Sony says PlayStation Network will return to Asia, starting tomorrow

Good news, Asia -- the PlayStation Network is finally coming back. Today, Sony announced that it will restore its gaming network across the continent, more than a month after falling prey to a crippling data breach. The company's PSN services are already up and running across other parts of the world and, beginning tomorrow, will light up once again in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and even Japan, which had been harboring serious reservations about the network's security. Gamers in South Korea and Hong Kong, meanwhile, will have to wait a little longer before returning to normalcy, though Sony is hoping to completely resolve the issue by the end of the month. The company certainly seems eager to put this saga to bed, and for understandable reasons. The incident has already cost Sony an estimated $171 million in revenue -- not to mention the untold numbers of suddenly wary consumers.

Bloomberg

Comcast will start testing an IPTV service at MIT, new Xcalibur guide coming your way sooner

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Comcast will start testing a new video delivery system that is completely internet protocol based at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology in "the coming months." AT&T's U-verse uses IPTV already, while others use similar technology for video on-demand or some of the new initiatives that stream TV to the iPad. Comcast plans to let students watch by connecting TVs, computers or other devices to the campus network, followed by a test just for employees and eventually an all-IP service to run alongside -- but not replacing -- its traditional cable TV service. This could allow the company to deliver video to devices with no set-top box required and even potentially outside its current footprint. That however is unlikely given the headache just a move to multi-platform IP delivery might cause when it comes to negotiating broadcast rights. Being able to watch pay TV on whatever you want and potentially wherever you want may help fight off subscribers temptation for cable cutting, but between testing and the aforementioned legal wrangling, it could be a while before we get to see it.

What is much closer is the new HD and internet connected guide software we spotted testing in Georgia. As the cabler celebrates passing 20 billion video on-demand views (PR after the break), it's bringing the internet and cloud technology behind its mobile apps back to the cable box to help organize it all. Dubbed Xcalibur, the new DVR setup pictured above is available to all new customers in the Augusta, GA area now and will roll out next year, assuming there are no worldwide calamities or product delays before then.

Wall Street Journal, Comcast Voices (1), (2)

Cox ditches 3G network infrastructure, sticks with airwaves borrowed from Sprint

Cox Communications had some grand designs on the cellular market, but they're not panning out quite as the company planned -- FierceWireless reports that though Cox already poured cash into rolling out 3G equipment, it's going to scrap the whole thing, in favor of continuing to pay Sprint for borrowed airtime. Cellular service in the original three launch markets will reportedly continue, though a quick peek at Cox's website shows the current phone selection is getting a bit stagnant. While we've yet to hear any particular reasons why Cox would want to stick it out as an MVNO, we imagine that mandatory roaming agreements make it a tad easier to offer those "Unbelievably Fair" contracts. There's also the possibility that with all the 4G fervor, Cox has decided there's no point in moving forward with CDMA equipment when LTE is ripe for the picking -- and when Cox has $304 million worth of 700MHz spectrum waiting for such a network.

FierceWireless

AT&T bringing LTE to five cities this summer

AT&T announced last fall that it would begin its LTE rollout in mid-2011, and it's now finally delivered a few more details. The carrier has just confirmed that five markets -- Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio -- will be getting LTE sometime "this summer," with ten more as-yet-unnamed cities set to join them in the second half of the year. All told, AT&T says should cover about 70 million Americans by year's end. Of course, an LTE network needs some devices, but AT&T unfortunately isn't providing much in the way of details about those just yet -- it's only saying that it plans to add 20 4G devices to its portfolio this year, and that "some of those" will be LTE capable.

T-Mobile flips on 42Mbps HSPA+ across 55 markets, launching Rocket 3.0 modem stick tomorrow

Fellow road warriors, we bring you good news: starting today, T-Mobile customers across 55 markets -- including Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Miami, and many more -- will have immediate access to a faster HSPA+ "4G" network. This means anyone with compatible devices can achieve theoretical download speeds of up to a whopping 42Mbps, as opposed to just 21Mbps from the good ol' days. But of course, only time will tell whether this upgrade will deliver its promise -- you may recall that even AT&T's LTE demo last week delivered "realistic" download speeds of up to just 28.9Mbps, when in theory it should be capable of hitting up to 100Mbps.

Anyhow, if you want to soldier on and be a guinea pig an early adopter, then help yourself to ZTE's Rocket 3.0 USB modem stick starting tomorrow -- the entry price is $99.99 after a $50 mail in rebate, but tied to a two-year broadband plan of 2GB or higher; or you can opt for the contract-free price of $199.99. Hit the press release after the break for the full list of activated markets.

Verizon adds 4G LTE to nine more cities, expands coverage in Chicago, Philadelphia

Verizon Wireless customers will be able to jet on to the LTE network in nine new cities, taking advantage of lightening-fast speeds on their HTC Thunderbolts and 4G mobile hotspots. The expansion includes Mobile and Montgomery (AL); Greater Fairfield and New Haven (CT); Gainesville, Pensacola, and Tallahassee (FL); Fayetteville-Lumberton (NC); and Bryan-College Station and Temple-Killeen (TX). We also have access in Albany, though VZW has yet to confirm launching LTE in New York's capital city. The carrier has also expanded coverage in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, so if you haven't been able to connect in the past, dust off that enable-4G button and give it another shot. This week's additions bring the list of LTE cities to 55, so we're just over the 35 percent mark towards the carrier's goal of 147 cities by year's end.

Verizon Wireless

Ericsson to manage Clearwire's 4G network as part of cost-cutting deal

Now that Clearwire definitely isn't producing its own smartphone, the company has apparently decided to focus its efforts on maintaining its WiMAX network -- with the help of Ericsson. Yesterday, the 4G operator announced that it had struck a seven-year deal with the Swedish telecom firm, just a few months after fighting a brief trademark lawsuit filed by Sony Ericsson. Under the arrangement, Ericsson will assume all network engineering, operations, and maintenance responsibilities, allowing Clearwire to concentrate on cutting costs and increasing efficiency. Clearwire will retain ownership over its technology and will still handle all customer relations, but about 700 of its employees will be transferred to Ericsson. The Kirkland-based company says its decision was at least partially influenced by new best friend Sprint, which forged a similar partnership with Ericsson back in 2009. Financial details on the new deal remain fuzzy, though Clearwire says it expects to see a major reduction in operating costs -- which sounds like the right prescription. Full presser after the break.

Clearwire

Select AT&T Android devices may get app sideloading as early as today

It's a classic romantic tale of "network meets OS, network disables OS," and just like any love story, this one is building up to a happy ending. Fourteen months after AT&T introduced a lineup of crippled Android phones that weren't allowed to install third-party apps, the carrier extended an olive branch to fans of the OS by quietly slipping the sideloading capability onto the Samsung Infuse 4G; now, the network is reportedly updating three members of its Android lineup -- the HTC Inspire 4G, HTC Aria, and Samsung Captivate -- sometime today. We're sure there were many Atrix users scanning this short list with fingers crossed, but unfortunately your phone did not make the cut this time. No word on why your favs were left out, but at least four devices with Amazon Appstore access is still better than zero. At present time we haven't seen the updates get pushed to our phones, however, so we'd love to hear if any of you have seen differently down in comments below.

Android Central

Japan won't allow Sony to turn PSN back on until it's assured it's safe

Sony may be busy flipping the PlayStation Network switch back to the "on" position around the globe, but one locale where it won't be doing so just yet is its homeland of Japan. The Dow Jones newshounds report that the Japanese government refuses to allow Sony to reactivate its ailing network until satisfaction is reached on a couple of outstanding issues. The first is that the company's promised counter-hacking measures announced on May 1st have not yet been fully enacted -- though details of what has or hasn't been done yet are understandably unavailable -- and the second is that Japan wants to see further preventive measures taken to ensure users users' credit card numbers and other private data won't be exposed through their use of Sony's online services again. These sound like rational demands to us, and Sony is already in talks with the authorities to make sure it lives up to their expectations.

News.com.au

Dow Jones Newswires (Fox Business)