A new article in the New York Times suggests that faulty iPhone hardware is the cause of network issues experienced on AT&T.

The article entitled, “AT&T Takes the Blame, Even for the iPhone’s Faults” by Randall Stross, notes that AT&T has performed worst according to customer feedback. It suggests that in reality AT&T is the best network but faulty iPhone hardware is causing a poor network experience.

Roger Entner, senior vice president for telecommunications research at Nielsen, said the iPhone’s “air interface,” the electronics in the phone that connect it to the cell towers, had shortcomings that “affect both voice and data. Read more…

Motorola has continued its assault on the iPhone with a new commercial that indirectly compares Apple’s handset to a “tiara-wearing digitally clueless beauty pageant queen.”

The new commercial for the Motorola Droid, entitled “Pretty,” debuted on TV this week. Thought it never specifically names the iPhone, it does show images of people admiring an iPhone-like device, albeit with concave sides. In one brief shot, a blonde woman holds a white mock iPhone in front of her as she crosses a street and applies lip gloss, with the word “princess” laid across the screen.
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A survey of users of the four major cell phone providers in the U.S. has ranked AT&T, the exclusive carrier of Apple’s iPhone, last in terms of customer satisfaction.

Consumer Reports surveyed more than 50,000 readers in 26 U.S. cities, asking about carriers in a number of different categories related to service and customer support. In 19 of those cities, AT&T ranked worst.

Overall, AT&T came in fourth place with a total score of 66. It ranked worst in voice service, and average for messaging and Web/e-mail. Customer service on the phone and via Web ranked poorly, as did staff knowledge and whether the customer’s issue was resolved.
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Burglars in Antwerp make off with $3 million worth of smartphones

Over the weekend, someone used a fire ladder to climb to the roof of a huge warehouse in Willebroek, a Dutch-speaking municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp, cut a hole in the roof, and made off with 3,000 to 4,000 brand new Apple (AAPL) iPhones, according to reports in the Belgian press.

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AT&T is clearly not going to take it anymore. Today, they blasted back at Verizon for the nasty ads about AT&T coverage.

In a press release today, the communications giant pulled out all the stops:

“AT&T’s wireless data coverage reaches 303 million people – or 97% of the U.S. population, where they live and work.

AT&T is the #1 network for smartphones, with twice the number of smartphone customers than Verizon, our closest competitor. Some of the reasons include:
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Sony and the estate of Michael Jackson reportedly will allow the artist’s new album to be sold on the iTunes Music Store, dispelling a rumor to the contrary that surfaced early Wednesday.

“Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ album will indeed be available for sale on iTunes on Oct. 27,” Epic Records Senior Vice President of Publicity Lois Najarian told Wired. “I don’t have much more information to impart other than that right now, but suffice to say fans will be able to purchase it there.”

However, Najarian went on to add that the two sides are “working on” an issue over the sale of individual tracks. The question remains as to whether Sony and the Jackson estate will allow individual tracks to be sold on iTunes, or if Apple will require the sale of the full album. Read more…

AT&T subscribers still won’t be able to use their iPhones as wireless modems for their computers, despite the carrier’s reversed position on Internet-phone applications.

Tethering, the process of using an Internet-enabled mobile device, such as a cellphone, to provide access to a laptop or other computer, is part of Apple’s list of features in the iPhone, but AT&T doesn’t support it in the U.S., where it’s the only iPhone seller.
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Verizon has teamed with Google to bring two Android-powered phones and the Google Voice service to its network, in an effort to fight off the iPhone and its exclusive agreement with AT&T.

Together, the two companies plan to create, market and distribute both products and services featuring Android-powered phones on the Verizon Wireless network. The two companies plan to co-develop handsets that will come with “innovative applications” created by both, as well as third-party developers already seen on the Android Marketplace. Read more…

Mobile entertainment startup mSpot is launching its Mobile Movies site, which will let users stream full-length movies on their mobile phones. Movies will be available on 30 different smart phones, including the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices and via all four major U.S. carriers. Read more…

On Tuesday morning, CNN introduced an iPhone app that puts to shame similar products. Featuring live newscasts, video-on-demand, and a familiar iPhone interface, the CNN iPhone app also takes a step ahead of other news apps by charging $2 for the download.

NPR, Thomson-Reuters, Time Magazine, Associated Press, and Financial Times all have some snazzy apps delivering content to mobile users, free to download. CNN was late in delivering a dedicated news app for the iPhone, but now arrives in style with a novelty app that brings both live video from the news channel and on-demand content. Read more…