New York on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Sprint Nextel Corp looking to collect more than $300 million, Reuters reported. The wireless company is accused of tax fraud for deliberately not collecting or paying more than $100 million in taxes over the past seven years. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed the complaint in the New York State Supreme Court on Thursday. The tax suit, which is the first filed under the state’s False Claims Act, could require Sprint to pay triple the amount it is accused of underpaying. Since 2002, New York state has required mobile phone companies to collect and pay sales taxes for their mobile services. Schneiderman claims Sprint has underpaid and submitted false records since 2005, however, in an alleged effort to undercut its competition and offer cheaper rate plans.

UPDATE: Sprint has issued a statement, which can be found after the break.

“This complaint is without merit and Sprint categorically denies the complaint’s allegations. We have collected and paid over to New York every penny of sales taxes on mobile wireless services that we believe our customers owe under New York state law. With this lawsuit, the Attorney General’s office is claiming New York consumers, who already pay some of the highest wireless taxes in the country, should pay even more. We intend to stand up for New York consumers’ rights and fight this suit.”

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Apple may be working on bolstering its educational content in order to drive the adoption rate of iPads in schools. Apple is holding a press event in New York City tomorrow where we will no doubt hear more on what the company has planned for education. “Apple will raise a lot of awareness about digital textbooks and how education is going digital,” Osman Rashid, the CEO of e-textbook software firm Kno Inc. told Bloomberg. The latest reports suggest the Cupertino-based company will unveil “tools that make it easier to publish interactive textbooks,” Bloomberg explained. The new tools should allow writers to publish content on their own, which is similar to what Amazon’s self-publishing service currently provides. Sources speaking to Bloomberg said that teachers might be able to create lessons and workbooks for students and then have their classes complete the lessons on an iPad.

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Speaking during the Mashable Media Summit on Friday, AT&T’s senior vice president of communications Larry Solomon confirmed that AT&T will activate its 4G LTE network in New York City “very soon.” AT&T’s 4G LTE network is currently live in Atlanta, Chicacgo, Dallas-Forth Worth, Houston and San Antonio, and the carrier plans to activate the network in Athens, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. on Sunday, November 6th. AT&T recently revealed its first two 4G LTE smartphones and we took a hands-on look at the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and the HTC Vivid earlier this week. Both phones looked like terrific additions to AT&T’s smartphone portfolio, and we can’t wait to test them on AT&T’s 4G LTE network here in New York City.

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Courts in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware have granted Verizon Communications injunctions against striking union workers who are picketing outside of its corporate offices and retail locations. Specifically, the injunctions are against members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Last week, Verizon filed lawsuits against the Communications Workers of America in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Massachusetts and accused the union workers of sabotage and harassment. 45,000 Verizon Communications employees, about 25% of the company’s workforce, went on strike on August 7th after the company failed to reach an agreement with labor unions over health benefit premiums. Managers are currently filling in for the strikers until a deal is reached, although at this point it appears negotiations could take a while.

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We’ve been hearing reports that Apple would open the world’s largest Apple Store on one of New York City’s Grand Central terminal balconies since February of this year. Despite a report in May that the plan had been nixed, the dream of a 15,000 square foot store could finally become a reality. According to The New York Times, The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) board is expected to approve Apple’s bid later this week during a monthly board meeting. Apple really knew how to woo the MTA, too: buried deep in the article was a discussion about how the iPhone maker submitted its bid for the spot in “linen-lined boxes, as if it were a wedding present to transit officials.” We expect to hear more on Apple’s plans in the coming weeks.

Thanks Trey!

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The FBI raided the homes of three hackers from the infamous hacking group ‘Anonymous’ in New York, Fox News reported on Tuesday. Reportedly, more than 10 FBI agents stormed the house of Giordani Jordan in Baldwin New York and took “at least one laptop from the premises.” Jordan is suspected to have been behind denial of service (DoS) attacks against a number of firms, including Mastercard and Visa. In addition, agents are also searching homes in Long Island and Brooklyn. The hackers are said to be in their late teens and early 20s. It’s unclear if the hackers were also part of the group LulzSec, which claimed responsibility for hacks against Sony, the U.S. Senate and the CIA.

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Sprint, Clearwire and Time Warner Cable announced on Tuesday that the current 4G WiMAX footprint in New York City has been expanded by 21%. The network now covers an additional 91,363 people across the New York metropolitan area in Alpine, Bayonne, Elizabeth, Fair Lawn, Newark, Paramus, Secaucus and Union, New Jersey; and Hartsdale, New Rochelle, New York, Rockville Centre and Yonkers, New York. Clearwire’s 4G network currently covers more than 130 million U.S. residents, including a total of 11,927,000 people in the New York City area. Read on for the full press release.

Clearwire, Time Warner Cable and Sprint Expand New York City Metro 4G Mobile Broadband Network By 21 Percent

Regional New York City 4G Network Covers 11,927,000 People

KIRKLAND, Wash., NEW YORK CITY, and OVERLAND PARK, Kan., July 12, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced a significant expansion of the Clearwire 4G network footprint and key capacity upgrades for mobile broadband customers in the greater New York City metro area. The regional CLEAR^®, Time Warner Cable Mobile Internet and Sprint 4G service area have added coverage for an additional 91,363 people. Now, more than 11,927,000 people in the New York City area have access to Clearwire’s 4G mobile broadband network. This expansion represents new coverage since Clearwire’s initial launch on November 1, 2010.

Enhanced capacity and expanded coverage can be experienced in the following communities: Alpine, Bayonne, Elizabeth, Fair Lawn, Newark, Paramus, Secaucus, Union, NJ; and Hartsdale, New Rochelle, New York, Rockville Centre, Yonkers, NY.

“Across New York and New Jersey, Clearwire’s 4G speed continues to set the standard in delivering a high-speed network that businesses and consumers demand,” said Sean Reid, regional general manager for Clearwire. ”Unlimited mobile broadband usage is a product that Clearwire pioneered across the country over the last several years and is currently now in seventy-one markets across the United States.”

“Sprint 4G customers in the Greater New York area will benefit from these enhancements,” said Karen Paletta, Sprint vice president-East Region. “Our customers enjoy a wide selection of cutting-edge 4G devices – smartphones, tablets and mobile connectivity devices. Sprint 4G allows for sophisticated services such as video chat and a wide variety of applications that keep expanding every day with great new mobile devices from Sprint.”

“Time Warner Cable continues to take steps as a leader in the industry by offering our customers multiple ways to access the information and content they want at home, at work and on the go,” said Lou Lazzaro, vice president of wireless, Time Warner Cable New York City. “Mobile Internet keeps Time Warner Cable business and residential customers connected in multiple ways from multiple places so they’re never out of touch.”

4G customers in these cities will be able to increase their mobility and productivity in many ways: from instantly downloading large files to get work done on the run, browsing the Web just like at home from across the city, or watching online videos and movies while travelling in the family car around town. A variety of 4G devices are available from both service providers.

A detailed coverage map of CLEAR 4G service is available at www.clear.com/coverage.

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 “clearly, purely, [Sprint wants] to win and block the merger,” when it was revealed that Hesse was working with 18 state regulators to block the acquisition. The deal is getting an in-depth investigation from both the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. On June 22nd, AT&T’s General Counsel Wayne Watts said that the acquisition was on schedule for approval in March of next year. An AT&T spokesperson told Reuters that AT&T also received the same nine subpoenas.

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Apple’s strategy when it comes to much of its i branding has been pretty consistent to date: steal a name, wait for its trademark owner to complain, settle. The Cupertino-based company did it with “iPhone” and again with “iOS,” for example, and now it looks like “iBooks” will play out the same way. New York publisher John T. Colby purchased assets belonging to publisher Byron Preiss several years ago, and included in that buy were more than 1,000 books published under the “ibooks” name. Apple does own a trademark for “IBOOK,” but this trademark covers a PC the company used to sell — the “iBook” — and not books or electronic books. “Apple’s use of the mark ‘iBooks’ to denote the electronic library that can be accessed via its iPad tablet computer and its iPhone is likely to overwhelm the good will of plaintiffs’ ‘ibooks’ and ‘ipicturebooks’ marks and render them virtually worthless,” Colby’s lawsuit states.

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American Airlines is starting to offer Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 units to its first class passengers as an entertainment option during several flights, Mashable is reporting. Apparently the tablet will be an option on flights between Los Angeles and New York, San Francisco and New York, Los Angeles and Miami, Boston and Los Angeles flights operated by 757s, and a few European and South American flights operated by American Airlines’ 767-300 aircraft. 6,000 tablets are being deployed in total, and American Airlines will offer passengers access to Wi-Fi during the trip. Hopefully AA at least loads the Tabs up with a few movies and some tunes, too.

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Cablevision’s Optimum Wi-Fi service, free for subscribers, has been extremely popular in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area, giving customers access to fast Wi-Fi from tens of thousands of locations. Today, Cablevision is announcing that the company has bumped up speeds at all Wi-Fi locations to 15Mbps down and 4Mbps up — the same speeds home subscribers get with entry-level Optimum Online service. Over 500,000 people use Optimum’s free Wi-Fi service, and this move makes Optimum’s Wi-Fi faster than any 3G or 4G network, barring Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network, which we’ve seen trump those numbers from time to time. Additionally, Cablevision previously partnered with Time Warner and Comcast to allow customers of all three providers to roam onto all three provider’s Wi-Fi networks, so this change affects Time Warner and Comcast subscribers as well which is great. The full press release is after the break, and the new download and upload speeds are already available across the tri-state area.

CABLEVISION HITS THE GAS PEDAL ON OPTIMUM WIFI – NOW DELIVERING UP TO 15 MBPS DOWNSTREAM AND 4 MBPS UPSTREAM OVER NATION’S LARGEST AND MOST ADVANCED WIFI NETWORK

Downstream Speed Of Optimum WiFi Now Matches Company’s Flagship Residential Service, And Far Exceeds 3G and 4G Cellular Networks

BETHPAGE, NY, June 14, 2011 – Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) today announced that it had significantly increased the speed of its Optimum WiFi network, which spans tens of thousands of outdoor access points and thousands of indoor locations across the New York metropolitan area. Optimum WiFi, available to the company’s Optimum Online high-speed Internet customers at no additional charge, now delivers up to 15 megabits-per-second (Mbps) downstream and up to 4 Mbps upstream, matching the downstream speed of its flagship wired high-speed Internet service, and far exceeding the network’s previous speeds of up to 3 Mbps downstream and 1.5 Mbps upstream. Optimum WiFi is dramatically faster than cellular data over 3G and 4G networks, and more than three times as fast as the nation’s average residential wired broadband service.

“This is a huge enhancement for our customers and a significant step forward for mobile online access. With this increase, Optimum WiFi not only blows away 3G and 4G cellular data speeds, it’s three times faster than the average wired residential broadband service across the country,” said Kevin Curran, Cablevision’s senior vice president of wireless product management. “With awareness and usage continuing to increase, we think this is the perfect time to hit the gas pedal on Optimum WiFi and deliver unbeatable speed on the nation’s largest and most advanced WiFi network, by geographic coverage.”

“This new higher speed Optimum WiFi is like 4G on steroids,” commented Berge Ayvazian, Senior Analyst at Heavy Reading. “It offers a better mobile Internet experience to consumers

and mobile professionals virtually anywhere in Cablevision’s market who have become increasingly dependent on and enabled by wireless broadband to access their media content, multi-player gaming and business applications in the cloud.”

More than 500,000 Optimum Online high-speed Internet customers have already accessed the Internet when away from their home or small business connections over Optimum WiFi. The Optimum WiFi network spans tens of thousands of access points focused on high-traffic outdoor locations like downtown areas, commuter rail platforms and parking lots and parks. Additionally, in partnership with Optimum Business, Cablevision has activated WiFi access points inside more than 7,000 businesses that subscribe to the company’s high-speed Internet and phone services as a free value-added enhancement benefiting both the businesses and their customers.

Top outdoor usage areas for Optimum WiFi continue to be downtown areas and commuter rail station parking lots and train platforms. Cablevision has submitted formal proposals to both the MTA and NJ Transit, in response to Requests for Proposals, to extend Optimum WiFi access to commuter trains across the New York Metropolitan Area as well. Top indoor locations wired in partnership with Optimum Business are restaurants and health clubs. Cablevision has also expanded the reach of its own WiFi network by interconnecting with WiFi deployments by other cable providers Comcast and Time Warner Cable, so customers of all three companies can roam freely across these three distinct WiFi networks and enjoy a superior mobile data experience.

More information on Optimum WiFi, including detailed coverage maps, is available at http://www.optimumwifi.com.

We’re here live and in living color at Sprint and Motorola’s press event in New York City where Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha will take the stage and presumably reveal what’s next from the two companies. Could there be some Android handsets introduced? Well, if you know Motorola, that’s probably a lock. The event is about to get under way, and all of our live coverage is after the break!

12:16PM:We're seated folks! Looks like the event will kick off around 12:30 p.m. People are munching on some food right now before the event.

12:19PM:The food looks good, but we don't want to risk losing our seat for a bowl of soup.

12:22PM:ok we cheated and grabbed a water

12:25PM:As you can see in the earlier picture, there's a shrouded podium on the stage. We assume there will be some devices being announced.

12:26PM:The event is beginning in 5 minutes!

12:29PM:The presentation will begin in 1 minute. We're being told to silence our phones.

12:30PM:Hesse is on stage!

12:31PM:Today Sprint is announcing two new Motorola devices, the Photon 4G ( the first international 4G device and dual-core Tegra 2 phone).

12:32PM:It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread

12:32PM:The Motorola Triumph is the first Motorola Android device for Virgin. It has a 4-inch touchscreen, two cameras, HDMI-output and more.

12:33PM:The Triumph is also the first to come with Virgin Mobile Live social-network installed. Both phones will be available this summer.

12:33PM:Sprint will continue to collaborate and work on PTT devices.

12:35PM:Lots of laughs at "are you done" as we snap photos. One coming in just a second.

12:35PM:Motorola is thrilled to be working with Sprint. "We're showing the breadth of this partnership."

12:36PM:He's discussing recent PTT devices. Today Motorola and Sprint are delivering innovative devices for all of Sprint's customers. Consumers, small business owners, and enterprise customers.

12:37PM:Motorola has the right device for you. "With that, let's have a look at some of the features of Photon 4G."

12:39PM:We're watching a demo video, looks like a brand new version of BLUR is on the device. It looks pretty awesome! Product chief from Sprint Fared Adib and Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of Motorola, are on stage now.

12:41PM:Motorola and Sprint want to differentiate in this space. Today's announcement will build on the momentum has they add Motorola to Sprint's Androidn lineup.

12:41PM:The relationship is very important for enterprise base.

12:42PM:We see all this the same way as Motorola, that's why this relationship is so important. What make Photon so important is that no other device has these features and capabilities in one device. We have this amazing 4G network, and leveraging Motorola software - enterprise security, international device.

12:42PM:Powerful NVIDIA Tegra 2, Sprint ID

12:43PM:Very excited to introduce the Photon 4G, this is all about speed and power. Why? Consumers want large screen

12:43PM:Fast data delivery, most powerful smartphones like the Photon can leverage 4G and get an instant response that consumers expect.

12:44PM:HD camcorder, 1080p video capture and 16GB of storage.

12:44PM:2/3 of consumers want to choose their smartphone themselves and get the IT managers approval for work in the enterprise. To support this need we developed a leading enterprise capability — a ready for business suit available on Photon 4G.

12:44PM:For consumers this addresses their productivity needs, editing documents, setting up meetings, printing, etc.

12:45PM:The business suite includes on device and on SD card encryption, complex password management, remote wipe, etc.

12:45PM:Motorola is leveraging the 3LM technology

12:46PM:Last but not least, webtop.

12:46PM:When Motorola Photon 4G is connected to an accessory dock, a full PC-like Firefox browser launches automatically, and you can also edit and open Microsoft Office documents.

12:47PM:Photon was designed for speed and versatility for consumers. We delivered this device for all users and we're very excited, very excited.

12:48PM:Some of the other products: Motorola Triumph for Virgin Mobile. Moving from a traditional PAYG service to introducing smartphone handsets, 3rd Android, 1st Motorola. Best device in the prepaid market. Bringing this another example of multi-brand strategy.

12:48PM:Sleek and stylish smartphone packed with features, media consumption in mind. 4.1-inch touch screen display, great mobile internet experience.

12:49PM:Showing a slide of all the Motorola portfolio now including the Clutch, i412, Theory, Titanium, XPRT, XOOM Wi-Fi, etc

12:49PM:Over 10 Motorola devices by end of 2011

12:49PM:That's it! We're done, demo time. Make sure to check out hands on for both products!

Rovio Mobile, the firm behind the hit game Angry Birds, has set a goal to seek an initial public offering (IPO) sometime during the next 2-3 years, Reuters is reporting. The firm raised $42 million in Series A funding earlier this year, and its Angry Birds franchise has spread across multiple platforms including Android, iOS, webOS — and you can even play it in your web browser. As such, Rovio has increased its staff from 12 employees to 100 employees this year. “I see that this is only beneficial for us in terms of making the company more structured and more focused on creating it into a proper large organization, having grown from a company of 12,” Rovio’s CEO Mikael Hed said during the Reuters Global Technology Summit in Paris. In May, Rovio’s board chairman expressed interest in seeking an IPO in New York.

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The city of New York has teamed up with the FCC and wireless carriers to unveil a new emergency alert system called PLAN. PLAN can notify mobile users in a specific geographic location of a hazardous or potentially life threatening situations. The new system was announced a few days ago at an event at the still-under-construction World Trade Center site, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg commented:

One of the many lessons that were reinforced on 9/11 is the importance of getting clear and accurate information to the public–that’s why we’ve made improving our emergency public communications a top priority. As part of this effort, we’re harnessing tech in innovative new ways, which is something I found to be effective in both business and government for improving service delivery.

The system taps into the existing Emergency Alert System that notifies the public of an emergency by radio or TV, though PLAN (Personalized Localized Alerting Network), takes emergency alerts into the modern age with a pretty smart system. With a compatible phone, your mobile device will be able to receive an emergency alert based on your geographical location. For instance, if there was an alert about an imminent threat to public safety for New Jersey (nobody likes New Jersey) and you were not in New Jersey at the time, you would not get the alert. PLAN consists of three alerts: those issues by the President, alerts warning of imminent threats, and Amber Alerts. The last two can be blocked by an individual but not an alert from the President. The system will be available in New York and Washington, D.C. by the end of the year, and will roll out nationally by April of 2012.

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The New York State Attorney General’s office on Tuesday announced that it plans to conduct a thorough review of AT&T’s proposed T-Mobile USA acquisition. The $39 billion deal would reposition AT&T as the nation’s top wireless carrier, though the merger is already being met with substantial opposition. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman may soon be the latest on the list of those opposed to the deal, for fear that the union may drive up wireless service costs for New York residents. “Cell phones are no longer a luxury for a few among us, but a basic necessity. The last thing New Yorkers need during these difficult economic times is to see cell phone prices rise,” said Schneiderman in a statement. “Affordable wireless service and technology, including smart phones and next generation handheld devices, are the bridge to the digital broadband future. We want to ensure all New Yorkers benefit from these important innovations that improve lives.” Hit the jump for the full press release.

A.G. SCHNEIDERMAN TO UNDERTAKE THOROUGH REVIEW OF AT&T, T-MOBILE MERGER Attorney General to Analyze the Largest Wireless Merger in History for Potential Anti-Competitive Impacts on Consumers and Businesses Schneiderman: My Office Will Ensure New York Consumers are Protected; Merger Must Not Reduce Access to Low-Cost Options and Newest Broadband-Based Technologies

NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today announced that his office will undertake a thorough review of AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile. The proposed merger would create the nation’s largest wireless company with a total of 130 million subscribers nationwide, opening the door to a near duopoly shared by the merged firm and Verizon.  The Attorney General will analyze the merger for potential anti-competitive impacts on consumers and businesses across New York State.

T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, is a low-cost provider of choice for millions of New Yorkers and currently has 34 million customers nationwide, making it the fourth-largest wireless company in the country. The proposed merger could start a process of consolidation that would lead to two firms – AT&T and Verizon – controlling nearly 80% of wireless subscribers nationwide and dominating the U.S. wireless business.

“Cell phones are no longer a luxury for a few among us, but a basic necessity. The last thing New Yorkers need during these difficult economic times is to see cell phone prices rise,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Affordable wireless service and technology, including smart phones and next generation handheld devices, are the bridge to the digital broadband future. We want to ensure all New Yorkers benefit from these important innovations that improve lives.”

Attorney General Schneiderman stressed that some market conditions may differ across the state and highlighted the potential impact of the merger in areas like Rochester, Albany, Buffalo and Syracuse, where there are already fewer wireless options. He is also concerned about the impact on consumers throughout the state, where T-Mobile is a low-cost option. In announcing his review, Schneiderman noted that the impact of the merger is likely to be felt statewide, and that the review will therefore examine all aspects of the likely impact of the merger on consumers and businesses in all affected areas throughout New York.

Attorney General Schneiderman stressed that he will closely scrutinize AT&T’s argument that the merger has the potential to produce some benefits, such as expanding the coverage of AT&T’s next generation broadband wireless network to rural areas in upstate New York that are underserved and have poor wired broadband connectivity. Supporters argue that the merger might improve broadband service for T-Mobile customers by fulfilling some of their spectrum needs through access to AT&T’s advanced network. The Attorney General’s review will weigh the benefits to New Yorkers against the anti-competitive risks posed to them.