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AT&T has the 'fastest wireless network' in the US
Just two days after AT&T declared itself the first 5G carrier in the US to reach gigabit speeds, the company has released a statement claiming it's the fastest wireless network in the nation. The findings come from third party network-testing company Ookla, which cited AT&T's top average US download speed at 40.7Mbps.
AT&T is the first 5G carrier in the US to reach gigabit speeds
The initial 5G rollout in the US has been underwhelming, in part because those vaunted gigabit-class speeds have been nowhere to be found. AT&T, at least, is inching closer to that goal. The provider has declared that it's the first US telecom to top 1Gbps on a mobile 5G network, achieving the feat in "multiple cities" using Netgear's 5G hotspot. In an interview with PCMag, the company's Igal Elbaz described it as a virtue of improving software.
LG G8 ThinQ will be available in the US April 11th
If you're more interested in LG's unabashedly weird G8 ThinQ than the relatively safe Galaxy S10, you're in luck. LG has announced that the G8 will arrive on April 11th, with pre-orders starting March 29th at major carriers including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon (Engadget's parent company). It'll undercut its South Korean rival's price by a fair margin -- pricing starts at $820 up front versus Samsung's $900, and that's before the usual promos that knock as much as $150 off the price.
AT&T stores will carry Magic Leap's AR headset starting April 1st
There are a number of challenges you face if you're interested in a Magic Leap One headset, not the least of which is trying it. Are you really going to drop $2,295 sight unseen, even if you're an eager augmented reality developer? You won't have to in the near future, provided you live in the right city. Magic Leap partner AT&T has announced that it will carry the One Creator Edition in a few of its stores, giving you a chance to try the hyped-up wearable yourself. It'll start with the company's flagship Boston store (on Boylston) April 1st, followed by Chicago (on Michigan Avenue) April 3rd and San Francisco (1 Powell) April 6th. Online orders will be available April 5th.
FTC will examine privacy policies at major internet providers
Just because American internet providers are facing looser privacy regulations doesn't mean they're avoiding all scrutiny. The Federal Trade Commission has ordered AT&T, Comcast, Google Fiber, T-Mobile and Verizon (Engadget's parent company) to hand over information on their privacy policies and practices as part of an investigation. Now that these ISPs are "vertically integrated" companies that provide ad-supported content in addition to broadband, the FTC wants to better understand their approaches to privacy and prevent "unfair and deceptive" behavior.
Study claims AT&T's fake 5G is slower than other carrier's regular 4G
AT&T has been accused of slapping a 5G label on top of what is effectively still a 4G LTE network, and now there appears to be some evidence to support that theory. According to a study conducted by OpenSignal, AT&T's so-called 5G E network offers similar speeds to LTE and actually clocked in just a tick slower than enhanced 4G services from Verizon and T-Mobile.
AT&T and Comcast test 'verified' phone calls to fight spam
Robocalls have gotten so bad that competitors AT&T and Comcast are teaming up to tackle the problem together. Their plan is to "authenticate and verify" calls. In other words, they'll let you know when an incoming call is really from the number listed on the caller ID and not a computer-generated call showing a fake number. This won't stop the unsolicited calls, but you might be more willing to answer a verified number.
Leaked Galaxy Fold pops up in a video with a significant seam
Samsung's first foldable Galaxy phone is still more than a month away from launch, but as tends to happen, it looks like someone has gotten their hands on one early. It's unclear if the one appearing in a phone unlocker's YouTube video is a retail version or an early prototype, but SamMobile notes it appears to originate from Vietnam, which is home to one of the company's manufacturing hubs. The video is a much clearer hands-on than anything we saw that the Galaxy Fold's unveiling event (it stayed in glass cases and in the hands of demonstrators), but what jumps out the most is a visible crease on the unfolded screen.
AT&T is increasing DirecTV Now prices by $10 per month
If you subscribe to AT&T's DirecTV Now, keep an eye on your bill -- prices are going up again. Last July, AT&T increased the cost of its live TV streaming bundles by $5 per month. And according to Variety, beginning in April, AT&T will add another $10 per month. That means the cost of a monthly subscription has gone up more than 40 percent in less than one year. In addition to the price changes, AT&T will streamline its DirecTV Now plans offering just two, rather than its current five (though existing customers will not be kicked out of their packages).
Engadget at 15: A look at how much tech has changed
A lot has changed since Engadget was born, both in the gadgets we use and what we do with them on a regular basis. When the site started in 2004, fitness trackers, voice assistants and electric cars were the stuff of fiction. Now most of these are commonplace, so much so that we put our trust in them on a daily basis. To celebrate Engadget's 15th birthday, here are 15 things that didn't exist 15 years ago.
HBO CEO steps down in the wake of AT&T acquisition
Richard Plepler, the CEO of HBO, stepped down from his post on Thursday, according to the New York Times. Shortly after his departure was made public, Variety reported Turner television executive David Levy will also be leaving his company. The moves appear to mark a significant shakeup within Time Warner, the parent company of HBO. The changes come just months after AT&T acquired the media company for $85.4 billion.
Appeals court upholds AT&T's purchase of Time Warner
AT&T doesn't have to worry that its acquisition of Time Warner might be undone. A federal appeals court has upheld the merger in the face of a Justice Department challenge from July. The explanation behind the decision isn't available as of this writing, but the judge who approved the deal didn't apply conditions. The DOJ was concerned AT&T might raise prices and reduce competition in pay TV by charging providers more for Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) programming.
Security flaws in 4G and 5G allow snooping on phone users
Security researchers are already poking holes in 5G mere months into its existence. They've discovered three flaws in 4G and 5G that could be used to intercept phone calls and track someone's location. The first and most important, Torpedo, relies on a flaw in the paging protocol that notifies phones of incoming calls and texts. If you start and cancel several calls in a short period, you can send a paging message without alerting the device to a call. That not only lets you track the device's location, but opens the door to two other attacks.
AT&T pulls ads from YouTube over pedophilia controversy
As YouTube continues to struggle with the issue of child predators latching on to content for kids, the video platform has lost another major advertiser. AT&T has decided to pull its ads from YouTube, according to CNBC. The telecom giant joins Disney, Nestle and Fortnite maker Epic Games in removing advertising from YouTube while the issue persists.
Samsung's first 5G phone is a higher-spec Galaxy S10
Samsung has revealed its first flagship 5G phone as part of its Galaxy S10 lineup and it turns out a November report about the device was pretty accurate. With a 6.7-inch, 505ppi AMOLED Infinity-O display, it's the largest of the Galaxy S10 lineup. It measures 77.1 x 162.6 x 7.94 mm, so it's a little taller, thicker and wider than the three other models. The S10 5G weighs 198 grams -- 23g more than the standard S10+, but the same as that device's ceramic variant.
AT&T's LTE is now an option on all Airstream camping trailers
You no longer have to be overly picky about your choice of trailer if you want to stay online during a cross-country trip. Airstream has extended its team-up with AT&T to make LTE access available to any Airstream trailer, not just the 2019 Classic. If you want to connect your Basecamp or Globetrotter while you're camping, it's just a question of paying up.
AT&T 5G is coming to Chicago and Minneapolis in 2019
Just because AT&T is standing firm on its faux 5G marketing doesn't mean it's ignoring its real 5G deployment. In fact, it's stepping things up -- the carrier has announced that next-gen wireless service will come to Chicago and Minneapolis sometime in 2019. Two cities might not sound like much, but that's adding to the seven cities announced so far and potentially provides 5G speeds to millions more people before the year is over.
AT&T's streaming service won't have original shows until 2020
AT&T is continuing the trickle of information about its upcoming WarnerMedia streaming service, and this time it's more specific about the kind of content you'll get. TBS and TNT President Kevin Reilly told guests at a Television Critics Association event that the beta version of the service launching in 2019 won't have originals -- you'll have to wait until 2020 for that. It would, however, offer some of its most coveted shows. Reilly said you could expect the company to ultimately host its "crown jewels," and might even yank must-have shows like Friends away from Netflix -- it's "not a good model" to share productions like that, he said.
Sprint sues AT&T over its fake 5G branding
After AT&T decided to start rolling out "5G Evolution" branding on phones and networks that use 4G LTE Advanced technology, competitors have had to make decisions on how to respond. While T-Mobile mocked it with a sticker, Verizon (Engadget's parent company) fired off a letter. So what is Sprint going to do? It has filed a lawsuit in federal court, seeking an injunction to prevent AT&T from using 5GE tags on its devices or advertising. In its claim, Sprint said it commissioned a survey that found 54 percent of consumers believed the "5GE" networks were the same as or better than 5G, and that 43 percent think if they buy an AT&T phone today it will be 5G capable, even though neither of those things are true. Sprint's argument is that what AT&T is doing is damaging the reputation of 5G, while it works to build out what it calls a " legitimate early entry into the 5G network space."
Carriers were selling your location data to bounty hunters for years
Remember the controversy surrounding mobile networks that were selling your location data to bounty hunters? A new report at Motherboard says that the problem was far worse than the isolated incident it was initially made out to be. Rather than a couple of bad actors buying phone tower information, more than 250 organizations had been accessing individual location data. In one instance, a company made 18,000 requests for location information in a single year.
