plans

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.

Schedules made easy with ClockIt: Easy Schedule Creator

Any manager of hourly employees can tell you how difficult it is to create a schedule that takes into account both business needs and employee availability. ClockIt: Easy Schedule Creator is a powerful program for managing employee schedules and attendance. It's not the most intuitive program we've ever seen, but it has plenty of tools for creating schedules no matter how complex your needs.

We liked that ClockIt: Easy Schedule Creator starts off with a wizard, which allows users to easily set up the schedule range, employees, and shifts. Once everything is configured, the schedule is displayed in … Read more

Sprint offering no-contract data plans for Evo View 4G

Sprint has begun offering new, no-contract data plans to new and existing HTC Evo View 4G owners.

Available immediately, subscribers can choose from three pay-as-you-go options for the 7-inch HTC tablet. A single-day pass runs $14.99 and delivers 150MB of on-network use over the course of a 24-hour period. A one-week pass allows for 500MB at $29.99, and the third option, a month pass, costs $49.99 and gives users up to 1.5GB of data over a 30-day period.

All of the plans allow for some off-network wiggle room, providing up to 150MB of roaming access. What'… Read more

Sprint iPhone may portend end to unlimited plan

commentary Once Sprint Nextel gets the iPhone, you can bid farewell to its unlimited-data plan.

If history is any indication, Sprint will have to make some tough decisions, if Apple's blockbuster device starts weighing on its network. It's something the other carriers have done, and it's part of a broader trend of telecommunication companies struggling to keep up with growing bandwidth consumption.

After suffering through years of heavy bandwidth usage from iPhone users, AT&T relented and switched to a tiered pricing plan last year. It only took Verizon Wireless a few months after launching its … Read more

Lock in a lower AT&T text rate before the price hike

Are you an AT&T phone user with a text plan? On August 21, AT&T will replace its lower-tiered text plans with a $20-per-month unlimited plan. The family rate of $30 unlimited texting (for five devices) will still be an option, but tiered pricing of $10 for 1,000 texts won't be. If you already have a plan that suits your needs, you won't need to make any changes, but if you have one of the soon-defunct lower-tier plans, this is the perfect time to switch.… Read more

Skype Wi-Fi launches

Researchers say cell phone radiation may lower sperm count, AT&T cuts its texting plans down to one, and Skype launches an app for iOS that lets world travelers use Wi-Fi hot spots on a per-minute basis.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

AT&T planning shake-up of SMS plans next week

AT&T is cutting down on available text-messaging plans.

The carrier confirmed to CNET this morning that, for new customers, it will ditch its 1,000-message plan, which went for $10 per month, in favor of unlimited-only options. Unlimited messaging for individuals will be available for $20 per month starting on August 21, while a family messaging plan for $30-per-month will also be offered.

"The vast majority of our customers prefer unlimited plans," an AT&T spokesman told CNET in a phone conversation today. "And with text messaging growing, the number of people interested in … Read more

T-Mobile to charge overage fees on 200MB data plan

T-Mobile will begin charging data overage fees on its low-end 200MB data plan starting on August 14, the carrier confirmed on Thursday.

As first reported by TmoNews, T-Mobile is moving away from its policy of throttling data speeds once customers exceed their allotted 200MB of data per month and shifting to a policy of overage fees.

"Customers will incur overages of $0.10 per MB when they exceed 200MB of data ($10 for 10MB) up to a maximum monthly payment of $40 with Value plans or $45 with Classic plans for data including the 200 MB add-on fee," T-Mobile said in a statement. … Read more

How much iCloud storage will you need?

Apple's iCloud service is just around the corner, and if you plan on using it, you'll want to know whether the freebie 5 gigabytes will be enough, or if you'll need to upgrade to one of Apple's extra paid storage plans.

I got to wondering that same thing ahead of the service's launch, which Apple will only say is coming sometime this fall, especially given the company's claims that the 5GB should be "plenty of room."

For those who need more, Apple's offering three different storage tiers at $20, $40, and $… Read more