While we have reported before how AT&T did not do as well from the iPhone as many had expected, it turns out that the other telcos who subsidise Jobs' Dream are also suffering.

CNN has looked closely at the effect that iPhone subsidising has had on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint and come to the conclusion that they would have been better off in a pact with Mephistopheles than cutting a deal with Apple.

Since Apple's iPhone debuted on Verizon's network in February 2011, Verizon's EBITDA service margin, which measures their core profit as a percentage of their sales, has tumbled according to CNN.

In its pre-Apple days Verizon had a EBITDA service margin of 46.4 percent per quarter. In the first quarter that the iPhone went on sale, that fell to 43.7 percent. Last quarter, when Verizon sold a record 4.2 million iPhones, its margin plunged to 42.2 per cent.

Tellingly, Verizon did very well in the third quarter, when its margin bounced back up to a record 47.8 percent. This is the same quarter in which iPhone sales stalled.

AT&T has a 28.7 percent EBITDA service margin last quarter, compared with 37.6 percent a year earlier. AT&T sold nearly twice as many iPhones as Verizon last quarter.

Sprint sold two million iPhones last quarter, and its adjusted wireless margin fell to 9.5 percent, down from 16 percent a year ago.

Mike McCormack, an analyst at Nomura Securities, told CNN that the iPhone was bad for wireless carriers. If you look at the direct and indirect economics that Apple has managed to extract from the carriers, the carrier-level value destruction is quite evident, McCormack said.

All smartphones are subsidied to some extent but those on the iPhone are the highest in the industry. It is estimated that for every iPhone sold, the carriers have had to give Apple $450.

Sprint has committed to paying Apple roughly $15.5 billion in up front costs over the next four years, and the carrier does not expect to make money on the deal until 2015.

The hope is that somehow the companies will make money out of Apple, but everytime Cupertino has a success, the carrier's results suffer.

At the end of the day, part of this problem is that they have refused to back away from their lock-in deals with Apple or at least force the company to be a little more reasonable. Apple has no reason to give way. An unsubsidised iPhone would have to be unlocked, and besides, it would cost about $800-$1000. 

The outfit has just penned a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and other global bodies with the promise. The non-profit ETSI, which has members from 62 countries, produces standards for telephony and internet technologies globally.

Reuters said that Google will licence Motorola technology on fair and reasonable terms.

It quoted a Google spokesperson saying that since it announced its agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility last August, it had heard questions about whether Motorola Mobility's standard-essential patents will continue to be licensed on FRAND (fair and reasonable) terms once the deal is closed. The answer is that it will.

He said that standards-setting agencies typically require members to offer licensing access to standards or patents on such terms.

It is the second commitment that Google has had to make since it bought Motorola. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told reporters in November last year that the group would not favour Motorola once it had completed the acquisition. 

Research In Motion's new chief executive, Thorsten Heins, told a group of developers that the next generation of BlackBerry's smartphones is "ready to compete" and he is confident in RIM's long-term future.

He did not say what RIM's long term future would be.

The outfit has lost market share and value after being given a good kicking by Apple, Google and Samsung. However, Heins thinks that the new range of products powered by its QNX operating system will improve its image.

Heins said that the smartphone market is still young, and there are huge opportunities for RIM.

According to Reuters, he believed the new technology used in BlackBerry 10 devices will set the standard for a "new user paradigm" for use in the home, cars, tablets and in smartphones. Right.

This should be a little worrying as no one has actually used the word paradigm in a public place since the middle of 2004 after a terrible accident between a paradigm and someone kicking the ball running.

While a Golden Dawn might be seen by RIM it is certainly a long way off.

RIM said in December that it is delaying the launch of phones based on BlackBerry 10 until the later part of 2012 as it is awaiting the availability of a high-powered chip. 

Verizon's 4G network is covering a good chunk of the USA with AT&T gaining ground. But, because 4G coverage isn't continuous in many locations, batteries are taking a big hit.

According to the Wall Street Journal it is impossible to find a battery that lasts longer than a day because in areas with spotty 4G service, the phone spends an awful lot of battery power trying to hunt down a signal.

While it is possible that improved networks will help fix the problem, things will get worse as more services which are based on 4G become available, such as streaming video content.

According to Consumerist, the only one which seems to do OK is the Razr Maxx which, after a full day of moderate-to-heavy use on Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network, still had 75 percent of its battery power. 

Mashable said that Google has applied for a US Federal Communications Commission experimental licence to test an unnamed prototype which it says will connect to home electronics through wireless internet and Bluetooth.

The test is to see if the gear works properly and to "reveal real world engineering issues and reliability of networks," the company said in its application.

The device is still in early stages of development and will be modified after reviewing test results from the 252 of the gizmos.

Little has been disclosed about what the device actually is, but the sound money is on something called Android@Home. This is Google's technology to control light switches, alarm clocks and other home appliances through Android devices.

It could also be a Google TV, but is not likely to be a puppet show featuring a small dog which is trying to find its way home through a series of Jungian psychological transformations to bring out its inner Doberman. 

This includes source code and factory ROMs for Verizon's CDMA version of the Galaxy Nexus and Motorola Xoom, as well as the Nexus S 4G.

The implication of this, according to one Android developer we have spoken to, is that Google can't be bothered providing the  official updates for CDMA which is expected from "developer" hardware.

It looks like the GSM Nexus S and WiFi-only Motorola XOOM will still be supported and there are some references to the Galaxy Nexus CDMA/LTE, though these are marked as "archived, for reference only".

In response, Google said that it had decided to remove CDMA devices from its official support documentation because the technology and software required to make them function correctly is closed-source.

According to Android Community, radios and other APK files for a CDMA device must be digitally signed by a carrier, something that can't be open-sourced, and therefore isn't included in the Android Open Source Project.

Writing in the forums, Google said that recent CDMA Android devices implement core telephony functionality in .apk files provided in binary form by the carriers.

To use them, .apk files must be signed by the so-called "platform" key, but if an individual creates a custom build from the AOSP source code, they don't use the same signing key as these CDMA flies were signed with.

As a result, the files don't work and pure AOSP builds running on these devices can't place calls, access mobile data, and so on.

It said that it will try to make available as many as possible of the closed-source binaries for these devices, and Nexus devices will continue to have unlockable bootloaders. GSM/HSPA+ devices are still supported, as are any other devices it is able to support, Google claims.

So, Google is saying it will support the Galaxy Nexus LTE, Nexus S 4G and XOOM CDMA, at least as long as the hardware is compatible with updated versions of Android. However, it will not be at the same levels that GSM developers get.

The guess is that updates to the Galaxy Nexus will come through Verizon which means the phone company can delay or ignore updates. 

Artivision claims that Intel wants its technology in a new software kit it is developing.

According to Reuters, Artivision will incorporate its front-end in-video advertising platform and back-end advertisement serving technology into an Intel software development kit that uses the semiconductor giant's Wi-Fi Direct technology.

At the moment, the company is crossing the t's and dotting the i's, but once it is all sorted out a definitive agreement is expected once the first working SDK with Artimedia's technology is put in a demo mobile device.

The announcement was spotted in a stock market filing and details of how it will all work are sketchy, but it seems that Intel may also invest in Artivision if a definitive agreement is reached, the Singapore firm added. 

Although Apple has been doing its very best to destroy consumer choice around the world, Germany isn't convinced and ruled that the Nexus and the Galaxy Tab 10.1N are legal, and do not infringe on any patents.

Samsung's tit-for-tat patent infringement filing was also quashed.

According to the Wall Street Journal, company spokespeople are behaving as everyone expects them to. An Apple representative said the company will protect its intellectual property, while someone from Samsung said the latest ruling was welcome.

As Apple loses its most valuable asset - the snake oil merchant Steve Jobs - it looks like the company faces the real threat of having to match the competition with good products, not bully-boy legal tantrums abusing a patent culture with court battles which ultimately benefit no one.

Apple has the deeper pockets, but the company would be wise to remember one of its highest profile targets, Samsung, has a penny or two to spend, too.

*EyeSee If our memory serves us well, and it does, Apple's legal counsel is the very litigious NAME who was chief bully during Intel's reckless suing-spree in the nineties.

Earlier this week we reported the new RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said that he had a cunning plan, but he did not say what it was. It turns out that he had been on the blower for a whole host of super heroes dedicated to helping save the outfit's bottom line from the evil Apple cult.

We guess he was hoping for someone who could leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but since the economy is not going so well, it appears the Justice League sent a previously unknown bunch of super heroes called the Be Bold family.

The Be Bold's unfortunate name came from the fact that a family were listening to Kenneth Williams staring in Round the Horne on the BBC World Service. Characters Julian and Sandy were just extolling Kenneth Horne to "Be Bold" and wear a fetching fake fox fur. Suddenly the entire family were bitten by radio active harp seal cubs and transformed into the Be Bold's super family.

They don't seem to do much other than turn up to a RIM event wearing odd coloured Lycra and shouting "Be Bold" in the style of Kenneth Williams.

However, it seems that Heins thinks that this is all that is needed to re-establish RIM in the corporate market and kill off the undead legions of Jobs' Mob.

The Bold Team concept is not part of a full-on marketing campaign and after it became the object of ridicule the Canadian firm was quick to say this was just intended to be a bit of fun. Canadians apparently know a lot about fun.

Still, that isn't stopping people from mocking the effort and making harsh comments on Twitter using the #BeBold hashtag.