Hasta La Gadget!

We were expecting something big to come out of Cellular South this coming Monday, but we definitely didn’t anticipate the company going all Diddy Dirty Money on us. Letting the cat out of the bag a few days early, the regional carrier is re-branding itself as C Spire. The name is apparently inspired by the company’s dedication to customized wireless services, and will become official Monday with a new website: cspire.com. The new service includes an app recommendation program, known as Scout, a rewards program called Percs, “social media integration,” and customer service initiatives known as Pulse and Circle. This new name also ushers “personalized plans” with “infinite data,” which C Spire’s CEO, Hu Meena, points out is actually unlimited, with no nights-and-weekends-style restrictions — except when it comes to streaming data (which will carry its own unique charges). He went on to say that the new services will come at no charge to existing Cellular South C Spire customers. And the whole shebang looks like it’s going to be an opt-in affair. More details await you in the very lengthy press release after the break.

Continue reading Cellular South renamed C Spire Wireless, becomes Puff Daddy of regional carriers

Cellular South renamed C Spire Wireless, becomes Puff Daddy of regional carriers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Does America need another wireless operator? Is the MVNO boneyard really due for another? Are you eager for a carrier that adapts to your needs, and magically delivers “stuff” that matters to you? Have you watched Napoleon Dynamite with your closest friends within the past week? We can’t promise that “Personalized Wireless” (or whatever it ends up being called) is destined to answer all of those inquiries, but it’ll at least strive to formulate a logical response to one of ’em. A newly-aired teaser clip promises a network of a different color here in the States, and the company’s product page (captured above) leads to believe that all will be revealed come September 26th. We’re surmising that this has something to do with either Comcast or Clearwire given the token “C” logo at the end, but we’d be happy hear other opinions of the origin down in comments below. Vid’s after the break, vaquero.

Update: We have it on good authority that the launch here relates to Cellular South’s recent buyout of a number of southern cellular shops, with this being the merger of those. There aren’t any details yet on what it’ll mean for prospective customers in that region, but it seems — at least for now — that this won’t be a national rollout.

Continue reading ‘Personalized Wireless’ launching September 26th (update: it’s Cellular South, and it’ll be regional)

‘Personalized Wireless’ launching September 26th (update: it’s Cellular South, and it’ll be regional) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can’t say we weren’t warned, since Verizon updated its data policy way back in February, but it’s still a punch in the gut to hear its “network optimization” plan went into effect yesterday. A new policy page pointed out by Droid-Life explains how the policy will affect only the “top 5 percent of data users with 3G devices on unlimited data plans” (LTE and tiered data users are in the clear) by managing their speeds when connected to towers it has deemed are congested. Those conditions, termed network intelligence by Big Red, are what it feels separates this scheme from mere data throttling since it will only affect a few users (those consuming 2GB or more of data per month) at certain times and places, but it’s hard to see it any other way. If you’re one of those affected, expect a message on your bill or My Verizon account, although you may go into and out of the affected group depending on your usage. Hit the source link below for all the details — anyone else think it’s not a coincidence this policy popped up just before the iPhone 4 came to Verizon and is being implemented only weeks before the next iThing is expected to arrive?

Verizon starts ‘optimizing’ (read: throttling) network for the most data hungry users originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Instead of handing out cheap mugs (or iPads… or iPods) and sending students on their merry way, administrators at Dublin City University will be showering incoming freshmen with free Chromebooks — in doing so, it’ll become the first European higher-education institution to adopt the device. As you probably recall, Google’s always-connected laptops have gone through various incarnations throughout the years, but they’ve always included a dash of WiFi or 3G and a pinch of hasty boot — intentionally ditching local storage for the cloud. The Google Chromebooks for Education partnership is said to support DCU’s commitment to make 80 percent of its classes partially or fully online by 2013, allowing coeds to stay in their Scooby Doo pajamas or attend class from Pi Kappa Delta HQ. Now, if only the dining hall supported online ordering…

Dublin City University adopts Chromebooks — time to go streaking through the quad! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s just announced in Tokyo that the PlayStation Vita will debut in Japan on December 17th, and it’ll partner with NTT DoCoMo for the console’s prepaid 3G service. Customers will have two choices of connection here: 980 yen ($13) for 20 hours, and 4,980 yen ($65) for 100 hours — see press release after the break. Alas, the rest of the world will still have to wait until 2012, but you’ll know more concrete dates as soon as we do. For now, head over to our sister site Joystiq for the SCEJ press conference liveblog.

Update: Capcom’s Yoshinori Ono came on stage to mention that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would launch simultaneously with the console. Square Enix also announced that the PS2’s Final Fantasy X will be remastered for the PS Vita, and it’ll be in PS3-like quality; sadly, there was no date nor demonstration.

Update 2: The first 500 units sold will come with 100 hours of prepaid 3G connectivity. Want in? Pre-orders open on October 15th.

Update 3: We now have a video demonstration of the Vita’s interface. Enjoy!

Continue reading Sony PlayStation Vita debuts in Japan on December 17th, partnering with NTT DoCoMo for 3G (updated)

Sony PlayStation Vita debuts in Japan on December 17th, partnering with NTT DoCoMo for 3G (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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