Okay, AT&T, we get it, you've finally figured out how to pitch data services to your subscriber base. Good for you! Last quarter saw a nice boost in data revenue for the megacarrier, likely due to a proliferation of 3G-compatible handsets that make mobile byte consumption less painful -- not to mention the fact that virtually every iPhone customer is signed up for a data plan -- and they're at it again this quarter with a staggering 52 percent bump in cash flow from data alone (which includes messaging, but still a sobering stat). Overall, revenue from the wireless division was met with a 15.8 percent gain, thanks in part to a net subscriber gain of 1.3 million, giving AT&T a grand total of 72.9 million heads. They'll still be dwarfed when the Verizon-Alltel thing goes down, but don't be down on yourself, AT&T -- there's nothing wrong with being number two. Honest.

[Via mocoNews]

After an April launch, AT&T's significantly extending the reach of its AT&T Navigator service with the announcement today that a new Global Edition of the software will provide nav capabilities in 20 countries. That's probably welcome news to globetrotting businessfolk that happen to carry one of AT&T's GPS-capable worldphones -- and businessfolk seem to be exactly the demographic they're targeting with a healthy $19.98 monthly charge for the pleasure of not getting lost worldwide. Much of western Europe, the Caribbean, and six Chinese cities are on the roster, and the carrier is quick to point out that those cities will all be hosting Olympic events -- so, you know, if you need to make it from dressage to the 100-meter dash as quickly as possible, those might be the best 20 bucks you ever spent.

Sure, Apple alleges to have flipped over a million iPhone 3Gs at this point, but what does that mean? The devil's in the details, as always; yes, true, the first one took 74 days to reach that same milestone, but it was available in less than one-twentieth the number of countries and an even smaller fraction of carriers. Hell, the very definition of "sale" is under scrutiny here, with some suggesting that Apple's making reference to the number of phones it's sold to its carrier partners, not end users -- a metric that would make sense from Cupertino's perspective since Apple's payday technically ends there.

Here's where it gets interesting -- Engadget has obtained a handful of stats regarding number ports in and out of T-Mobile USA handled by a national wholesaler. Specifically, we have data surrounding the launch of the first-gen iPhone and the iPhone 3G, and get this: of more than 1,000 ports in total, ports to AT&T represented under 40 percent of the firm's total outflow in the days surrounding the 3G's launch, versus nearly 70 percent the last time around. Furthermore, they took roughly the same number of inbound ports from AT&T during the same period, meaning that T-Mobile effectively lost no net ground due to the 3G's launch. Granted, the porting stats from a single wholesaler represent just a microcosm of the big picture, but even accounting for some loss of precision when you extrapolate that data, you're looking at a pretty significant downturn in interest from T-Mobile subscribers. We still think Apple's probably laughing all the way to the bank either way -- and iPhone 3Gs are sold out virtually everywhere right now -- but you've got to wonder if AT&T's not freaking out a little bit at the number of new subscribers it managed to entice, and whether its competitors are all breathing cautious sighs of relief at some surprisingly reasonably churn rates.

Saying that Samsung's new BlackJack IIs are pink and blue is really only telling part of the story. Unlike the originals, the stylish new models feature contrasting white fronts with color-coordinated keys and fancy designs on the back -- perfect for that fashion-conscious Windows Mobile nerd in your life (if that's not an oxymoron, we don't know what is). Collect the whole set now for $99.99 a pop on contract.

AT&T appears to be fiddling around with its online store pages for this one, because we're not finding it outside of the business-to-business at the moment. Do we care, though? Do you? The SGH-a227 from Samsung is about as basic an offering as you're going to find on American Telephone & Telegraph at the moment, serving up a hot pile of EDGE data, 160 x 128 internal and 96 x 96 monochrome external displays, and a speakerphone. That's it -- no camera, no crazy haptics, and at $9.99 on contract, virtually no expense. Sammy throws in a true HTML browser, though without 3G, it's of somewhat limited use. Odds are you can find this one floating around in stores now, otherwise, we'd expect it to be back on AT&T's main site in the not-too-distant future.

[Via MobileBurn]

Pantech has an awesome habit of delivering a handful of fairly anonymous devices to AT&T -- C810 WinMo dual slider notably excepted -- and judging from what little we can gather in the test reports, we've got another one on the way. AT&T-bound models from the Korean outfit start with "C" (an homage to Cingular, no doubt) and this one fits the bill with GSM / EDGE on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. Other than that, though, your guess is as good as ours -- it seems pretty wide, though. A QWERTY piece, perhaps?

We wouldn't say they're necessarily crying foul, but Verizon is quick to point out that AT&T used its clout as an Olympic sponsor to secure an exclusive on an Olympic coverage channel for its MediaFLO-based mobile TV network. It's a big deal for Verizon simply because it and AT&T are the only two US carriers to offer such a feature at this point -- but there's probably no use crying over spilled milk, and sure enough, Verizon's busy setting up a video series on its VCAST content deck that'll offer highlights of the Olympic action out of Beijing. AT&T, meanwhile, picks up an exclusive through NBC Olympics 2Go -- so we hope you Vu and Access owners are medley swimming fans.

Notice that your freshly-purchased N75 smells more like a week-old head of cabbage than a bundle of brand new plastic, glue, and circuitry? That's gross, and no, we don't want to touch it (seriously, get that thing away from us). Turns out you may not be alone, though -- a new class-action suit filed in federal court alleges that CommClub, an independent retailer in California, was selling used Nokias for AT&T's network as brand new devices. For whatever reason, AT&T and Nokia are also named as defendants in the suit, though we're not sure exactly what role they played in CommClub's potentially nefarious dealings; at any rate, the class is looking to bring home some bacon for "injuries" suffered as a result of the bait-and-switch. You're going to go smell your N75 now, aren't you?

Yeah, so there's still lots of confusion on whether bona fide turn-by-turn GPS software will ever arrive on the iPhone 3G (though signs are pointing to "yes"), but considering that it's not there now, Autoblog took Apple's new darling for a spin in the Bay and churned out some impressions. If you're looking for the long and short of it, the iPhone 3G's navigational abilities aren't that impressive. The reviewer even went so far as to say that having a passenger manning the arrow buttons that showed your next move was "almost a necessity." Additionally, the GPS flaked out and lagged behind the current location quite frequently, which can definitely be a problem when attempting to navigate one-way streets in an unkind downtown. So, should you sell off your standalone navigator on the way to pick up your new iPhone 3G? Probably not -- at least not just yet.

One of Sony Ericsson's more creative designs of recent memory, the W350 might be a whole lot closer to grubby American paws than many might have expected. Up for auction on eBay at the moment is a "lightly used" W350a variant in white featuring a silver highlight on the music controls; that in itself isn't particularly interesting, until you take a gander at the display and see a nice little AT&T logo silkscreened on the bezel. The listing's page doesn't give any clue as to when non-rich people might be able to get a subsidized W350 from the AT&T store in their neck of the woods, other than to state the obvious point that the "phone has not been released in the US yet, and you will not find this beautiful color anywhere else." So if you're really bent out of shape about taking delivery of this thing, you might want to dive in on the auction -- you never know if it's going to go the way of AT&T's ill-fated K850.

[Thanks, Bernard]

Yeah, sure, it's just a dummy, but the live model will look the same -- albeit with a slightly more functional display, hopefully. Our contact tells us AT&T stores will have these bad boys ready to sell on Monday at the freshly-dropped price. Click on for the spellbinding backside!

[Thanks, Kal]

Remember how we told you to expect some totally edge-of-your-seat, riveting price news in regard to Palm's Centro? Yeah, how's about $30 off? Presumably in conjunction with the iPhone 3G launch, AT&T has hacked the Palm Centro down to $70 after rebates (from $100) with a two-year agreement. There's no telling if the new price will sashay on over to those CDMA carriers or not, but we've got our fingers crossed real tight.

[Via Electronista]

It's hard to think of any other device that's enjoyed the level of exposure and hype that Apple found in the launch of the first iPhone. Who could forget it? Everyone got to be a gadget nerd for a day; even those completely disinterested in technology seemed to come down with iPhone fever. But the original device was still far from perfect: its limited capabilities (especially in the 3G department), high price of entry, and the small number of countries in which it was available kept many potential buyers sidelined. Until now -- or so Apple hopes.

The wireless industry is a notoriously tough nut to crack, and it's become pretty clear that the first iPhone wasn't about total domination so much as priming the market and making a good first impression with some very dissatisfied cellphone users. With the iPhone 3G, though, Apple's playing for keeps. Not only is this iPhone's Exchange enterprise support aiming straight for the heart of the business market, but the long-awaited 3rd party application support and App Store means it's no longer just a device, but a viable computing platform. And its 3G network compatibility finally makes the iPhone welcome the world over, especially after Cupertino decided to ditch its non-traditional carrier partnerships in favor of dropping the handset price dramatically. $200? We're still a little stunned.

So now that Apple finally stands poised for an all out war on cellphone-makers everywhere, will the iPhone 3G stand up to the competition -- and higher expectations than ever? Head on over to Engadget for our full review.

Handhelds (and handsets, in particular) have long since been used as tools for home automation, but the forthcoming App Store is likely to bring a niche concept to the masses... or some of them, at least. Beginning on July 11th (that's the iPhone 3G launch day, you know), a Crestron interface titled iLoveControl will be available for download; during the first 30 days of launch, said app will "offer a one-room Crestron solution free of charge, configured for the control of lights, drapes, HVAC, audio and video." If you're looking to control more than that, it'll cost you $250 per configuration. This is just one example of what's likely to fill the App Store, and quite frankly, we're pretty excited about the possibilities.

Well this was bound to happen. Ahead of schedule, Walt Mossberg has turned his official review of the new iPhone 3G, and we've got the recap. On the whole, Walt stays mostly positive about the device; he likes the form factor (which he wants to stress really hasn't changed much), says the 3G speeds are a big improvement over EDGE (no kidding?), and informs us that the audio quality and phone reception are -- thankfully -- improved all around. Downsides? There are plenty. Mossberg takes issue with AT&T's new pricing policy, which he finds steep, says he barely squeezed 4 hours and 27 minutes of talk time out of the battery, and gripes that you can only sync Exchange or personal calendars and contacts -- not both. If you're like us, you'll probably want to just read the whole thing. Too lazy? Check the video after the break.

Update: David Pogue of the New York Times has also turned in a kinda-sorta review of the iPhone 3G, though it reads more like an overview of its features than a honest-to-goodness critique. He also makes passing reference to the GPS antenna being "too small" to function as a proper GPS, which makes roughly zero sense to us. Feel free to figure it out on your own.

Update 2: Can't forget Ed Baig of USA Today, who says the new model is "worth the wait" (not to say we have any option at this point anyway, seeing how hard it is to find an original anywhere). He seemed to have trouble picking up 3G service in some locations, though it's not clear whether that can be chalked up to technical issues with the handset or a lack of coverage where he was testing. Like the others, Baig discovered a noticeable improvement in audio quality and a noticeable hit in battery life when hooked up to the 3G network. Gotta pay to play, we guess.