13
Sep
1

US Cellular Releases 'Wi-Fi Now' App, Automatically Connects Applicable Devices To Quality Wi-Fi Networks To Save On Mobile Bandwidth

Posted by in Applications, News, US Cellular

Now here's a novel idea - a carrier actually helping you save money on your bill. That's exactly what US Cellular is providing with a new app that just landed in the Play Store.

Basically, the app sits idly in the background, watching for "partner" Wi-Fi hotspots. Once it locates one, it automatically connects, which ultimately saves you, the customer, money on your bill (or at least conserves some data). Pretty rad, no?

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According to the Play Store listing, "WiFi hotspots are tested for functionality and quality service," so you can at least feel (somewhat) comfortable connecting to seemingly random networks.

31
Jul
republicwireless

Republic Wireless Is Ready To Begin 'Wave B' Of New Customers, Launches Motorola Defy XT In The Process

Posted by in Carriers, News, Republic Wireless

Republic Wireless, the wireless carrier that prefers WiFi for most of its connections, and utilizes Sprint 3G in the interim, has announced that it's ready to take on new customers. The company reported that "Wave A", which consists of an unspecified number of users, has been a resounding success and that they believe they've found a model on which a $19/month unlimited everything plan is sustainable.

Today marks an important milestone for republic wireless. We’ve unveiled our new phone, the Motorola DEFY XT, and are opening our doors to welcome new members from our waitlist, starting with Wave B.

Over a year ago, a small initial team set out with a big idea to change the way wireless works.

12
Jul
slicetiny

Slice, The Amazing Package Tracking App, Gets Updated To 2.0, Supports Outgoing Package Tracking, New Email Services, And More

Posted by in Applications, News

When we first discovered Slice, the app that scans your email for packages that you're waiting to be delivered, has updated to version 2.0 and brought a host of new features with it. For starters, if you use Hotmail, AOL, or iCloud as your primary email, you can now join in the fun. You can track outgoing packages by scanning tracking barcodes as well or entering the number manually, and filtering options have been improved.

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The app also adds a new feature called "Thingerprint" which, aside from having a truly bizarre name, allows you to see how much money you've spent on what types of goods.

06
Jun
2012-06-06_13h18_26

Google Earth Gets Some Amazing New 3D Maps, Rubs It In Apple's Face Just A Bit

Posted by in Google, News

Today's Google Earth announcement brought a couple of nice new features to the Google Maps suite. In addition to moving offline maps out of Labs, the company also pre-empted rumors of Apple-branded 3D map software with a demo of some stellar 3D maps that Google has been creating with high-tech camera planes. Yes, Google now has camera planes.

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The company is using some sophisticated mapping software and planes outfitted with a bevy of camera sensors to create photo-realistic 3D maps of the entire terrain of a metropolitan area. This is in stark contrast to the previous method of simply using 3D building models.

05
Jun
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Open Garden Beta Comes To The Play Store – Create Mesh Networks, Share Internet Connectivity On The Fly

Posted by in Android OS, Applications, News

Open Garden is hands down one of the most impressive apps I've seen this year. The app, first introduced at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC 2012 as the startup that would go on to win the conference title of Most Innovative Startup, allows users to create an "open garden" of internet connectivity for multiple devices to share. The startup's official website explains it this way:

The operators sell us fancy handsets, but behave as if broken networks are a fact of life. … Imagine, instead, if all of the smartphones in any location could use their formidable processing power to share access to the Internet.

03
Jun
attDeathStar

[Weekend Poll] Is A Carrier Move To Data-Only Service A Win Or Loss For Consumers?

Posted by in Carriers, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Google + Motorola: A Match Made In Heaven, Or A Disaster Waiting To Happen?

A few days ago, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson revealed that the cellular industry would be moving towards data-only plans in the next few years, rather than the separated voice, message, and data system that is used today. Under the new system, voice and messages would be billed as data. The question, obviously, is at what rate they'd billed.

Initially, this may seem like a great idea for both parties. Obviously it allows carriers to get a handle on all the services their customers are using (such as Skype for calls rather than normal voice), as well as sneak in some "toll-free" data services.

02
Jun
ATT

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson Says Customers Can Expect To See A Move Toward Data-Only Cell Phone Plans In The Next Two Years

Posted by in AT&T, News

We've reported on AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson's ideas on "toll-free" data usage, but it looks like he's expecting another big shift in data plans - the availability of data-only cellphone plans.

Indicating that we could expect such plans to arrive within two years' time, Stephenson said that text messages and phone calls "would be considered just another form of data." So, instead of having limits on minutes, text messages, and data usage, all would be combined under a single counter.

Carriers such as AT&T make a good deal of their profits from calling and texting plans because they use such little data, but Stephenson believes that these data-only plans are necessary because of the growing prominence of apps such as Skype that replace the functionality of phone calls using data.

01
Jun
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AT&T Users Could See "Toll-Free" Data Plans In The Next 12 Months, Says CEO Randall Stephenson

Posted by in AT&T, News

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, speaking at the Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions conference, teased a possible solution for customers who feel beleaguered by tiered data, and who have been avoiding data-heavy services due to plan limitations.

Stephenson suggested that, as part of new "toll free" data plans, certain data-hungry services' traffic would be excluded from users' monthly data allotment, meaning that services like, for example, Netflix, could be used without eating up your entire data plan.

According to FierceWireless, Stephenson indicated that content providers have been suggesting this approach prior to today's talk:

"I think you'd be stunned if we weren't getting those phone calls.

08
May
att logo

AT&T Is Working On Shared Data Plans, Finally Device Consolidation Might Be Possible

Posted by in AT&T, News

The CEO of AT&T's mobile business, Ralph de la Vega, told CNET in an interview that the company is working on family data plans that would give consumers one big pot of data that all devices could share. While minute plans have worked this way for years, since tiered data came along, customers have been waiting on a way to pool their data.

No details are available on how the plans will work, or how it will affect subsidized devices. It's also unclear whether or not devices like tablets would be entered into the mix. One of the biggest hang ups on selling network-enabled tablets (aside from the increased device price) is convincing customers to buy into yet another data plan.

01
May
sprint_logo_thumb

Sprint Rolling Out A Fix (FD02) For That Pesky No Data Problem For Galaxy Nexus Users

Posted by in News, Sprint

Remember that problem Galaxy Nexus devices were having on Sprint where owners couldn't get any connection to any data network at all? Well, if you happened to be one of those owners, how could you forget? Worry not, though! Sprint just announced it will be rolling out a fix over "a 1-2 day period."

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You'll need to be connected to a WiFi network to do anything (though this shouldn't be new to you if you're affected by this problem). Hopefully this will be the end of the data issues for Galaxy Nexus owners on Sprint. If you've been among those affected, let us know in the comments if this fix works for you.

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