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As if upgrading your device didn’t already cost enough, AT&T is upping its ‘upgrade fee’ from the current $18 to a whopping $36. This was confirmed multiple times from various sources over at BGR and appear to be legit and not a hoax. The image below is one of the change announcements sent to retailers across the nation. As it were, customers are also reporting getting courtesy emails from AT&T to alert them of the new fee. Why are they doubling this fee??

Because the overall costs associated with upgrading to a new device have increased, effective Sunday, February 12, 2012, AT&T will change its upgrade fee from $18 to $36

How quaint. I can remember back when T-Mobile first initiated their ‘Upgrade fee,’ it wasn’t met with open arms by customers. I do believe we were the last or the top 4 to implement one though. Expect what ever price you see for a new phone to cast you another $36 to actually own it. Kinda takes the FREE aspect out of the equation doesn’t it. It would have been pretty amazing if this was for iPhone upgrades only though wouldn’t it?

I have yet to ever get a straight answer as to why this fee ever popped up on carriers in the first place. If anyone could give me a real answer other than the tradition corporate answers, that would be appreciated.

Via BGR

On Tuesday, BGR posted the latest rumors and chatter coming from its sources with regard to the iPhone 5 – Apple’s next generation iPhone scheduled for launch in 2012.

Despite earlier claims from the likes of prominent Wall Street watchers and analysts like Gene Munster, the iPhone 5 may not turn up in early summer, keeping with the new fall-time iPhone launch tradition apparently set this year.

BGR says the iPhone 5 won’t reach consumers until the fall of 2012, a full year after the iPhone 4S dropped to record sales. But consistent with the predictions of Munster

Thanks to the guys at BGR we have a few sneaky, and blurry, pictures of T-Mobile upcoming myTouch 4G Slide. The pictures may be a bit hazy but they do confirm a few things about this device not yet confirmed. If you check out the pics you’ll see that the new addition to myTouch will be running Android 2.3.4 as well as the latest version of HTC’s Sense 3.0 UI. This marks the first time we’ve seen pictures of the actual myTouch 4G as a finalized product rather than just renders. If the rumors hold true hopefully we’ll see this device next week for the reported June 8th press event in which T-Mobile and HTC are said to be showcasing 3 new devices.

myTouch 4G Slide:

• Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread with Sense 3.0
• 3.7″ touchscreen display
• 4 row QWERTY keyboard
• 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor with 768MB of RAM
• VGA Front Camera, 8MP main camera with LED flash and video capture
• 14.4 HSPA+ radio

Source: TmoNews via BGR