AT&T

Washington D.C.-based District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle on Friday called for an additional hearing next Thursday to determine the status of the U.S. Department of Justice's case against the AT&T/T-Mobile USA merger.

The U.S. Department of Justice doesn't want to go to trial until the companies reapply for merger with the Federal Communications Commission.

Speaking at Bloomberg's Captain of Industry series, Stephenson said AT&T's capacity to keep up with wireless demand has been strained and Congress hasn't adequately addressed antiquated policies regarding the wireless industry.

AT&T, the second largest U.S. wireless carrier, is on track to smash record smartphone sales in the fourth quarter as the company revealed on Wednesday that it has already sold six million smartphones in the first two months.

The battle between smartphones with near identical specifications is getting more intense day-by-day. Among those phones with similar features are the HTC Vivid and the LG Nitro HD. However, the Nitro HD outshines the Vivid, with a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor and its True HD AH-IPS display.

U.S. telecom giant AT&T, Inc. (NYSE:T) said it sold about 6 million smartphones in the first two months of the fourth quarter and expects to break the previous single-quarter smartphone sales record of 6.1 million, thanks mainly to Apple iPhone 4S.

AT&T's Web site lists the HTC Vivid at $100 on contract and the LG Nitro HD at $150, and both devices have 4.5-inch screens to go along with AT&T's new LTE network. They both also feature eight megapixel cameras with 1080p video capture and speedy dual-core processors. While the Vivid is only a few weeks old, the Nitro is brand new, and just squeaks past the Vivid on a few key items

The LG Nitro HD smartphone, made available on AT&T's networks on Sunday, is expected to face immense pressure from Samsung's Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, which, along with the HTC Vivid will be the first AT&T 4G LTE-capable smartphones.

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is steadily making progress on its ambition to enter consumers' living rooms, via its own television sets called iTV, which are expected to be launched in the first half of 2012.

HTC Corp has no plans for now to change its fourth-quarter sales guidance, as shares in the world's No.4 smartphone maker tumbled nearly 7 percent on Wednesday on worries that a 30 percent drop in monthly sales may point to worse times ahead.

AT&T and Sprint Nextel Corp. agreed in separate court filings Tuesday that Sprint's legal case against the $39 billion AT&T/T-Mobile USA merger should begin after the trial with the U.S. Department of Justice is complete, Bloomberg reported.

Verizon Wireless was the best-ranked provider in overall satisfaction out of the four major U.S. cell carriers. AT&T was at the bottom of the list for the second year in a row.

Holiday shoppers may have taken a breather after busy Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. However, the traffic in big box retailers, smaller format stores and carrier stores was strong.

LG Nitro HD smartphone, made available on AT&T Sunday, is expected to feel lots of burden from Samsung Galaxy S2, which is considered to be the best Android smartphone yet.

AT&T is adding another device to its growing LTE network lineup, but the LG Nitro HD will have to hit the turbo chargers to take down the Ice Cream Sandwich powered Galaxy Nexus. While the world waits for Verizon to release the Galaxy Nexus, Dec. 4 will see the launch of the LG Nitro HD, a 4.5-inch screen speed demon.

AT&T said Monday that Nitro HD smartphone from LG would be made available through its stores and online from Dec. 4 for $249.99 with two-year contract. LG Nitro HD is expected fell immense pressure from Apple iPhone 4S.

AT&T exec Jim Cicconi said the Federal Communications Commission's report on the $39 billion T-Mobile merger proposal is obviously one-sided and cherry picks facts.

AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA's parent company Deutsche Telekom AG are still battling to save their $39 billion merger and are not in talks about a network-sharing alternative, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA's parent Deutsche Telekom have discussed options including forming a joint venture to pool the wireless operators' network assets if AT&T's proposed $39 billion plan to buy T-Mobile USA fails, the Wall Street Journal reported.

AT&T and the parent company of T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Telekom, are considering a joint venture that would pool network assets from the two wireless carriers in case the $39 billion merger doesn't go through, sources close to the situation tell the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile USA, have held preliminary discussions about forming a joint venture should the merger bid be dashed in court. Multiple sources were cited as confirming the report.