BlackBerry launches new Z10 smartphone in US today, as CEO says Apple's iPhone is outdated.

Pepsi introduces first new package design since 1997.

PPR, French owner of Gucci and Saint Laurent, announces rebrand to "caring" Kering with new owl logo.

Nike surges on China rebound, North American results in latest quarterly earnings report.

Asda pulls private-label corned beef from UK shelves over horsemeat discovery as new report finds consumer concern fading. 

Chrysler looks to Nike and Starbucks for inspiration.

Coca-Cola tops British grocery brands ranking as Walkers rises to #2.

Facebook tests yet another timeline design.Continue reading...

T-Mobile has been trying to find a dancing partner for some time now. Back in 2011, it came close to finding the perfect mate when it flirted with being bought by AT&T for $39 million only to have the whole thing shot down.

But things went their way Tuesday when the U.S. Department of Justice and the FCC approved a merger between Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and MetroPCS, making the twosome into the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the States and ready to do battle with AT&T and Verizon Wireless, Nasdaq.com reports.

Fourth largest may sound pretty big, but its 42 million subscribers are about half of what each of the Big Two have, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.Continue reading...

In late January, executives at telecom companies AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Intel and Qualcomm signed a letter asking the Federal Communications Commission to not go through with eventually handing out a good chunk of unlicensed airwaves to the public — a move that would provide free WiFi for many Americans and allow tech innovators to create new products, according to The Washington Post.

Perhaps these companies would like to remind the debt-ridden federal government that it could make a lot of money by selling off those airwaves instead. 

However, companies like Google and Microsoft would like WiFi to open up, the Post notes — a move that would not only spur innovation, they contend, and also allow their web-enabled businesses to likely expand along with the technology.

The last time the FCC opened up some unlicensed airwaves was in 1985. As a result, consumers gained garage-door openers, baby monitors, wireless stage microphones, and the current WiFi network.Continue reading...

While your humbled (by Sandy) editor's NYC apartment is still without power, I've made it to a power outlet and Wi-Fi and finally catching up with some of the impact of the storm on the U.S. and Canada, with 107 people dead and an estimated $20 billion in damages and $30 billion in lost business:

• FCC estimates that storm took down 25% of cell towers in 10 states
• FTC warns consumers to avoid home repair and charity scams
• JFK and Newark airports have reopened for some flights as airlines pin hopes on Thursday flights
• NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg reopened the New York Stock Exchange in first post-Sandy trading day
• NYC subway stations in lower Manhattan are still underwater as MTA estimates it's losing $18 million/day
• NYC schools remain closed
• President Obama stops at FEMA en route to New Jersey to assess damage
• Ford Motor Company donates $50,000 to relief efforts
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac vow to aid those whose homes were damaged or destroyed
• NYC-based tech startups including Foursquare grapple with keeping their businesses going
• Con Edison is working around the clock to restore power, as calls for free public Wi-Fi increase
• Some NYC stores, restaurants and businesses (at least above 23rd Street) see surge in business, along with e-commerce sites
• Fast food restaurants and other businesses in Sandy's path struggle in aftermath
• American Apparel criticized for hosting Sandy online sale, while Urban Outfitters offends with Sandy tweet

American Idol crowns winner with record number of votes.

Apple's newly knighted design head Jony Ives "winces" at some past products.

IBM raises concerns about Apple's Siri voice recognition technology, newly touted by John Malkovich.

BMW plans to triple China output.

Deutsche Telekom sale of T-Mobile USA seen as unlikely.

Facebook's botched NASDAQ IPO turns spotlight to NYSE Euronext.

FCC votes today on opening spectrum for wireless medical devices.

Foursquare teams with London 2012 Olympics.

MIT solves ketchup problem that Heinz made famous.

Pizza Hut tests pre-loaded gift cards in India.

President Obama wants U.S. government agencies to launch more mobile apps.

Uniqlo chooses tennis player Novak Djokovic as a brand ambassador.

United and Continental airline merger turbulence affects elite fliers.

Yahoo aims to make Web browsing more visual with Axis launch.

Amazon looms as nemesis of book publishers, as children's book publisher pulls its titles.

Apple denies designer Philippe Starck's claim of 'revolutionary' device.

Arby's makes social media blunder over Rush Limbaugh advertising.

Archie comics legal battle heats up.

Audi may select its North American plant site this week, with Mexico the favorite, Automotive News says.

CBS emphasizes hard news to regain an edge.

Citigroup reports better-than-expected revenue growth.Continue reading...

With news that the FCC is suing AT&T over "deaf calling service fraud," we asked Michael Janger, who wrote "Baby Boomers: The New Disability Market" for us in December, for comment and context. Michael writes:

In the wake of the 2009 arrests of 26 people for Video Relay Services (VRS) fraud and their resulting convictions, the Federal Communications Commission implemented procedures for stronger oversight of its Telecommunication Relay Services program for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.  VRS and IP Relay operators have, in turn, tightened their policies and instituted systems to ensure compliance with FCC directives. 

These directives seem to have failed to reach AT&T. This week, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against AT&T for improperly billing the FCC for calls made by Nigerian scam artists on AT&T’s IP-Relay service. The lawsuit charges that AT&T failed to follow a 2008 FCC requirement that relay providers register their users and verify their identities, and that up to 95% of AT&T’s call volume since 2009 was originated by fraudulent foreign callers taking advantage of the free calls. The cost of these improper reimbursements: $16 million.

For two decades, deaf and hard-of-hearing people have benefited from the Federal program for relay services, which enable them to communicate with anyone using a special telephone or videophone, or on their computer. Without these programs, many deaf people would be unable to call their family and friends, or do business over the phone. Even something as mundane as calling the credit card company about a lost credit card would be, at best, an hour-long call. Continue reading...

Ever wonder what all those extra fees on your phone bill are paying for? Well, some part of it goes to help the deaf and hard-of-hearing be able to make phone calls. The service is given to folks “at no charge to place calls to hearing individuals through text messages over the Internet that are relayed by employees of a so-called IP Relay provider,” Reuters reports. Companies receive about $1.30 for each minute of the calls from the FCC.

Well, the U.S. government does not like how AT&T has been handling its relay services and has taken the telecom giant to court, saying that it has cheated the government “out of millions of dollars by knowingly failing to prevent swindlers from using a subsidized telephone service meant for deaf people,” the wire service notes. This is in addition to a suit filed by a whistleblower who used to work at one of the company’s call centers.Continue reading...