Research In Motion’s latest BlackBerry 7 devices has=ve been granted Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 certification by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC). FIPS certification is required before a device can be used by a government agency in either the U.S. or Canada. ”The FIPS 140-2 certification for BlackBerry 7.0 and 7.1 illustrates RIM’s continuing commitment to providing industry-leadin...

Sprint has granted LightSquared six more weeks to gain approval from the Federal Communications Commission to launch its network. This is the second time the carrier has extended it deadline for LightSquared to prove to the FCC that its network does not interfere with GPS systems. There has been quite a battle going on between LightSquared and the government, however. LightSquared and a former FCC engineer have argued that the carrier’s 4G LTE network, which Sprint plans to use to help roll out its LTE ...

LightSquared on Tuesday issued a letter to the Federal Communications Commission ostensibly demanding approval to build out its 4G LTE network. LightSquared executive vice president of regulatory affairs and public policy Jeff Carlisle argued that the GPS industry has had almost 10 years to address issues that cause GPS satellite signals to partially transmit on spectrum that LightSquared has licensed. The letter was written in response to an announcement earlier this week from federal officials, stating ...

The Department of Justice recently filed a lawsuit against AT&T in an effort to block its planned acquisition of T-Mobile USA, but that has not stopped 100 lawmakers from signing a letter pushing the government to settle the suit and approve the merger. Interestingly, 99 of the House Republicans who signed the letter have accepted political donations from employees of AT&T within the last two years, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. A total of $963,275 had been donated to these lawmakers, according to ...

Sprint has received subpoenas from Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington regarding its opposition of AT&T’s planned $39 billion T-Mobile USA acquisition, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division also issued a subpoena. Sprint has been a staunch opponent of the deal and its CEO Dan Hesse has said the acquisition will “stifle innovation” in the U.S. wireless market. He also said that “...

Late last week Google took the wraps off of its new social network, Google+. The search engine giant released an Android application in tandem with the launch of Google+, and now it’s been confirmed that an iOS version its on its way. A Google technician, Erica Joy, confirmed on her Google+ page that the iOS app has already been submitted and is simply awaiting Apple’s approval. We’ve been using the new social network for a few days so far and are already really appreciating its “Circl...

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission, Microsoft and other companies expressed their support for AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. “Many policy-related efforts will not be able to quickly address near-term capacity needs,” the letter stated. “The FCC must seriously weigh the benefits of this merger and approve it.” Other big names, such as Facebook, Research in Motion, Oracle and Yahoo!, have also voiced sup...

AT&T will pay T-Mobile $3 billion in cash, a $1 billion roaming agreement, and $2 billion in spectrum if the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice reject AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile. The agreement’s 15% breakup fee would shatter global records, Reuters said, noting that the 7.7% breakup cash agreement is already high. On Wednesday, AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson met with the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the acquisition. AT...

It’s no secret that U.S. wireless provider Sprint is not a fan of the proposed AT&T and T-Mobile merger. The company’s CEO, Dan Hesse, has been very forthcoming with his concerns — mainly that the merger will create a duopoly between AT&T and Verizon Wireless — and now the carrier is looking for even more anti-merger ammunition. Bloomberg is reporting that Sprint representatives have “signed confidentiality agreements in advance of possibly gaining access to filings that won’t ...

Not really digging the $800 price-tag set to be placed on the 3G Motorola XOOM tablet? Help may be on the way. A recent filing shows that the FCC is testing a “wireless tablet with embedded WLAN” manufactured by Motorola. Now, there’s no way to know exactly what this is… but our money is on a Wi-Fi only XOOM. The tablet in question, being referred to as the IHDP56LU1 in documentation, is only having its Bluetooth and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n chipsets tested — there was no mention of a cell...

It looks like the Wi-Fi only variant of the Samsung Galaxy Tab — a device Samsung said they were working on that recently made an appearance in a Best Buy advert — has crossed the FCC’s desk. The only difference between the carrier branded Tab and the Wi-Fi only Tab, other than the absence of a cellular radio (duh!), is the device’s model number: GT-P1010. If Best Buy’s advertisement-oopsie was accurate, we should see the Wi-Fi device priced around $499; $100 less than an unsubsi...

There hasn’t been this much controversy about a ban since Pete Rose was ousted from baseball. Okay, maybe that was embellished a bit, but this is still a highly-debated topic. Sean Kovacs, developer of the exiled, iOS, Google Voice application GV Mobile, tweeted the following late yesterday:Good news: I did get confirmation back from Apple that it will most likely get back in once I resubmit.The news comes just one day after Apple announce less stringent iOS development mandates and published an applica...

Good news for Nokia, as the Finnish company is slated to be the first company to receive approval from China for its online mapping service. Nokia submitted an application for its Ovi Maps when a new Chinese law requiring regulatory approval for all online mapping services went into effect in June 2010. According to a representative from the the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, Nokia’s application is slated to get the rubber stamp of approval from China’s regulatory body and will be subject...

Apple strikes again. Normally, when an iPhone/iPod touch app gets updated it’s good news. Woo hoo — new features, new fun! iStat users who updated their app to the latest version that became available this afternoon however, were in for a little surprise… From iStat developer Bjango’s site:Where did ‘Free Memory’ go?iStat’s Free Memory function was removed at Apple’s request.This decision was completely out of our hands. Please note that all other apps with Free Memory ...