Verizon Wireless on Friday announced that it is canceling plans to charge a $2 convenience fee to customers making one-time bill payments online or over the phone. The carrier announced earlier this week that the new fee would allow it to continue providing subscribers with the option to make one-time payments using its web-based and telephone payment systems. Following a rash of negative press and customer complaints, Verizon confirmed that it will scrap plans to introduce the new fee next month. “At Veri...

A group of security researchers recently demonstrated on video that they have successfully gained root access to the QNX-based operating system found on Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The PlayBook jailbreak and related “mack truck” security hole these hackers identified could have some serious implications for future BlackBerry devices, but RIM says users should not get ahead of themselves. “Research In Motion (RIM) is aware of a claim made on Twitter by security rese...

AT&T on Tuesday issued a statement after the Federal Communications Commission took preliminary steps toward blocking AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. The FCC said it is not convinced the merger will in fact create jobs as AT&T has promised, and it said it will hold an administrative hearing to examine the deal. The hearing, however, will not take place until after the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the merger, which will go to trial in February 2012, run...

HTC has issued a new statement addressing concerns over a security flaw recently discovered on several of its Android-powered smartphones. The vulnerability could allow third-party apps to access and steal private data including SMS messages, contact data, system logs, location information and more. ”HTC takes claims related to the security of our products very seriously. In our ongoing investigation into this recent claim, we have concluded that while this HTC software itself does no harm to customers...

The already-bloody battle over AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA recently became an all-out war. Sprint has been vocal with its opposition of the merger since day one, and comments from company CEO Dan Hesse on Wednesday may have shed some light on a previously undisclosed reason for Sprint’s stance. “I don’t believe that what the DOJ said in any way, not even a little bit, should be viewed as we want to keep four,” Hesse said at an investor conference. R...

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has been an outspoken opponent of AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA since it was announced earlier this year. Hesse has repeatedly warned that such a merger would “stifle innovation” and put “too much power would be in the hands of two,” and it is understandable that the CEO of the nation’s No. 3 wireless carrier would take such a stance. The Sprint chief may have given the world a bit more insight into his motives on Wednesday...

T-Mobile on Friday issued a new statement to the press, reasserting its belief that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile USA will ultimately be approved. Last week, attorneys general from seven states joined the United Stated Department of Justice’s lawsuit attempting to block the $39 billion deal. The DOJ’s suit argues that the takeover would eliminate T-Mobile as “an independent, low- priced” wireless option for U.S. consumers, adding that it would also remove a great deal of com...

HTC on Friday responded to user allegations that at least two of its smartphones, the HTC Sensation and the HTC EVO 3D, spy on users. BGR reported on Thursday that a new Android software update issued to these two handsets included tweaks that cause the OS to log users’ behavior. As discovered by InfectedROM forum member TrevE, Carrier IQ and four other processes in Android 2.3.4 purportedly gather usage stats and transmit them in the background. HTC has confirmed to BGR that these functions are all t...

In response to the U.S. government’s lawsuit against AT&T’s planned $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile, Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski issued the following statement on behalf of the FCC :By filing suit today, the Department of Justice has concluded that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile would substantially lessen competition in violation of the antitrust laws. Competition is an essential component of the FCC’s statutory public interest analysis, an...

AT&T has issued a formal response to the U.S. government’s lawsuit seeking to blocking the carrier’s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. “We are surprised and disappointed by today’s action, particularly since we have met repeatedly with the Department of Justice and there was no indication from the DOJ that this action was being contemplated,” said AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel Wayne Watts in a statement delivered to BGR via email. “We p...

It may seem that Google’s other Android partners would be upset by the search giant’s decision to acquire Motorola for $12.5 billion but that’s apparently not the case. Execs from HTC, LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson spoke in support of the purchase earlier on Monday, and now HTC has issued a second statement on the deal. “We are supportive of Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility as this is a positive development to the Android ecosystem, which we believe is beneficial to HTC&...

Apple and Microsoft are playing dirty, according to a new blog post by Google’s Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond. Instead of attempting to build innovative products and features, Drummond says Apple and Microsoft are content with filing repeated patent complaints in an attempt to impede Android’s rapid growth. Apple, Microsoft and others are carrying out “a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through b...

Minnesota Senator Al Franken sent a letter to the heads of the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice earlier this week, stating that AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA was not in the best interest of the American public. “The competitive effects of a merger of this size and scope will reverberate throughout the telecommunications sector for decades to come and will affect consumer prices, customer service, innovation, competition in handsets and t...

Global hacker collective “Anonymous Operations” together with “Lulz Security” on Thursday issued a statement to the FBI and other international authorities. The release is a response to statements made by FBI Director Steve Chabinsky tied to the recent arrest of 14 individuals with suspected ties to the hacker group. ”We want to send a message that chaos on the Internet is unacceptable, Chabinsky told NPR in a recent interview. “[Even if] hackers can be believed to have so...