Worst of the Week

This week Verizon Wireless, often viewed as that carrier that is doing so well that it does not need to dirty its hands by acknowledging its competitors, unleashed a “4G Throw-Down” video punkin’ all those that claim to provide a superior 4G network experience.

Leading up to the launch of the new tablet, rumors were circulating that the new device would have a screen with resolution more lifelike than the human eye; enhanced capabilities that would make the need for real friends obsolete; and come in various sizes to meet the needs of every living soul on the planet.

The running spat between AT&T Mobility and its subscribers over what is and is not considered “unlimited” made up some significant ground this week as lawsuits have been won and taunts thrown.

The rumor mills seem to be running overtime in cranking out news Apple iPad related. This includes the name for the device (iPad 3? How original), specifications (faster, smaller, bigger) and release dates (tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, never).

What can possibly be said about LightSquared at this point, besides bad puns? I know that the company is not “dead” dead, but it seems that the hill it has been climbing in trying to launch a wireless service just received a new helping of lubrication. And that lubricant was delivered with GPS-like accuracy. ZING!

Sprint Nextel released fourth quarter and full-year 2011 results this week, wrapping up the financial reporting for the nation’s three largest wireless operators and highlighting an interesting fact about the industry: people like Apple’s iPhone.

To the chagrin of some, Apple has recently come under attack (again) for its history of sourcing its profit-heavy hardware from factories in China that have a history of questionable working conditions.

I try to not feel sorry for huge, multi-national conglomerates. This is due mostly to the fact that they always seem to forget my birthday, unless they want me to buy something.

If I were to take anything from this week’s Consumer Electronics Show as an indicator of what to expect in 2012, that would be that there a lot of people interested in gadgets and that we can expect to be standing in more lines.

This week saw a couple of events that makes the conspiracy theorist in me go a bit bonkers, or at least a bit more bonkers than usual in what is the last year of our earthly existence. (Thanks for the heads up, Mayans.)

Having a few days off over the past week allowed me to get in some much needed afternoon television watching. While flipping through the multitude of television choices this modern age provides and finding nothing to actually watch, I couldn’t help but keep thinking of all the time and effort the wireless industry put in this year regarding AT&T’s attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA.

So, now what? AT&T’s pie-in-the-sky attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA came crashing down to earth this week in a heap that left many with at least some sort of pie filling in a place not designed to hold pie filling.

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for …

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for …

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for …

So, cable giant Cox Communications finally threw in the towel on its half-hearted attempt to become a mobile operator on its own terms. The company, which prior to its launch bragged it would be able to garner 20% of the market, this week stopped selling its own branded service and said it would completely shut down operations early next year.

Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for …

The latest casualty of this “can’t help but stare” phenomenon in the mobile space is Research In Motion, which this week saw its bread-and-butter server operations take a(nother) worldwide dump. Now, something bad happening to RIM is not necessarily a new-new thing as the once proud BlackBerry maker has seen its once sterling shine lose some of its luster in recent years thanks to falling market share, uninspiring devices that seem a step (or three) behind and previous bouts of service outages.

Well, I guess it was bound to happen, though I thought for sure I would never see it in my lifetime. Apple released a product that did not immediately make everything else in the same category obsolete. And maybe even more surprising, it actually seemed to anger people for not being advanced enough.