AT&T Shakes Up Data Plans, But At What Cost?

In the first significant shake-up of the mobile data market, AT&T has revamped data plan offers for smartphones and tablets. The general impact of the changes (to be launched on Sunday) is to increase the general bucket sizes that customers must purchase (with a price increase to go along with it).

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CES 2012: Cloud-Made Handcuffs

In the past, carriers and Internet service providers had multiple tools to ensure that I remained a loyal citizen of their domain. In the early days of the Internet, the easiest way to get an email address was from my service provider, and once I began to use and distribute this email address, the thought of moving to an alternative broadband provider was delayed by the thought of how painful it would be to switch my email address.
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CES 2012: Smartphone Apps to Help and Hinder Retail

Retail shopping solutions are making their presence felt at CES as either a cooperative offering, or in competition with the brick and mortar stores. Following a holiday period where Amazon (and others) began actively pushing smartphone-based price comparison tools, the timing is opportune for retailers – and consumers – to begin considering how the connected device will aid next generation shopping experiences.
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The 15 Year Emergency Phone Announced at CES 2012

SpareOne has announced what may be the ultimate in emergency cell phones: a device that promises a standby time of 15 years. Better yet, the device runs on a single AA battery, so if indeed the battery does let you down, you simply replace it, rather than waiting for the device to charge. Of course, the battery-life claims have to be somewhat suspect in real-world scenarios (take for example, a car in winter where the temperatures will routinely drop below freezing at night, or a case where the device can find no cellular signal), but even if the lifespan is only a fraction of the promise, the feat is still impressive.
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Verizon Wireless Launches LTE Mi-Fi at CES 2012

Verizon Wireless used the first day of CES to launch two new Mi-Fi products (from ZTE and Novatel) that both support LTE and – significantly – international roaming. The roaming supports both EDGE (quad band) and HSPA, ensuring that a wide range of networks can be supported (although EDGE connectivity is unlikely to provide a satisfactory experience). Both the ZTE and Novatel devices support up to 10 Wi-Fi connections, providing ample connectivity for the average globe-trotting, tech-toting business user.
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Verizon Buys Spectrum, and Shakes up the Status Quo

Verizon’s spectrum deal with the cable companies (Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks) sets the stage for the two classic arch enemies to finally come to terms and acknowledge that they cannot (each) be good at everything.
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Nokia Starts Its Comeback, but the U.S. Must Wait

In February, Nokia declared that its Symbian platform had reached the end of its usefulness and that it was time to move forward with a new approach, that being the bold decision to opt for a Windows Phone future. Fast forward seven months, and now Nokia has announced its first two products, the Lumia 710 and new flagship product the Lumia 800 running on the Microsoft-powered operating system. More significantly, the company not only announced the launch of these products, but also streamed live video from its facility in Finland showing the first boxes rolling off the production line and onto awaiting delivery vans. The Nokia Windows vision has arrived.
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Driving by Smartphone

The combination of cars and smartphones usually results in distracted drivers and a multitude of accidents waiting to happen. Clearly phones and driving don’t mix. But at the same time, the smartphone has become an integral part of the car experience, acting as the central location for entertainment (music at least), communication and navigation. Read more »

The Rollercoaster Ride of Cable Innovation

At the Cable Show last month, the most significant surprise that I encountered was the cable companies’ collective fascination with the headend. This is, of course, where all content congregates, prior to being sent to cable company-connected TVs around the country. From a cable company perspective, the headend is fundamental to how content is – and possibly even “should be” – distributed. Read more »

Data Cap Reality

Verizon Wireless’ decision to move to tiered data plans was the least surprising telecom move of the year. AT&T made its leap from unlimited roughly one year ago and Verizon’s decision to follow suit became a matter of when, not if. Now that Verizon has the groundswell of iPhone users and can match AT&T device-for-device, the carrier no longer needs to stand-out with a value proposition and can step back to the safety of data caps, concentrating instead on the old marketing stalwarts of quality and coverage.

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