The small wireless carriers are prohibited from getting the better devices because the mobile providers lock the manufacturer into contracts that prevent them from selling to everyone.  Verizon and AT&T said that they would open their services so that customers would be able to bring the device they wanted to their network or move to another.  However, we are still locked into contracts and carriers because of incompatible hardware and exclusivity contracts.

Despite the promises, we currently don’t see a change on the horizon.

In the other article the small or rural carriers ask the FCC to intervene and disrupt the exclusivity contracts.  These issues affect all those that want to take their iPhone to Verizon or another carrier.  This has a larger implementation that just the little guys that want to bring the latest bling to their networks.

The next change in hardware and services should, I hope, see the creation of a 700MHz chipset that will allow the owner of the hardware to migrate to the best provider for the area they live in.  I believe, eventually, that the carriers will become like the internet providers today and who you have won’t matter as much as the quality of service and the device you have.

Who wouldn’t like to have the iPhone in Alaska or Vermont?

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Jason Calacanis, Brian Brushwood, Robert Heron, and Jason Howell

The Google phone spotted in the wild, Facebook’s privacy blunder, and a visit with Leo’s mom…

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 171: Man Of The Year

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Scott Bourne, Alex Lindsay, Peter Krogh, and Andy Ihnatko

This week on MacBreak Weekly – Steve Jobs for man of the year? is the problem with AT&T the iPhone, and more tablet rumors…

Show Notes

Security Now 227: Cyberwarfare

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte

Steve covers what may be the future of conflict, Cyberwarfare.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly 135: Sleeping With Scissors

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Microsoft vs. EU, Intel vs. USA, Dell, Bing iPhone app, Google Nexus One, and more.

Show Notes

This Week In Google 21: Love Your Scroll Bar

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani, Jeff Jarvis, and Kevin Marks

Android Listen, Huffduffer, a real Google phone, Schmidt and privacy, Yelp, and more.

Show Notes

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Wil Harris, and Frank Barnako

Comcast-NBC, podcasting money, Windows 7, Newegg IPO, 2 billion iPhone apps, and more.

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 161: A Flash In The Pan

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, Alex Lindsay, and Veronica Belmont

Flash-free iPhones, lighter thinner Macs, Psystar lives, Placebase maps, and more.

Show Notes

Security Now 217: The Broken Browser Model

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Alex Lindsay

How SSLs can be spoofed in man-in-the-middle attacks.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly – N/A

This Week In Google 11: Where’s Leo?

Hosts: Jeff Jarvis, Gina Trapani, Matt Cutts and Elizabeth Lawley

Android, Cyanogen, AdSense now bigger, the Tweecosystem, catching the Wave, and more.

Show Notes

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jason Calacanis, Ryan Block, and Loren Feldman

TechCrunch50, Dr. Horrible’s Emmy, gadget theft, iPod Nano, Facebook, Skype, and more.

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 158: They Don’t Have That in the US

Hosts: Leo Laporte,Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, and Wil Harris

Zune HD, iPod Nano camera, cameraless Touch, Apple TV price drop, dream acquisitions, and more.

Show Notes

Security Now 214: Listener Feedback 75

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte

Steve addresses feedback on GSM security, cookies, router admin passwords, proxy servers, and more.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly 123: There Might Be Shrimp

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Zune HD, student pricing for Windows 7, Microsoft Office web application, Bing visual search, and more.

Show Notes

This Week In Google 8: Freckly States

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani, Jeff Jarvis, and Clint Boulton

Google book settlement, Brightcove rumor, Android Click/Hero, Mint, Skype, and more.

Show Notes

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Om Malik, and Kirk Harnack

The Apple-Google-ATT conspiracy, the US CIO babbles, and TWiT goes digital…

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 155: When You’re Ready to Compromise, Call Me

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Andy Ihnatko, and Merlin Mann

Snow Leopard, new “Get a Mac” ads, MacBook refresh, Apple Tablet news, App approval process, and more.

Show Notes

Security Now 211: Hacking Electronic Voting Machines

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte

How researchers hacked the most secure electronic voting machines.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly 120: Bing Is My Back-End

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Windows 7, Yahoo competition, Xbox 360 prices, Word, Nokia, Snow Leopard, and more.

Show Notes

This Week In Google 5: Ice Cream In The Clouds

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani, Doug Kaye, and Mary Hodder

Snow Leopard, mobile apps as content, Chrome/Android, Facebook privacy settings, and more.

Show Notes

iron wil

Hosts: John C. Dvorak, Becky Worley, Natali Del Conte, and Carlos Rodela

Sony Ericsson goes Android, Teledildonics, Compuserve, ringtone concerts, shoes, GDGT and more.

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 148: Leo Says Boo

Hosts: Alex Lindsay and Scott Bourne

AT&T iPhone sales, 13″ MacBook Pro stock, App Store anniversary, Al Jazeera English iPhone app.

Show Notes

Security Now 204: Listener Feedback 70

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte

Our regular mailbag episode with questions and comments from our listeners.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly 115: Windows 7 Secrets

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Paul assembles a panel to discuss Windows 7 pricing and other release questions.

Guests: Rafael Rivera and Mary-Jo Foley

Show Notes

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Wil Harris, and Neha Tiwari

Skype buyback, San Jose fiber cut, Twitter hacked, Steve Jobs, Yahoo/Microsoft, IBM/Sun, and more.

Show Notes

MacBreak Weekly 136: EULA Schmeula

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Alex Lindsay, Scott Bourne, and Andy Ihnatko

New iMacs, monitors, upgrading schemes, Palm Pre, iPhone 3, Android, and more.

Show Notes

Security Now 192: Listener Feedback 64

Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte

This mailbag episode discusses new Firefox plugins, Conficker, buffer overflow, and more.

Show Notes

Windows Weekly 103: A New Kind of Death

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Office 2010, Windows 7 Build 7106, PC Marketshare, Internet Explorer 8, and the Xbox 360 E-74 errors.

Show Notes

iron wil

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

New economics, Gmail goes offline, IE8 RC1, Windows 7 UAC, iTunes Plus, and more.

Do More with Less: How to Survive in Today’s Economic Reality

• A Microsoft marketing mantra becomes a life mantra for all of us
• Stretching PC/technology lifetimes
• Saying no to new gadgets … Every time we peddle something people don’t need, we lose a slice of our soul
• Reassessing what it is you really need to get work done
• Paul’s “28 Days Later” concept: Revisiting things Paul’s reviewed or recommended: Do they stand the test of time?
• Next “Everything Must Go” event: Late February
• Not just about spending less – decrease tech life’s overhead as well
• v. small ex: Paul doesn’t install/configure any Firefox add-ons – 7 less things to do on reinstall

Related: Gmail goes offline: Long expected, but this is a game-changer

Internet Explorer 8 RC1 release

• Near-final, “platform-complete” version of Microsoft’s next browser
• For XP, Vista, 2003/2008 not Windows 7
• A few new functional changes but mostly about performance and fit and finish

Is Windows 7 UAC dangerous … or just useless?

Rafael Rivera and Long Zheng have discovered that the dumbed-down UAC in Windows 7 is easy to bypass and could be used to compromise PC

Also in Windows 7 news…

• Windows 7 public beta set to end February 10
• Rumors of a Netbook SKU

iTunes Plus goes a la carte

• Previously, you had to upgrade your entire collection in order to get DRM-free 256 Kbps AAC tracks. Now you can pick and choose
• iTunes now a first-class choice for online music w/ Amazon MP3 and Zune Marketplace

News: Dell will sell a smartphone based on either Google Android or Windows Mobile. Paul’s advice: Don’t

Tip of the week: More Windows 7 theme packs … many are based on Mac wallpapers

Software of the week: Gladinet

Many readers have recommended this: It lets you access SkyDrive from Windows Explorer (and other things).

Audible picks of the week: The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches: Enjoying Life More by Spending Less and Elsewhere, U.S.A.: How We Got From the Affluent Society to the Home Office.

Check out Paul’s blog at the SuperSite for Windows for more information.

get yours here.

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Wil Harris, Jason Calacanis, Sarah Lane, and Kevin Rose

Mahalo and other layoffs, MSFT earnings, virtual murder, FOWA, G1 phone release, and more.

Links to all our stories are at http://del.icio.us/twit/166.

Audible pick of the week: The Post-American World, Unabridged, By Fareed Zakaria, Narrated by Fareed Zakaria. To get two free audiobooks, visit Audible.com/twit2.

get yours here.

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Tom Merritt, Scott Rosenberg, and Harry McCracken

Apple’s pending announcement, GeoEye, RealDVD banned, Android, Garriott’s biggest launch, and more.

Links to all our stories are at http://del.icio.us/twit/164.

Audible pick of the week: METAtropolis. Various chapters written by John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, and Karl Schroeder. Various chapters narrated by Michael Hogan, Alessandro Juliani, Kandyse McClure, Scott Brick, and Stefan Rudnicki. The first chapter, by Jay Lake, is free this week to TWiT listeners only, and can be found at Audible.com/twitmeta.

get yours here.

iron wil