Add U.S. Cellular to the ever-growing list of wireless companies selling the iPhone. The carrier was rather circumspect about the matter in its first-quarter earnings release Friday, saying only that it “will begin offering Apple products later this year.” But it would, of course, seem likely that a wireless company that sells devices like Samsung’s …

It seemed inevitable, and now it has happened: for the first time ever, feature phones have taken a backseat to smartphones in terms of quantities shipped. In the first quarter of 2013, device makers shipped 216.2 million smartphones worldwide, a volume that accounted for 51.6 percent of total global shipments and that marked the first time smartphones have claimed more …

In the latest twist on the Sprint-Clearwire saga, Verizon Wireless apparently has entered the picture as a suitor for Clearwire’s spectrum. Verizon Wireless has offered to pay as much as $1.5 billion to acquire spectrum leases from networking company Clearwire, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites people said to be familiar with the matter. The move would give …

Dish Network has submitted a merger proposal for Sprint Nextel valued at $25.5 billion, putting itself into competition with Japan’s Softbank to take over the wireless carrier. Dish announced this morning that it is offering Sprint shareholders a total consideration of $25.5 billion, consisting of $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. Sprint shareholders would receive $7 per …

T-Mobile continues to rev up the changes it’s got in store for customers. The wireless carrier today seems to have finally done away entirely with contracts for wireless customers. This follows earlier moves that had allowed options including either a traditional two-year contract or no contract at all. The shift is part of a broader transformation that CEO John Legere …

There should be no shortage of Wi-Fi at the Super Bowl. And the NFL want to make sure it stays that way. The Wi-Fi network at the Superdome in New Orleans has been structured and reinforced to handle a stunning 30,000 simultaneous connections during the big game, starting shortly, between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. Ars Technica …

The fourth quarter was good to AT&T. The carrier said this morning that in the final quarter of 2012, it sold a record number of smartphones — 10 million. That topped its previous quarterly high of 9.4 million, set in the fourth quarter of 2011. The three-month period just ended included best-ever quarterly sales of both Android and Apple smartphones, …

There weren’t as many Nooks under the Christmas tree this year as Barnes & Noble had been hoping for. The company this morning didn’t mince words about holiday sales for its line of tablets and e-readers. “Nook device sales got off to a good start over the Black Friday period, but then fell short of expectations for the balance of …

Research In Motion is making an initial payment of $65 million to Nokia as part of the settlement of the patent dispute between the two companies. The payment was disclosed in RIM’s most recent 6-K filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was first spotted by All Things D. RIM and Nokia announced the settlement on December 21, …

As if we didn’t already know that the tablet market is the hottest thing this side of a pizza oven, IDC today raised its forecast for the tablet market for 2012 and beyond. The fuel for the fired-up forecast? Greater variety among tablet choices as new, and often cheaper, devices crowd onto store shelves. “Tablets continue to captivate consumers, and …