But! It's "going to get fixed." He promises. (As AT&T has for over a year.) Besides, part of it's in your head—AT&T says they have a national dropped call rate of 1.32 percent, which is within two-tenths of one percent below the "highest-scoring provider." (Though it's, um, higher in NY on some phones, according to some people.)

Disconcertingly, he made reference to AT&T's favorite stat, that 3 percent of smartphone customers push 40 percent of data, and that they're looking at incentives—as the WSJ put it—that'll get those people to cut back, "in a way that's consistent with net-neutrality and FCC regulations." These FCC regulations. Meaning pay-per-byte data.

But you know what? If I could get data 100 percent of the time, sure, I'll pay more for it, Ralphie. [WSJ]

I mean, wasn't the original Verizon ad that started this off about the size of the 3G network? Now AT&T is countering with speed, which is great and all, so long as you don't live in any major U.S. cities like San Francisco, where those speeds are available, occasionally, like a fleeting wind (this according to the Gizmodo guys who live there, particularly Blam).

But a headless Luke Wilson is hi-larious, right? Enough to get consumers to vote with their hearts and not use their heads though? Not a chance. I'm siding with the Misfit Toys on this one.

It's an opinion. It could be off the mark. Let me know in the comments where you fall in this great big objectivity-free ad war between cell phone carriers. [Youtube via CNET]

Claiming it's a "little too tiny," fondler Salomondrin says it's still slightly bigger than previous Pearl models, keeping in mind it's been styled after the latest Bold. The camera has been updated to 3.2-megapixels with a flash, and has Wi-Fi along with that much-needed 3G. Running on BlackBerry OS 5.0.0.350 in the video below, you can see the trackball has been swapped for the optical trackpad seen on the Curve 8530 and Bold 9700, and it's also got the new multimedia buttons on the right side.

I'm far too attached to QWERTY to even consider this new Pearl 2, but if you're looking for something slimmer and more candybar-like, schedule April in for a potential launch date. [Salomondrin via PhoneArena and CrackBerry]

You can get a day pass of 75MB for $15, a week pass of 250MB for $30, and a month pass of 500MB for $50. The prices aren't absurd if you only use the thing occasionally, but those data caps are something awful. For example, just loading a website will get you to burn a couple megabytes, and a heavy email session with attachments will kill half the day's quota. Better to save this for emergencies at the rates AT&T is offering. [AT&T

Now, good on AT&T for fighting back with more ads and not more silly lawsuits and all, but the Verizon holiday ad lineup is pretty strong, and I don't see many Verizon customers losing sleep over Luke Wilson covering a giant coverage map with post cards.

As tipster Eric notes, AT&T selectively does not mention Edge, 3G or voice/data distinctions in this commercial, opting instead for vague blanket statements like "AT&T covers 97% of all Americans, that's over 300 million people."

To the AT&T customers I ask: Are you comforted by Luke Wilson?

AT&T's 3G Network Sees 2,000% Increase Since iPhone 3G Release

In the wake of a big $65 million upgrade to its network here in the San Francisco Bay Area, AT&T revealed that the improvement was due to 3G usage being up 2,000% after the release of the iPhone 3G last year. That sounds like a crazy number for which the iPhone deserves all kinds of high fives, but it's really not surprising—how many AT&T 3G phones were there before the iPhone 3G, even? And of course 3G use across the board is up in crazy numbers, since smartphones have really started taking off in the last year or so—so to be honest, the number doesn't really mean all that much. Hence its ending up here in the sad pit of Remainders. [All Things D]

Droid Camera Fixed, Without Explanation?

The Motorola Droid camera is a serious problem. I can't compete with Matt's angry poetry on the subject, so here it is, clipped from his review:

The camera is complete garbage. It takes 10 years to start up, 2 to focus, and another 4 to actually take the goddamn picture. And there's no distinct visual feedback to let you know a photo's been snapped. And the photos suck. That pumpkin shot, in decent lighting, is as good as it gets. Like I said in the Android 2.0 review, I don't know if it's the hardware or the software, but it's inexcusably bad.

Yow. But users have spontaneously been reporting that the camera, all of a sudden, has stopped sucking—what's the deal? Apparently there was some kind of bug wherein a particular state of the clock (meaning, time of day) screws with the Droid's autofocusing, which sounds insane to me, but what do I know? Apparently it should work okay now, and while it's temporary, the incoming Dec. 11th bug fix should take care of things. [Electronista]

Genius Bar App Won't Help if Your iPhone Is Broken

Rumor has it that Apple is planning to add a Genius Bar app to the App Store (appappappapp) that will let you make appointments, track your place in line, and curse the world when you realize you can't use the app because your iPhone is broken, which is the whole reason you need to make the appointment in the first place. Catch 22 apps are the very best kind of apps. [TUAW]

Samsung Beats out Vizio for Top LCD Seller

I bet you've been waiting by your computer, eager to see who managed to eke out the top spot in the LCD sales wars this fiscal quarter. Will it be Vizio, the low-priced upstart who took the LCD world by storm? Or Samsung, the crafty veteran with the quality sets and sleek design? Looks like this quarter, Samsung took the prize—and it's in Remainders because honestly who cares, at all. [CrunchGear]

It will be available on November 22nd, free with rebate after signing up for a contract. That means you customers in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, LA and Miami. [AT&T via Engadget]

The first commercial, which I saw air for the first time during the New England Patriots game this afternoon, is called Verizon Blue Christmas (above). As Elvis croons, a man depressingly makes his way home with no cell coverage. He's utterly sad until he sees that a wrapped, red present might just contain the phone he's really looking for.

The second commercial, below, shows us that the "naughty" people won't be getting coal in their stockings this year. Nope, they'll be getting spotty AT&T 3G service instead! Ho ho ho.

The last commercial places an iPhone-esque phone on the Island of Misfit Toys.

The phone seems out of place, at least until the toys get a glimpse of its 3G network. "You'll fit right in!" they scream. And then we all just laugh and laugh. [Verizon's YouTube Account]

Channels: COR, DMDR, LD, and NR Internal
Roles: Reps & Above
Markets: All
Contact: Your Manager

AT&T filed a lawsuit on November 4, 2009 against Verizon's "There's a Map for That" advertising campaign. Independent research shows that the maps in the advertisements mislead consumers into believing that we do not offer any wireless service in the vast majority of the country. In fact, AT&T's 2.5G EDGE network covers 1.75 million square miles of the United States, reaching some 296 million people, roughly the same number reached by Verizon's network. This network supports popular services like e-mail, surfing the Web, texting, and voice calling, including the activities shown in the Verizon TV advertisements. In addition, our 3G service, the nation's fastest, is available in more than 9,400 cities and towns.

We filed the lawsuit in Federal District Court in Atlanta and asked that Verizon be prohibited from misleading consumers regarding the scope of our wireless network.

How should I respond to customers who ask about the lawsuit?

While we cannot speculate on the complaint filed, it is a great opportunity to remind customers of AT&T's many advantages that over 81 million customers enjoy, including:

* Best Network
* The best coverage worldwide (More Bars in More PlacesTM).
* The nation's fastest 3G network and the only national 3G carrier providing simultaneous voice and data usage.
* The most devices that work in the most places including Japan and South Korea (3G 2100 MHz device required).
* The nation's largest wireless and wireline broadband provider.
* The nation's largest company-owned and operated WiFi network with more than 20,000 hotspots, including Starbucks, McDonald's and Barnes and Noble, as well as access to over 120,000 hotspots around the world.
* The leading provider of local and long distance voice services.

Greatest Value – The fairest value with Rollover® allowing customers to keep their unused minutes month to month.
Best Products - The most innovative exclusive devices such as the iPhoneTM 3GS.
Most Convenient Services
* The most customer friendly free self-service tools with *Services for checking usage, paying bills, and adding features.
* The most convenient and cost-effective way for customers to manage their accounts with Combined Billing for wireless and wireline products.
* Industry leading 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

As always, if you have an inquiry from the media, please refer them to your local media relations team member.

I guess that if you've made a mockery of the court system with a ridiculous lawsuit, then you might as well use the attention for a bit of spin. [Mobile Crunch]

Android and Me is suggesting that T-Mobile customers try checking their data speed using Xtreme Labs Speedtest or Mobile Speed Test. I encourage you to do so and post the results after a few tries along with your region. In the meantime, we're waiting on official word from T-Mobile to confirm this potentially great news. [Android and Me—Thanks, Slacker!]

Now, the "There's a Map for That" ad focuses on 3G alone, and the discussion is about 3G services, including video. But the charge AT&T makes is that people who watch the ad are being deliberately led to thinking that in the white spaces, there's no AT&T phone service at all. Here's the accusation:

Consumers are interpreting the white or blank space on the maps to mean that AT&T customers who are not in an AT&T "3G" coverage area have no wireless coverage whatsoever, and therefore have no ability to use their wireless devices for any purposes in vast areas of the country. This interpretation is not surprising as Verizon, in its own coverage maps, uses white space to inform customers that no coverage of any kind exists.

The thing is, this is somewhat tricky to prove, but it sounds wrong. There are areas of Verizon voice coverage that are not marked as red in the map in the commercial, if my squint-eye human-instrument comparison test is accurate. Try it for yourself. Does the map up top better resemble the one in blue and yellow (but not green), which shows broadband, aka 3G? Or the one in red, which shows voice and messaging?

For reference, here's AT&T's map—note, only the very darkest shade of blue represents 3G coverage:

The ad may contain jargon that might confuse middle America—I will admit that—but to any trained ear, it's pretty clearly about 3G. As far as this maps claim, though, that seems dubious. The maps that Verizon chose do seem to represent the same thing—3G coverage only. Yes, AT&T lawyers, if I'm right about this, it means that had Verizon cheated, their map would have been even redder than the one in the ad. So what's say we spend more of that iPhone subscription money on fixing the network (near my house, please!) and less money on frivolous lawsuits.

[AT&T's Motion for the Restraining Order of Verizon WARNING: PDF]

It's got four bars on AT&T.

I'll forgive that artistic liberty this time though, because this isn't just the best edible iPhone seen so far, it was also used as Jerry's wedding cake. Granted that leaves one question: Which app did they save and freeze? [Jerry Brito via TUAW]

If these leaked documents are real, here's what T-Mobile will offer:

Even More plan
• $100 for voice/SMS/data, everything unlimited.
• $70 for unlimited talk and SMS.
• $60 for unlimited voice only.
• Requires two year contract.

Even More Plus plan
• $80 for voice/SMS/data, everything unlimited.
• $60 for unlimited talk and SMS.
• $50 for unlimited voice only.
• Pre-paid.

The weird thing is that the Even More Plus plan is pre-paid and gives you the FlexPay option, which allows to buy a phone in four payments. The Even More will probably give you a "free" cellphone, but it's not specified at this point.

Apple, please, let's drop this whole exclusivity thing with the iPhone in the US. I don't want to keep paying $160 to those AT&T thieves every single month. I would rather pay $100 to the T-Mobile thieves. [TmoNews via Engadget]

That's some high praise right there. Apparently it's slightly thicker than the iPhone 3GS, but is still the thinnest QWERTY-slider they've seen. They also say its TI OMAP3430 processor and 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen are fastest, and most responsive they've used on an Android phone. "It makes the CLIQ looks like a child's toy."

My only concern is that these shots make the screen look kinda dim. That could be the flash, or maybe the screen wasn't at max brightness, who knows. Click through for BGR's full impressions and image gallery. [Boy Genius Report]

Also: Verizon's 30-second Droid TV Spot Attacking the iPhone