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posted by takyon on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:35AM   Printer-friendly
from the marketing-rEvolution dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

AT&T misleads customers by updating phones with fake 5G icon

AT&T has updated three smartphones from Samsung and LG to make them show 5G connectivity logos, even though none of them are capable of connecting to 5G networks.

Now, when the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, LG V30, or LG V40 are connected to portions of AT&T's LTE network that have received some speed-boosting updates, they'll show an icon that says "5G E" instead of "LTE."

That "E" in the "5G" logo is supposed to tip you off that this isn't real 5G ā€” just some marketing nonsense. But there's no way of knowing that just from looking at the logo. The "E" is smaller than the rest of the icon. And even if you do learn that "5G E" stands for "5G Evolution," it isn't immediately clear what that means.


Original Submission

Related Stories

AT&T Sued by Sprint, Must Defend Decision to Tell Users That 4G is ā€œ5G Eā€ 15 comments

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

AT&T sued by Sprint, must defend decision to tell users that 4G is "5G E"

Sprint is suing AT&T, alleging that AT&T's misleading "5G E" advertising campaign violates laws prohibiting false advertising and deceptive acts and practices.

AT&T renamed a large portion of its 4G network, calling it "5G E," for "5G Evolution." But as we've written, what AT&T calls 5G E consists of technologies that are part of the years-old 4G LTE-Advanced standard and are already used by Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint on their 4G networks. Despite that, AT&T has been advertising this supposed upgrade to 5G E and even changing network indicators on smartphones from 4G to 5G E.AT&T decides 4G is now "5G," starts issuing icon-changing software updates

"By making the false claim that it is offering a 5G wireless network where it offers only a 4G LTE Advanced network, AT&T is attempting to secure an unfair advantage in the saturated wireless market," Sprint wrote in a complaint filed yesterday in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. "AT&T's false and misleading statements deceive consumers into believing that AT&T now operates a 5G wireless network and, through this deception, AT&T seeks to induce consumers to purchase or renew AT&T's services when they might otherwise have purchased Sprint's services."

Sprint alleged that AT&T violated a US law prohibiting false advertising and New York state laws against deceptive acts and practices and false advertising. Sprint asked the court for monetary damages and an injunction preventing AT&T from using 5G or 5G E branding "until the wireless network that AT&T advertises as '5GE,' '5G E,' or '5G Evolution,' or any designation containing '5G,' complies with 3GPP 5G standards." Sprint's complaint cites reporting from Ars and other news outlets.AT&T defends misleading "5G" network icons on 4G phones

[...] AT&T continued its defiance today.

"We understand why our competitors don't like what we are doing, but our customers love it," AT&T said in a statement provided to Ars. "We introduced 5G Evolution more than two years ago, clearly defining it as an evolutionary step to standards-based 5G. 5G Evolution and the 5G E indicator simply let customers know when their device is in an area where speeds up to twice as fast as standard LTE are available. That's what 5G Evolution is, and we are delighted to deliver it to our customers."

AT&T said it "will fight this lawsuit while continuing to deploy 5G Evolution in addition to standards-based mobile 5G," and that "customers want and deserve to know when they are getting better speeds."

AT&T also took a shot at Sprint's claims that it can't deploy a robust 5G network unless US regulators approve its proposed merger with T-Mobile.

"Sprint will have to reconcile its arguments to the FCC that it cannot deploy a widespread 5G network without T-Mobile while simultaneously claiming in this suit to be launching 'legitimate 5G technology imminently,'" AT&T said.

Previously: AT&T Misleads Customers by Updating Phones With Fake 5G Icon


Original Submission

AT&T is Putting its Fake 5G Logo on iPhones Too 10 comments

Some AT&T iPhones Displaying Misleading '5GE' Icon in iOS 12.2 Beta 2 [Updated]

Some AT&T users who have installed the new iOS 12.2 beta are noticing their iPhones displaying a '5G E' connection to AT&T's network, which is AT&T's misleading name for an "upgraded" version of 4G LTE.

AT&T began rolling out its fake 5G icon to Android smartphones in early January, and it now appears the change is extending to the iPhone.

Devices in certain areas are displaying a "5G E" icon instead of LTE, but as the "E" suggests, this is not real 5G. No iPhone that exists right now is capable of connecting to a 5G network, nor is AT&T's network 5G at this time.

[...] Update: AT&T has provided the following statement to MacRumors on the new icon in iOS 12.2 beta 2: "Today, some iPhone and iPad users could start seeing our 5G Evolution indicator on their devices. The indicator simply helps customers know when they are in an area where the 5G Evolution experience may be available."

Also at The Verge and Engadget.

See also: Verizon wants consumers to do its 5G bidding
Enough of the 5G Hype

Previously: AT&T Misleads Customers by Updating Phones With Fake 5G Icon


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:50AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:50AM (#784047)

    Didnt a story about how 5g causes cancer get scrubbed from the internet? Is that what they mean by "evolution"? Mutations?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @02:54AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @02:54AM (#784433)

      No, those stories are just a search away. No matter how correct they are, one thing they claim is true: we will not get faster Internet over 5G. In addition, millimeter wave technology is very power-hungry. Your battery life will suffer from that. Perhaps some people like to watch movies on a beach; my phone has only 1.5 Mbps of wireless data[*], and that's plenty when I'm in the street. At home I have as much as my cable modem can provide over 802.11a - in other words, quite enough.

      * That plan was chosen by me, knowing that it will be enough. When I am away from home/work, I'm usually driving from one place with Wi-Fi to another place with Wi-Fi, thus my bitrate needs are small - for email, Skype, and occasional Lyft.

      BTW, how will 5G work inside of a moving car? Probably it won't, as handoffs will be occuring every second. But millimeter waves will probably reflect from the glass, and the phone will have to drop to lower bands, just as it is now. What's then 5G is good for?

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by fakefuck39 on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:10AM (4 children)

    by fakefuck39 (6620) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:10AM (#784053)

    Which is perfectly fine. In fact, it is the carrier that tells the phone bought from that carrier what icon to put there, and how many bars to show. For example, you could be on 1-bar LTE, and your phone shows full bars LTE - because the 2G connection has good reception.

    This is made for consumers who buy their phones from the carrier. 5GE is faster than when that ATT phone said 4G or LTE. It's not a 5G spec connection, but it is faster than what ATT's other LTE connections. It's not meant to reflect the spec. TMobile did that by displaying a 4G icon when you had parallel 3G connections upping the speed.

    Now if you're a person who is interested in the actual 5G spec, you don't buy your phone from the carrier, and you don't have this issue. Heck, I have carrier services and carrier config disabled, so the tower can't set the signal bars - my phone does.

    5G Evolution is very clear in what it means. It's faster than when the phone says 4G, and if you think you'll find someone who got their phone at the ATT store who knows the 5G protocol specs, please spend your time looking for that person instead of writing retarded crap online.

    Question - Does your Smackers maple syrup have any maple syrup? How about I Can't Believe It's Not Butter? Does that name tell you what it is, or do you have to look it up, just like you'd have to google what 5G Evolution means? Is your Iphone running a Cisco operating system? Is twitter full of twits? Starship is a well defined term - how far does Elon's shiny cone plan on flying?

    "5G" is just as unclear to a guy with an ATT phone as "5GE" as far as specs go. What is clear, and the purpose of this, is it's faster than 4G. Now let's all be purposefully dense so we can bitch about this on the internet.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:45AM (1 child)

      by MostCynical (2589) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:45AM (#784071) Journal

      So, your petrol can be sold as 100, when it is only 95RON, don't mind if your medicine is only 50% strength, but labeled "strong"..

      All the phone carriers had to do was make the icon show "4G+", and no one would have raised an eyebrow.

      --
      "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
      • (Score: 0, Funny) by fakefuck39 on Monday January 14 2019, @09:48PM

        by fakefuck39 (6620) on Monday January 14 2019, @09:48PM (#786648)

        nice strawman. no, "petrol" can't be sold as 100, and this isn't labeled "5G" on your phone. forget the article, is the summary too long to read also? I'd get some pills for your ADD. Yes, 50% strength can be labeled as "strong", if 25% strength is labeled as "regular" from the same brand. retard.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:48PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:48PM (#784347)

      It's "breakfast syrup" and "not butter," which no reasonable person could confuse for the real thing.

      • (Score: -1) by fakefuck39 on Monday January 14 2019, @09:46PM

        by fakefuck39 (6620) on Monday January 14 2019, @09:46PM (#786645)

        and this isn't labeled "5G" either. a reasonable person can at least read the summary. try it sometimes.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:33AM (9 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:33AM (#784066) Homepage Journal

    In case you were wondering what's to be done about this, that's a long since solved problem [ftc.gov]. The current problem is how to get someone with a low bullshit tolerance appointed to head the agency rather than a partisan shill.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday January 09 2019, @12:39PM (3 children)

      by PiMuNu (3823) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @12:39PM (#784085)

      > The current problem is how to get someone with a low bullshit tolerance appointed to head the agency rather than a partisan shill.

      I think they are appointed by the POTUS, right?

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 09 2019, @01:02PM (2 children)

        by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday January 09 2019, @01:02PM (#784088) Homepage Journal

        As far as I know. Too lazy to look it up this morning. That does make getting someone who tries to do the actual job instead of helping out donors a bit tricky, yes.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 3, Informative) by nobu_the_bard on Wednesday January 09 2019, @05:25PM (1 child)

          by nobu_the_bard (6373) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @05:25PM (#784188)

          The FTC has five commissioners, each nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. They can't serve a term of more than ... seven years, I think it is. The president gets to choose which among them is the chairman. I don't think this choice needs to be confirmed.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @03:14PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @03:14PM (#784131)

      On the flip side of the coin, executive discretion on what to enforce is setting aside marijuana prohibition right now.

    • (Score: 2) by Spamalope on Wednesday January 09 2019, @03:54PM (2 children)

      by Spamalope (5233) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @03:54PM (#784147) Homepage

      Sorry, all we have is the other side's partisan shill pick. There is no non-shill option.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:58AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:58AM (#784074)

    Just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it. [youtube.com]

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday January 09 2019, @02:50PM (4 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 09 2019, @02:50PM (#784114) Journal

      New process for manufacturing lies that are true.
      1. Tell the lie to someone gullible (note FoxNews has a large audience to choose from)
      2. The gullible person believes the lie and retells it, thus transforming it into truth
      3. Profit!

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Kalas on Wednesday January 09 2019, @03:13PM (3 children)

        by Kalas (4247) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @03:13PM (#784129)

        Interesting. Rather than "alternative facts" I suppose you could also call it "fact laundering."

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @04:59PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @04:59PM (#784174)

          Wouldn't that be "lie laundering"? They certainly aren't starting with "facts".

          • (Score: 4, Funny) by bob_super on Wednesday January 09 2019, @05:16PM (1 child)

            by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @05:16PM (#784183)

            "lie laundering" is too long. Doesn't roll off the tongue. I propose "Foxing" instead.

            • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 10 2019, @07:41PM

              by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 10 2019, @07:41PM (#784635) Journal

              Foxing can be done at a fact laundromat. Paid in bitcoin.

              --
              People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by bradley13 on Wednesday January 09 2019, @01:06PM

    by bradley13 (3053) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @01:06PM (#784089) Homepage Journal

    I understand why AT&T is doing this: customer deception. But they're not alone...

    Just yesterday I decided to update my Java installations to Java 11. This turned out to be a much bigger adventure than expected, but that's another story [soylentnews.org]. The part relevant here - deliberate mislabeling - has to do with Ubuntu.

    With Java 11, Oracle has stated that all non-commercial users should use OpenJDK, which they guarantee has the same functionality. Ubuntu, meanwhile, states that OpenJDK is in their repository. And sure enough: call up Synaptic, and there it is: "OpenJDK 11".

    Only, when you install it, you get...Java 10. This is very deliberate, and has been planned since last February. [ubuntu.com] The people responsible apparently see no problem whatsoever in deliberately mislabelling a major software version. Of course, they intended to replace the contents of this SRU with the real Java 11 - but that was released last September, and the repository - as of yesterday - still delivers Java 10. WTF?

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
  • (Score: 5, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday January 09 2019, @02:55PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 09 2019, @02:55PM (#784117) Journal

    Dear AT&T:

    Instead of lying to customers, how about telling the truth.

    Do not replace the LTE icon with 5G E.

    Replace the LTE icon with 5G LIE. Now you're telling the truth. But the difference between LTE and LIE is so subtle that on a tiny icon it maybe be only one pixel or a sub pixel difference. You are telling the truth. You cannot be blamed if people mistake 5G LIE for 5G LTE.

    Your customers deserve this, for being your customers.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @03:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @03:16PM (#784132)

    5G isa gonna make life miserable for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wifi users.
    ofc it can co exists but if it cant you can guess what the (l)user is gonna chose/support...
    insert waving-goodbye-with-a-tear emoticon and middle finger

  • (Score: 2) by Entropy on Wednesday January 09 2019, @08:14PM

    by Entropy (4228) on Wednesday January 09 2019, @08:14PM (#784262)

    AT&T has a history of fake marketing. The coverage map scam. The "biggest coverage study"(fine print: Excluding crowdsouring) and other shams to try to show their coverage being anywhere near Verizon's coverage. Why not just fake 5G too? Glad I dropped them years ago.

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