In my write-up, I walked through this character string, eliminated the extraneous characters, and posited a theory about what it might be.

In short, this has nothing to do with your phone. The numbers reference individual Facebook accounts and this string returns the name of the person associated with that account. And, they go far beyond 3 digits.

For example, my Facebook account number is: 722324163. Let’s plug that number into the character string as a status and see what happens: @[722324163:0]

Hit “Post”. And we get this:

Simple enough. You get a persons name. And since it is my own account, I get it as a clickable link. If it is not your own, or someone you are Facebook friends with. You get a name, but not linked.

You can have fun playing with other numbers before the colon. One of the more fun names we found was with the single-digit number “4″. Entered as: @[4:0]

Hit “Post”. And we get this:

The lower numbers have consistently returned names of people who attended Harvard in 2004, the earliest Facebook accounts.

Apparently, this thing is still rolling. Mashable reported on it this afternoon.

As of now, there are three tablets available for purchase:

Acer Iconia 7 inch Tablet 8GB – $329

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer 16 GB – $399

Samsung Galaxy Tab 16GB – $499

The games which will come pre-loaded are: Dead Space ($9.99), Re-Load , Sonic CD (exclusive release), Monster Madness ($0.99), Riptide GP ($4.99), and Cordy. Altogether, that’s $16 worth of free games. It should also be noted that Sonic CD is an exclusive Gamestop Android Tablet release; the game will come out for other devices sometime in December.

Along with these titles, Gamestop is offering an app linked to their website, Kongregate. Over 600 free games are available to play on the site, which was purchased by Gamestop last year. For those who are really into gaming on their tablets, Gamestop is selling a Bluetooth wireless gaming controller for $39.

This new initiative is another step in the company’s shift towards mobile, and tablet based gaming. Earlier this year, they announced a new trade-in service for iOS devices. They’ve begun to sell these refurbished units already, so it makes you wonder if they’ll start offering deals like this for iOS devices.

The reason for the mammoth spending is it would provide Sprint an exclusive launch of the iPhone 5. Meaning, at the Apple event, on October 4th, Apple will be announcing the iPhone 4S for AT&T and Verizon, while Sprint will enjoy the initial release of iPhone 5 all by themselves. The article states an interesting caveat concerning the deal; the exclusivity would only run until the first quarter of next year.

Would a 3-4 month exclusive iPhone 5 launch be worth $20 billion? Tell us.

Along with the news, BGR also added some interesting tech specs for the handset:

- Large 4-inch screen, similar to LG’s NOVA hi-res display
- 1GB RAM
- 32GB storage
- Slightly larger design, but skinnier and a larger battery

As with all iPhone 5 rumors, this is all speculation and trusting that someone’s “inside source” is correct. If it turns out to be true, this has the potential for a huge shake-up in the mobile world. Will the exclusive release for a few months be enough to make up a $20 billion paycheck? A transaction that BGR states would lose them money until 2014.

Now comes the rumor that in the next 18 months the iPhone should be available on most major carriers thus breaking away from its AT&T exclusivity contract (read: stranglehold) that has been the bane of many iPhone users existence. If this is truly the case then there may be some considerable change on the Verizon, oops, I meant horizon.

This makes sense for Apple since the other rumors are that Android devices are a real threat to the iPhone dynasty. eWeek reports

Is Jan. 27 the day Apple introduces its anticipated tablet — and AT&T’s exclusive relationship with Apple’s iPhone comes to an end?

According to Hot Hardware, which cites an “inside source,” the latter is seeming likely — though news of which additional carrier or carriers will gain access to the iPhone is still unknown.

Verizon Wireless has been rumored for some time to be on line for an iPhone — a scenario that analyst have called a positive one for Apple — while others have said that Verizon may also be first in line for the Apple tablet.

The move would entail Apple releasing either a CDMA-based version of the iPhone, or a single, updated iPhone that could run on both networks.

No matter what the scenarios that are played out there are plenty of people who are right on the edge of moving to some Android device but have been holding off in hopes of the iPhone escaping the bondage of its AT&T deal. Everyone wants to see it happen except, of course, AT&T. Whether the network criticisms of AT&T are real or not there could be an exodus to other networks if the iPhone can be had someplace else.

For me this may delay my plans to move away from the BlackBerry to an Android device on Verizon. This kind of a result could be just as much of a reason for Apple to make this happen than anything else. If they could slow the adoption rate of the Android smartphones with just the prospect of the iPhone showing up on other networks then that in and of itself is a victory.

So if you are an iPhone user would you jump ship to get on another network if the iPhone were there? And for you folks like me who are not currently an iPhone user what are your plans for the next smartphone you purchase?

If this happens then this should be very interesting for everyone from users to marketers. Your take?

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