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Virgin Mobile USA foretells unlimited prepaid mobile broadband for $40 a month (update)
Whereas AT&T's move to tiered smartphone data pricing signaled "the end of unlimited" to some, Sprint subsidiary Virgin Mobile USA has just defied that notion with an all-you-can-eat broadband buffet priced at $40 per month. First reported by IntoMobile and confirmed today on the carrier's Facebook page, the plan will replace existing $20, $40 and $60 monthly offerings that currently top out at just 5GB, so only those accustomed to paying $20 a month (for 300MB) won't get a totally sweet deal. As you can see above, the $10 for 100MB over 10 days plan will still stay pat, so you can still choose whether to sip or gulp down Sprint network packets when the plans purportedly go into effect on August 24th. Update: Virgin Mobile's PR department just let us know that there's been a slight delay with that spiffy new unlimited plan, namely that the company's website hasn't been updated to allow you to purchase the new service quite yet. They're telling us the offer should be up within the next 24 to 48 hours, and appear in retail stores in the weeks after that.
Verizon testing a $99 unlimited plan that simply matches Sprint's famous offering
Carriers test the waters on new plans all the time, but this new one from Verizon seems -- at least at cursory glance -- squarely aimed at its CDMA competitor. According to research from Current Analysis, the nation's top carrier is trying out an unlimited Nationwide Talk & Text plan for $69.99 in San Diego and Los Angeles retail outlets. That's $20 less than the current price, and coupled with a $29.99 data plan, we're looking at a monthly fee that's within pennies of Sprint's Simply Everything plan. As with other network trials, this one may never expand beyond certain test markets -- but needless to say, this seems to indicate Verizon's taking its smaller CDMA rival a whole lot more seriously. Amazing what a quarter of positive subscriber growth can do, isn't it?
Verizon switching to AT&T-style limited data plans later this month?
Hang on to your megabytes, folks, because it looks like the Brave New World of limited data is truly upon us. AT&T and Verizon tend to follow each others' moves pretty closely -- the two carriers regard each other as their nearest competitors, after all -- and we're hearing that Big Red intends to move to some sort of tiered bucket strategy on July 29. We don't have details on whether the pricing will be identical to AT&T's ($25 for 2GB, $15 for 200MB), but we imagine it'll be within shouting distance if not. Of course, Verizon has been sending this message for a long time -- even before AT&T was -- so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that this is going down. You might say that Droid Does Caps, eh? [Thanks, RBF]
Unlimited data option disappears from iPads, AT&T tells grandfathered customers not to worry
Even though AT&T's $30 unlimited data plan technically went the way of the dodo back on June 7, the company had assured 3G iPad owners that they'd be entitled to one last hurrah -- buy an iPad prior to the 7th and you'd be allowed to grandfather into the old plan, even if you didn't receive your purchase by the deadline. Problem is, the unlimited plan option finally disappeared off AT&T-connected iPads for the first time today, leaving some of these eligible folks who haven't yet signed up for 3G data in the lurch. Not to worry, though: AT&T says that everyone who's eligible "will be able to select the unlimited plan" and that "details will follow." In other words, we don't know how this is going to work yet, but at least the carrier's aware of the issue. Stay tuned.
Original iPhone owners can also keep their unlimited data with iPhone 4
Remember the original iPhone and its wicked-fast EDGE connection? Turns out being an early adopter has some value after all. Original iPhone users have been paying $20/month for unlimited 2G data and 200 text messages per month. Since AT&T is no longer offering new unlimited plans, I assumed that I would not be able to keep the unlimited data option when we upgraded my wife's original iPhone. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I upgraded her phone today and was presented with the option of keeping an unlimited data plan for $30/month. [This is also an option for 3G and 3GS owners who are grandfathered on the $30 unlimited data plan; however, you cannot add tethering to the $30 plan, only the $25 2GB plan. New iPhone purchases are only offered the $15 or $25 data plans. –Ed.] As an aside: you still have to choose a text message plan, which is a reminder that -- like the iPad -- AT&T very quickly changed the great data package for the original iPhone for a worse deal when the iPhone 3G came out ($30/month for 3G, but no included text messages). That said: if you don't use more than 2GB per month, you can save $5/month by using the new $25/month 2GB data plan, or the $15/month 200MB plan if you don't use much data at all. My wife and I don't send or receive many SMS/MMS messages, so I'm dropping both of those from our plans and going to a per-use plan. AT&T's per-use messaging costs are $0.20 for SMS and $0.30 for MMS, so assuming that I send/receive 25 SMS messages per month, I'll be saving money there too.
AT&T extends olive branch, will let all iPad orders before June 7 get $30 unlimited data plan
We'd previously heard some nasty rumors that Apple appeared to be delaying iPad shipments until June 7, ostensibly to prevent a bum rush of people grandfathering into AT&T's $30 unlimited dead-plan-walking. Whether that's really what was going on, we may never know -- but the carrier's making things right today by saying that it'll let anyone ordering an iPad prior to June 7 get in on the $30 plan whether they've received their unit or not (and let's be honest, if you order now, you're definitely not getting it by Monday). When asked for an exact cutoff time, AT&T told us that you can push it all the way to 11:59PM on the 6th, so procrastinate all you want, you... procrastinator, you.
Dan Hesse email: 'no current plans' to alter data pricing
Bypassing a company's power structure altogether and contacting the CEO directly is the vogue thing to do right now -- and in light of the AT&T incident this week, it probably behooves said CEOs (and / or their assistants) to earn some PR brownie points by responding with a positive attitude. Take this response from Sprint boss Dan Hesse, for example, in reply to a request that the company "keep [its] great pricing and customer service, and most importantly -- keep unlimited data." In short, Hesse says "one can never say 'never,' but [the company] has no current plans to change our pricing." That's certainly the "correct" thing to say coming off AT&T's big strategy shift toward killing unlimited and hints from Verizon that it'll do the same, but whether Sprint is able to hold the line when the WiMAX airwaves are flooded with EVO 4Gs and EVO 4G-like devices is another matter altogether. We'll see. [Thanks, Matt P.]
AT&T users can keep $30 unlimited data when upgrading phones... unless they want tethering
There's naturally been a ton of feedback in the past few hours on AT&T's new data pricing strategy, and the company has been responding to comments all morning over on its Facebook page; one of the key tidbits that's come out of the discussion so far is that folks on the current $30 smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan when upgrading hardware. Translation: yes, you'll be able to get a new iPhone without switching to the $25 / 2GB DataPro plan if you so choose. What you won't be able to do, though, is keep the $30 plan and add on the $20 tethering option -- tethering specifically requires DataPro, so your hopes and dreams of a soft 5GB cap are quashed (unless you want to pay $30 for 3GB of overage, of course). On a related note, we've been tipped that some folks' iPad orders from Apple have been pushed back to June 7 -- an interesting coincidence, considering that's when DataPlus and DataPro go live. If true, it's likely so that Apple can pre-install new orders with updated software for managing the new plans, but it's also a preemptive strike against a horde of people trying to grandfather into the $30 plan over the next few days. [Thanks, John and Aaron]
Verizon looking at non-unlimited plans for 4G data, will use LTE for voice by 2012
We'd not-so-secretly hoped that carriers would be looking to dispense with those troublesome 5GB caps on so-called "unlimited" 3G data plans, but there's a big problem with that: spectrum is still limited, and even though 4G technologies help use it more efficiently, it's still a constraint that the FCC is going to need many years to solve. We're not sure how much the spectrum crunch really factors in here, but in addition to his comments on Droid Incredible inventory problems, Verizon Wireless boss Lowell McAdam mentioned at a Barclays Capital conference this week that he hopes to move away from unlimited plans altogether for the company's LTE network, instead charging for "buckets" of megabytes, just like in the olden days -- despite the fact that it'll cost it a half to a third of what it costs today to transmit the same amount of data. On a happier note, McAdam said that the company expects to be using its LTE network for voice by 2012, which comes just after its first volley of LTE-capable handsets in early 2011. He also mentioned that at least some of those devices will be shown off at CES 2011, and naturally, we'll be there -- not just to check out the phones, but to raise some hell at the notion that unlimited data is a thing of the past. At this rate, how are we ever going to run the Engadget servers on a wireless connection?
T-Mobile rolls out fresh unlimited prepaid voice and text plans
So those rumored new prepaid options for T-Mobile's American customers have turned out to be delightfully legit, and they're being made available pronto. To be specific, there are two new options coming into the fold: a $50 unlimited voice and text plan along with a $15 unlimited messaging plan that lumps in voice for 10 cents a minute -- potentially perfect for those of us who've migrated a solid 90 percent of our communication from calling to texting. It's also similar in theory to a plan being floated by Sprint's Common Cents Mobile, offering the same deal for $20 plus 7 cents per minute with its round-down feature -- in other words, Common Cents is probably the better option among the two if you do significantly more calling, though you'll be stuck with a bargain-basement selection of CDMA handsets. Both of T-Mobile's new options go live this Wednesday.
Boost Mobile sweetens unlimited plans with free 411, adds Samsung Rant this month
Boost is already known for offering up one of the more aggressive prepaid unlimited plans in the industry, pushing all-you-can-eat voice, messaging, and web for $50 a month -- but it's upping the ante just a tad today on news that customers of both its $50 plan and its $60 BlackBerry plan now have free access to 411 information, instant messaging, and email. Then again, it seems like we're past the point where carriers should be differentiating between types of data, but the fact that Boost offers dumbphones almost exclusively across its range gives it more leeway than most for this sort of stratification. Oh, and to take advantage of the new hotness, Boost would like to cordially invite customers to take a look at the Samsung Rant, a device that actually launched a good long while ago on Sprint but now makes its way over to Boost on May 19 for $149.99 (contract-free, of course). The landscape slider's got full QWERTY, EV-DO, a 2 megapixel cam, microSD support up to 16GB, and an analog of Sprint's own One Click UI. Like red? Good, 'cause it's launching in red. Follow the break for Boost's full press release.
Gigantic ASUS periodical reveals and specs numerous new laptops
Curious what's inside a new ASUS laptop? Then Notebook Review has the treat for you -- earlier this month, forumite David took the time to download the company's massive 108MB ASUS World Magazine PDF and laid out the spec sheets for not one, not two, but a veritable smörgåsbord of potent portables. There's 36 in all; we've told you about some of them before, to be sure -- but others are getting solid specs for the first time, and there are even a few diamonds in the rough. Enough chit-chat, on with the show! U-series: Otherwise known as ASUS' Bamboo Collection, the U-series laptops were highlighted at CES, where we discovered they would have Core i5 CPUs and USB 3.0 support. Well, that's not the whole story. They've also all got NVIDIA Optimus auto-switching graphics between an onboard Intel GMA HD and the GeForce 310M 1GB. Oh, and forget Core i5 -- these machines support processors all the way up to the 2.66GHz Core i7-620M. Highlight: The U30JC, with a combo Blu-ray drive and a chiclet keyboard that won a iF Product Design Award. UL-series: ASUS for "UnLimited," you can read UL as "ultra low," as in Intel's ultra low voltage (ULV) processors that provide 8+ hours of battery life and let these notebooks stay cool despite being under an inch thin. We saw the UL80JT sport NVIDIA Optimus at CES and got hands-on with the Optimus-equipped UL50VF; now, the UL30JT now has it as well. Highlight: That same UL50VF, with an estimated 12+ hours of battery life. More after the break -- save pricing and availability, unfortunately -- or feel free to hit up the source link to download the entire electronic magazine for yourself. %Gallery-89273%
Ovi Music Unlimited replacing Nokia Comes with Music branding
We can't say that we'll miss the awkwardly named Comes with Music service branding from Nokia. Of course, we're making the assumption that India's recently christened Ovi Music Unlimited store will be making its way global as Nokia continues to tighten up its service offerings in the race to compete in the era of modern smartphones. It's certainly consistent with the new Ovi Music naming convention so why not. Otherwise, it looks like nothing else about the all you can eat (for a year) music offering has changed -- particularly the DRM that locks "your" music to your PC or CWM OMU handsets for life-ish.
MOG bringing unlimited music streaming to iPhone and Android, Rhapsody taking iPhone music offline
While we all wait patiently for Apple to concoct its own subscription-based, unlimited music streaming service (hello, Lala acquisition!), MOG is jumping on the opportunity right away. Er, almost right away. Down in Austin this week, the company announced that an iPhone and Android app would be out "in early Q2" in order to bring unlimited music streaming to both operating systems for $10 per month. We're told that a catalog of seven million songs will be available, but there's no way to know if 6.99 million are of the "no one cares" variety. At any rate, your monthly fee will also allow unlimited streaming from the desktop, but alas, you'll be left with nothing but hollow memories should you ever stop ponying up. In related news, Rhapsody has announced (video after the break) that offline playback support is coming to the iPhone, with the updated app expected to be passed along for Apple's confirmation "shortly." Granted, the Rhapsody to Go subscription is $5 per month more than MOG's option, but with all this competition popping up, we wouldn't be shocked to see that slide lower in due time.
US Cellular launches national unlimited plan for $70
US Cellular's sounding like it wants to play with the big boys on news that it'll be charging a full $69.99 for its just-introduced unlimited individual plan -- the exact same that AT&T and Verizon are charging now that they've just slashed pricing. It's pretty interesting to see one of the smaller regional carriers dare to suggest that it can charge the same as the two typically regarded as the States' "premium" networks -- but then again, US Cellular's got a battery swap program, so there's your value-add right there. Along with the individual deal, there's also a new family unlimited plan for $119.99; in both cases, you'll need to tack on text and data packages separately.
AT&T messes with plans in wake of Verizon's moves, slashes unlimited voice pricing
Sprint's talking about it, but AT&T's straight-up doing something about Verizon's plan adjustments this morning with a series of its own tweaks this afternoon. Starting Monday, January 18 (conveniently the same day that Verizon's changes go live), unlimited talk will run $69.99 on individual plans, a nice little cut of $30 against the $99.99 the carrier charges today; family unlimited, meanwhile, comes in at $119.99. Unlimited talk and text costs another $20 on top of unlimited talk alone -- no change from the current add-on pricing. Similarly, unlimited talk plus smartphone data goes for $99.99, meaning that you're paying $30 for the data package -- exactly the same as you're paying now, so really, this all boils down to a big adjustment in what carriers across the board are charging for voice. The principles of Econ 101 have us believe that voice isn't as popular as it used to be -- we are now sending billions upon billions of texts, after all -- and as we ease off the voice infrastructure, it makes sense that these guys would want to upsell everyone into unlimited plans (remember that we're living in an "all you can eat" kind of nation) while still banking big on precious kilobytes and characters. Well played, AT&T; you too, Verizon. Well played, indeed.
Sprint wastes no time touting its unlimited plans over Verizon's
Not since AT&T called an audible to offer unlimited voice the same day as Verizon have we seen this kind of hustle out of a big-four carrier -- though it's only ending in hastily-prepared PR this time around, not any material changes in calling plans. Sprint is countering Verizon's new offerings announced this morning with a release of its own, running the numbers to find that its Everything Data plans at the 450, 700, and unlimited voice bucket levels should save users about $240 a year against Big Red, while comparing Sprint's 1,500-minute family plan with unlimited data to Verizon's 1,400-minute plan yields savings of about $600 annually. For better or worse, Verizon and AT&T have historically viewed themselves as "premium" nationals with justification for charging higher rates than smaller rivals Sprint and T-Mobile -- but depending on where you go, what you do, and how you use the service, the cheaper guys could end up working every bit as well, if not better.
Verizon announces Nationwide Unlimited Talk and Talk & Text plans
Yesterday we heard some rumblings about Verizon making alterations to its calling plans, and wouldn't you know it, here's the official PR setting the record straight. Firstly, there's an Unlimited Talk plan for $69.99 per month, which can be augmented with free text, picture, and video messaging by moving up to the Unlimited Talk & Text plan at $89.99. Family SharePlan varieties -- which cover the service costs for the first two lines -- are also going to be available, priced at $119.99 for Talk and $149.99 for Talk & Text. Monthly Unlimited Prepaid options complete the new unveilings, costing $5 more than contract-bound subscribers would have to pay -- i.e. $74.99 and $94.99. A less happy rumor confirmation is that all but the simplest of phones will require a $9.99 25MB mobile data add-on, while smartphone owners will have to pony up $29.99 for the Unlimited mobile data stuff. All these changes are coming into effect on January 18, as speculated, though current Verizon customers won't be affected unless they opt to move to one of the new plans. Hit the read link for the full announcement and more details.
Verizon CTO: flat-rate data 'isn't long-term sustainable'
We'd secretly hoped that 4G would spell the end of 5GB caps on so-called "unlimited" plans, but the problem is that new categories of wireless devices are coming into the mix so quickly that we're likely going to get crunched no matter how advanced the technology -- hence the FCC's pleas to free up spectrum. Echoing comments made recently by AT&T Mobility head Ralph de la Vega, Verizon CTO Dick Lynch is saying that he doesn't see how they'll be able to offer an all-you-can-eat plan when the company's LTE network goes live over the course of the next few years, citing its open development initiative as a key reason -- it's losing control over what devices (and what kinds of devices) can get on its network, raising the odds that there'll be gadgets that incur particularly heavy use. It's a disappointing line for the company to take, but possibly a necessary evil in a truly wireless world. Long-term, the FCC and FTC might need to take a good, hard look at real-time network utilization to verify that Verizon's pricing is in line with its claimed usage, but for now, let's hope we don't all get priced out of our MiFis.
Simple Mobile springs to life with $40 unlimited voice plan?
The once-burgeoning MVNO industry may be down, but it's not out -- apparently -- on news today that newcomer Simple Mobile is planning to offer GSM-based contract-free plans ranging from $40 for unlimited voice to $50 for unlimited voice and text plus a meager 20MB of data per month (you can upgrade to 40MB for another $5 a month). In theory, it sounds brilliant -- all-you-can-eat minutes, no contracts, bring your own phone (if you don't want one of the six snoozers they offer directly) -- but we can't find a way to sign up for the service, so this might devolve into another Zer01-esque debacle unless we actually hear of people using and enjoying it. It's clearly not for data-heavy folks, but if this pans out, we can see it stealing some business from the regional value leaders like Cricket at the very least. [Via Phone Scoop]
