There’s no question that the mobile market was turned on its head yesterday when Google announced its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola. So what’s it mean for the rest of the industry? Typically, industry consolidation begets more consolidation. CNET offers five predictions for how this mega-merger may affect other players in the mobile market from …

In what looks like an attempt to help guard against a legal patent assault by its large tech rivals, Google is spending $12.5 billion to buy mobile handset maker Motorola Mobility. The Motorola Droid family of smartphones on Verizon Wireless helped Motorola Mobility stage its comeback. Motorola Early today, Google dropped a bombshell on the technology industry with its announcement …

Millions of iPhone customers may not care whether the new iPhone due out this fall will have 4G technology, since they already think their iPhone can access 4G networks. A recent survey found that a third of iPhone users think they already have a 4G device. Sadly, the iPhone 4 is just another 3G smartphone. It doesn’t even come equipped …

Mobile phone operators could be doing more to beef up security of their voice mail systems, say some security experts. Since it was revealed that thousands of cell phone voice mails had been hacked in the U.K., wireless subscribers all over the world have wondered whether their voice mails are safe. And experts have been touting the importance of using …

As wireless operators eliminate unlimited data plans and talk about “throttling” traffic, smartphone subscribers are left wondering what to do. It’s clear that the majority of smartphone customers don’t need an unlimited data plan anyway. But some carriers offer data-lite options, while others don’t. Also what’s the deal with prepaid carriers? In this week’s Ask Maggie, I help one reader …

AT&T is getting some support from a key congressional leader for its proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA. Earlier this week, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, urged regulators to resist what he called one-sided arguments to block AT&T’s plan to buy T-Mobile. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) Congress.gov “Recently, you have heard …

Most smartphone subscribers in the U.S. use far less data than they are allotted by their wireless provider, but data hogs, who are likely to bust through those caps, and frugal data nibblers know where to find the best deals. It’s only been a year since AT&T eliminated its all-you-can-eat mobile data plan and adopted a tiered offering instead. Earlier …

NBC Universal gave Comcast a boost in the second quarter as the cable operator announced a 16 percent jump in profits. Comcast also said it lost fewer pay-TV subscribers and saw broadband subscriber growth surge, besting its phone company rivals. Net income rose to $1.02 billion, or 37 cents a share, from $884 million, or 31 cents a share, a …

Despite raking in more revenue than expected, Clearwire’s losses mounted in the second quarter as the company looked to add more customers, it said today. The company also announced a shift in technology direction, stating it will deploy a 4G flavor technology called LTE. Clearwire posted a quarterly net loss of $168.7 million, compared with a loss of $125.9 million …

Good news for U.S. broadband customers: On average major Internet service providers are delivering up to 80 percent of advertised broadband speeds, according to a study by the Federal Communications Commission. This is a big improvement over 2009 when the FCC noted as part of its preparation for the National Broadband Plan that actual download speeds for broadband service were …