New York

AT&T announced this week that the company has the company has strengthened its signal in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut tri-state region and that further nationwide network improvements are also planned. According to AppleInsider, the wireless carrier said that it has deployed spectrum in the 850MHz across "large portions" of New York City, Long Island and New Jersey, and customers in that area will have better reception and speed, as well as better coverage indoors. The company noted that the 850MHz spectrum used is considered "high quality," and has been enabled for 3G use at more than 1,600 cell sites in the New York metropolitan area.

Reports coming in from iPhone owners in New York City and the San Francisco Bay areas that much-needed improvements in the quality of AT&T's 3G network have begun to appear according to reports received by Electronista and TechCrunch. Recently, AT&T spokesman Seth Bloom recently indicated that parts of New York City have received 3G over the 850MHz frequency on their network and that some users are noticing a much more reliable signal than they have before. Which areas have been upgraded haven't been detailed, nor has the timetable for remaining updates.

The iPhone 3G launch is about 1 week away and people have started lining up outside Apple's flagship store in New York. Apparently the family at the front of the line are standing there in an attempt to break a world record for standing in line. The folks at Engadget got a chance to talk with him which you can check out on Viddler
[via GearDiary]