With some Apple Watch Series 3 models gaining cellular support, the big unknown from Apple's event was the cost of that add-on to users' existing phone plans. We've now had that answer as AT&T and Verizon have revealed to The Street that they will both charge $10 per month. T-Mobile also confirmed to iDB reader Matthew M. that the carrier will also be charging $10 per month.
Cellular data is one of those things we seem to always use regularly, but fail to keep track of as efficiently as we could. This becomes a problem when you swear your data provider is over-charging you for your data usage.
A new free jailbreak tweak called DetailedCellularUsage by TheComputerWhisperer helps reveal some of the gray areas where iOS uses your cellular data and doesn’t report it in the Settings app.
Verizon on Tuesday announced that it's launching a new unlimited data plan for its prepaid customers. Starting today you can activate the plan, which features unlimited data, talk and text, for $80 per month.
“In just months, Verizon has transformed its prepaid offerings to make it easier and more affordable for customers to get access to the best network at a great value, no matter how much data they need,” said Tami Erwin, executive vice president of operations for Verizon. “This plan is all about giving our prepaid customers more choice. With data plans from as little as 2 GB to unlimited data, we’ve got a plan that fits your needs.”
In addition to the 2GB and unlimited plans, Verizon offers a 5GB plan for $50 and a 10GB plan for $70. Each of these plans include Always-On Data, international text to over 200 countries, and CarryOver data.
Today's news comes less than a week after Verizon announced it lost nearly 300,000 postpaid subscribers during its first quarter. The carrier pointed to its lack of unlimited offerings as the biggest factor in the slide.
Source: Verizon
If you're a heavy Twitter user whose device is running low on storage and you'd like to reduce data usage in the mobile Twitter app, the company today announced a new solution that may interest you, aptly named Twitter Lite. It's a client-side Progressive Web App written in JavaScript and running in Safari on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Taking up only one megabyte of storage on your device, Twitter Lite loads in under five seconds on a 3G cellular connection and can save up to 70 percent on data.
GigSky is now offering its data plans in over 180 countries on Apple SIM, plus great new pricing, the company announced Tuesday. GigSky in the summer of 2016 expanded its service to more than 140 countries worldwide, meaning their affordable mobile data plans for iPad users with Apple SIM are now available in about 40 new markets versus last summer.
Stream Saver is a new feature from AT&T that allows users to save cellular data by automatically streaming higher definition videos at a standard definition (480p). This feature has now officially been rolled out to all AT&T customers that are on a voice + data plan.
While Stream Saver can be a great feature if you're on a limited data plan, it can also be overkill if you have a large data cap, or even an unlimited one. If you fall under that category and want to keep enjoying videos you stream in their full resolution, it may not be a bad idea to disable Stream Saver which has been turned on by default for all eligible AT&T customers.
AT&T on Thursday announced that it is expanding its unlimited data plan offering to all customers. Starting tomorrow, all customers will be able to get unlimited talk, text and data on 4 lines for $180.
The move follows a similar one by the carrier's close competitor Verizon, who announced its own unlimited data plan earlier this week, and comes amidst strong pressure from both T-Mobile and Sprint.
Verizon is no longer the only major US carrier without an unlimited data plan. As announced yesterday, the carrier's newly launched Unlimited plan gives you unlimited 4G data, texts and minutes on a single smartphone or tablet in exchange for $80 per month, or $45 per month for four lines ($180 total).
Those prices entail paper-free billing and AutoPay and exclude taxes. It's unclear if Verizon's access fees of $20 per month per smartphone and $10 per month per tablet apply to the new plan.
Like with other carriers, you don't really get truly unlimited data: consume more than 22 gigabytes of 4G LTE data per line in any given month and the system begins prioritizing usage behind other customers in the event of network congestion. For a limited time only, the big red carrier is offering a free iPhone 7/Plus, Google Pixel or another flagship smartphone to those who'd switch to the new plan.
Yesterday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Qualcomm with monopolizing baseband modems used in smartphones, basically saying the company bribed Apple into not making a WiMAX iPhone in exchange for better royalties. The chip maker in a subsequent press release denied any wrongdoing, saying the FTC doesn't really understand how the mobile industry works.
Now we know why Apple has made the controversial decision to dual-source baseband modem chips for iPhone 7 from both Intel and Qualcomm. Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Qualcomm with monopolizing baseband modems used in smartphones, saying the firm's leveraged its position to force Apple to use its baseband chips in exchange for lower patent royalties.
Super Mario Run is one of the biggest hit games to launch on the App Store this year, and although it’s getting a lot of attention from both Nintendo and Super Mario fans, it also comes with a big caveat: it requires an active internet connection.
For anyone who plays the game at home on Wi-Fi, this isn’t a big deal. Unfortunately, if you’re relying on a cellular data network to play, then you might end up using more data than you’ve bargained for.
Learn how to save bandwidth and reduce cellular data usage on the official X (Twitter) app and website by turning on the data saver option.