Wireless and AT&T stores

Apple said Thursday that Verizon Wireless would begin selling the iPad at its stores on Oct. 28, reports the New York Times. The announcement is the latest sign that the relationship between Apple and Verizon is warming up. Verizon is expected to begin selling Apple’s iPhone early next year. Verizon will not be selling 3G versions of the iPad, which work over a cellular data network. Instead it will sell bundles that include the iPad’s Wi-Fi models and its own MiFi mobile hot spot device, which essentially allows users to connect to the Internet in any place that has 3G service. The bundles will cost $630 for a 16-gigabyte model, $730 for a 32-gigabyte model and $830 for 64 gigabytes. Verizon will offer a monthly $20 access plan to iPad customers for up to 1 gigabyte of data. In addition, Verizon will offer all three iPad models on a standalone basis…

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Microsoft readies new phone launch with AT&T

Microsoft Corp is set to unveil a new line of phones running its Windows software today, as it attempts to pull back market share from Apple Inc’s iPhone and Google Inc’s Android system in the fast-growing market for multi-featured ‘smartphones’ Reuters reports. The world’s largest software company is hoping that the new phones, from handset makers such as Samsung, LG and HTC, will propel it back into the mobile market, which many see as the key to the future of computing. The new phones, initially available on AT&T Inc’s network, have already been shown off in prototype form, and are much closer in look and feel to Apple’s iPhone, with colorful touch-screens and ’tiles’ for easy access to e-mail, the web, music and other applications. Some analysts say they represent Microsoft’s last chance to catch up with rivals, which overtook them in the past few years. Handsets are not expected to appear in stores for a month, so their success may not be judged until the new year…

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Ahead of the bell: Apple’s iPhone on T-Mobile?

The Associated Press reports that the iPhone will be available on other cell phone networks as early as this fall and will likely come first to T-Mobile USA, one analyst who follows Apple Inc. closely said June 10. In a note to investors, Shaw Wu, of Kaufman Bros., said his checks with Apple suppliers and others suggest AT&T Inc. will lose its exclusive place as the iPhone carrier no later than the first half of next year. One reason T-Mobile is a likely candidate is because the company’s wireless technology is similar to AT&T’s. Sprint and Verizon Wireless use a different wireless standard, so converting the iPhone to run on their networks would presumably involve more technical hurdles. Wu said T-Mobile also sees the iPhone as key to winning back lost customers, meaning the company will be more likely to settle for Apple’s terms…

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Tech-savvy university grows mobile learning with $1.8M award

ACU gave iPods and iPhones to about 1,000 incoming students in 2008.
ACU gave iPods and iPhones to about 1,000 incoming students in 2008.

Abilene Christian University, among the leading users of mobile technology in higher education, will use a $1.8 million award from AT&T to build a studio for mobile learning experimentation and a K-12 professional development program that will train teachers to use education technology devices such as eReaders and internet-ready phones.

This isn’t the first time AT&T has partnered with ACU, a campus of almost 5,000 students in Abilene, Texas. The phone giant and Alcatel-Lucent helped develop the university’s Wi-Fi internet network earlier this decade. AT&T also gave $1 million to ACU in 2007 for the computer infrastructure in the school’s Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center.

The wireless network powers the thousands of mobile devices—mostly Apple iPods and iPhones—that ACU has doled out to incoming students in recent years. The school pays for the mobile hardware, while students pay for the monthly AT&T service plan, according to ACU officials.…Read More

iPhone users can now make internet-based calls

Users of Apple Inc.’s popular iPhone now might be able to save money by making internet-based phone calls over AT&T Inc.’s cellular network, reports the Los Angeles Times. Apple this week allowed new versions of several voice-over-IP services to begin working on the iPhone. Previously, iPhone users needed a wireless internet connection to make such calls, but the change will allow calls from anywhere that receives a strong enough 3G cellular signal. By using VoIP applications to sidestep the phone’s normal calling software, iPhone owners could avoid using up their monthly allocation of minutes from AT&T, potentially allowing them to choose cheaper plans. AT&T said in October that it had taken steps to allow iPhone users to make VoIP calls over the network, but Apple did not appear to approve those apps until this week. Riding the popularity of services such as Skype, internet telephony has become a fast-growing way for users to make low-cost domestic and international calls. Skype, which says it often has as many as 20 million users online at once, recently signaled its intention to submit its own 3G VoIP application to the iPhone…

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