Telecom: For a cool $67 billion AT&T will buy BellSouth. As a new company, AT&T will more quickly develop IPTV services by combining AT&T’s research and development with BellSouth’s fiber-optic networks for broadband services. Business users will benefit from the local exchanges, AT&T says. Wireless: RIM and NTP, meanwhile, settled their patent dispute and a service shutdown has been avoided; and Ephraim Schwartz looks at the real story behind the RIM and NTP battle. Security: “Any OS is hackable.” Roger Grimes kicks off his blog entry Mac hacked in 30 seconds with that acknowledgement. And even though the contest Grimes links to doesn’t mean much, “I’m pointing out that Macs have many exploits yet to be discovered and aren’t mysteriously MORE SECURE than Windows,” he maintains. Special report: While voice-over-IP has countless benefits, it’s by no means easy. But calling a provider can make VoIP a reality. “If you decide to go the hosted way, you’re taking all the headaches off premises,” points out IDC analyst William Stofega, in VoIP on demand. Best of the blogs: Bob Garza has a video of a FedEx smartcard exploit. “The attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can, anonymously, add value to a smartcard up to roughly $300 and then cash out that value,” Garza points out. Check out the video here. Product previews: We take a glimpse at Near-Time blogs and wikis, Symantec gateway security, Entuity’s Eye of the Storm, and Optovia’s SpanExpress, in this week’s installment. Technology Industry