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Sunday, March 20, 2011

AT&T to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion (AP) : Technet

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AT&T to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion (AP) : Technet

AT&T to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion (AP)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 04:13 PM PDT

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Sun Mar 20, 7:13 pm ET

NEW YORK – AT&T Inc. said Sunday it will buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $39 billion that would make it the largest cellphone company in the U.S.

The deal would reduce the number of wireless carriers with national coverage from four to three, and is sure to face close regulatory scrutiny. It also removes a potential partner for Sprint Nextel Corp., the struggling No. 3 carrier, which had been in talks to combine with T-Mobile USA, according to Wall Street Journal reports.

AT&T is now the country's second-largest wireless carrier and T-Mobile USA is the fourth largest. The acquisition would give AT&T 129 million subscribers, vaulting it past Verizon Wireless' 102 million. The combined company would serve about 43 percent of U.S. cellphones.

For T-Mobile USA's 33.7 million subscribers, the news doesn't immediately change anything. Because of the long regulatory process, AT&T expects the acquisition to take a year to close. But when and if it closes, T-Mobile USA customers would get access to AT&T's phone line-up, including the iPhone.

The effect of reduced competition in the cellphone industry is harder to fathom. Public interest group Public Knowledge said that eliminating one of the four national phone carriers would be "unthinkable."

"We know the results of arrangements like this — higher prices, fewer choices, less innovation," said Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn, in a statement.

T-Mobile has relatively cheap service plans compared with AT&T, particularly when comparing the kind that don't come with a two-year contract. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said one of the goals of the acquisition would be to move T-Mobile customers to smart phones, which have higher monthly fees. AT&T "will look hard" at keeping T-Mobile's no-contract plans, he said.

AT&T's general counsel, Wayne Watts, said the cellphone business is "an incredibly competitive market," with five or more carriers in most major cities. He pointed out that prices have declined in the past decade, even as the industry has consolidated. In the most recent mega-deal, Verizon Wireless bought No. 5 carrier Alltel for $5.9 billion in 2009.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Rebecca Arbogast said the deal will face a tough review by the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department. She expects them to look market-by-market at whether the deal will harm competition. Even if regulators approve the acquisition, she added, they are likely to require AT&T to sell off parts of its business or T-Mobile's business. Verizon had to sell off substantial service areas to get clearance for the Alltel acquisition.

To mollify regulators, AT&T said in a statement Sunday that it would spend an additional $8 billion to expand ultrafast wireless broadband into rural areas. Instead of covering about 80 percent of the U.S. population with its so-called Long Term Evolution, or LTE network, AT&T's new goal would be 95 percent, it said. That means blanketing an additional area 4.5 times the size of Texas. The network is scheduled to go live in a few areas this summer, but the full build-out will take years.

The offer would help the FCC and the Obama administration meet their stated goals of bringing high-speed Internet access to all Americans. They see wireless networks as critical to meeting that goal — particularly in rural areas where it does not make economic sense to build landline networks.

AT&T said its customers would benefit from the cell towers and wireless spectrum the deal would bring. In some areas, it would add 30 percent more capacity, AT&T said.

"It obviously will have a significant impact in terms of dropped calls and network performance," Stephenson said.

AT&T would pay about $25 billion in cash to Deutsche Telekom, Germany's largest phone company, and stock that is equivalent to an 8 percent stake in AT&T. Deutsche Telekom would get one seat on AT&T's board.

Like Sprint, T-Mobile has been struggling to compete with much larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless, and its revenue has been largely flat for three years. Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile USA's subscriber count has stalled at just under 34 million, though it posts consistent profits.

Deutsche Telekom has been looking at radical moves to let it get more value out of its U.S. holding, including a possible combination with a U.S. partner.

There was a big hurdle to a T-Mobile USA-Sprint deal: The two companies use incompatible network technologies. The same hurdle would apply in a Verizon Wireless-T-Mobile USA deal. But the networks of AT&T and T-Mobile use the same underlying technology, so to some large extent, AT&T phones can already use T-Mobile's network, and vice versa.

The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies. Dallas-based AT&T can increase its cash portion by up to $4.2 billion, with a reduction in the stock component, as long as Deutsche Telekom receives at least a 5 percent equity ownership interest in the buyer.

The agreement doesn't leave room for other buyers to jump in with a higher bid, AT&T said.

AT&T would finance the cash part of the deal with new debt and cash on its balance sheet and will assume no debt from T-Mobile.

___

AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

States push harder for online sales tax collection (AP)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 02:22 PM PDT

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Sun Mar 20, 5:22 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Tax-free shopping is under threat for many online shoppers as states facing widening budget gaps increasingly pressure Amazon.com Inc. and other Internet retailers to start collecting sales taxes from their residents.

Billions of dollars are at stake as a growing number of states look for ways to generate more revenue without violating a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibits a state from forcing businesses to collect sales taxes unless the business has a physical presence, such as a store, in that state.

States are trying to get around that restriction by passing laws that broaden the definition of a physical presence. Retailers are resisting being deputized as tax collectors.

Until recently, the Supreme Court ruling has meant that Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., would collect taxes from shoppers in all states with sales taxes, whether those shoppers buy items on or off the Web, because it has stores nationwide.

But Amazon, based in Seattle, wouldn't collect taxes from Floridians because it doesn't have a presence there. Although in such cases, shoppers in Florida are supposed to pay the tax directly to their state, few actually do.

With the new laws, those living in Evanston, Ill., or Providence, R.I., can no longer expect to avoid paying taxes when shopping online even though Amazon and others have no traditional operations there. States backing these laws argue that a retailer has a physical presence when it uses affiliates — people and businesses that refer customers to the retailer's website and collect a commission on sales. These affiliates range from one-person blogs promoting the latest gadgets to companies that run coupon and deal sites.

Illinois passed a law this month requiring Internet companies with affiliates in that state to collect taxes on sales to Illinois customers. In Vermont and Arkansas, similar bills scored initial legislative victories in recent weeks. New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island have already adopted similar laws.

In Colorado, a law requires online retailers to either collect the tax or send customers an annual notice letting them know how much they owe their state. Retailers would also have to report that to Colorado officials.

Several other states including Arizona, Massachusetts and California are considering passing their own flavor of online sales tax collection legislation. California lawmakers had passed a bill in 2009, but the governor vetoed it.

It's not known exactly how much in uncollected taxes is due to states from online sales, but a 2009 study from the University of Tennessee estimated that it could total $10.14 billion this year, assuming total e-commerce sales of $3.49 trillion. Only a fraction of this owed tax would result from consumer purchases, however, because most e-commerce sales are from one business to another.

The tax revenue would only be one plug in the states' budget holes. The total gap is expected to reach $112 billion in the fiscal year that begins in July, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy-research organization.

The states are getting extra prodding from brick-and-mortar retailers, which have long thought it unfair that online retailers could essentially give customers better deals by not collecting sales taxes.

"The choice of the merchant by the customer should not be based on tax policy. It should be based on service, convenience, on the shopping experience and, of course, price — but not price based on tax policy," said David Vite, head of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

Online retailers such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com Inc. disagree with the states' actions, and they're fighting back.

After Illinois passed its law, Amazon and Overstock said they would dump their affiliates in that state — Amazon on April 15, and Overstock on May 1. Online retailers earlier dropped affiliates in several states that are now requiring them to collect taxes. Rebecca Madigan, executive director of California-based Performance Marketing Association, said those affiliates then saw 25 percent to 30 percent declines in revenue.

According to Madigan, there are 200,000 Internet retail affiliates across the country, some of which are fighting the legislation in their own ways.

FatWallet, which runs a coupon and deals website in Rockton, Ill., is planning to move to another state — probably neighboring Wisconsin, founder Tim Storm said.

Storm believes the new law could cost his business $4 million to $5 million in revenue this year, which would be about a 30 percent to 40 percent hit, if it stays in Illinois. Already, the company has received notices from Amazon, Overstock, electronics site Newegg and musical instrument retailer Musician's Friend on their plans to end affiliate programs in Illinois.

Storm believes Illinois' law would backfire as affiliate companies such as his leave.

The strategy of cutting off affiliates might also backfire against Amazon and its competitors online.

Bricks-and-mortar retailers such as Walmart and Barnes & Noble Inc. have been recruiting affiliates being abandoned by Amazon and others. That means sales could go to these companies instead.

Walmart and Barnes & Noble are also among the businesses large and small that support a Washington, D.C.-based group called the Alliance for Main Street Fairness, which is in favor of the changing of tax laws in various states so that online retailers would have to collect sales taxes.

Amazon, Alliance spokesman Danny Diaz argues, is "working feverishly to exploit a loophole."

Amazon does collect sales taxes in North Dakota, Kansas, Kentucky, and its home state of Washington. It collects in New York, too, as it fights the state over a 2008 law that was the first to consider local affiliates enough of an in-state presence to require sales tax collection.

Amazon is also tussling with Texas, which contends the company owes it $269 million in uncollected online sales taxes because it operates a distribution center near Dallas. Amazon plans to close that facility in April and scrapped plans to expand elsewhere in Texas over the dispute.

Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president of public policy, said Amazon isn't against the principle of collecting sales taxes. Rather, it wants "a constitutionally permissible system that is applied evenhandedly."

Congress could give states authority to require tax collection by out-of-state retailers. Michael Mazerov, a senior fellow with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, believes such a federal law would be the best way to ensure that states get their taxes, but he understands why such efforts have stalled in Congress.

"It's tough legislation politically because you're asking Congress to pass legislation where they will be unfairly and inaccurately criticized as imposing a new tax," Mazerov said.

For now, online sales tax bills will continue to pop up across the country, gaining support from some and inciting ire from others as more and more people shop online.

"It's a little like 'Groundhog Day,'" Madigan said.

South Carolina bill targets prisoners on Facebook (AP)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 08:42 PM PDT

By MEG KINNARD, Associated Press Meg Kinnard, Associated Press – 16 mins ago

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Islam Dunn updates his Facebook page with a phone like so many other 19-year-olds, only he must hide the device so the prison guards don't notice.

The proliferation of cell phones smuggled into prisons has some inmates routinely updating their status from the inside, and South Carolina is considering becoming the first state to make that a crime.

The measure would add 30 days to a prisoner's sentence if he is caught interacting on social networking sites via cell phone. The bill goes a step further, too, making it illegal for anyone to set up a page for a prisoner, which legal experts say violates inmates' free speech rights even if they are using contraband cell phones.

Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a Democrat from Charleston who proposed the law, said crime victims shouldn't have to worry about seeing or being threatened by a prisoner online. There's also a fear convicts are coordinating criminal activity.

"We now know that the criminals behind bars are using this as a method of intimidation. People's lives are threatened. They're sending out coded messages through social networking," Gilliard said. "How can we as a society stand by and do nothing?"

Tarangie Tyler's family was terrorized nearly two years ago by Dunn and a group of men who were trying to rob their home. Her 34-year-old husband, Jerry, was shot to death in the attack after four men, including Dunn, kicked in the door of their home.

Tyler moved her five children to a safer neighborhood, but now fears they could be intimidated by simply logging on to the computer that sits on their kitchen counter.

"To hear that one of them has a Facebook, it's scary," said Tyler, 35. "I don't think they should have Facebook, because of the crime that they did. ... If they want to communicate, that's what a pencil and paper are for."

Prisoners are free to exchange letters with people on the outside, but their mail is monitored. Inmates in federal prison and a handful of other jurisdictions also have limited access to e-mail, and typically can only send it to people who have previously agreed to it.

Yet smart phones provide easy access to social networking sites, and it's difficult for corrections officials to keep up. Some inmate pages are obvious, with photos of themselves in prison. Others are set up and run by relatives or friends.

Facebook already prohibits third-party profiles and takes them down when they find out. The company also deactivates prisoner pages when they become aware of them, regardless of who set up the pages.

In Oklahoma, a man serving 30 years for the murder of a sheriff was moved to solitary confinement after he used a smuggled cell phone to post pictures and comments on Facebook.

Officials in California, having seized nearly 11,000 mobile phones from prisoners last year, started setting up system that would capture every cell phone signal from a prison and block unauthorized calls, a program already used in Mississippi and in the works in South Carolina.

"I don't doubt that there are inmates who use contraband cell phones and social media to connect with their families," said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "But we also have evidence that they're using contraband cell phones ... to harass victims to threaten other people and to engage in all other sorts of criminal activity."

On Dunn's page, he wrote that was tired of being in prison and asked friends to put money on his prepaid debit card.

"All i want is my life bac," Dunn updated January 29 from Facebook's mobile web application. In an update on his birthday, Dunn said: "got SO high." A few weeks later he wrote: "its really hard 2 find luv n jail.lol."

Corrections officials were unaware of Dunn's Facebook page, and department spokesman John Barkley said an investigator would search the inmate's cell.

Some of Dunn's 200 friends have written messages on his wall, many telling him to stay positive during his 20-year stint for attempted armed robbery. Andrea Watson, a friend of Dunn's family, said she received a Facebook friend request from him several months ago. She didn't understand exactly how Dunn was going online from prison and she really didn't care.

"Islam is a very intelligent young man," said Watson, a 39-year-old nurse in Columbia. "I feel like it's very important to keep giving Islam some encouraging messages because Islam feels like he has nothing and nobody."

The South Carolina bill has support from a dozen lawmakers, including the Republican House speaker, but it's not clear whether it will pass. If it becomes law, prisoners who use cell phones to interact online would be fined $500 and detained up to 30 more days. Those who set up profiles would face similar punishment.

The American Civil Liberties Union opposes the South Carolina measure and successfully fought a similar law in Arizona in 2003, before the boom in smuggled phones behind bars.

That law was different than the one being proposed in South Carolina, though, because it prohibited people from helping inmates access the Internet indirectly using telephone, letters or a network of family, friends or activists on the outside. The law was passed after a murder victim's family complained about an ad posted on the Internet that solicited pen pals for the convict.

A federal judge struck down the law, ruling it was one thing to stop inmates from using the Internet in jail but quite another to hinder their access to it through intermediaries.

"Efforts of this kind are just an attempt to beat up on prisoners because we don't like them," said David Fathi, director of the ACLU's National Prison Project. "The First Amendment protects speech, even if it's speech that some people don't want to see. The response to seeing something that you don't like on the Internet is, don't look at it."

Acknowledging that inmates should not be allowed unfettered access to cell phones, Fathi said that once they get them, their online use shouldn't be restricted.

"There is no First Amendment objection to prison officials saying prisoners can't have cell phones, and doing the appropriate searches to make sure that rule is followed," Fathi said. "But that's completely different than something like this bill that tries to regulate prisoners' speech in the outside world."

Despite the Arizona ruling, Gilliard — who is sponsoring at least four other tough-on-crime bills this session — said he considers it necessary to criminalize the profiles themselves to show inmates how seriously South Carolina views their online activity.

Kay Harrison thought she had seen the last of the man who gunned down her niece and another woman outside a South Carolina courthouse during a heated custody dispute. She resettled into life as a single mom in suburban Atlanta, and about two years ago, the 53-year-old Harrison set up a Facebook account to keep up with friends.

On a whim, she searched for her niece's killer, Michael Godfrey.

"And there he was," Harrison said. "There was no disclaimer saying, 'Oh, by the way, I'm a felon, I murdered two people.' ... I didn't sleep a wink that night."

him (Mashable)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 07:59 AM PDT

Charlie White Charlie White – Sun Mar 20, 10:59 am ET

AT&T just announced a definitive agreement with Deutsche Telekom to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion in cash and stock. In a press release, AT&T said the agreement has been approved by both companies' boards of directors.

If the deal meets regulatory approval, AT&T will be the largest wireless provider in the United States. The company says the transaction will allow it to expand its 4G LTE network to 95% of the population of the United States, and touts enhanced "quality in the near term" for AT&T and T-Mobile customers.

Those of a patriotic bent will be glad to know that the transaction will make T-Mobile USA a U.S.-based company instead of a German telecom company that ironically calls itself T-Mobile USA. However, if you want to use a GSM phone, you won't be left with many choices if this deal does go through. But in AT&T's press release, the company emphasized how the U.S. market will continue to be competitive even after this deal:

The U.S. wireless industry is one of the most fiercely competitive markets in the world and will remain so after this deal. The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world where a large majority of consumers can choose from five or more wireless providers in their local market. For example, in 18 of the top 20 U.S. local markets, there are five or more providers. Local market competition is escalating among larger carriers, low-cost carriers and several regional wireless players with nationwide service plans. This intense competition is only increasing with the build-out of new 4G networks and the emergence of new market entrants.

Let us know in the comments what you think of this deal, and cast your ballot in our quick poll:

New York Times to charge online again (AFP)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 03:03 PM PDT

by Chris Lefkow Chris Lefkow – Sun Mar 20, 6:03 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Four years after pulling the plug on an attempt to charge readers on the Web, The New York Times is going to try again.

The US media landscape has changed somewhat since the Times, in September 2007, aborted TimesSelect, its two-year experiment with making readers pay for full access to NYTimes.com.

Print advertising revenue and circulation have continued to slide but newspaper and magazine publishers have latched on to devices like Apple's popular iPad as a potential lifeline.

Apple and Google have also begun offering digital subscription services for news organizations, providing a platform for publishers willing to try to wean Web readers off their accustomed diet of free news.

Few newspapers, however, have followed the lead of Britain's Financial Times and Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal and begun charging online and media analysts and publishers are divided over whether a paid strategy can work.

Rob Grimshaw, managing director of the Financial Times website, FT.com, is firmly in the camp of those who think a paid model can be successful and holds up his newspaper as proof.

FT.com has 210,000 digital subscribers, more than half the newspaper's print circulation, and recorded 50 percent growth in subsciption revenue last year and nearly 50 percent growth in the number of digital subscribers.

"We're very pleased to see another big quality publisher taking the plunge," Grimshaw told AFP of the Times' decision to begin charging for NYTimes.com from March 28.

"We've said for a long time we feel this is an approach and a model that can work very well for quality publishers, not just in terms of niche content like business and finance news, but also for high-quality general news," he said.

"If it's high-quality content, if it's unique, if it's differentiated, then it's valuable to people and if it's valuable people will be prepared to pay."

Gordon Crovitz, former publisher of The Wall Street Journal, is another believer in a paid strategy and a co-founder of Journalism Online, a company which seeks to help news organizations make money on the Web.

Crovitz predicted that charging readers of NYTimes.com could bring in an additional $100 million a year in digital subscription revenue for the Times while not undermining traffic or driving away advertisers.

Another advocate of making online readers pay is News Corp.'s Murdoch, who began charging for Britain's The Times and The Sunday Times online last year and has said he will eventually do the same for all of his newspapers.

Dan Kennedy, a professor of journalism at Boston's Northeastern University, said charging online could well work for the "Gray Lady" but the Times is "not a very good test case for the news business as a whole."

"I really do think there's a huge base of people out there who are willing to pay for the Times and pretty much nothing else," Kennedy said.

"They're probably going to enjoy fairly good success with this and then somebody else says 'OK, we're going to give it a try too' and it fails."

Many US newspaper publishers have been reluctant to erect paywalls around their websites out of fear it will result in a loss of traffic and digital advertising revenue and they will be left out of the online conversation.

Digital advertising revenue has been rising steadily at the Times but at still only accounted for 26 percent of total ad revenue in the last quarter.

One of the reasons the Times killed TimesSelect was because of complaints from its columnists that their opinions were no longer being heard from behind the paywall.

To counter that and remain a visible presence on the Web, the Times is adopting a "metered model," allowing visitors to view 20 articles a month before asking them to pay, and not counting inbound links from Facebook or Twitter as part of the total.

Steve Buttry, director of community engagement at local Washington news website TBD.com, is among the doubters of the Times plan.

"This punishes their most loyal readers for their loyalty: If you really like us and keep on coming back, we'll make you pay," Buttry told Harvard University's Nieman Journalism Lab.

"The hit-and-run Times readers can read for free without ever being bothered," he said. "What the hell kind of business model is that?"

The Financial Times lets registered users see 10 stories a month before asking them to open their wallets.

"We think it's very important that people are able to come into the store and have a look around before we ask them to buy," Grimshaw said.

At the same time, "if you give away too much for free then what you find is that people will take the free sample and not jump over the barrier," he said. "You just have to find the right balance point."

Facebook to buy mobile app developer Snaptu (Reuters)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 02:00 PM PDT

– Sun Mar 20, 5:00 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Facebook has agreed to buy Snaptu, an application developer for mobile devices that are less sophisticated than smartphones, as the world's largest Internet social network focuses on expanding its mobile services.

Facebook will pay up to $70 million for the London-based Snaptu, according to the Israeli newspapers Calcalist and The Marker.

Snaptu confirmed the deal, which is expected to close in a few weeks, on its website on Sunday.

Facebook spokesman Jonny Thaw declined to comment on the deal's terms, but said in an email, "As part of Facebook, Snaptu's team and technology will enable us to deliver an even better mobile experience."

The site has been increasingly focusing on building up its mobile phone services for its 500-million-plus member online social network, and is in the market for more deals. Last week, Facebook said it had hired a member of Google Inc's corporate development team to lead its fledgling merger and acquisition efforts.

Snaptu, founded in 2007, develops applications for feature phones, which have fewer capabilities than smartphones. The company helped develop a feature phone Facebook app earlier this year.

(Reporting by Maria Aspan; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Archos reveals upcoming Gen 9 tablets for summer 2011 release (Digital Trends)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 08:38 AM PDT

Adam Rosenberg Adam Rosenberg – Sun Mar 20, 11:38 am ET

archosgen9details

Archos has been in the portable media player game for just about the same amount of time as Apple, boasting touchscreen interfaces and tablet-like features in its devices well before the iPhone was even announced. The French company has already gotten in on the ongoing tablet tablet race that is presently unfolding, with the release last year of a line of Android-powered tablets.

With the iPad 2 now out, Archos is looking to step up the competition with the release of its Gen 9 tablets later this year. German tech site tabletblog.de previously reported (via Engadget) that the company would unveil high-end 7- and 10-inch tablets at September's IFA trade show in Germany. Now French website Le Journal du Geek reports that Archos let details fly on the new tablets during a recent earnings presentation, along with word that an official announcement and launch is coming in June.

We won't know if it can compete with the latest iPad, or the Xoom and other top-shelf tablets until there's time to play around with it, but the specs certainly suggest that the Gen 9 is a beast. The tablet will contain a powerful 1.6GHz ARM A9 dual-core CPU and up to either a 250GB HDD or 32GB SSD (solid-state drive, more durable), which it seems will be comparably priced. The device will also sport a patent-pending "disruptive 3G modem" as well as an Android Honeycomb operating system from Google.

We'll have to wait until June for the full details from Archos, but it looks like the company will be shooting for a price tag that tops out at around €400 (roughly $566). With the 3G modem included, that would make the Gen 9 a cheaper bet — with potentially more storage space as well — than Apple's $629 16GB iPad 2.

Chat it up with Kik Messenger for Android (Appolicious)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 06:00 PM PDT

Facebook to acquire mobile app platform Snaptu (Digital Trends)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 09:32 AM PDT

Adam Rosenberg Adam Rosenberg – Sun Mar 20, 12:32 pm ET

snaptulogoFacebook has gone on a little bit of a spending spree this year, with mobile ad firm Rel8tion and group messaging service Beluga both joining being acquired starting in January. Now there's another new corporate logo being added to the social network's growing number of business assets, the developer of the mobile app platform Snaptu.

The Israel-based company confirmed the coming business deal in a new post on its company blog. Snaptu has already had dealings with its new owner-to-be, having developed one of the more popular methods for feature phone — less powerful than a smartphone, but Internet-connected and able to do more than just place calls — users to access Facebook on their devices. The mobile platform offers a series of mini-interfaces for popular social networking portals, everything from Twitter to LinkedIn to Picasa, laid out in a style that mirrors the Apple iPhone's home screen.

Snaptu was founded in 2007, with the goal of providing "useful and innovative services to the 95 percent of mobile users that don't have access to advanced smart phones," the blog post reads. The company's recent partnership with Facebook on its "Facebook for Feature Phones" app was a success, and ultimately a big deciding factor in allowing the acquisition to move forward.

"We soon decided that working as part of the Facebook team offered the best opportunity to keep accelerating the pace of our product development," the Snaptu blog post reads. "And joining Facebook means we can make an even bigger impact on the world."

Obviously the number of smartphone users has risen dramatically since Snaptu launched in 2007, thanks largely to the immense popularity of the iPhone and the wave of smartphone offerings that followed (and continue to follow) its release. It is expected that the deal will close within a few weeks, and users can "expect Snaptu to continue operating as it does today" during the transition period.

New Website Crowdsources Japan Radiation Data (Mashable)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 07:33 AM PDT

Charlie White Charlie White – Sun Mar 20, 10:33 am ET

Still in the throes of a nuclear disaster, Japanese residents need reliable information about radiation levels throughout the country. Now a website was just started to crowdsource radiation data collected by private citizens.

The site, RDTN.org, urges its visitors to purchase a radiation detection device, take readings in their area, and then post those readings to the site for all to see. To submit those readings, the site offers a form to enter which equipment was used, when the reading was taken, and the longitude and latitude of the location.

Then, the purveyors of the site plan to add that data to places on its map, coordinating it with readings from the government. They hope the result will be a more detailed and timely look at radiation levels throughout the country. Says the site, "With conflicting reports of radiation levels in affected areas, we wanted to build a way to report and see data in an unbiased format."

Those at RDTN.org emphasized that their crowdsourced information is not intended to replace government data, but hope that "data sets from various sources can provide additional context to the official word in these rapidly changing events."

Great idea. However, these radiation detection devices aren't cheap -- from the links provided on the site, you'd have to spend hundreds of dollars for a good one, if you can find one that's not backordered. At the same time, people living in the most afflicted areas probably have basic survival issues to deal with, taking priority over purchasing some pricey gadget to measure radiation.

That said, even if only a dozen additional readings are submitted to the site, that's important information that could serve to verify government data.

[via Boing Boing]

Five ways AT&T acquiring T-Mobile will change the mobile operating landscape (Appolicious)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 03:24 PM PDT

Rush for wireless airwaves may drive risky deals (Reuters)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 05:01 PM PDT

AT&T to buy T-Mobile USA (Reuters)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 04:19 PM PDT

By Sinead Carew and Nicola Leske Sinead Carew And Nicola Leske – Sun Mar 20, 7:19 pm ET

NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – AT&T Inc struck a $39 billion deal to buy Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA, to create a new U.S. mobile market leader and bolster its constrained network against a near insatiable appetite for videos and data from Apple iPhone and iPad users.

The cash and stock deal, the largest deal this year, will give AT&T, the current No. 2 U.S. mobile carrier, an estimated 43 percent market share of customers in the United States from its current 32 percent, surpassing Verizon Wireless, which holds a 34.5 percent share, according to Tolaga Research estimates.

"This is a unique opportunity." AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told reporters on a conference call. "It's rare you have a transaction where the synergies are greater than the price paid."

AT&T says the deal, which is Stephenson's first big acquisition since he took over as CEO, will give AT&T much needed spectrum, or wireless airwaves, to provide the capability to support surges in the delivery of video, games and entertainment to smartphone and mobile devices.

The deal comes as U.S. wireless operators fight for wireless airwaves that are in short supply as consumers spend more time conducting video chats, playing games and downloading applications over mobile devices that rival the powers of desktop computers of just a few years ago.

Stephenson he had to "think differently" to address an expected eight-to-tenfold increase in demand for wireless network capacity in the next five years.

The transaction, which AT&T expects to close in 12 months, will surely face intense regulatory scrutiny. As a sign of AT&T's confidence it would pass regulatory muster, it agreed to pay a $3 billion breakup fee among other contingencies, according to the deal terms. AT&T said it is anticipating requests for divestitures in certain markets.

The two top operators -- a much larger AT&T and Verizon Wireless -- will account for nearly three out of four mobile subscriber in the United States, according to Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin.

"I think it could reach some level of controversy," said an antitrust expert who asked not to be named. "There's going to be spectrum issues. This is going to be a complex deal and I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that it will be approved."

For Deutsche Telekom, the attractively valued deal terms of an estimated 7.1 times multiple of 2010 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, gives it a tidy partial exit from the U.S. market that once held great promise at the turn of the millennium, but led to steep stock declines. Under the current terms of the deal, Deutsche Telekom could become AT&T's largest shareholder with an 8 percent stake.

Left unanswered is the fate of smaller rivals, namely Sprint Nextel, which had held talks to combine with T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 U.S. mobile service.

"Other reported deals involving T-Mobile would have joined together incompatible networks," said Larry Cohen, head of CWA the main U.S. telecommunications workers union. "Not only would that have forced a rebuild, but would have required new phones for T-Mobile customers."

The purchase price includes a cash payment of $25 billion with the balance to be paid using AT&T common stock. AT&T has the right to increase the cash portion of the purchase price by up to $4.2 billion.

As part of the deal, a Deutsche Telekom representative will join the AT&T board. AT&T can increase the cash component so long as Deutsche Telekom retails at least a 5 percent equity stake in it.

Deutsche Telekom is expected to use 5 billion euros to buy back shares and 13 billion euros to lower its debt, one source with direct knowledge of the deal discussions told Reuters. No other takeovers are planned in the medium term, the source said.

The agreement has been approved by the boards of both companies.

AT&T said it would finance the cash portion with new debt and cash on AT&T's balance sheet. AT&T has an 18-month commitment for a one-year unsecured bridge term facility underwritten by JPMorgan Chase & Co for $20 billion.

AT&T will not assume any debt from T-Mobile USA or Deutsche Telekom.

AT&T said the deal is expected to be accretive to earnings, excluding non-cash amortization and integration costs, in the third year after closing.

Representatives from Sprint declined comment as did officials from Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

(Additional reporting by Paritosh Bansal and Michael Erman in New York and Philipp Halstrick in Frankfurt and Diane Bartz in Washington D.C.; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Kenneth Li)

Gates, Buffett bid to open rich Indians' wallets (AFP)

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 04:08 PM PDT

by Penny MacRae Penny Macrae – Sun Mar 20, 7:08 pm ET

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Two of the world's richest men, software pioneer Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett, are set to visit India this week to persuade the country's super-wealthy to part with more of their cash.

The pair made headlines last year when they said they would seek to get fellow billionaires to commit half of their wealth to good causes as part of the "Giving Pledge". So far, 59 rich Americans have taken the pledge.

But while charitable giving is widespread in countries such as the United States, it is less well established in developing nations such as India and China, where Gates and Buffett went in September on a similar mission.

The former, in an open letter in the Times of India newspaper, said he and Buffett plan to sit down with some of India's affluent business leaders "to talk about our own enthusiasm for philanthropy and the impact it can have".

"We come not as preachers, but more like cheerleaders," said Gates, just a few months on from the billionaires' high-profile China trip, where they wined and dined the country's richest industrialists to promote charity.

Fast-growing India is home to some of Asia's richest billionaires, making it "an exciting time to be having this conversation," added Gates.

But while there is no shortage of billionaires for Gates and Buffett to meet, it may not be the easiest of missions.

India's booming economy -- growing by nine percent annually -- has 55 billionaires with an average net worth of $4.5 billion, according to Forbes, the third-largest pool of billionaires after the United States and China.

Yet rich Indians are often criticised by local media for a reluctance to part with their cash.

In fact, India's wealthiest social class has the lowest level of giving -- just 1.6 percent of household income compared to 1.9 percent for the country's middle classes, according to global consultancy Bain and Company.

A $2 billion education donation by high-tech tycoon Azim Premji late last year was a rare exception -- and shone a harsh light on the patchy philanthropic track record of India's wealthy.

Arpan Sheth, a consultant for Bain who is author of a recent overview of Indian philanthropy, said the country's charitable potential is huge.

"Should individuals (in India), particularly the well-off, be giving more? And can they afford to make more and larger donations? The answer to both questions is, 'Absolutely yes'," he said.

Philanthropic activity has failed to keep pace with growing riches, partly, Sheth believes, because the rapid accumulation of individual wealth is still a relatively new phenomenon.

"We have a history of scarcity and so it takes a while to build confidence that the future will be better on a sustainable basis and let go of newly earned wealth," Sheth told AFP.

There is also a suspicion that charities are badly managed and so donors fear their contributions "won't be put to good use or are at risk of being misappropriated," Sheth added.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity set up by the software tycoon and his wife, was tight-lipped about the visit, citing security.

"The visit of Bill and Melinda Gates starts Tuesday," said a spokesman.

He declined to give details about who they would meet but India's Business Standard newspaper reported Gates, his wife and Buffett would hold talks with the country's wealthy on Thursday in New Delhi.

There is no doubt that the need to help India's teeming poor is glaring.

Some 42 percent of Indians, or 455 million people, live on less than $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank. India's statistics on health, infant mortality and malnutrition are worse than those for some countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

There are signs, though, that India's billionaires are waking up to the urgent need to bridge the yawning gap between rich and poor in the country of 1.2 billion people.

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, who heads the country's largest private company Reliance Industries, warned earlier this month that "there will be no peace" if people are "discontented, deprived, unhappy and therefore angry."
at 9:32 PM

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