WRAL Tech Wire

 AT&T takes $10B pension hit, says profits being squeezed

AT&T recorded a $10 billion fourth-quarter charge for its pension plan and said smartphone discounts as well as costs related to superstorm Sandy cut into profit.

 In the news: Big 3 pick BlackBerry; Cisco phone hack; Sensus wins deal; Quintiles partnership; IBM targets small businesses

Inside the Bulldog blog: Big carriers will sell new BlackBerry phones; Is your Cisco phone a spy?; utility picks Sensus meters; Quintiles signs partnership deal in Asia; new IBM service targets small businesses.

 In the news: T-Mobile rips AT&T, Verizon; Red Hat update; Cisco teams with AT&T; GSK drug candidates

Inside the Bulldog blog: T-Mobile CEO attacks rivals; Red Hat updates RHEL 5.9; Cisco teams with AT&T for home monitoring; GSK's pipeline advances on two fronts.

 AT&T sets quarterly smartphone sales record, topping 10M

AT&T Inc., the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, sold more than 10 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, setting a record, after demand for the iPhone and Android devices spurred holiday sales.

 AT&T seeks freedom from monopoly rules in Internet era

The U.S. telephone network the Bell System built and ran for almost a century is dying, replaced by technology that propels Internet messages. Rules underpinning that old order should expire with it, AT&T says.

 Sprint won't disclose 4G launch date for RTP - but it's here in some places

Despite the Research Triangle being one of the nation's biggest high-tech hubs, Sprint has yet to formally launch 4G in the area and still refuses to commit to a launch date. However, you can find faster service in some areas.

 AT&T wins approval to buy Comcast, other wireless spectrum

AT&T has received permission from U.S. regulators to acquire airwaves from four companies including Comcast Corp. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co.

 Top wireless carriers to accelerate text-to-911 capabilities

Under an agreement announced Thursday, AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. will do "major deployments" of so-called text-to-911 in the U.S. next year, the FCC says.

 AT&T strikes deal with former rival Akamai for video, data delivery

AT&T, the largest U.S. phone company, plans to sell business users the Akamai service as part of its expanding Internet offering that includes data-center information storage and cloud computing.

 Court: Verizon must allow rivals to use its network for mobile data

Verizon Wireless must offer smaller competitors access to its nationwide networks for mobile Internet use, a federal court ruled, turning aside the company's challenge to an FCC regulation requiring sharing agreements.

 Cynthia Marshall, head of AT&T in N.C., takes new job

Cynthia Marshall, president of AT&T in North Carolina since 2007, has taken a position as senior vice president of human resources at the company's headquarters in Dallas. Marshall lives in Cary.

 iPhone 4 launch a big glitch? Critical videos flow to YouTube

Reception and other problems take some of the glitz off the first-day launch of Apple's newest smartphone. AT&T takes some hits as well for network.

 AT&T to invest $14B in broadband, wireless expansion in N.C., other states

AT&T says it will expand high-speed Internet and wireless service in North Carolina and elsewhere as part of a program to compete with cable companies. AT&T also wants to move customers from traditional landlines to high-speed wireless.

 In the news: Red Hat cloud; IBM marketing; AT&T storage; Lenovo smartphones; Cisco cloud update

Inside the Bulldog Blog: Red Hat offers whirepaper on open source in the "cloud;" IBM steps up enterprise digital marketing; AT&T offers "Locker" for data storage; Lenovo enters India smartphone market; Cisco updates cloud automation.

 AT&T reports slowing wireless growth, blames iPhone shortage

The flow of customers into AT&T's wireless stores slowed further in the latest quarter, putting the company far behind rival Verizon Wireless.

 In the news: Ubuntu vs. Red Hat; IBM; Cisco; NetApp; GSK

Inside the Bulldog Blog: The founder of Ubuntu takes on Red Hat; IBM ups bet on big data; Cisco builds a smart city in U.S.; analyst cuts NetApp stock rating; GSK touts vaccine trials;

 In the news: Motricity, Lenovo, Apple, AT&T, Google, Android, Cisco

Inside the Bulldog Blog: Carl Icahn increases his stake in Motricity; Lenovo sees ultrabooks as the future; Apple's AT&T deal triggers suit; details leak about Google, Android announcement; Cisco's next CEO will be ... ?

 Supreme Court lets stand telecom immunity in wiretapping case

Privacy advocates sought billions of dollars in damages for what they described in their Supreme Court appeal as "a massive, unlawful program of electronic surveillance, intercepting and disclosing to the government both the communications and the communications records of millions of their customers."

 AT&T to be first U.S. carrier to offer Nokia Windows 8 phones

The Lumia phones are the linchpin of a comeback plan for Nokia, which has struggled to compete with Apple's iPhone and Google's Android. Microsoft also is counting on Nokia devices to help win back market share in smartphone software.

 Wireless providers T-Mobile, MetroPCS to merge

T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG says its board of directors and the supervisory board have approved the merger Wednesday. It says the board of MetroPCS has also accepted the deal.