Great news, T-Mobile USA fans -- the roller coaster ride is finally over. After we thought T-Mobile's 3G network was but moments away from launching, we soon found that data may be left out. Oddly enough, a few reports hailing from the Big Apple claimed that data actually was included. At long last, the carrier is coming clean and announcing its official 3G rollout in the States. Unfortunately, the UMTS / HSDPA network is initially launching in New York City alone, but the good news is that data will be included and the operator expects the high-speed data network to "be available in cities where a majority of its subscribers currently use data services" by the year's end. Yeah, it's safe to celebrate now, we promise it's not a(nother) false alarm. Full release posted after the jump.

About this time last year, the cab drivers of New York City were taking a stand against GPS installations. This year, they've taken to the streets of downtown Manhattan in order to rally for the right to use cellphones while on duty. For those unaware, NYC cabbies are currently disallowed from using hands-free apparatuses while on the clock, and those in the profession are arguing that having one would enable them to feel safer and more connected to the outside world. Unfortunately, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission doesn't seem ready to budge, as it reportedly replied to the lobbying by stating that "cellphone abuse has resulted in many instances of drivers leaving their passengers feeling improperly served and downright unsafe." What's a cab driver got to do to get his / her Snake on, huh?

[Via textually]

In addition to laying down the smack, AMD and the office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo just slammed Intel with an antitrust probe. Cuomo's office issued a "wide-ranging subpoena" on Thursday seeking documents and more information from Intel. The probe was launched after a preliminary probe "raised questions" about Intel coercing customers to exclude AMD CPUs.

We had a sneaking suspicion that HANNspree would revert back to its relatively flamboyant style soon enough, and just two months after busting out a surprisingly bland array of monitors, the firm is hitting back with a duo of stylish LCDs that take cues from two of America's most recognized cities. The 19-inch HANNS boston and HANNS new york are both part of the design-centric Xm-Series, and each share a WXGA+ resolution, brightness levels of up to 350 cd/m2, a five-millisecond response time, cable management / mounting options, DVI and VGA inputs, 700:1 contrast ratio, built-in two-watt stereo speakers, and an auxiliary audio input as well. As seen above, the Boston-themed flavor sports a wood-grain design scheme, while the industrial New Yorker (pictured after the break) sports a brushed aluminum stand and a dash of "art techno" for good measure. Regardless of your city of choice, both of these devices can be snapped up real soon for $249.99.

[Via Electronista]

It looks like New York City will soon be seeing a slew of new ever-watchful eyes, as The New York Times reports that the city is set to get a London-style "surveillance veil" that would eventually consist of thousands of cameras monitoring vehicles and individuals alike. Dubbed the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, the system will initially include more than 100 cameras that are expected to be in place by the end of this year, each of which will be able to read license plates and send out alerts is suspect vehicles are detected. That appears to just be the tip of the iceberg, however, with some 3,000 public and privately-owned cameras set to be put into service by the end of 2008, along with a series of pivoting gates that'll be installed at critical intersections, giving authorities the ability to block off traffic at the push of a button. From there it'll apparently grow even further, with the entire operation expected to be up and running by 2010. No word on head-mounted cams as of yet though.

Digital Experience is a bi-annual press event wherein dozens of your favorite tech companies corral hundreds of your favorite tech journalists, fill them up with free food and booze, and attempt to squeeze a little more coverage out of already-announced products. The theme for this year's New York show -- held last night at the Metropolitan Pavilion -- was British Invasion, and while we certainly appreciated the Beatles cover band, darts competitions, and of course the Bass- and Boddingtons-serving HP Notebook Pub (pictured above, although we still prefer the Sun beer server), the choice to offer traditional English cuisine was, quite frankly, not that well thought out. Nonetheless, we braved numerous flying darts and sketchy-looking meat pies to photograph a few devices we thought you'd enjoy; click on to check out the highlights...

It wasn't too long ago that next-generation taxis were being demoed at the NY International Automobile Show, but unless those roadsters sport gas sipping hybrid engines, they won't survive past 2012 in the Big Apple. Reportedly, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered that every last one of NY's taxis operate on hybrid engines by 2012 as a part of an obvious plan to reduce emissions in the state. Once the transition is complete, Bloomberg noted that it would be the "largest, cleanest fleet of taxis anywhere on the planet," but considering that only 375 of the approximate 13,000 licensed taxis are currently in compliance, we'd say they've got a long ways to go. Currently, NYC has approved nine gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles for use as taxis, and while it has yet to be set in stone, officials are purportedly looking into extending the hybrid initiative to encompass garbage trucks and buses.

[Via CNET, photo courtesy of MashedPeas]

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has filed a lawsuit against Dell, accusing the company of false advertising, failure to honor rebates and warranties, and several other fraudulent acts (including the specific, legally defined crime of "fraud" in New York). Dell is quite unsurprisingly contesting the suit, saying that "we are confident that our practices will be found to be fair and appropriate," and that the number of customers named in the Attorney General's filing "are based upon a small fraction of Dell's consumer transactions." Dell spokesman Bob Pearson makes sure to say that "even one dissatisfied customer is too many," which sorta makes his earlier statement about the number of affected customers being small meaningless: especially since if the claimants are successful, this'll make at least two dissatisfied Dell customers. As one of America's largest corporations, Dell has been the subject of many lawsuits, although not all are filed by Attorneys General. That said, Pearson has made certain that this recent suit is not related to the Security and Exchange Commission's ongoing investigations into Dell's accounting practices. Well, that's a relief then.

So long as there are fanboys roaming the streets (and electronics aisles), weird fetishes and unashamed overkill will still have their places, but it's not too often that a gaming addiction finds a home on Broadway. In The Game Boy, Matthew Gandolfo and Robin Rothstein's family-friendly musical, a well-taught lad dubbed Chase purportedly falls a bit too head over heels for his dear Game Boy, which presumably leads to all kinds of childhood development issues. According to the production notes, the kiddo is simply consumed in the pixelated universe, and strives to "always being the best," regardless of the real folks he ignores in the process. As predicted, this behavior eventually results in a life of loneliness and dread, probably forcing poor Chase to switch off the Nintendo handheld and seek out his long lost friends. Of course, his parents could have just shipped him over Amsterdam to remedy the issue, but if you're interested in seeing the outcome yourself, be sure to hit up the Vital Theater Company in New York City from now until April 22nd.

Anyone who's ever seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off will appreciate the advantages of a worker-less garage, namely the inability of a robotic parking structure to take your million dollar Ferrari for a joyride in an attempt to achieve maximum air. No, the reliable NYC parkhaus built by Automotion Parking Systems prides itself on the fact that only one car has been damaged since the company began installations 11 years ago -- unlike the rather troublesome record of its competitor Robotic Parking, whose Garden Street Garage in Hoboken once trapped over 300 vehicles for 24+ hours and reportedly made some expensive 'oopsies' with a Jeep and a Cadillac. APS's New York location, on the other hand, appears to be the model of safety and efficiency; a Popular Mechanics video shows the whole system in a perfect dance of precise timing and fluid motion, appropriately set to a backdrop of Strauss' The Blue Danube. And with $25 daily / $400 monthly rates for parking in the middle of Manhattan, the new garage offers pretty competitive rates as well -- but remember, while human valets may take the occasional sweet ride out for a spin, at least they're not susceptible to the software malfunctions and trojans / worms / viruses that could leave your vehicle stranded high and dry while the techies rush to figure out a fix. Click on to watch the PM vid in its entirety...

[Via Autoblog]

Granted, we've seen some fairly bizarre methods of promoting one's product, and while Microsoft's Zune hasn't exactly been tagged with controversial propaganda or flashy automobile campaigns just yet, all that changed in a New York minute. According to reports from Hell Square residents in lower Manhattan, a California-tagged, Zune-branded SUV rolled through Ludlow Street during the "wee hours of February 25th," but rather than handing out flyers to the night-owls still roaming, the vehicle decided to test out its "competition grade stereo system" in a densely populated neighborhood. Dubbed an "egregious display of noise terrorism," the 3:00AM blasting from a (presumably Microsoft owned) Toyota FJ Cruiser didn't garner the positive attention that the firm was apparently hoping for, and consequently, quite a few residents of the area are now flaming mad and demanding restitution. Honestly, we've no problem with a little viral marketing every now and then, but blowing out the 'hood on a Sunday morning probably takes things a bit too far, and if you're interested in catching a video of the blasting in action, be sure to hit the read link and await an official apology that will probably never surface.

Sure, we're all well aware that surveillance practices have been ratcheted up a notch or two since six or so years ago, but a judge in Manhattan has recently rebutted his own go-ahead from four years back to give the NYPD "greater authority to investigate political, social and religious groups." The most recent ruling states that by "videotaping people who were exercising their right to free speech and breaking no laws," the cops had ignored the milder limits he had imposed on it in 2003, seemingly squirming out from under his own misjudgments and placing the blame elsewhere. Nevertheless, he was clear that the voyeuristic limits only applied at events where people gather to exercise their rights under the First Amendment, while bridges, tunnels, airports, subways, and street traffic points could maintain their current level of surveillance -- and we thought this would mean those lamppost cameras couldn't pick us off whilst crossing the street with our iPod jamming.

[Via BoingBoing]

Brace yourselves good people of New York, mother government is prepared to step in (again) and save you from yourselves. Senator Carl Kruger is reportedly set to introduce legislation that would ban the use of MP3 players, cellphones, and any other electronic device while crossing the street in New York City or other "big cities" in the state. The proposed ban follows two recent pedestrian deaths in Kruger's district where at least one is said to be the result of a person "listening to his iPod." We just gotta wonder: if police can't enforce jaywalking laws in NYC, how could they possibly enforce this?

Update: Instead of preaching to the choir on this, why not take Chris' advice from the comments section and send Senator Kruger an email. We're sure he'd love to hear your thoughts on his proposed ban.

[Thanks Chris and Jusin Z]

Although international locales have warmed up quite nicely to automated parking garages, they haven't proven quite as popular here on American soil, and although Fort Lauderdale has one (and the Florida-based Hollywood Grande has one in the works), we'd say it's about time the Big Apple got one of its own. Notably, the controversial Robotic Parking Systems, Inc. that crafted the court-entangled deck in Hoboken, New Jersey won't have a hand in this one, as Automotion Parking Systems (the US subsidiary of Germany's Stolzer Parkhaus) will be utilizing its highly proclaimed technology to hopefully save New Yorkers from the same "drops and traps" that Garden State folks have unfortunately had to deal with. The company stated that in the 11 years it has crafted robotic garages, "only one car has been damaged," and it feels that even that single issue has been resolved with the latest sensor / laser upgrades. In fact, Ari Milstein, the director of planning for the firm, boldly stated that it's "a complete virtual impossibility that damage can occur," which most certainly leaves little no room for error. The Chinatown-based garage will hoist, shuffle, and park vehicles without a single human supervisor, stuffing 67 vehicles into a space that could typically hold 24, and it even spins your ride around when you return so there's no need to throw it in reverse when exiting. Rates actually aren't too outrageous either, as you'll be asked for around $400 for a monthly pass, or $25 if you're just in for the day.