A news report out of Baltimore demonstrates the level of counterfeit Apple products that are being sold right under our noses in malls, some of which undoubtedly share space with an Apple Store.
Officers said they raided the Cyberion store and the ST Tech Pros kiosk last Friday and recovered hundreds of fake Apple products that were being sold as authentic factory replacements.”These organizations that make these products are using substandard materials. They are doing everything they can to make them look like the real thing,” said Greg Shipley with the Maryland State Police.
While this particular bust may have been an isolated incident, if you’ve been to a US mall in the past few years, you’ve likely seen kiosks with fake Apple products. They are everywhere.
AT&T just announced in a flurry of press releases that it expanded 4G data network coverage to customers in nine new cities. It further revealed over 40 more LTE markets will light up by the end of 2012. Today’s news comes just a week before the launch of an LTE iPhone, which will surely spotlight the coverage differences between the leading U.S. carriers. AT&T only has 53 LTE markets, while Verizon, for instance, boasts 337 LTE markets.
The nine cities:
Anchorage, Alaska
Bakersfield, Calif.
Bridgeport, Conn.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Modesto, Calif.
North Montgomery County, Md.
Syracuse, N.Y.
Omaha, Neb.
Northern N.J.
The additional markets:
Albany, N.Y.
Albuquerque, N.M.
Allentown, Pa.
Birmingham, Ala.
Boise, Idaho
Charleston, S.C.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Columbia, S.C.
Columbus, Ohio
Denver-Boulder, Colo.
Detroit, Mich.
El Paso, Texas
Fayetteville, N.C.
Ft. Myers, Fla.
Gary, Ind.
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Green Bay, Wis.
Harrisburg, Pa.
Hartford, Conn.
Hawaii
Knoxville, Tenn.
Lancaster, Pa.
Little Rock, Ark.
Louisville, Ky.
Memphis, Tenn.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Nashua, N.H.
New Haven, Conn.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Portland, Ore.
Providence, R.I.
Reading, Pa.
Rochester, N.Y.
Sacramento, Calif.
Salinas-Seaside-Monterey, Calif.
Seattle, Wash.
Springfield, Mass.
Toledo, Ohio
Tucson, Ariz.
Tulsa, Okla.
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Wilmington, Del.
“Over the past five years, AT&T invested more than $115 billion into operations and into acquiring spectrum and other assets that have enhanced our wireless and wired networks,” said AT&T in a press release.
The company also claimed its 4G network now covers 275 million folks in the United States, and it is the only stateside carrier to provide 4G using both HSPA+ and LTE technologies. Check out more facts in the carrier’s infographic below, and get all the pressers at AT&T’s website.