AT&T has started to throttle the data speed of heavy iPhone data users back to 2G speeds from 3G. Apparently, users will learn they are being throttled after receiving an email telling them they are in the top 5% of users.

Samsung’s attempt to get a ban on the iPhone 4S has been rejected. The French court even made Samsung pay $134,000 in legal fees.

The EXIF data shows that the photo was cropped to 5MP from its original 8MP size. The iPhone 5 is said to have an 8MP camera. The location data suggests that the photo came from Cupertino whilst someone with the phone was having lunch. That iPhone 5 might be close but the iPhone 4 is still selling well.

The iPhone 4 has still been the top selling phone on AT&T and Verizon. On AT&T the iPhone 3GS is still the second most popular smartphone. The devices show no signs of letting up either.

AT&T may not have to pay that rumored $6 billion breakup fee if the merger with T-Mobile fails. Apparently, if T-Mobile loses too much value or if the merger isn’t approved quickly enough AT&T doesn’t have to pay.

T-Mobile is reportedly starting to take pre-orders on the iPhone 5 today. This is despite the fact that we have no idea what the phone will be called, when it will launch, or what the phone will cost. The coupons given don’t specify a name or launch date.

It never ceases to impress me that Apple is able to pull of the sales volume it can with the US device still on two carriers only and only two iPhone models on the market. It makes me wonder what Apple could do if they let all carriers have the device and had more iPhone models.

AT&T will revoke the unlimited data plans of anyone that it catches tethering with an unofficial app. That means even if you were grandfathered in for true unlimited the carrier will take that away from you and move you to the more expensive limited plan.

Police in Paterson, NJ are warning people that are trying to sell used iPhones of thieves that might target them. Apparently, the people are being targeted from ads on Craig’s List and when they show up thinking they are selling the iPhone three armed thieves take their belongings.

A new study from ChangeWave has found that the iPhone on the AT&T network drops 2.5 times more calls than the iPhone on Verizon. I don’t think anyone on AT&T is surprised by that number.

SlashGear looks at the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile and figures it makes sense. T-Mobile is already noting it won’t carry the iPhone.

A guy has used his iPhone 4, iPad, and iMovie to shoot video of a gas main rupture and upload the footage to the web. The footage ended up making it to CNN and MSNBC.

A report from Metrico Wireless has been published that claims the iPhone 4 on the AT&T network downloaded data twice as fast on average as the iPhone 4 on Verizon. The report also claimed that the AT&T device completed 10% more downloads in a moving vehicle than the Verizon offering.

A new app is available for the iPhone called PlugShare that is a community driven charging network for EV drivers. The app allows users to browse for public charging stations and share electricity with others.

You might recall that Microsoft sued Apple claiming that the App Store trademark was too generic. Apple has noted that the term Windows is generic too and Microsoft has fought to keep that trademark vigorously.

A new report has surfaced that claims a million iPhone 4 smartphones were sold on the Verizon network the first weekend. AT&T moved 1.4 million iPhones on the opening weekend on its network so it seems sales on Verizon were strong despite the lack of lines at stores.

iGo has announced that it will be showing off new gear at CES 2011. The gear will include a pocket projector that fits smartphones like the iPhone and a charge cable that is small enough for your key ring called KeyJuice.

AT&T has beefed up its WiFi Hot Zones to provide users in Times Square and San Francisco more free coverage for WiFi. The WiFi data use won’t count against you monthly allotments and is offered free of charge to subscribers.

A new app for the iPhone has surfaced that lets the user design cool posters and invitations right from their phone called Phoster. After the posters are created, they can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, and via email.

AT&T offered up its Q3 financial data recently and the company grew it subscribers well along with a corresponding increase in revenue. The real number we want to know is that AT&T activated 5.2 million new iPhones during the quarter.

A thief stole an iPhone from a woman’s hands in San Francisco. What the thief didn’t know was that the lady was testing real-time tracking software on the device and the police used it to find him 9 minutes later.

LG has announced that it can’t keep up with the demand for screens from Apple for the iPad and iPhone. LG says that it may be Q2 2011 before it can meet the demand.

AT&T posted profits that beat estimates thanks to the iPhone. Earnings were 61 cents per share and the company sold 3.2 million iPhones over the quarter and gained 496k users.

AT&T offered up a comment on dropped call statistical that Steve Jobs noted were not available during the iPhone 4 conferences last week. According to one poll run by website Tech-Ex 4.5% of calls on the iPhone are dropped while the official AT&T comments claim only 1.44% of calls are dropped.

Reuters reports that if AT&T loses iPhone exclusivity early next year it won’t necessarily spell doom for the carrier. Reuters figures most people would not switch and the resulting decline in new users changing from carriers could be offset by less need for new infrastructure to support data demand.

The demand for the official iPhone in China and not been that great, mostly because the official handset lacks WiFi and is more expensive than gray market alternatives. The official iPhone with WiFi has reportedly cleared a hurdle to be offered in China with the device reportedly being granted a network access license in China last week.

Some iPhone 4 users have been reporting significantly decreased upload speed sin some areas. AT&T has announced that a defect in its network is causing the issue and not a change in how it throttles the iPhone.

We had heard that a new firmware was coming that would address the poor signal that some users of the iPhone 4 complain of. Apple has now stated that the reception issues with the iPhone 4 are a hardware problem and won’t be fixed with software. The software will only fix the bar display to show accurately.

AT&T is offering some information for folks who just purchased the iPhone 3GS before the iPhone 4 was announced. IPhone 3GS buyers that purchased between May 7 and June 7 will get a credit of $50 for the 16GB version or $100 for the 32GB version, but you have to go into the store and ask.

Apple is reportedly considering hosting two WWDC conferences per year. One of them would be for iOS and the other for OS X.