By becoming an exclusive partner with Apple Inc. for the iPhone, AT&T has seen tremendous financial benefits.  However Apple is currently discussing the possibilities of bringing the iPhone on Verizon Wireless sometime in 2011.  In the meantime, AT&T has decided to ramp up the LTE deployment.

LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and is also known as the 4G network.  Yesterday AT&T sent out a press release mentioning that they are building faster 3G networks as well.  AT&T stated that they will be boosting 3G speeds to HSPA 7.2 and will have more network upgrades by the end of 2011.

Starting in 2010, AT&T will be testing LTE networks and will begin deploying in the 2011.  This will give download speeds of about 7.2Mbps.  AT&T plans to launch laptop cards that are HSPA 7.2-compatible later this year.

The dollar amount that AT&T plans to spend on expanding their network speeds will be between $17 and $18 billion in 2009 alone.

[via GigaOM]

Microsoft Corporation has hit a major landmark in their console division.  Over 30 million XBox 360 consoles have been sold across the globe.  Sales are up from 28% from the last year which is the highest percentage growth out of any other consoles on the market.

The XBox Live community is about 20 million members too.  These 20 million members are playing games with each other from 26 different countries.  Between downloads on XBox LIVE and the purchasing of the console, Microsoft has made about $14.5 billion on the 360.  Almost 1 billion downloads have been made on XBox LIVE.

While these numbers are outstanding, the Nintendo Wii has continued to remain the dominant console on the market with well over 50 million units sold to date.  The price of the 360 has been dropped, but Nintendo continues to keep the Wii price at $250.

[via CrunchGear]

Last night the Board of Directors at Time Warner agreed to spin off AOL as its own entity once again.  AOL will become an independent and public company.

“We believe that a separation will be the best outcome for both Time Warner and AOL. The separation will be another critical step in the reshaping of Time Warner that we started at the beginning of last year, enabling us to focus to an even greater degree on our core content businesses. The separation will also provide both companies with greater operational and strategic flexibility. We believe AOL will then have a better opportunity to achieve its full potential as a leading independent Internet company,” stated Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes

AOL currently reaches about 107 million unique visitors per month on all of their services.  AOL will continue to operate as an ISP too.

As of right now, Time Warner owns 95% of AOL and Google owns 5%.  After the spin off is complete, Time Warner will buy back the 5% from Google in the third quarter of 2009.  Time Warner shareholders will end up owning 100% of outstanding interests in AOL.  The transaction will be tax-free to Time Warner shareholders and is contingent upon review of the SEC.

In January 2000, AOL acquired Time Warner for $164 billion.  After the merger was complete, AOL began to see their ISP division profits plummet, causing them to report a loss of $99 billion in 2002.  Steve Case was removed as Chairman and was replaced by Richard Parsons.  “AOL” was dropped from the company name “AOL Time Warner.”

The press release of the spin off is available after the jump:

Capcom is the gaming company behind the Resident Evil and Street Fighter franchise.  Given the success that they have had with the Apple App Store, the company announced that they are planning to launch 10 games for the iPhone and iPod Touch this year.  Capcom has released Resident Evil: Degeneration, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Smarter than a 5th Grader?, and Mega Man 2.

Capcom will be one of several major studio gaming companies to produce iPhone games.  Electronic Arts and Sega are also heavily involved with iPhone game development.  Sega recently launched the Sonic the Hedgehog video game for the device.

[via InformationWeek]

American Automobile Association (AAA) is known for roadside assistance and discounts.  The application is able to pinpoint your current location and list businesses near you that accept discounts out of about 100,000 listings.  The application makes it easy to switch back-and-forth between maps and discount listings.

Every time that there is a business that accepts AAA discounts, there is a flag raised on the map.  Clicking on the flag shows the type of discount they have to offer.  For example, Busch’s Fresh Food Market it is listed that AAA offers a 24% discount on prescription drugs at 9 out of 10 pharmacies nationwide. AAA has about 51 million members.

Many of the discounts apply to hotels, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc.  If you’re a AAA member and have an iPhone, I highly recommend downloading this free application [iTunes link].

[via AP]

The police in Brazil has prevented criminals from getting access to mobile phones by taking down RC helicopters delivering them.

Four people were arrested in connection with the RC helicopter flying around the high-security prison.  There was a car located near the prison.  In the same state in Brazil, criminals even used pigeons to have mobile phones delivered.

The car that had the helicopter remote control was found as part of a routine check.  As part of the check, the RC was discovered along with 9 mobile phones in a napkin.  There was another 5 phones found in the car.

The youngest one involved in the RC helicopter crime was 17 and was paid $5,000.  If the helicopter landed in the jail, that boy would be paid an additional $5,000.

[via BBC]

Logic Wireless is working on a new phone called the Logic Bolt V 1.5.  This phone is dubbed to be one of the first phones that has a built-in projector.

Other specifications of the Logic Bolt V 1.5 include:
- Network: QUAD Band GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1899
- Size: 118×16.5x54mm
- Talktime: 2-3 hours
- Stand-by time: 200-250 hours
- Play Time In Projector mode: 2 hours
- Battery: 1200 mAH
- 2.6″ QVGA Screen
- 640×480 VGA Display resolution with 34″-64″ 1 -2m with focus
- TV and FM radio support
- External video interface: CVBS, VGA interface through PC support
- Dual-camera: 3 megapixel back side and 1 megapixel front side
- MP3, MP4, 3GP/AVI, XBox, Wii, Laptop connection support

[via BookOfJoe]

The Business Insider is a blog that recently relaunched under one brand.  The Business Insider was founded by Henry Blodget and this is the third round of funding.  Although Blodget never announced himself how much was raised, it is rumored to be around $5 million.

The participants in this round of funding is believed to be Allen & Co., Marc Andreessen, Jim Friedlich, and Matt Luckett.  Previous investors may have also participated.  The last round of funding was around July 2008.

It is not known what The Business Insider plans to do with this round of funding, but it is expected that they will be revamping their entertainment section.

[via paidContent]