It’s taken almost eight months, but AT&T has at last finalized its deal to purchase $1.9 billion worth of spectrum from Verizon. The agreement, first announced back in January, allows Verizon to unload a good chunk of its 700MHz spectrum, which AT&T will in turn use to improve its LTE service for 42 million customers across 18 different states. And that’s all she wrote, folks. If you’re curious to see whether your state is covered, all 18 of them are listed in the press release below. Be warned, though: you’ll also need to watch AT&T do a victory lap over how fast its network is. Filed under: Wireless , Mobile , Verizon , AT&T Comments

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AT&T finalizes $1.9 billion spectrum purchase from Verizon, deal will improve LTE service in 18 states

Apple’s brand-new iPhone 5s isn’t dramatically different from last year’s model , but it has at least one major addition: a “Touch ID” sensor. Us human beings are calling it a fingerprint sensor, and it’s built into the phone’s main Home button below the screen. Apple’s Phil Schiller says, “It reads your fingerprint at an entirely new level” — it’s 170 microns in thickness with 500 ppi resolution. According to Cupertino, it “scans sub-epidermal skin layers, ” and can read 360 degrees. As expected, the sensor is actually part of the Home button, making it less of a button and more of a…well, sensor. Using Touch ID, users can authorize purchases in iTunes, the App Store, or in iBooks by simply using their thumbprint (starting in iOS 7, of course). Pretty neat / scary! As rumored , the sensor uses a laser cut sapphire crystal cover; it retains a tactile input for those wary of the sensor wearing down after lengthy use. The sapphire crystal, acting as a lens, takes a highly detailed image of your fingerprint, which Apple says is “never stored on Apple servers or backed up to iCloud.” According to Apple’s official PR on the new phone, Touch ID’s fingerprint info is “encrypted and stored securely in the Secure Enclave inside the A7 chip” (the A7 chip is the new processor at the heart of the 5s ). Apple hasn’t made clear whether Touch ID allows for multiple users on a single iPhone or not, nor has the company said whether you could turn off fingerprint authentication (though we have to presume the answer is yes given previous authentication standards on the iPhone). The fingerprint ID technology was long rumored as heading to 2013’s iPhone following Apple’s acquisition of Authentec last summer . A render of the iPhone 5s outed the new functionality’s name just this week. We’ll have more on Touch ID in our upcoming hands-on live from Cupertino, and you can find all our Apple event coverage from today right here . ” Follow our liveblog for all of the iPhone news as it happens.” %Gallery-slideshow83645% Filed under: Cellphones , Handhelds , Software , Mobile , Apple Comments

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iPhone 5s fingerprint sensor called Touch ID, recognizes your thumb on the Home button: here’s how it works and what it does

The hits keep coming from IDF. After showing off svelte new 14nm silicon built for laptops , CEO Brian Krzanich announced a brand new SoC series named Quark. It’s the smallest SoC the company has ever built, one-fifth the size of an Atom chip, and is built upon an open architecture meant so spur its use. Early on in his keynote, Krzanich said that Intel plans to “lead in every segment of computing, ” and Quark is positioned to put Intel in wearables — and, in fact, he even showed off a prototype smartwatch platform Intel constructed to help drive wearable development. And, Intel President Renee James pointed out that Quark’s designed for use in integrated systems, so we’ll be seeing Quark in healthcare and municipal use cases, too. Unfortunately, no details about the new SoC’s capabilities or specs are yet available, but we can give you some shots of Intel’s wearable wristband prototype in our gallery below.%Gallery-slideshow83631% Filed under: Intel Comments

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Intel announces Quark system on a chip, the company’s smallest to date

We heard rumblings a few weeks ago that Apple’s streaming service was due to launch this month and now it seems those reports were true. The folks in Cupertino just announced that iTunes Radio will launch on September 18th in tandem with a redesigned iOS 7 . The ability to create custom stations based on individual music tastes and personal iTunes libraries will hit Apple devices in a week’s time. Of course, you’ll need a $25 per year iTunes Match subscription to keep listening sessions ad-free , otherwise you’ll be prone to regular interruptions of that Yacht Rock station every few minutes. Follow our liveblog for all of the iPhone news as it happens. Filed under: Internet , Software , Apple Comments

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iTunes Radio launches September 18th alongside the release of iOS 7

Ladies and gentleman, the moment you’ve all been waiting for . As expected, this afternoon’s day-brightening news (or part of it , at least) arrived in Cupertino in the form of a brand-new handset. CEO Tim Cook took to the stage at Apple HQ to introduce the world to the iPhone 5S, the second of two handsets announced today. The new phone follows the number / letter naming scheme set in place way back in twenty ‘o nine with the introduction of the 3GS and carried on with 2011’s 4S . As with those handsets, the new device’s name implies that this round is something of an iterative update to last year’s iPhone 5 . According to Phil Schiller, the handset is ” the most forward-thinking phone we’ve ever created.” As expected, it’s set to arrive in three colors: black, silver and gold. The 5S is crafted in high-grade aluminum with chamfered edges. What the the “S” stand for? Well, inside, you’ll find a 64-bit A7 processor that features twice the number of transistors as its predecessor, clocking in at more than one billion, according to Schiller — the CPU and GPU, meanwhile, promise speeds twice as fast. There’s OpenGL ES 3.0 on-board, but the next-gen handset still promises, thankfully, to remain compatible with the 32-bit apps of yesteryear. Developing… %Gallery-slideshow83641% ” Follow our liveblog for all of the iPhone news as it happens.” Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile , Apple Comments

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Apple introduces the iPhone 5S

Apple has just laid claim to a world first: 64-bit processing inside a smartphone. The new A7 processor will power the iPhone 5S with a “desktop-class architecture” consisting of over 1 billion transistors. Developing… Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile , Apple Comments

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Apple unveils A7 chip, brings 64-bit processing to the iPhone 5S

With no shortage of rumors about a next-gen Surface and Surface Pro — not to mention significant price cuts for both those devices — it’s no surprise that Microsoft is about to launch some new hardware. Redmond just sent out invitations to a press event scheduled for September 23rd, and it’s pretty clear from the image that the company has a new tablet (or two) to share. Will we see a smaller-screened Surface this time around, and can we expect a slew of new accessories ? Stay tuned — we’ll be bringing you all the news live from NYC. Filed under: Tablets , Microsoft Comments

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Microsoft plans Surface launch event on September 23rd in NYC

Instagram revealed its user base for the first time back in January , and after topping 100 million users February 26th a blog post today says its community has grown to “more than 150 million people capturing and sharing moments every month”. That means it’s added 50 million users in the last six months, growth that’s survived and thrived through the company’s acquisition by Facebook, ToS outrage and the introduction of video . There’s value in that many eyeballs however, and COO Emily White tells the Wall Street Journal it will begin selling ads in the next year — time to find out if it can balance popularity and profitability. Filed under: Internet , Software , Mobile , Facebook Comments Source: Instagram (Tumblr)

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Instagram adds 50 million users in six months, will start selling ads next year

Other than a smallish 1/2.3-inch sensor, Sony’s new PXW-Z100 4K camcorder should push all the right buttons for pro shooters. Though it shares a sensor (and body) with the newly launched FDR-AX1 prosumer model, everything is upmarket from there. It’ll record 4:2:2 10-bit (billions of colors) 4K video at up to 500/600Mbps at 50p/60p using its new XAVC format and high-speed XQD memory cards . By contrast, the FDR-AX1 uses XAVC-S, capturing 60fps 4K at 150Mbps in 4:2:0 8-bit color. HD is also recorded at 10-bit at a healthy 233Mbps for 50 or 60 fps video, compared to 50Mbps for its prosumer cousin. You’ll be able to output 4K video at up to 60fps via HDMI to a compatible BRAVIA monitor, and a remote control WiFi adaptor is included. All that’s missing is the shallow depth of field you’d get with a larger sensor — but a lot of shooters are so over that. Filed under: Cameras , HD , Sony Comments Via: NoFilmSchool Source: Sony

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Sony offers pro 4K camcorder for $6,500: the PXW-Z100 with 10-bit, 600Mbps video

PayPal’s status as the mobile payment method of choice for the masses is beset upon all sides by many would-be usurpers . What’s the company doing to stay on top? Beefing up the feature set of its apps for iOS and Android in a big way today — adding a full-on mobile wallet, automatically-applied deals and discounts and some new ways to order stuff and pay for it. The wallet feature lets people pay with a PayPal account, a credit or debit card, bank account or a line of Bill Me Later credit that can be applied for within the app. Like Google Wallet, the new PayPal app incorporates deals and discounts that are then automatically applied when you pay. Speaking of which, you can still send money the old-fashioned PayPal way, but the new app also integrates ordering, couponing and paying within PayPal’s merchant network . We got to see the new app in action, so join us after the break for more.%Gallery-slideshow79631% Filed under: Software , Mobile Comments

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PayPal app becomes a deal offering mobile wallet payment platform