Hasta La Gadget!

After several months from Apple announcing FaceTime over cellular, AT&T is finally rolling the feature out to all of its tiered data customers. AT&T cites that its testing phase for FaceTime over cellular is complete, and will be enabled for all of its customers, including those on tiered data plans at no additional cost.

Previously, FaceTime was only available over cellular to customers with LTE or Mobile Share plans, and now, those who own the iPhone 4S and are on any tiered data plan can now use the carrier’s HSPA+ network to use Apple’s video chat tool. There’s no word on whether customers with unlimited data plans can use FaceTime over cellular, though, so it looks like the feature is still only good for those with tiered data plans.

AT&T says that it has already begun updating their “systems and processes,” and expects to start rolling the update out to eligible customers “beginning in the next couple of weeks.” Previously, back in November, the carrier announced that iPhone 5 users with tiered data plans would be allowed to use FaceTime over its LTE network.

The good news is that any AT&T customer with an older Apple device can now use FaceTime over cellular, including the iPhone 4S and previous-generation iPads. With the popularity of discounted older-gen iPhones, more and more budget-minded consumers are buying Apple’s older gear, and with AT&T’s lift on FaceTime over cellular, more users will finally be able to chat with their friends and family while on the go.

AT&T allowing FaceTime over cellular for all tiered data customers is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re thinking about buying a tablet of any kind in the very near future, you might want to re-think where you’re going to purchase it – AT&T may have just the ticket you’re looking for. With a brand new $100 USD discount on any tablet, AT&T has made this offer one that’s entirely enticing: unless of course you don’t want to be attached to a 2-year data plan. Normally you’d be paying full price for any data-connected tablet working with AT&T, but this new deal brings on a 2-year contract attachment for anyone who wants a lovely $100 discount at the outset.

The data plan you’ll be working with will be essentially the same as you’d have if you were working with a non-contract month-to-month setup with data from the carrier, the difference here being that you’re attached for two full years instead of none at all. You’ll be able to use this deal on ANY tablet they’ve got in stock from any AT&T company owned store or online at ATT.com – or any selected agents – or any retailer – just so long as you attach that 2-year plan.

Once you decide you want in, you’ll have the choice of several qualifying data plan options including adding a tablet on to your AT&T Mobile Share plan for $10 USD a month. That’s adding on to a Mobile Share plan you’ve already got in-place. You can also choose from one of several “DataConnect” plans, this not requiring sharing with your friends and family as such:

• AT&T Mobile Share: $10 to share between 1 GB and 20GB
• AT&T DataConnect 250MB: $15 for 250MB
• AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
• AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB

The $100 discount applies only to tablets purchased with a 2-year contract attached and one of the data plans listed above. There’s also a two tablet purchase limit per account and a “while promotional supplies last” clause in tiny lettering – don’t miss it! You can pick up your own Pantech Element, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, HTC Jetstream, or iPad.

With those supplies we must assume that AT&T is either getting out of the tablet business altogether or will be focusing on Windows 8 in the near future rather than Android. Surely they’d never dump the iPad, right?

AT&T offers $100 discount on tablets with tiny hitch is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

T-Mobile has recently made some changes to its smartphone data service requirements. Previously, customers were allowed to simply just nab the 200MB data plan when activating a smartphone, which certainly saved on costs, but now the carrier is bumping up the minimum to 2GB of data when activating a new smartphone plan.

The change went into affect October 10, and requires any new customer activating a smartphone to choose the 2GB data plan at the very minimum. The good news is that this doesn’t affect existing customers who are using the 200MB data plan, and even better, it won’t affect current customers who upgrade to a new smartphone in the future.

T-Mobile said it made these changes simply because modern smartphones consume a lot of data, and 200MB just doesn’t cut it usually, so in order to prevent their customers from getting unexpected overage charges or throttling, the carrier has decided to require at least 2GB allocated to each smartphone activation.

This was certainly a good move for T-Mobile, and while the changes will essentially bring in more revenue for the carrier, helping their customers out by protecting them from overage charges is something you don’t see every day from other carriers. Then again, we’re not sure why more customers don’t just go for T-Mobile’s unlimited plan while they still can.

[via TmoNews]

T-Mobile makes changes to data service requirements is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’ve got yourself one of the earliest shipments of the iPhone 5 for Verizon, you may be amongst the crowd of people who saw their data bill go through the roof – the carrier is now responding to this situation. What Verizon and Apple have noted today is that there is indeed an error which makes data costs rise even when wi-fi is being utilized – Verizon has also mentioned that the cost of this “unwarranted cellular data use” will not be showing up on your bill – now we’ve got to find out how that’s going to happen.

With a situation like this, it’s difficult to tell how the carrier – Verizon in this case – is going to figure out which amount of data has been used when it wasn’t supposed to be being used, and what amount of data was “legitimate” – so to speak. Verizon has spoken through a public relations representative to the press noting that “Verizon Wireless customers will not be charged for any unwarranted cellular data usage.”

This note came after an advisory earlier today from Apple which noted that “Under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network.” Apple quickly patched the situation and those of you with a Verizon iPhone 5 should have an update waiting for you in your settings. To grab this update, you’ll have to follow these simple instructions:

1. Tap Settings > General > About.
2. Wait for the following alert to appear:

3. Tap OK to install the update.
4. Hold the Sleep/Wake button down until you see “slide to power off”.
5. Slide to power off.
6. After the device powers off, hold the Sleep/Wake button to turn your phone back on.

Note: To finish the installation of the update, your iPhone 5 must be turned off and then on again. After your iPhone restarts, tap Settings > General > About, then scroll down to Carrier and verify that “Verizon 13.1″ is displayed.

If you believe your data bill does not reflect the amount of data that you’ve used here in your first week using the iPhone 5, be sure to check with Verizon to see that you’re all squared away as far as the error goes. If you’ve got an iPhone 5 working with a different carrier, you’re out of luck – this error only appeared on Verizon devices.

Verizon iPhone 5 gets bill adjustment after data mishap is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today Verizon‘s big CFO Fran Shammo has issued a few statements that are both good and bad, to say the least. During an annual investors conference Shammo stated that their new share everything plans were doing much better than expected, and seeing higher customer adaption then planned for. However he also mentioned a few things that should have us worried.

Later while talking about 4G LTE and unlimited data plans that we all so much adore, he mentions that unlimited data is basically going away. According to the report he actually said, “Unlimited is just a word, it doesn’t really mean anything.” We have a feeling T-Mobile begs to differ since they recently launched their “truly unlimited data plans” that truly have no limits, or throttling.

Then, according to CNET, he took this even further by saying, “The whole unlimited thing is going by the wayside.” What exactly does that mean? Well it’s sorta taken out of context because he’s saying that in regards to consumer use, which he said isn’t nearly as high as what they think they’re using.

An interesting note is he actually also stated that many customers are going off of their grandfathered unlimited plans in favor of the Share Everything plans offered. Although this basically just means that more people are using more than one device, or have more than one family member on a plan and are actually enjoying the shared options. Verizon’s unlimited plans have technically been long gone for a few months, but we’re not too excited with the way things are starting to sound.

Once T-Mobile gets their 4G LTE up and running next year, if they continue to offer unlimited options the others might have to do the same. Thoughts?

[via CNET]

Verizon: Share everything plans better than expected – Unlimited data is fading away is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.