You can Skype on your wireless data plan, you can listen to music on your wireless plan, video – yes, that as well.  From here on wireless will start looking like broadband: services running on top of Internet access.

AT&T messes with plans in wake of Verizon’s moves, slashes unlimited voice pricing — Engadget.

Regarding the iPhone win, Mr. Kumar commented “It’s looking like Qualcomm is beginning to be the one to beat [as the next iPhone chip supplier],” referring to the fact that Google has confirmed that Qualcomm was also chosen for its Nexus One smartphone.

If you’re tuning in late, this should come as no surprise and you should be overjoyed over this development.  Qualcomm’s chip delivers wireless technology independence: yes, any carrier.  This isn’t about Qualcomm so much as it’s about the two most powerful forward players all but eliminating the importance of carrier choice.

It’s a HUGE win for consumers and manufacturers, and every other phone maker will have Apple and Google to thank two years from now.  Frankly, Nokia should end their lawsuit with Apple and Motorola should give them a big hug for saving this massive part of their business.

In the mean time, these two will likely milk the single early carrier model, meaning they’ll grab extra cash from the highest bidding carrier in every market in exchange for short term exclusivity.

Mobile carrier power over technology is dead.

via Apple Tablet Goes With PA Semi Chip, Verizon iPhone With Qualcomm | iPhone | The Mac Observer.

This comes from an article refuting claims regarding Apple iPhone performance we highlighted here a couple days ago:

A source—who requested we not reveal his identity—told Ars that the problem isn’t the cell radio hardware, nor the network infrustructure, but an issue with the way that the iPhone OS conserves power. All iPhone apps, including Phone.app, cause the radio to switch from “active” to “idle” mode when accessing the network far more often than traditional phones do. This causes the signaling channel, responsible for such functions as SMS messaging, initiating, maintaining, or ending a phone call, voicemail notifications, and DHCP requests, to become overloaded.

“This can lead to odd effects,” the source told Ars. “For example, you could be in an area with perfect 5-bar reception, but because the signalling channel is overloaded your phone won’t ring and calls go into voicemail.” Our source also said that the iPhone was the first phone to cause this particular problem, but that Android and webOS phones have had a similar effect.

via Claim that crappy iPhone service is Apple’s fault is bunkum (Updated).

From PCMag: “The barbaric yawp of desire from Twitter for the “Google Phone” really comes down to another hot, trending Twitter topic last week – something called #attfail. The idea that gets everyone hot under the collar is that Google may sell a phone directly, magically compatible with all U.S. carriers, but somehow without the restrictions and bindings that U.S. carriers place on devices.

What this desire really comes from, of course, is Americans’ desperate wish (and it is all about Americans; the rest of the world doesn’t have this problem) to see the iPhone on a carrier other than AT&T.”

Well said.  We tried to overlook it when iPhone was launched, but even those of us that did are still dissatisfied with the carrier+subsidy model.  Here’s the rest of the article.

If this is true, it says a lot: (1.) AT&T thinks it’s more important to be blamed for network problems so they can keep their Apple relationship, (2.) keeping that relationship means so much to AT&T’s bottom line that they don’t think even the badmouthing about their service is enough to destroy it if Apple adds another carrier later, and (3.) now we know why Apple’s holding the Google Voice app and others like it behind and taking the hit from the FCC instead of telling the Commission they’ve got a gentlemen’s agreement to stifle competitive incursions like GVoice.  Interesting.