plan

Sprint confirms it will stick with unlimited data plans

Sprint's data-hungry customers can breathe a sigh of relief. The carrier's commitment to unlimited data plans remains unwaivering--at least for now.

So said Sprint Chief Technology Officer Stephen Bye when addressing attendees of GigaOm's Mobilize conference in San Francisco today.

While main competitors Verizon and AT&T are slashing their unlimited plans, Sprint sees it as a differentiator.

"There's clearly a cost to support unlimited," Bye admitted, adding that not every unlimited subscriber is as high a data user as his or her neighbor. At the same time, Bye emphasized the simplicity of … Read more

Dialed In 192: Verizon may choke you

Verizon Wireless doesn't like to use the word "throttle" when describing how it will restrict heavy data users, but it has no problem with the word "choke." And as Jessica tells us, that's exactly what the carrier is starting to do for the "most active five percent of its 3G data customers." No, it's not very convenient, but at least the carrier is trying to be polite about it.

Elsewhere in the podcast, we tackle a new female-oriented phone from HTC that may have Rhyme, though it's without any real … Read more

AT&T may honor T-Mobile contracts for good

Our friends at TmoNews got their hands on a very interesting document that foretells how current T-Mobile service plans will be affected if the proposed AT&T merger goes through. Though we've always known that AT&T's will honor T-Mobile's contracts through the end of their life, this employee FAQ says that customers can keep their plans "as long as they want to, even when their term ends and the service continues on a month-to-month basis."

Exactly what that means remains to be seen. In previous carrier mergers, customers were allowed to keep … Read more

Feeding the meter for public space (audio slideshow)

As part of an urban-design movement that began in San Francisco in 2005, parking spaces around the world were reclaimed as public spaces yesterday, with artists and activists feeding meters to build temporary community spaces and small parks for Park(ing) Day. Across San Francisco, pop-up communities of restaurants, hair dressers, yoga classes, and gardens created new forms of temporary public space, re-envisioning the metered parking space as a public gathering space--a place for meeting people, cultural expression, teaching, playing, or just hanging out.

Sprint says it can handle the iPhone traffic

Sprint Nextel says it is ready to handle the iPhone, even if it isn't officially carrying it yet.

Sprint is watching the network and investing in the infrastructure as needed to ensure a good customer experience, regardless of the rumors, Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer said during an investor conference yesterday. The comments were reported by Fierce Wireless.

It's widely believed that Sprint will sell the iPhone alongside AT&T and Verizon Wireless. While Apple has set no date for the next iPhone, it is expected to come in October.

Euteneuer didn't confirm that Sprint would … Read more

Boost Mobile hiking Android data charge by $5

Just a day before Boost Mobile puts the Android-powered Samsung Transform Ultra on the market, it's bumping up the price of its all-in-one data plan for Android phones by $5 a month, from $50 to $55 per month.

While nobody likes rate hikes, Boost will continue to sweeten the deal with its Shrinkage Plan, which lowers customers' monthly plans by $5 for every six on-time payments (not necessarily consecutive), down to a minimum of $40 per month.

As of October 6, Boost's existing Android owners will get their $50 monthly rate grandfathered in until they upgrade to a new handset, after which they'll see the $5 rate hike but won't lose their Shrinkage standing.

Rate hikes are a fact of life with carriers, especially as market pressures to maintain and expand their data networks strain their own bottom line. Timing the rate increase with the Samsung Transform Ultra release hints at Boost Mobile's sales expectations for the device. The more new Android users it has, the more all-you-can-eat data its customers will use.… Read more

Microsoft previews Windows 8

Facebook organizes your friends into Smart Lists, Google Flight Search takes off, and Microsoft previews the next Windows operating system with a new touch-screen mode.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Microsft previews Windows 8 Facebook unveils Smart Lists Verizon launches $50 unlimited prepaid plan Google Flight Search takes off Intel shows off Ivy Bridge for ultrabooks HTC Sensation XE debuts with Beats Audio Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (HD) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS HD

Draw your racing line, then watch the results

DrawRace2 is the sequel to DrawRace, an unconventional but very fun take on racing games for the iPhone. In DrawRace games, you don't drive a car around a track in real time. Instead, you draw the path you will take around the track before the race even begins. When you're done drawing, you watch the race to see how you did.

While it sounds easy, you have to be very precise in the way you draw your line. As you come to sharp turns, for example, you'll need to draw more slowly, then speed up again as … Read more

AT&T to add new $25 GoPhone prepaid plan

In addition to unveiling three new Windows Phone Mango devices today, AT&T announced that it will offer a new $25-per-month GoPhone prepaid plan.

The plan includes 250 nationwide voice minutes and unlimited nationwide messaging every 30 days, and launches on September 18. On that day, the carrier will also offer GoPhone customers a new international long-distance calling feature that gives 250 minutes of international calls to more than 50 countries for an additional $10 per month.