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Windows Phone 7.5 update heading towards Samsung Focus 1.4

admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:58:19 +0000

For AT&T customers who are rocking to a Samsung Focus 1.4 smartphone, here is a little bit of good news to end your week on a decent note – it seems that Windows Phone 7.5 updates will be rolling out for said smartphone, while the same update is also in the works for those who are using the Samsung Omnia 7 all the way across the pond – in Spain, specifically, for Telefonica subscribers. The scheduling process will need to be sped up though, since it has been fully tested. (more…)

Windows Phone 7.5 update heading towards Samsung Focus 1.4, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : Galaxy S2 Review,

Sprint: AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Would Destroy Jobs, Here’s A Study To Prove It (Update)

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:49:21 +0000

It’s no surprise whatsoever that Sprint isn’t down with the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, and with good reason. There’s no telling just how severe the effects of this deal may be on Sprint, but we know for sure that it won’t be good. So with no other option, the carrier has campaigned against the merger since day one. We’ve seen statement after statement, release after release… but this time Sprint is taking a new approach. Today Sprint threw their weight behind a study which debunks claims made by AT&T and the Economic Policy Institute that this merger will create “tens of thousands of jobs,” and even goes so far as to say the deal will result in a reduction of American jobs. The study was commissioned by Sprint (surprise!) and conducted by David Neumark, professor of Economics and director of the Center for Economics and Public Policy at the University of California at Irvine. It focuses mainly on the EPI’s analysis of …

Always-honest AT&T is now calling its 3G network a 4G network

admin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:52:26 +0000

What do you do when your competition has built out its 4G LTE network a full two years before yours is set to be ready? If you’re AT&T, you just start calling your existing 3G network a 4G network. Problem solved!

AT&T will count Micro-Cell usage towards your data cap

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:16:53 +0000

Just when you thought it was safe to love AT&T again, we have another interesting tidbit about their famous 3G Micro-Cell, AKA the “rip-off box.” As you recall, AT&T’s MicroCell is being marketed as a way to repair bad connectivity in areas with little or no AT&T reception including, but not limited to, basements, attics, Manhattan, and San Francisco. It essentially piggy backs on your own home network to provide data service and voice to your phone. However, AT&T will still charge data used while in range of the Micro-Cell against your no longer unlimited data cap. This means that you’re essentially allowing AT&T to drop a cell antenna into your house, paying $150 for the privilege, and they get to use your data infrastructure to get voice and data back to their own fiber networks. Dan Frommer writes: AT&T explains the practice by saying there is a cost to handle the data transmission once it hits AT&T’…

iPhone 4 Order Security Breach Exposes Private Information [Exclusive]

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:36:31 +0000

Apple’s iPhone 4 pre-ordering has been a total disaster, but it gets much worse: An AT&T insider claims that this iPhonecalypse may be related to “a major fraud update that went wrong.” The bug is exposing AT&T users’ private information.

So far there have been at least three accounted cases of mistaken identities sent by Gizmodo.com readers. This is how it happens: A customer tries to log into their AT&T account to order a new iPhone 4 upgrade. Despite entering their username and password, the AT&T system would take them to another user account. This gives access to all kinds of private information about the mistaken customer: Addresses, phone calls, and bills, along with the rest of private information, becomes exposed to random strangers.

The latest case comes from reader John King:

From: john king
Date: Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 2:04 PM
Subject: ATT WEBSITE LOGS ME IN AS ANOTHER CUSTOMER
To: tips@gizmodo.com

I LOGGED IN AS ME AND IT BROUGHT UP A MARY ???? BIG PROBLEM
-JPK

But according to an AT&T insider, there could be a lot more happening which are not being reported. These login problems, according to the source, are probably linked to an AT server software update that went wrong this weekend [Emphasis added]:

I work at a 3rd party order processing facility—what AT&T refers to as a 3CC. We process business-to-business, business-to-customer Wireline Indirect, and ACME/PAC (what AT&T calls their iPhone program internally). Agents use AT&T programs called Phoenix, Telegence, Compass, Ordertrack and myCSP to process orders.

Over the weekend there was a major fraud update that went down on all of AT&T’s systems, from Saturday overnight to Sunday early morning. All systems were down and agents were unable to use any systems.

The issues people are seeing at AT&T stores and online are most likely related to this update that went wrong.

I do know that there was absolutely NO TESTING of this system done before the launch of the new iPhone. I know it’s just heresay at this point, but I can confirm that there was a major outage over the weekend that impacted all ordering systems and programs, and I can confirm that there were multiple systems being upgraded/updated, with some updates being related to fraud.

At this point, I can say that the system that AT&T uses to send automated orders to be processed is as of this very moment down completely. Our facility is unable to process any orders by phone or by automation.

[Regarding the identity problem] Whenever we see people who are logging in and seeing other customer’s account info, it is an issue with the databases that contain customer information. Orders that contain any information like this can cross customer information, and cause a customer be able to see other accounts by logging out and logging back in. This means that when they log in a few times, it gives them different customer account info every time. It’s a rare occurrence, but it has happened in the past.

You might want to advise people to not get the upgrade at this point as it may be a doorway to a major privacy breach.

Unfortunately it appears that even if you don’t upgrade your private information could be exposed as other people try to upgrade, allowing accidental access to your account. After we reported on the initial security breachs this morning, AT&T took down their account online system completely.

So, Is Operation Chokehold Melting AT&T In Your Area?

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:30:48 +0000

It’s just after 12 o’clock here on the left coast, which means Operation Chokehold should now be in full effect. What that means (if anything at all) is still up in the air — which is why we’re turning to you for a status report.

For the uninitiated: Operation Chokehold is a sort of cyber-protest against AT&T, as conjured up by some dude playing a dude disguised as another dude. For one solid hour between 12 and 1 Pacific, angry iPhone owners are supposed to gobble up as much data as they can in an “attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees.”

The discussion on the merits of this bit of disobedience have already been done into the ground, so we won’t dive into that. The FCC and ATT have already condemned the whole thing, and Fake Steve has back-pedaled a bit to make it clear that the whole thing was intended as a joke. Joke or not, its taken off with a life of its own now – some people are taking this pretty dang seriously.

With all that said, we want to know: has Operation Chokehold affected the quality of your AT&T connectivity? Here in San Jose, CA things seem as good as ever — that is, they’re not all that great, but certainly don’t seem worse than normal. Let us know where you’re at and how the 3G network is acting in your area down in the comments.

[Image via Kakiseni]

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