You might think that AT&T would hold off for a national HSPA+ deployment or a full-on LTE launch before tweaking its data pricing strategy, but not so much — the carrier is coming out swinging today with some significant changes that should benefit the overwhelming majority of its smartphone users (and could stand to harm a select few). Let’s break down the major points:

DataPlus / DataPro

• The existing $30 fair-use “unlimited” smartphone data plan is being replaced by two new options: $15 per month for 200MB and $25 for 2GB (called “DataPlus” and “DataPro,” respectively). Customers currently on the $30 plan are welcome to stay on it, but they can switch at any time without extending their contract.
• AT&T’s new overage system is arguably the game changer: on the $15 plan, you’ll pay $15 for each additional 200MB, but on the $25 plan, you’ll pay $10 for each additional GB. It’s simple and straightforward — but most importantly, it won’t bankrupt you if you go over by a gig or three in a month. This compares to $50 per gigabyte of overage on AT&T’s 5GB DataConnect plan for laptops.
• The carrier’s going to be very flexible about changing between the DataPlus and DataPro plans — if you’re on DataPlus, for example, and you discover that you’re blowing past your allotment, you can choose either to start DataPro the following billing cycle, pro-rate it, or apply the higher plan retroactively to the beginning of your current billing cycle. That’s pretty wild.

Tethering

• Tethering will be offered as an add-on to the DataPro plan for an additional $20 per month, which means you’ll pay a total of $45 a month for 2GB of data shared between your phone and your tethered devices. If you’re light on the usage, it’s a sweet deal — but if you scale it up and you’re using the data almost exclusively on your laptop, it compares unfavorably to the traditional DataConnect plan: $60 versus $75 for 5GB (and in the unlikely even you’ve got a webOS device on Verizon, it compares even less favorably). If you’re striking a balance of data use between a smartphone and tethered gear, AT&T’s new setup is still pretty solid considering that you would’ve been paying $60 for the USB stick plus $30 for smartphone data before.
• Yes, it’s finally happening: AT&T’s iPhones will get access to the tethering option, too.

iPad

• iPad users are also affected by the change. The $30 iPad data plan — lauded for being labeled by AT&T as truly unlimited — goes away to be replaced by the same $25 / 2GB plan that smartphone users will see, though current subscribers to the $30 plan can continue unaffected.

Everything launches on June 7, except for iPhone tethering — it’ll launch when OS 4 does. In the meantime, we’re told users can sign up for the $30 plans both on their phones and iPads if they’d like to be grandfathered in. Follow the break for more details along with AT&T’s full press release.

Continue reading AT&T makes sweeping changes to data plans, iPhone tethering coming at OS 4 launch

AT&T makes sweeping changes to data plans, iPhone tethering coming at OS 4 launch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just wrapped up a quick play with RIM’s just-announced BlackBerry Pearl 3G, and our initial impression is a positive one — if you’ve currently got a Pearl 8100 series (or even an 8200 series flip, for that matter), this looks like a must-have upgrade. The phone’s UI is lightning fast, the optical pad is plenty responsive (as RIM’s optical pads tend to be), and 802.11n and HSDPA are obviously both welcome additions. The keyboards are a little funny, but that’s nothing new — Pearls have always had polarizing keyboards, dating back to the early days — but we think we prefer the 14-key just a smidge over the traditional 20-key. For whatever reason, RIM has chosen to give the 14-key version more rounded, curved keys, whereas the buttons on the 20-key version have angled tops that put a little more pressure on the fingertips (we’re sure you could handily get used to either version, of course). The company is quick to note that the numeric keypad is not using T9 — it’s using a flavor of SurePress — so… you know, don’t get it twisted. Hit up the gallery below!

BlackBerry Pearl 3G first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here you go, folks, an official statement from Redmond itself on the perennial Windows Phone 7 Series / copy-and-paste discussion. First and foremost, from the onset, there will be no copy and paste in the traditional sense; Microsoft is hoping to bypass the issue by integrating into the OS contextual, single-tap instances for viewing an address on a map (let’s hope it has some good recognition algorithms here), doing Bing searches based on highlighted terms, dial a phone number, and so on. But the book isn’t entirely closed here, apparently, as the statement goes on to say the company “will continue to improve our feature set over time based on what we hear.” We’ve also got a statement regarding the hacked emulator, to which a representative told us, “we have been very clear that [it] is based on early code and is not reflective of the final user experience,” which is a nice way of saying don’t get your hopes up on those fun little surprises (task manager, anyone?). Full statements after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 series ‘will not initially offer copy and paste,’ case-specific actions integrated into OS

Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 series ‘will not initially offer copy and paste,’ case-specific actions integrated into OS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve definitely learned a ton about Windows Phone 7 Series here at MIX, but getting the full picture on multitasking has been difficult, since the OS isn’t ready, no one has final hardware, and the emulator seems to behave differently than actual devices and Microsoft’s descriptions. So let’s set the record straight on multitasking: it’s not going to happen, at least not in the traditional way. Not only have we directly confirmed this with Microsoft executives several times, but the developer sessions here are totally clear on the matter — you don’t tell 1000+ devs that they should expect their apps to be killed whenever the user switches away from them if you don’t mean it. Now, that’s not to say that the OS can’t do multitasking: first-party apps like the Zune player and IE can run in the background, and third-party apps are actually left running in a suspended state (Microsoft calls it “dehydrated”) as long as the system doesn’t need any additional resources. If the user cycles back to an app, it’s resumed (“rehydrated”) and life continues merrily along, but if the user opens other apps and the system needs additional resources, the app is killed without any indication or remorse.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s basically a single-tasking riff on Android and Windows Mobile 6, both of which also purport to intelligently manage multiple running applications like this, and both of which usually find themselves greatly improved with manual task managers. We’ll have to see if Windows Phone 7 Series can do a better job once it ships — we have a feeling it will — and later down the line we’ll see if Microsoft decides to extend multitasking to third-party apps. But for now, just know that you’re not going to be running Pandora in the background while you do other tasks on a 7 Series device — it is a question we have specifically asked, and the answer, unfortunately, is no.

P.S. Still don’t believe us? Hear it for yourself directly from Microsoft’s Todd Brix:

Windows Phone 7 Series multitasking: the real deal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ready to graduate from DJ Hero? Got a house payment handy? Then Pioneer would like to show you the way to the pros. Say hello to the DJM-2000, a four-channel digital mixer built around a 5.8-inch multitouch screen and sporting enough knobs, buttons and sliders for a NASA launch sequence. Designed to play nice with the matching CDJ-2000 players Pioneer released last year, the unit features an integrated audio effects suite with six dedicated processors and several intriguing modes for multitouch music control. While the mixer has the traditional crossfade slider that allows DJs to assign a certain percentage of the output to channels on the left and right, the DJM-2000 debuts with “frequency mix,” a mode that lets DJs assign within seven narrow frequency bands as well by manipulating virtual sliders on the touchscreen, and a “sidechain remix” mode that uses the screen to apply custom effects in real time. Yeah, it’s not as wild as some other touchscreen DJ rigs we’ve seen, but at least this one’s for sale: Pioneer says the mixer will retail for $3000 this June. Droolworthy video demonstrations after the break.

Continue reading Pioneer DJM-2000 digital mixer sports multitouch screen, per-frequency mixing delight

Pioneer DJM-2000 digital mixer sports multitouch screen, per-frequency mixing delight originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were glad to see Bluetooth low energy actually added to the Bluetooth 4.0 spec, but of course the question remained: when are we going to get our hands on it? By Q4 this year, apparently — at least according to the Bluetooth SIG. But don’t expect any dramatic changes in battery life for most of your gadgets: while the low energy spec introduces connectivity to a host of lower-power devices that have in the past relied on proprietary technology (such as watches, pedometers, and cats), your traditional Bluetooth devices, such as phones and laptops, will consume roughly the same amount of power. Indeed, the low energy spec is merely throwing smaller devices (with smaller amounts of data to transfer) in to the mix: if you want Trans-Siberian Orchestra to sound as glorious as ever on your wireless headphones, you’ll need to push as much data (and hence draw as much power) with version 4 as you would with version 3. If you’ve ever heard “A Mad Russian’s Christmas,” you’d know what we’re talking about.

Bluetooth 4.0 devices to make the scene later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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