If you're not in the UK, chances are that you haven't really paid attention to the teeny, tiny fact that Nokia's long-awaited Comes With Music download service launched today. Regardless of your ignorance to the facts, the all-you-can-eat music service has been activated for users across the pond who forked over the poundage for a CwM-equipped 5310 XpressMusic. Early impressions are actually pretty great, with critics finding themselves pleasantly surprised with just how intuitive the navigation was. MusicAlly did point out that these "free" tunes weren't transferable to blank CDs -- when they tried, they got a message notifying them of epic failure. At any rate, the reviews are sure looking good for Nokia right out of the gate, though only time will tell if people will take notice and buy into yet another music service.

[Via CNET]

Read - MusicAlly impressions
Read - NetworkWorld impressions

Why the long face, Sony Ericsson? Is it the fact that your revenue and market share are in the crapper? Do Sir Howie's words have you a bit on edge? Oh, wait, wait, don't tell us -- we know what it is! You just spent all this time, money, and elbow grease prepping your PlayNow Arena music purchase service for launch, and you're just a little worried that Nokia might upstage you with its fancy (though questionably-profitable) Comes With Music initiative. It looks like you might already be looking into patching that up, though, if a Financial Times report is spot-on that has you announcing your own unlimited download service later this month. Word on the street is that you already have deals locked up with EMI, Sony BMG (no shocker there), Warner, and a handful of indies, but Universal's holding out on you. Nokia was able to get Universal on board, so odds are you'll be able to, too -- or at least you better be able to if you want to make a serious play at the big boys.

[Via mocoNews]

Verizon Wireless has been slow to catch up with the smartphone data access plans offered by competing carriers, with premium prices and some confusing options, but things are taking a real turn for the better. The new "E-mail and Web for Smartphone" plan goes for a mere $30 a month when paired with a qualifying voice plan, and is available with the SMT5800, XV6800 and the MOTO Q9m, with other devices to hop on board in the coming months. Verizon's press release is very careful to tout unlimited email and web browsing, not data, and we have a feeling Verizon will be clamping down pretty hard on anybody trying to tether with this plan.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

After yesterday's barrage of unlimited calling plans left us all terribly underwhelmed, it seems as if Sprint is hoping to emerge as the knight in shining armor by undercutting the oh-so-popular $99 price point. According to unspecified "analysts," the carrier is gearing up to "offer flat-rate calling plans at up to a 40-percent discount to its rivals," meaning that yappers could talk 'til their batteries died (and then some) for around $60 a month. Of course, Sprint has yet to confirm nor deny the reports, but we're all for a price war in the cellular space, regardless.

We had a sneaking suspicion that the lineup of unlimited plans we got wind of earlier this week was just a bit too good to be true, and sure enough, it was. Now that Verizon's Unlimited Plans have gone official right on cue, we're left with three general plans that can each have additional lines tacked on for more dough. The $99 / month Basic Plan seems to include limitless calling only (read: messaging of all types and data still cost extra), while the Select Plan ($119.99 per month) throws in messaging but still demands $1.99 per MB of data. The Premium Plan is the one that's really attractive, offering up unlimited everything (for all intents and purposes) for $139.99 per month or $269.99 for two lines. Needless to say, we're a bit let down, but you can hit up the read link for more details on what's offered.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We've gotten a flood of tips that the notoriously miserly Verizon is lining things up to offer unlimited calling plans. Starting Tuesday the 19th (of this month) should see the following plans sprout up:

• $100 - Nationwide Unlimited (voice)
• $120 - Nationwide Select Unlimited (voice, SMS, MMS)
• $140 - Nationwide Premium (voice, SMS, MMS, VZNav, VCAST, email)
• $150 - Nationwide Email and Messaging (voice, SMS, MMS, and data)
• $170 - Nationwide Global Email and Messaging (voice, SMS, MMS, and international data)
• $200 - Family plan with two lines, $100 per additional line.

That's not all though. There are even more perks and benefits in store for premium-paying unlimited users:

• 5GB cap on data is out
• No contract extension for current customers
• Available on one or two year agreements
• All plans include Mobile Web 2.0 portal access (skip it)
• No roaming or long distance

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Took long enough for the limited offering to go national, didn't it? Unlimited everything, the holy grail of phone plans, is now available everywhere at Sprint. The Sprint-powered Helio has had an unlimited everything for a while now, and just cut the price to $99 a month, while other carriers have piecemeal "unlimited" offerings like text messaging or in-network calling, but Sprint is the first of the big four to offer a true unlimited everything plan. For $119.99 a month you get unlimited voice, texting, web, email and picture mail, though no mention is made of MMS. The plan should be available now.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Update: We've just been told that the Unlimited Access Pack is still restricted to four markets -- San Francisco, Philadelphia, Tampa, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. To folks in those towns, we envy you. To everyone else, our apologies!

After Verizon's ambiguousness ended up hitting it right where it hurts (read: the wallet), the carrier cleaned up its act a bit and redefined "unlimited" in a hot-off-the-press version of its Terms & Conditions. While perusing through the legalese, you'll notice that checking out "continuous web camera posts or broadcasts / automatic data feeds (RSS)" are strictly prohibited, right along with P2P sharing or using your BroadbandAccess as a "substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections." Moving on, you'll also see that exceeding 5GB of usage during any single billing period gives Verizon the right to "reduce throughput speeds of any application that would otherwise exceed such speed to a maximum of approximately 200Kbps." It gets worse -- these speeds are (unsurprisingly) "subject to change," so it sounds like your connection can be throttled right on down to a crawl should you pass the 5GB barrier. Have fun!*

[Via jkOnTheRun]

*...just keep it under 5GB if you know what's good for you.

Regrettably, Verizon Wireless isn't the only carrier out there that once (or still does) recognized a mighty skewed definition of "unlimited" when it came to data plans, but for those still jaded from being cut off for "excessive use" earlier this year, justice has finally been served. The company has recently agreed to "reimburse the terminated subscribers for the cost of the laptop cards or laptop-connected cellphones" they purchased in order to surf the mobile broadband highway, and moreover, it'll be shelling out $150,000 in "penalties and costs" to New York state. Of course, the firm now makes clear that BroadbandAccess customers can be snubbed if they continuously stream audio / video content, enable P2P sharing or exceed 5GB of data usage per month, but it sounds like reimbursement is on the way for those disconnected when terms were more ambiguous.