So we knew a select number of authorized resellers would start stocking iPhones soon, and thanks to a tipster, it looks like we might be getting a glimpse at a none-too-surprising recipient of the new order. As these pics from an anonymous tipster show, "big hug for your mobile life" retailer The Shack will be getting AT&T's flagship device soon, with a letter supposedly from EVP of store operations Bryan Bevin (found after the break) adding that the 3G and 3GS rollout will begin this month at some company-owned locations in the Dallas Forth Worth and New York City areas, with a nationwide rollout in 2010. Not that you necessarily needed more places to tempt you with the device, but it's always fun to have options.

Wireless acquisitions tend not to be the most straightforward, easy-to-finalize business dealings in the world, and indeed, it's been almost a year to the day since AT&T announced that it intended to scoop up regional carrier Centennial to the tune of $944 million. Since then, thousands of pounds of red tape have been slashed and the deal has finally been sealed, meaning that Centennial stores will be fully rebranded in 100 US locations by January of next year, while the company's service in Puerto Rico will continue to carry the legacy brand through to mid-2010. For its part, AT&T plans to deploy 3G at "more than 100" Centennial cell sites and expand 3G coverage at 100 others, so it's a mutually beneficial relationship -- though we'll have to wait for feedback from old Centennial customers bearing the brunt of the transition before we start high-fiving.

[Thanks, Zachary]

Having already witnessed the case and UI of Dell's incoming Android invader, we can now pretty much complete the picture with the latest info from the FCC. Reassuringly, WiFi and 3G -- the two big modifications from the China-bound Mini 3i -- both make it onto US soil, leaving us with only the timeless questions of when and how much. The Chinese version of the phone runs a 360 x 640 resolution on a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, which makes for a nice base to get all that wireless communication (Bluetooth included) flowing. We can expect the Mini 3iX to find its way onto AT&T's awesome networks some time in 2010, joining a growing army of Android devices vying for your cash, love and understanding.

[Via Unwired View]

It's not often that a manufacturer pushes a Windows Mobile version bump in a timely fashion, so color us impressed to see that Samsung has now released an official 6.5 upgrade for the Jack on AT&T. 6.5 is a relatively minor bump over 6.1 in the non-touch Standard world -- Professional devices are getting the lion's share of improvements -- but users will be happy to find that they're getting an updated Internet Explorer Mobile, Windows Marketplace access, and automated free connections to AT&T WiFi hotspots (anything to offload cellular strain, right?). Grab it now from Samsung's site, make sure your battery's charged, and let 'er rip.

This coming Sunday marks a straight-up bonanza of new services and tweaks from AT&T -- and while it may not combat a heavily-armed invasion of sentient handsets running Android, it's a nice little win nonetheless. Here's what we've got on tap:

• Voicemail to Text: This is a variation on a theme that has launched countless times both on other carriers and in the aftermarket, but AT&T's version is explicitly stated "not to be a replacement for a transcription service" because each message is limited to 60 seconds. Users have the option of routing messages to SMS, email, or both for a charge of $9.99 a month. Unfortunately, moving from basic voicemail to this new service will cause all existing messages to be lost, so be careful when adding this one to your plan.
• AT&T Nation with Canada: It's exactly what it sounds like -- AT&T Nation plans with a little extra Great White North thrown in for good measure. No long distance charges on calls to Canada, 1,000 night and weekend minutes that work in both countries plus full rollover and anytime minute compatibility; A-List and early nights / weekends can be added as well.
• New Mobile TV channels, coverage, and pricing: Three new channels will be added into the MediaFLO-based Mobile TV mix, though AT&T's being coy about what they are; all we know so far is that there's a comedy station, a "national broadcaster," and a kids' channel. Three new markets are launching between now and December 11, and seven more have launched since September 25. The biggest news here, though, might be that service is dropping from $15 to $9.99 a month, while Mobile TV plus unlimited data goes from $30 down to $24.99. It's still pricey, but it's an improvement.

So, who's signing up for tiny teevee now that it's just a little bit cheaper?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Whoa -- we just got word that AT&T is suing Verizon for false advertising over Big Red's "There's a map for that" ads. We're reading the complaint and motion to stop the ads right now, but here's what AT&T says is the big problem:

In essence, we believe the ads mislead consumers into believing that AT&T doesn't offer ANY wireless service in the vast majority of the country. In fact, AT&T's wireless network blankets the US, reaching approximately 296M people. Additionally, our 3G service is available in over 9,600 cities and towns. Verizon's misleading advertising tactics appear to be a response to AT&T's strong leadership in smartphones. We have twice the number of smartphone customers... and we've beaten them two quarters in a row on net post-paid subscribers. We also had lower churn -- a sign that customers are quite happy with the service they receive.

AT&T also says its network reaches about the same number of people as Verizon's, so we're thinking it's a little miffed that it's being portrayed as an also-ran here. We'll update as we learn more, keep it locked!

Update: So this seems like a very narrow lawsuit, actually. As we've been told, AT&T thinks Verizon is trying to fool viewers into thinking that they can't use any AT&T phone services outside of 3G coverage areas by showing two essentially different maps. Since Verizon's entire network is 3G, the gaps in the red map are actual service gaps -- but Verizon doesn't show that the gaps on the AT&T map might be covered by AT&T's huge 2G network. We can see how that could be misleading, but at some point you've got to compare apples to apples, and AT&T even says it has "no quarrel with Verizon advertising its larger 3G network" in its complaint, so we'll see how the court reacts.

Update 2: Interestingly, Verizon's already changed the ads once at AT&T's behest, editing them to remove the phrase "out of touch" and adding a "Voice and data services available outside of 3G areas" small print disclaimer at the end. Apparently that wasn't enough for AT&T, which says the ads still confuse non-technical viewers into thinking AT&T provides no service at all outside of its 3G coverage.

Update 3: Okay, we've read everything -- there's really not much more to this suit than the arguments over the maps. We're thinking Verizon could have easily dealt with this by just using dark blue and light blue on the AT&T map to differentiate between 3G and 2G coverage, but at this point we don't think Ma Bell is all that interested in anything except getting these ads off the air. All that said, it's hard to deny that Verizon's ads made a perfectly valid point: using an iPhone on AT&T's network in New York or San Francisco is an exercise in frustration, regardless of whether you have 2G or 3G, and we've had zero problems on Verizon. Let's just hope AT&T is working as hard to fight these ads with its actual service as it is with its lawyers.

There's no stopping the eternal tug-of-war between the powers that be and the hackers that will, and for the time being it looks like things are back in the hands of the hackers. As of noon today giddy jailbreakers can take the next step and go full-on with blacksn0w, the unlock for the latest 05.11.07 baseband (with tethering enabled to boot). And if that weren't enough, it looks like blackra1n RC3 is alive as well, with Mac and Windows support. What are you waiting for? Hit the read link to get started, if that's your thing. And the battle for the iPhone's immortal soul continues...

[Via On The iPhone]

Nokia, the world's largest phone maker, hasn't even registered as a blip on most Americans' radars for years now. Not since Neo's 8110i fell out of a FedEx envelope has the public as a whole coveted anything the company had to offer, but that could be changing very soon. According to VentureBeat, Nokia has signed on with AT&T to launch some hot new smartphone in the not too distant future, presumably with the sort of incentivized pricing that, for once, might just allow it to be a value proposition. Details are slim, but it's said to be running a Qualcomm processor and, given rumors of Snapdragon talks, that's where we're putting our money.

[Via Pocket-lint]

You know what's insulting? Charging $300 for a nuvifone G60 in the year 2009. It's cool, though -- Amazon, as usual, is our knight in shining armor by swooping in with a $99.99 deal on contract, making the idea of a one-trick pony nav phone with a closed platform and hellish browser just a little more palatable. A big, fat caveat emptor still applies, of course.

We've been led to believe in the past that there'd be a GSM version of Motorola's mighty Sholes for markets outside the US, but this particular version that passed the FCC this week -- ID IHDP56KC5, if you must know -- has us particularly interested. Why? Well, it's packing WCDMA on the 850 and 1900MHz bands, which means it'd work on AT&T, Rogers, and HSPA newcomers Bell and Telus. We've been led to believe, though, that this particular device is destined for Latin America where 850 / 1900 is also used in favor of the 2100MHz spectrum more prevalent in Europe. That doesn't rule out Canada, but our instincts tell us that Verizon has every intention of locking up the Sholes as a US exclusive, which means AT&T is a likely no-go -- the carrier's been strangely silent on Android, anyhow, and we haven't heard a peep of recent intel suggesting they're prepping Google-powered gear in time for the holidays. Of course, enterprising individuals will probably figure out how to unlock and import this bad boy, so if you're an American and the thought of switching to Big Red for a Droid makes you physically ill, take heart that there might yet be hope.

[Via MobileCrunch]

Well, it's not much, but AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega doesn't exactly have to go too far out on a limb to attract attention when he's talking about something as big as an end to iPhone exclusivity. His latest, and seemingly most extensive ruminations on the matter came during a conference call with analysts this week, where he reportedly said that AT&T has a "legacy of having a great portfolio...that will continue after the iPhone is no longer exclusive to us," and that he thinks AT&T's ability to drive results "will continue after the iPhone." He did seem to dial things back a bit later in the call, however, switching to langauge like "even if we lose exclusivity" instead of "after the iPhone," and going on to extol the virtues of the iPhone, noting that "others will try to emulate them [Apple], but that device by far is the best in terms of ease of use."

Historically, AT&T's only allowed its treasured iPhone to be sold directory through its website and company-owned stores plus national partners Best Buy and Walmart, but times... well, they are a changin' -- and we're hearing now that certain authorized resellers will finally get in on the action starting November 1. To be specific, the top 20 agents will be invited to start stocking the various iPhone flavors in-store, which might signal AT&T's interest in keeping up the huge iPhone-specific numbers it posted for the third quarter this year. Question is, how will this play out when the next model comes out -- will it go back to being a COR exclusive?

[Thanks, Kal]

AT&T has come clean with its third quarter earnings today, and on paper, it seems like big ol' Number Two doesn't have much to complain about as far as cash flow goes. EPS comes in at 54 cents, 4 cents more per share than the consensus estimate; revenue was up from the prior quarter (though down a bit from the same quarter a year ago) and they clocked in 2 million net adds, 1.4 million of which were postpaid. That now leaves AT&T with a staggering 81.6 million subs, 6.7 million more than a year ago. Meanwhile, 4.3 million new phones were activated on the network -- 3.2 million of which were iPhones, AT&T's best quarter ever for iPhone activations -- which might actually be perceived as a bad sign for the company seeing how it stresses how heavily reliant it is on Apple's baby for customer conquests. Data continues to be a heavy focus with data-focused revenue up 33.6 percent from the same period last year, and for everyone's sake, we hope that every cent of that revenue is going right back into the network.

Our dear colleagues over at Engadget German have had a chance to play with RIM's just-announced BlackBerry Bold 9700 today, and every indication we've gotten is that this thing is a perfect -- if not extremely conservative -- successor to the first-generation Bold. Interface and network speed are both praised (both the 9700 and the Bold before it feature a 624MHz core, so there's some magic going on here) and the microSD card is now hot-swappable, meaning that you've got a theoretically limitless supply of storage space if you happen to be carrying around a pocketful of 16GB cards. Check out the full gallery below, and naturally, stay tuned for a review of this bad boy just as soon as is humanly possible.

A cellphone without an LCD isn't much of a cellphone. Alright, yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking, LCDs still rule the industry, which makes it a ripe target for nefarious price-fixing schemes to take root -- something that LG and Sharp are well-acquainted with coming off a stinging half-billion dollar verdict last year. All the talk of artificially inflated display pricing recently must've spooked AT&T, because they've gone ahead and filed a lawsuit in San Francisco today alleging that LG, Samsung, Chunghua, AU Optronics, and others all conspired to boost component prices during a period in which the carrier bought some 300 million handsets. That's a boatload of phones -- several times AT&T's total subscriber base -- and we're guessing the result could be a significant cash outlay if they're successful with the suit. Does this mean free Mythics for everyone?

[Via Phone Scoop]