AT&T iPhone exclusivity extended to 2011 thanks to iPad 3G

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,

Those of you hoping for a Verizon iPhone HD this summer, it looks like you are out of luck. Thanks to the extremely flexible and decently-priced iPad 3G data plans that AT&T is offering, Apple decided to throw them a bone and extend the AT&T iPhone exclusive agreement until the start of 2011. Many expected that the iPad would support Verizon, and according to Broadpoint AmTech tech analyst Brian Marshall, AT&T needed to do something drastic to hang on to the iPhone OS devices. Turns out, that drastic step was the iPad 3G data plan pricing structure.

So now, AT&T gets to keep the iPhone until 2011. Let’s hope they can do whatever they need to do over the next 7 months or so to prove they deserve it. We wouldn’t hold our breath.

Read More | Business Insider

How the AT&T iPad 3G data plans will work

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,

So the 3G iPad is set to launch this Friday at 5:00 PM, and AT&T has finally got on the ball and given full details on how their 3G data plan for the iPad will work. First order of business, you get two data plans that work in the US - the charges are automatically billed on a monthly basis, but you can start and stop that at any time right from the iPad 3G, and both options are contract-free:

• $14.99 per month for 250 MB
• $29.99 per month for unlimited data
• Unlimited access – no added cost – to AT&T’s 20,000+ Wi-Fi Hot Spots

That third one is a nice bonus. Basically, if you have an active iPad 3G subscription, then you get access to any AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot at no additional cost. The plans renew every 30 days, which starts on the date and time of the purchase, and charges appear like normal on your credit card bill. You can make changes to your plan at any time, which starts a new 30 day window. To manage all this, you go to the Cellular Data area under Settings on the iPad.

For those of you thinking about starting out with that $14.99 250MB plan, the iPad will actually alert you when you’ve got 20 percent of your data left, then again at 10, and finally once more at zero. As each alert pops up, you have the option to add more data, if you so choose.

Read More | At&T

Eye-Fi announces Geo X2 Apple-exclusive, expanded Wi-Fi support

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Cameras, Corporate News, Wireless / WiFi,

The folks over at Eye-Fi have yet another 802.11n card they’d like you to know about, and this one is an Apple Store exclusive. The Geo X2 sits nicely between the $49.99 Connect X2 and the $99.99 Explore X2, and will cost $69.99. For all intents and purposes, the Geo X2 appears to be similar to the Explore X2, but it packs in 4GB of memory instead of 8GB. It rocks the same Endless Memory Mode that automatically deletes photos after they safely been wirelessly synched and backed up, the Class-6 flash memory, and the automatic geotagging support as well.

Alongside this announcement, Eye-Fi also made it known that, starting at the end of May, users can expect greatly improved Wi-Fi support, thanks to their partnership with Devicescape. The meat and potatoes of this announcement is that the Eye-Fi cards will now be able to log on to public Wi-Fi hotspots that require getting through a browser splash screen. Since that is pretty much the majority, this opens things up quite a bit.

TiVo Wireless-N Network Adapter available now

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, USB, Home Entertainment, Internet, Wireless / WiFi,

We’re not sure what type of games TiVo thinks they are trying to play here, but the company has finally gotten around to getting their AN0100 802.11n wireless adapter to retail, and they’ve decided it best to charge more than just about any other wireless device of this kind on the market. That’s right, the TiVo Wireless N Network Adapter can be yours for a shocking $89.99. yeah, you get better range and throughput than you would on the Wireless G model, but, man, that price has us seriously considering the costs of just running an ethernet cable across the house.

Read More | TiVo Wireless N Adapter

3G iPad launches April 30th at 5:00 PM

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,

Apple just made it known to the world that the US launch of the 3G iPad will happen on the very last day of the month (hey, they did say late-April!) If you’ve been clamoring and waiting for a Wi-Fi + 3G Apple tablet, April 30th is your day, as Apple Stores across the United States will start selling them that day at 5:00 PM. If you pre-ordered your 3G iPad before yesterday, you should expect it to arrive on the 30th as well. If you order it online now, you’ll have to wait until May 7 for it to arrive.

Read More | Apple

Sprint launches a 4G iPad case

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,

Oh man, do we love how hard Sprint is pushing their 4G service, especially as it pertains to Apple devices! The latest is a new 4G iPad case, which is basically a sleeve-style cases for the iPad that also has a pocket that is specially fitted to house a Sprint Overdrive 4G hotspot. Now, Sprint is just referring to this as the “4G Case,” and they even say that it also fits the nook and other e-readers, but let’s call a spade a spade here, Sprint is trying to entice you to buy an iPad and Overdrive rather than an AT&T 3G iPad. We can’t say we disagree with that option either.

You can get a Sprint 4G case free with the purchase of a Sprint Overdrive at participating Best Buy locations. We called up four participating locations in the Seattle area though, and no one knew what the hell we were talking about. So, your mileage may vary.

Read More | Sprint 4G Case

AT&T 3G Microcell going nationwide in April

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Corporate News, Wireless / WiFi,

AT&T is finally ready to do something about the horrible reception that so many of us have been experiencing, as they are finally set to make the 3G Microcell available nationwide starting next month. The 3G Microcell is a femtocell unit that connects to your home broadband network. It acts pretty much like a mini cell phone tower, located in your home, and gives you five bars of coverage within 5,000 feet. Since it connects to your broadband network, it uses that to send and receive voice and data. It works with any AT&T 3G phone, and supports up to four voice or data users at one time. Only phones that you specifically allow to use your Microcell can benefit from it, so you don’t have to worry about your neighbors stealing your 3G signal. You can grant access to the device to up to a total of 10 lines.

The 3G Microcell will cost $149.99, but there will be a $100 mail-in rebate. So that is a $50 one-time cost to get a perfect AT&T 3G signal in your home. Yeah, it’s AT&T’s job to make sure all that happens anyway, but realistically, they don’t. That said, we think this is a nice value. No monthly fees to use the device, unless you want to subscribe to an Unlimited Microcell Calling plan, which basically lets you use the Microcell as much as you’d like, without affecting your calling minutes.

Read More | At&T 3G Microcell

Eye-Fi X2 cards bring 802.11n, Class-6 speeds

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Cameras, Storage, Wireless / WiFi,

The newly released Eye-Fi X2 series of Wi-Fi-enabled SD cards is now shipping, and they offer some very nice improvements over the previous Eye-Fi models. If you are unfamiliar, Eye-Fi cards connect to your home network or a hotspot, and upload the images from your camera to your home computer so that you don’t have to physically sync your camera regularly. We have all the specs below, but we have to say, we are loving the “Endless Memory” feature the most. Basically, as you snap pics and they sync to your computer (Eye-Fi can also send them directly to social networks like Flickr and Facebook,) Eye-Fi will delete them from the card, so you never ever have to manually delete pictures.

Here’s what you can expect from the three new cards:

• Eye-Fi Connect X2 – At 4GB capacity, the Eye-Fi Connect X2 will automatically upload JPEG photos and videos to the computer and one of more than 25 online sharing sites, such as Flickr, Facebook, YouTube or Picasa, through a Wi-Fi network. MSRP: $49.99.
• Eye-Fi Explore X2 – At 8GB of capacity, the Eye-Fi Explore X2 will automatically upload JPEG photos and videos to the computer and one of more than 25 online sharing sites. It offers lifetime automatic geotagging so photos and videos arrive at the user’s computer with location information already included to identify where the image was captured.  Explore X2 also offers one year of hotspot access for uploading away from home at more 21,000 AT&T and Harborlink locations across the Unites States and through open hotspots. MSRP: $99.99.
• Eye-Fi Pro X2 – Unveiled at CES and winner of CNET’s “Best of CES” award, the 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2 will automatically upload JPEG and RAW photos and videos to the home computer, and will send them to one of more than 25 online sharing sites. It also allows users to create an ad hoc connection directly to their computer to wirelessly upload photos and videos while away from a wireless router. Like Explore X2, Pro X2 offers lifetime geotagging and one-year of hotspot access to enable uploads away from home at more than 21,000 AT&T and Harborlink hotspots and open hotspots. MSRP: $149.99.

In addition to all that, Eye-Fi cards now have double the hotspot access that they had previously, starting on March 31, with the inclusion of any AT&T or Harborlink hotspot location (like Starbucks, Hertz Rental, Marriot hotels, and more) allowing users to simply turn their cameras on, and have the Eye-Fi go to work and do its thing.

We’ve got a video demo for you after the jump.

Click to continue reading Eye-Fi X2 cards bring 802.11n, Class-6 speeds

Read More | Eye-Fi Pro X2

Sprint details HTC EVO 4G mobile phone

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi,

Over at CTIA, Sprint just dropped the big announcement that we knew was coming, they will be launching the first 4G smartphone - the HTC EVO 4G - and they will be doing it “this summer.” The EVO 4G runs Android 2.1, and has a gorgeous 480x800 4.3-inch TFT LCD display and is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8650 processor and 512MB of RAM. Onboard memory isn’t much to write home about at 1GB, but seriously, that is the only “flaw” we can find with the initial look at this device, if you want to even call it that. I mean, it ships with an 8GB microSD card, and is upgradeable to 32GB. Still, built-in is always nice.

Wanna talk about some of the more exciting stuff? Well, we’ve got an 8 megapixel camera on the back, which can shoot 720p HD video, as well as a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera. You know, the one we’ve been waiting for on the iPhone? Expect to be able to do video chatting on the EVO 4G. Also, expect to be able to view the content stored on it on a larger display, since this thing rocks HDMI out. 802.11b/g Wi-Fi support and an 8GB microSD card round things out, so as you can see, this thing is packed. Oh, and let’s not forget that whole 4G thing.

The HTC EVO 4G will be the first device outside of AT&T that will allow for both voice and data to be used at the same time, thanks to the phone running both EV-DO Rev. A and WiMAX alongside a CDMA antenna. Even cooler, in our opinion, is that this device acts similar to a MiFi or Overdrive device, where it becomes a mobile hotspot that allows you to share your 4G connection with your other devices wirelessly. However, rather than being limited to five connections, the EVO 4G can give that good 4G Internet lovin’ to 8 devices at once.

Sprint knows that those picking up a 4G device are going to expect a lot more from their connection their phones that are stuck on 3G, and they demo’d a few scenarios to show that they are serious. You can stream high definition content to and from the device, take pictures and stream them anywhere, get instant and live search results with Google Goggles, and much more.

Despite the torrent of info that Sprint provided as it pertained to the HTC EVO 4G, they did neglect to provide a solid release date, as well as the price of both the EVO 4G itself, or the associated 4G data plan.

Gallery:

SXSW 2010: Twitter and an Airline: A story

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Google, Internet, Transportation, Wireless / WiFi,

My friend Jeff Pulver commandeered a room on the 4th floor at SXSW and had several people who he has met around the world present what they believed were success stories about the Twitter service.  This goes hand in hand with the 140 Conferences that he is throwing around the world.  One such speaker, Bowen Payson, was from the airline Virgin America that has been using Twitter to outreach to their customers.

Bowen began his session by speaking about the differences in their airline from a physical experience.  From the black leather Recaro seats, to the mood lighting.  Their on-demand in flight entertainment is just as high tech as their communication strategy.  The Twitter story began without a strategy and unfolded and matured into more than
60,000 followers as I write this.  Their main social contact, Nick Schwartz is the voice of the airline and loves social networking, partially because of his age.  They try to keep a consumer centric voice and mind set, and work to make the experience better incrementally.

Click to continue reading SXSW 2010: Twitter and an Airline: A story