Vagina tree may be dead, but McCarren Park now has an amenity that will allow parkgoers to gape at genitals anywhere they please: Wi-Fi. The Brooklyn Paper called it "glitch-free" on Friday, so that means less time nursing your $4 cup of coffee and getting the stink eye from your barista when "Congratulations, you've won!" randomly blares out of your laptop. more ›

This 1976 short film, called called The Twins, was released in 1976 by Western Electric about the AT&T switching system at the World Trade Center. The narrator declares: "Before a skyscraper goes up, it's got to go down. For the World Trade Center they first dug out 14 acres of Lower Manhattan, and carried it over to the Hudson River, creating six new blocks of real estate." more ›

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit earlier today to bar AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile USA for $39 billion, the AP reports. Deputy Attorney General James Cole said in a press conference that the deal would culminate in "tens of millions of consumers all across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for mobile wireless users." Aw, c'mon! We stockpiled nights and weekend minutes in preparation for AT&T-world-order for nothing? more ›

Over a year after admitting its NYC service sucks, AT&T has apparently made good on plans to improve cell phone service for the Big Apple. Crain's reports, "As part of an initiative implemented long before last week's merger deal with T-Mobile, the No. 2 wireless carrier will soon announce a series of just-completed upgrades to its broadband service in the media capital." more ›

The much-anticipated and praised Verizon iPhone 4 is no longer available for preorder because they sold out during two hours; CEO Dan Mead said, "In just our first two hours, we had already sold more phones than any first day launch in our history. When you consider these initial orders were placed between the hours of 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., it is an incredible success story." Apparently this has surpassed any other Verizon smartphone debut. The Verizon iPhone 4 goes on sale next week. more ›

Worried that you won't be able to text your pals a photo of Snooki being dropped in a ball onto Times Square this New Year's Eve? Fear not, the one of you who is actually worried about that, because AT&T has announced they're expanding the capacity of their WiFi in hotzones like Times Square "in order to support its growing number of iPhone customers who cram the place New Year’s Eve." more ›

The masses of iPhone holders that are fed up with dropped calls and poor service from the gadget's only service provider, AT&T, will be happy to know that Apple will start producing Verizon Wireless iPhones by late 2010. That's this year! The Wall Street Journal reports that "the new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T Inc. but would be based on an alternative wireless technology called CDMA used by Verizon. The phone, for which Qualcomm Inc. is providing a key chip, is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year." Also, there's already an iPhone 5 on the way—though Apple isn't commenting on any of this. more ›

AT&T is claiming they've just completed a project that has improved wireless service in New York City—have you noticed a difference? According to the AP, the company "has given more room on the airwaves to its 3G network, used by the iPhone and some other phones, in the boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens." In doing so, service quality has allgedly steadily improved over the past six months—meaning less dropped calls and improved voice and data performance. more ›

Think your cell phone service is bad? Well, it probably is, and not just for those sending their monthly payments to AT&T. The Wall Street Journal has now examined Nielsen's data on dropped and unsuccessful calls in the city (did you know the company sends out vans to make 140,000 test calls in the 5 boroughs, and beyond, every year?). Sadly, what they find is that we've got far too many dead zones for such a populated city. more ›

Apple is developing a new iPhone to debut this summer; it's said to be thinner with a faster processor... but will it give customers what they really want: a new carrier? According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is working on producing a new iPhone that would make the gadget available through Verizon, and other CDMA carriers. The question is when will it be available to the public (some say this summer, some September, some 2012). Their exclusive arrangement with AT&T is coming to an end—which will certainly make many users happy; their service has been iBysmal in New York (for real) and other metro areas. more ›

Police have released photos and surveillance footage of three men accused of stealing cellphones from 16 AT&T and T-Mobile stores. NY1 reports that the trio has been cutting security cords and running away with the phones since December in a crime spree that spans across Manhattan and Queens. According to 1010WINS, the perps have displayed a knife in some incidents and used force, though no injuries have been reported. The three men were last spotted robbing an AT&T store on Broadway in SoHo on Tuesday. The suspects are described as between 19 and 25 years old, and about 5'8'', 5'10'', and just over 6' respectively. If you have any information, call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS, text TIP577 to CRIMES, or visit NYPDCrimeStoppers.com. more ›

AT&T has realized that the first step towards recovery is admitting it has a problem. The phone giant has confessed that its New York City iPhone service is not up to par, according to a presentation slide published on Tom's Guide noting that the company's 3G Voice Composite Quality in the New York metro area—particularly in Manhattan—is below its performance objective. more ›

Apparently all the noise about AT&T having major problems in NYC didn't curb their sales here enough, so they're taking action (ahem, now the holiday buying frenzy is over). Consumerist reports that the company's website has stopped selling the iPhone here; a customer service rep (read: online robot named "Daphne") confirmed, saying: "the phone is not offered to you because New York is not ready for the iPhone. You don't have enough towers to handle the phone." more ›

Last week AT&T Mobility President and CEO Ralph de la Vega stated at a conference in New York that the company was studying ways to encourage high-bandwidth users to modify their usage. Like, uh, usage-based pricing maybe? Though he didn't say as much, he hinted at it as a future solution if the industry can't find a fix. At the same conference he finally admitted that New York's service is not up to par, and today AT&T's PR firm sent out a release stating that "AT&T has suffered in New York and San Francisco from better than average iPhone penetration. In these two cities, AT&T has been too successful in selling the iPhone, to the point where the network has been severely strained." more ›

Since there are a lot of disgruntled AT&T/iPhone users out there (like this guy), we thought pointing out this app may be useful in making a change, starting a revolution... something. Gizmodo points out that "in NY, AT&T's 'Mark the Spot' iPhone app is going to run constantly. It lets you pinpoint precisely where AT&T's network sucked, and how—dropped call, bad data, crappy voice—and send it to them." And AT&T created the monster themselves! No doubt they are regretting that one. more ›

It's been two years since lines wrapped around Apple stores as New Yorkers waited and waited to get their hands on a precious iPhone, but the masses are still unhappy with AT&T. That's right disgruntled iPhone owners: you are not iLone! CNET has gathered some of the complaints about AT&T's service and claims of coverage (one declares "My damn iPhone drops calls about 75 percent of the time inside my house"), and one New Yorker living near JFK airport aired his grievances on YouTube. more ›

The day 1 frenzy over the new iPhone 3G has extended into this sunny Saturday: People were dutifully waiting outside an AT&T store near Astor Place at 7:45 a.m. There have been mixed results with people activating their new iPhones--while some have been successful, others are getting error messages, forcing them into iPocalyptic hysteria. more ›