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Isis Mobile Wallet Will Be Accepted at Hundreds of Merchant Locations Across Austin and Salt Lake City

Iconic Local Merchants Join National Brands Aéropostale, The Coca-Cola Company, Champs Sports, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice, Macy’s in Advancing Mobile Commerce

AUSTIN, TEXAS and SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – May 15, 2012 – Isis™, the mobile commerce joint venture created by ATT Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, today announced the first of its local merchant partners across Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition, Aéropostale, The Coca-Cola Company, Champs Sports, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice and Macy’s are among the first national merchants to join with Isis in advancing mobile commerce.

Isis’ national and local merchant partners join a long list of major merchants who already accept contactless payments. These merchants, including grocery stores, retailers, gas stations, coffee shops and restaurants, are already equipped with the payment terminals that are compatible with Isis. At launch, hundreds of merchant locations in both Austin and Salt Lake City will accept contactless payments, ensuring that consumers can use the Isis Mobile Wallet at the merchant locations they shop at every day.

“Today’s announcement signals the mobile commerce experience has arrived. A strong merchant base in Austin and Salt Lake City will make the Isis Mobile Wallet real for consumers as they choose to use their mobile wallet at many of their favorite merchant locations to pay and redeem offers,” said Jim Stapleton, chief sales officer, Isis. “We look forward to working closely with both local and national merchants to enable a mobile commerce experience that transforms how consumers shop and interact with their favorite brands.”

Beyond payments, Isis will provide merchants with a platform to extend relevant offers and loyalty programs to their customer base, ensuring a more relevant and meaningful dialogue for consumers and merchants. The Isis Mobile Wallet will extend the relationship that merchants currently enjoy at the point-of-sale to the mobile device.

Isis merchant partners across the U.S., Austin and Salt Lake City include:

National*: Aéropostale, The Coca-Cola Company, Champs Sports, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice and Macy’s.

Austin: 34th Street Café, ABC Home Commercial Services, Austin Diamond District, Ben White Florist, Book People, Brodie Park Market, Chez Remy La Sandwicherie, Dogadillo, DoubleDave’s Pizzaworks, Downtown Burgers, Elbe Body, Iron Works, milk + honey spa, Rosemary’s Catering, Round Rock Express, Texenza Coffee, Touch of Sass, Twin Liquors and University Co-Op.

Salt Lake City: Barbacoa Mexican Grill, Bohme, Cactus and Tropicals, Caputo’s, Deseret Book, Eborn Books, Great Harvest Bread Company, JMR, Lola Bella, Maverik, McKay Diamonds, Mini’s Cupcakes, Oakridge Country Club – private club for members, PGi Services, Salt Lake Running Company, Sugar House Coffee, Supersonic Car Wash, Utah Transit Authority, Utah Woolen Mills, Weller Book Works, Zagg and The Larry H. Miller Group, including All-Star Catering, Energy Solutions Arena, Fanzz, Larry H. Miller Megaplex, Larry H. Miller Automotive, Miller Motorsports Park, Salt Lake Bees, Spring Mobile Ballpark and Utah Jazz.

This summer, consumers in Austin and Salt Lake City will be able to walk into their ATT Mobility, T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless stores, choose from a selection of NFC-enabled devices and walk out of the store with the Isis Mobile Wallet enabled and ready to use. The carrier retail locations will join the local and national merchants supporting the Isis Mobile Wallet.

“By systematically building out merchant acceptance in an approach that is both geographically focused and centered around everyday spending, Isis intends to create a comprehensive mobile commerce experience for consumers that will simultaneously benefit merchants of all sizes,” says Rick Oglesby, senior analyst with Aite Group. “Today’s announcement demonstrates Isis is on track to deliver that goal.”

The support of leading national merchants – Aéropostale, The Coca-Cola Company, Champs Sports, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice and Macy’s – builds on Isis’ growing list of national partners including banks, payment networks, handset manufacturers and payment terminal manufacturers.

*At participating locations.

About Isis

The joint venture is between ATT Mobility LLC, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless and is based in New York City. The venture is chartered with building Isis™, a national mobile commerce venture that will fundamentally transform how people shop, pay and save. The Isis™ mobile commerce network will be available to all merchants, banks, payment networks and mobile carriers. ISIS is a trademark of JVL Ventures, LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos, product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

www.paywithisis.com

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this press release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “plan,” “should” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, those set forth in the discussions of factors that may affect future results contained in Securities and Exchange Commission filings of ATT, Deutsche Telekom AG (T-Mobile USA is the U.S. wireless arm of Deutsche Telekom AG), and Verizon Communications (of which Verizon Wireless is a subsidiary). ATT, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon disclaim any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/tBTC1D7aPns/

How much Olympics is too much Olympics? The BBC aims to find out at this year’s London 2012 games, by offering up “the most comprehensive coverage ever,” a list that includes 2,500 hours of coverage via the broadcaster’s site and up to 24 live HD streams. Live coverage will be offered up for every sport and each sport, athlete, venue and country will have its own page on the site. The BBC will also be providing a free mobile app, a mobile browser site and apps for connected TVs — 3D and Super Hi-Vision coverage is a bonus. Check out an explanatory video about the new video player after the break, as well as some scheduling information in the source link below. And maybe think about a training regiment to get ready to watch this summer’s games.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/PFB6ZOx2Ijo/

TOKYO, JAPAN, May 16, 2012 — NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today its 2012 summer lineup of 19 models for launch in or after June, including 16 smartphones, a tablet and a mobile phone for children as well as a mobile Wi-Fi® router, many of which will be compatible with DOCOMO’s Xi™ (read “Crossy”) LTE mobile service.

DOCOMO’s new smartphone and tablet lineup, which covers an exceptionally broad range of specifications, is designed to satisfy diverse needs at a time when smart devices are becoming an increasingly essential and ubiquitous part of daily life.

For the first time, for example, the Raku-Raku PHONE series of simplified models offers a touch-screen smartphone that mimics the sensation of pressing actual keys. Users less experienced in touch screen operations are expected to welcome the familiar feel of this newest model in DOCOMO’s series of easy-to-see, easy-to-hear and easy-to-use mobile devices. Also for the first time, users of this phone may subscribe to the “Raku-Raku Pake-hodai” flat-rate packet service.

DOCOMO also has launched a number of initiatives for enhanced security and customer support to ensure that all smartphone and tablet models in the summer 2012 lineup can be used with peace of mind.

Key features of DOCOMO’s new lineup of smartphones and tablet are as follow:

All models run on Android™ 4.0.

All eight “NEXT” series smartphones, three “with” series smartphones and the lineup’s slim, stylish W-Fi router are compatible with DOCOMO’s Xi LTE service for extra-fast access and navigation.

Most of the devices are compatible with the updated docomo Anshin Scan™ service, which features a new alarm system warning users about fraudulent sites for extra-safe browsing, in addition to its existing virus scan feature

All models are expected to be compatible with Smartphone Anshin Remote Support™, a call center that can send easy-to-follow prompts to the user’s screen to show them how to set up and operate their devices.

Most models can access Sumaho Onayami Support Menu, a portal of handy, flowchart-style resources for smartphone troubleshooting, fun tips about device usage, terminology and introductions to useful content.

Potent processing power, including one model with a quad-core CPU and 12 models with dual-core CPUs for enjoying rich applications and high-resolution videos and games on the high-speed Xi network.

Smartphone sizes to suit all needs, from smaller models that fit snugly in one’s palm to large 5-inch screens for easy viewing of e-books and similar content.
Four smartphones and the tablet are compatible with NOTTV™, a V-high multimedia broadcasting service.

Two collaboration smartphones, one featuring the fashion brand ANTEPRIMA and the other the manga comic series JOJO, with exclusive content preinstalled.

Many models offer highly in-demand features such as water resistance, NFC, infrared communications and One-Seg terrestrial digital broadcasting.

Six models are expected to feature the preinstalled “Twonky Beam” app, which allows users to enjoy recorded digital terrestrial contents and others on their smartphones, as well as wirelessly transmitting browsed content such as videos, images or music to large-screen televisions or audio systems.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/MaLSTekTmCw/

The UK might be champing at the bit for 4G auctions to finish and give the country a taste of sweet, sweet LTE, but O2 UK is at least offering a panacea with a launch of dual-carrier HSPA+ 3G, or DC-HSPA+ in less wordy form. The British carrier has started deploying a full 42Mbps to “major” cities on the isle, most likely including London as one of them. Vodafone would argue that going dual-carrier is old hat, having started a year earlier, but it’s also peaking at 28.8Mbps — and frequent data advocate Three doesn’t start its own proper 42Mbps deployment until the summer. As such, if you’re a Brit looking for the speediest path to the Internet for a new iPad or one of the few other devices that supports DC-HSPA+ at full bore, O2 looks to be your best bet for now.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/6Gbjz6QLJIU/

That new Baidu Cloud phone we told you about last week? You’re looking right at it! Following the flagship Dell Streak Pro D43 (which was branded with what was then known as Baidu Yi aka version 1.0 of the platform), this Foxconn-built Changhong H5018 is the second smartphone to have its Android Gingerbread system enhanced by Baidu, meaning it’ll come with 300GB of cloud storage space (instead of the old 100GB), voice search, voice control and a set of other online services offered by the Chinese search giant.

As for the hardware itself, we’re looking at a 10.3mm-thick matte chassis housing a 650MHz MTK6573 processor, a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 display, a three-megapixel camera and a non-removable 1,400mAh battery, all of which would explain that highly affordable CN¥899 (US$140) off-contract price tag. That said, you’ll still find a dual-SIM (WCDMA plus GSM) tray and a microSD slot hidden beneath the bottom cover. Not sure where ZTE is on this one, but for now, you can head over to Sina Tech for its hands-on report and photos.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/dUt4hThjyn4/

We get the impression that Facebook is on a big mobile photo sharing kick: just weeks after it bought Instagram for a cool billion, the social network has just hired the staff behind Lightbox. The two-man team of Nilesh Patel and Thai Tran is bringing its mostly Android- and HTML5-focused knowledge over to Facebook, where it’s hoping to reach many, many more people. You’ll have to wait awhile to see what the Lightbox team brings to Facebook’s ever more mobile platform, but you’ll also want to hurry if you want to keep anything hosted on Lightbox: the service shuts down on June 15th. As a consolation for the shutdown, the startup’s code is being posted to GitHub so that the fruits of its efforts live on in open-sourced form.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/J33OEAi16NA/

By now, the crew in Waterloo have likely piqued your interest in what’s to come for the world of BlackBerry. So far, we’ve gotten to see the company’s developer handset, along with a few screenshots of the BlackBerry 10 software. One element that’s remained elusive up until this point, however, was the home screen itself. All of that changed today, as Research in Motion is now providing a sneak peek of it and the full launcher. While you might mistake the home screen as being populated with widgets, in fact, these are open applications that will dynamically change based on your activities. Much of the interface will be gesture-driven, and as such, a quick swipe to the right will bring the full launcher to the forefront — just hop the break for a glimpse. Similarly, a swipe to the left will reveal the unified inbox. The result is nothing revolutionary, but the BlackBerry 10 designers certainly deserve credit for the clean and functional interface — it’s but one more reason to be excited for what’s next.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/fprFguIfnkc/

The effort to prevent Verizon Wireless from its purchase of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox just became a bit more intense, as several opponents to the deal have now banded together to form the Alliance for Broadband Competition. The coalition includes T-Mobile and Sprint, along with advocacy groups such as Public Knowledge, the American Antitrust Institute, the Rural Cellular Association and the Rural Telecommunications Group. Today, the newly formed alliance held a press conference in which it called on the FCC and Department of Justice to block the transfer, which it said would lead to an “excessive concentration of spectrum” held by Verizon Wireless. While it’s not much of an olive branch, the group similarly suggested that it would support the deal if Verizon were to divest some of its spectrum holdings, establish roaming agreements and agree to a backhaul pricing structure. As you may recall, Verizon Wireless estimates that it’ll exhaust its network capacity by 2014. Regardless of how this $3.9 billion proposal shakes out, it’s rather clear that something’s gotta give.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/aIXJndPCS1s/

While there’s already plenty of excitement around other quad-core Android phones, LG will join the party soon when its Optimus 4X HD launches in a few European countries next month. Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and Poland are all on deck in June, where this latest Optimus variant will bring a 4.7-inch 720p HD IPS LCD, Tegra 3 CPU (benchmarked and seen in white here) and 2,150mAh battery coupled with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. On the software front, LG is touting its ability to take and share quick notes as well as “Media Flex” video playback. We got our hands all over this one during MWC 2012 a few months ago so until it drops in your neck of the woods, check out our gallery and video for a closer look.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/sKoMBktjYYI/

Of the trio of Huawei’s Diamond-class smartphones announced at Mobile World Congress in February, the dual-core Ascend D1 got the least amount of buzz. Today, however, the handset gets its opportunity to bask in the spotlight, since it’s the first of the group to obtain the FCC’s nod of approval. No huge revelations were given, but the docs confirm quadband GSM and pentaband HSPA+ / WCDMA, a welcome treat for AWS fans. As always, we can’t assume any carrier affiliation here, but at least we know the unlocked versions will work on ATT and T-Mobile without a hitch. It looks like Huawei’s still on track for a Q2 release — let’s hope the same is true for the D1′s older siblings.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/GcGmZvjP7QA/

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple plans to announce an update to its iCloud service at the WWDC in June. The revamp will include new photo-sharing features that will also allow users to comment on images — bringing a little social flavor to the data syncing service. The personal media syncing is also going to expand to support videos, allowing you to quickly upload clips from your phone and have them appear on your computer. If that weren’t enough, the same sources also claim that Apple is building out a syncing service for Notes and Reminders, which will debut alongside iOS 6, as previous leaks have indicated. Obviously none of this is concrete, but it certainly sounds as if Apple is planning to put some serious effort into making iCloud succeed where MobileMe failed. Such a dramatic upgrade might also help explain the trickle of tips we’ve been receiving this morning that iCloud’s email service is down.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/e9Q9BRWE6EQ/

No doubt, T-Mobile is in the middle of a rebuilding stage as a result of the ATT merger attempt. Should it be much of a surprise, then, that the carrier would be looking at cranking out a smartphone lineup full of tempting options? Not at all. It turns out that Samsung is making some contributions to the cause, as a UAProf file for the unannounced T699 has been discovered. Just like most user agent profiles, there’s little to discern here aside from the obvious inclusion of a 720p HD display — but at least this lets us know that the handset exists, and that we have something new to look forward to on T-Mobile. Check out the source if you want to do some deciphering of your own.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/WlLhUsgVCTk/