February 11, 2012

4G: Is It Really A Standard If No One Cares?

The battle for 4G is heating up, but no one's actually using 4G technology!

Americans have terrible mobile broadband network infrastructure, yet our service providers make it sound awesome. Now that 2 of our 4 national wireless providers now offer 4G service, one might conclude that the United States is awash in mobile broadband. But neither of these supposed 4G offerings is anywhere near fast enough to meet the ITU standards for 4G, and even our 3G networks woefully under-perform vendor promises. With no teeth in “truth-in-advertising” laws, it begs the question of what these supposed standards really mean.

How Apple Will Get Their Mobile Phone Mojo Back From AT&T

The Carrier We Shagged

Apple has taken a beating from the “in crowd” lately. In the mind of these technophiles, they’ve gone from hip to evil in just a few years. While Apple is lambasted for turning the iPhone “walled garden” into a jail, Google is applauded as the new bastion of openness and geek friendliness. This criticism focuses on the iPhone, especially with regard to the despised American mobile carrier, AT&T. But Apple is a long way from the evil empire it’s accused of being, and is showing signs that it will soon retake its mojo from the carriers.

AT&T Is Desperate: iPhone Upgrades For Everyone!

Are you upgrade-eligible? AT&T made me eligible after less than 8 months!

Nobody doubts that Steve Jobs will announce a fourth-generation iPhone at WWDC 2010 tomorrow, but the delivery date remains unclear. It must be soon, though, because AT&T is pulling major shenanigans with their customer contracts! They recently changed the early-termination clause and replaced unlimited data with less-expensive tiered options. And now AT&T is aggressively accelerating upgrade eligibility!

The End of Unlimited Data – Part 2: Who’s Being Subsidized?

Expensive unlimited data plans enrich the carriers and benefit few customers

The end of unlimited data is nigh! As I discussed in yesterday’s post, AT&T’s announcement of limited data packages at lower prices has everyone up in arms. But the switch to a-la carte data is a positive move for everyone involved, including AT&T, the customer, and the US wireless phone industry as a whole.

The End of Unlimited Data – Part 1: The Buffet

Buffet-style pricing for wireless data is coming to an end

The headlines are all over the blogs: AT&T announced today that they are doing away with “unlimited” data plans and replacing them with limited packages at lower prices. I’m not going to repeat the news – Boy Genius Report has the best overview I’ve seen. Instead, I’m going to explain why I think this is a positive move for everyone involved, including AT&T, the customer, and the US wireless phone industry as a whole. This first post talks about the buffet mentality that got us here.

AT&T iPhone Users: Activate A-List and Save Money

If you have a job like mine, you spend a lot of time on conference calls. Thankfully, AT&T has added a new calling feature, A-List, which gives you unlimited calling to a set of numbers you designate. This has saved me a bundle on overages, but it’s not exactly well-known. Just about all American iPhone users can benefit from this feature, but it’s not turned on by default!

The Dark Side of Unlimited Mobile Phone Plans

“Unlimited” is the new black for mobile phone operators (at least until the iPhone Black is released in two weeks), but what are the implications for consumers?  After a surprise overage of $150 last month, I found out!  It seems that I’ve been burning up the airwaves with calls lately, and my rollover pool dried [...]

2008 – The Year the US Mobile Phone Market Normalizes

Rather than making a ton of predictions about the coming year, I’m going to make one big one: 2008 will be the year that the mobile phone market in the USA finally opens up, catching up to the standards of the rest of the world. For the first time, the average American will be able [...]