The surprise, $39 billion combination announced by AT&T and T-Mobile USA over the weekend has, inevitably, sparked concerns about what the deal means for consumers. Washington-based consumer rights group Public Knowledge has called the deal, which will merge two of America’s largest mobile operators to create a dominant player with 39% of the market, “unthinkable,” adding that it would lead to “higher prices, few choices, less innovation,” according to The Guardian. The LA Times points out that AT&T has been rated “dead last” for customer satisfaction and voted “worst carrier” by Consumer Reports, which adds that customers satisfaction improves “when carriers compete with each other.”  The New York Times says it’s too early to say how much–or even whether–rates might rise for consumers, but adds that industry analysts believe competition will suffer. “If AT&T and T-Mobile combined, it would set up a match-up like Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi, with AT&T pitted against Verizon,” writes The Times’ Andrew Ross-Sorkin. “The other rivals become almost irrelevant.”  Amid all the AT&T deal talk, what of Sprint? The wireless carrier has its own partnership to announce–with Google. The Internet giant is integrating Spint’s cell phones with Google Voice, a telephony web service that attaches a single number to multiple phones, The Register reports, adding that Apple had originally barred Google Voice from the iPhone, apparently on behalf of its wireless partner AT&T. Sprint’s 50 million odd subscribers will be able to use Google’s service with their phone numbers, voicemail and text messages. GigaOm makes a tentative suggestion: “An eventual Google purchase of Sprint is a long shot at best, but is possible.”  China has rejected Google’s claims that Beijing is disrupting access to its email service in the country. “This is an unacceptable accusation,” Jiang Yu, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry said in a news conference this morning, according to BBC News. In an official statement Monday, Google claimed that Chinese users of Gmail were facing connection difficulties because of a blockage by the Chinese government, one that it says was “carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.” The BBC cites users as saying that interferences coincided with an Internet campaign calling for protests like those in the Middle East.  Amazon is jumping into the mobile app business by opening its first Android app store later tonight, at Amazon.com/appstore. The store will sell apps for phones and tablet that run on Google’s Android operating system, and initially offer 3,800 applications for download. The move puts Amazon head to head with Google by cutting the search giant out of the app-buying equation, and it has already upset Apple: on Friday the Cupertino, Calif-based company filed a suit against Amazon over its use of the phrase “App Store,” saying it had infringed Apple’s trademark, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Amazon has a ways to go in competing with Apple, whose App Store has roughly 300,000 apps while Android’s has 200,000. “But Amazon is trying to make a big splash in terms of quality,” writes Tricia Duryee of All Things Digital. It’ll for instance offer a free app a day to help with promotion, a free-test drive feature for paid-for apps and mine a user’s purchase history to make recommendations.  Sony is suspending production at more of its plants in Japan, following the recent earthquake and Tsunami that led to a shortage of parts and raw materials. Sony has suspended operations at its plants in Shizuoka, Aichi, GIfu and Oita till the end of March, according to The Associated Press. The factories produce broadcast equipment, camcorders, digital cameras, cellphones, LCD televisions, mics and headphones.  The online photo-sharing and printing company Shutterfly is buying Tiny Prints, a personalised card and stationary seller for $333 million in cash and shares, the company announced yesterday. Shareholders of privately-owned Tiny Prints will own about 12% of the combined firm, according to The Associated Press. Shutterfly also updated its forecast for the first quarter to March, saying it expects sales of between $53 million and $55 million.  Intel is not the only technology company trying to woo executives away from Hewlett Packard, writes Arik Hesseldahl at All Things Digital. So is rival AMD, and it seems to be having better luck. The chip maker has brought on Michael Wolf, HP’s vice president for Information Technology, to be its new chief information officer. Hesseldahl points out that the news came amid reports that Intel had unsuccessfully tried to hire HP executive Todd Bradley.  Reddit, the recommendation site that has been usurping arch rival Digg, could soon have a liberation of sorts. Publishing giant and owner Conde Nast is considering spinning off the social news site, five years after acquiring it, All Things Digital’s Peter Kafka writes. Conde Nast would hold onto ownership of the site but sell a stake, and sources say Reddit is being given a $200 million valuation, reports Kafka. He adds: “Taking Reddit outside of Condé Nast’s corporate structure would make the site that much more valuable, and would give it a better chance to compete.” Last summer Reddit was seeing 400 million page views a month–now that’s up to one billion.
Analysts question the value of AT&T's merger with T-Mobile USA for consumers, China rejects Google's email blockage claims and other tech news.