5GB
Latest
LG launches LG Cloud, blows raspberries at S-Cloud
Four days before the purported launch of Samsung's cloud service, Korea's other technology giant has unveiled LG Cloud. The eponymous service offers 5GB free space as standard, while owners of LG's Smart TVs or smartphones will get 50GB free for six months. It'll push content between your devices, appropriately compressed for the medium, so high definition images on your TV will be slimmed down to save your phone's data cap. The free beta begins in South Korea and the US from May 1st, with a global rollout pencilled in for next year -- but don't worry, the company made it clear you'll be able to use it on your holidays, if you can find a signal.
AT&T adds a throttling limit of 3GB for iPhone owners on unlimited plan
AT&T announced on Thursday that it now has a policy for throttling users on unlimited data plans. According to an AT&T statement relayed by Ars Technica, the wireless carrier will begin to throttle customers with a 3G/HSPA+ handset at 3 GB and 4G LTE handset owners at 5 GB. This new 3 GB soft cap will affect iPhone owners who have clung to their unlimited plan. This change in policy follows a recent small claims court lawsuit in which iPhone owner Matt Spaccarelli was awarded $850 for being throttled at 2 GB on an unlimited plan.
Dropbox offers up to 5GB of free space to anyone willing to go beta
Here's some good news for all you Dropboxers out there: the company is offering a bundle of free storage space to anyone who tries the beta version of its new Experimental software. It's really quite simple: just download the test program, upload a photo, and instantly get 500MB of free storage. Upload another photo or video, and an additional 500MB will magically appear at your doorstep. The idea is to test out the beta software's new photo and video uploader, which automatically pulls media from any camera, smartphone or SD card and drops it in the cloud. Free space is limited to 5GB per user, and there's an inherent risk to testing any unfinished product, but those willing to make the leap can find all the requisite materials and information at the source link, below.
Sprint reportedly capping its mobile hotspot plans October 2nd
If Sprint's myriad policy changes are part of the company's strategy update, perhaps we're not looking forward to October 7th's event after all. The latest bout in a series of gut-punching cost-cutting moves is the elimination of "unlimited" in the Now Network's $30 mobile hotspot add-on; according to a leaked employee memo uncovered by SprintFeed, October 2nd is the dreadful date in which all users who have the add-on (sorry Sprintsters, there's no grandfathering) will be given a limit of 5GB, and any overage will be charged five cents per MB. It appears that only phones will be affected, leaving tableteurs safe for now. So if you're currently using the hotspot feature, enjoy the last few solid days of sweet downloading while you can. Update: To clarify, this change will only be affecting users who have the mobile hotspot add-on; as the screenshot confirms, on-phone data use (as well as dedicated mobile broadband packages) will remain unlimited.
AT&T adding $35 3GB plan, cutting 5GB plan to $50 for LaptopConnect devices
We're still mourning the untimely death of unlimited data, but the good news is that carriers are still playing with plan pricing to figure out what the market will bear -- and in at least some cases, it's for the cheaper. AT&T's on the verge of revising its 5GB LaptopConnect plan (the type of plan you use on USB modems and MiFis) down from $60 to $50 per month with overage now $10 per 1GB rather than $0.05 per MB previously -- $50 per GB. Additionally, the old 200MB plan for $35 is being replaced with a "promotional" 3GB plan at the same price (also with $10 per 1GB overage), though no expiration date has been put in place just yet. The changes dovetail conveniently with the recent tethering / mobile hotspot boost to 4GB, and might even suggest a boost in AT&T's confidence over its network as it starts upgrading to HSPA+ nationwide. [Thanks, Amg]
Sprint falls in line, caps "unlimited" data at 5GB
We guess we all knew this was coming, granted, but it's still a sad day whenever you see another carrier fall to the dreaded "unlimited" ambiguity syndrome. Following Verizon's and AT&T's leads, Sprint is the latest to declare that unlimited does not, in fact, mean unlimited when it comes to data card usage -- it turns out that 5GB should be quite enough for you, apparently. Taking a page out of their rivals' books, Sprint "reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred and to deny, terminate, modify, or suspend service" if that soft cap is violated (or you exceed 300MB of data while roaming) once their Terms of Service are modified on July 13. TOS modifications are famously ripe opportunities for escaping out of contracts, so if this leaves a bad taste in your mouth, feel free to try to get out in a couple months -- not to say there's hardly any carrier out there that's friendlier to heavy data users at this point.[Thanks, Croft]
