Oct 10
T-Mobile has announced that its Simple Choice plans will now come with free international data and texts. That sounds amazing, but in reality how much will it actually save you compared to carriers like AT&T, Sprint and Verizon?
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Sep 30
Insert Coin: KnowRoaming’s SIM ‘stickers’ let you talk, text and surf worldwide on the cheap
Posted in: Today's ChiliIn Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.
You still can’t power on your smartphone across the pond in London and expect to pay the same fees you do back in New York, but several offerings make it cheaper to get online across the globe. One of our favorites, KeepGo (formerly iPhoneTrip), has been our preferred method for browsing the web in Canada, Cambodia, and everywhere in between. But daily rates do add up, and that service requires that you swap in a separate SIM, tucking your primary card away until you’re back on your contracted network’s home turf. KnowRoaming, a new player in this space, has an even more appealing option, however. That firm’s SIM “stickers” include all the electronics in a thin film that you can attach to any SIM card using the included applicator. The sticker sits dormant in your unlocked phone when you’re at home, but once you cross a border, the service prompts you to jump onto a local network, bypassing your original SIM in the process.
Filed under: Wireless
Source: KnowRoaming
Sep 24
It may not be as convenient as, say, Three UK’s attempt to abolish data roaming frustrations, but today AT&T has partnered with yet another WiFi hotspot provider to make sharing those vacation pictures with cubicle-bound chums that much easier. International hotspot outfit Fon and Ma Bell have inked a deal that opens their respective WiFi networks up to each other’s customers, though jetsetters will need a device compatible with AT&T’s WiFi International iOS and Android apps. That’s not the only catch, either. Like with AT&T’s other hotspot arrangements, patrons of the US carrier will already need a roaming data plan to take advantage of the free 1GB of WiFi per month — a 300 or 800MB Global Add-on package, in this case. Well, like everyone says: there’s no such thing as free international WiFi sharing agreement data.
Sep 11
European Commission proposal would end some roaming fees, enshrine net neutrality
Posted in: Today's Chili
The rumors were on the mark — as part of a larger telecom plan, the European Commission’s Neelie Kroes has proposed regulation that would largely scrap roaming fees. The measure would ban all charges for incoming calls within the EU after July 1st next year, and give carriers incentives to drop many other roaming fees altogether. Companies would either have to let customers use “roam like at home” plans in EU countries or offer a choice of roaming providers with cheap rates. Outbound, mobile-to-mobile calls within member states would cost no more than €0.19 per minute.
The strategy also includes rules for enforcing net neutrality across the EU. The proposal bans internet providers from blocking and throttling content. Firms could offer priority services like IPTV only as long as these features don’t slow down other subscribers, who could walk away from contracts if they don’t get their advertised speeds. There’s no guarantee that the European Parliament will vote in favor of the new measures, but it’s already clear that the Commission is far from happy with the telecom status quo.
[Image credit: The Council of the European Union]
Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Internet, Mobile
Source: European Union
Sep 06
Rumored EU law would scrap cellular roaming fees, let travelers choose providers
Posted in: Today's Chili
It’s no secret that European Commission regulators dislike roaming charges. However, The Guardian now hears from sources that the Commission may propose legislation next week that eliminates those charges altogether. Carriers would reportedly have to charge the same service rates in every European Union country, forming alliances in nations where they don’t operate. Networks that don’t scrap roaming fees by July 2014 would also have to give customers a choice of foreign providers. Subscribers wouldn’t even have to swap SIM cards or phone numbers, according to The Guardian. A spokesman for the Commission’s Neelie Kroes declined comment on the rumor, but noted that the agency wants roaming “out of the market” — clearly, the cellular status quo won’t last for long.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Source: The Guardian
Aug 30
Three UK must hate international roaming charges as much as we do — it just launched a Feel At Home initiative that ditches those fees in seven countries. Subscribers who visit Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy and Sweden can now use data, messaging and voice as if they were back in Britain. The perk doesn’t require a specific plan, and customers can roam on any compatible network in a Free At Home country. There are a few catches, of course: calls to non-UK numbers still incur roaming fees, and tethering is strictly verboten. Still, Brits who just have to post vacation photos on Instagram should be happy.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Source: Three
Aug 16
Leaked NSA audit shows privacy violations in cellular and fiber optic surveillance
Posted in: Today's Chili
The NSA insists that it respects American privacy, but documents leaked by Edward Snowden to the Washington Post suggest that the agency has trouble maintaining that respect. A May 2012 audit, buried in the documents, 2,776 incidents where the NSA’s Washington-area facilities inadvertently obtained protected American data through a mix of human errors and technical limits. Among its larger gaffes, the NSA regularly had problems determining when foreign cellphones were roaming in the US, leading to unintentional snooping on domestic calls. The agency also spent months tapping and temporarily storing a mix of international and domestic data from US fiber lines until the Foreign Intelligence Surveilliance Court ruled that the technique was unconstitutional. NSA officials responding to the leak say that their agency corrects and mitigates incidents where possible, and argue that it’s difficult for the organization to avoid errors altogether. However, the audit also reveals that the NSA doesn’t always report violations to overseers — the division may be interested in fixing mistakes, but it’s not eager to mention them.
Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Internet
Via: GigaOM
Source: Washington Post
Jul 31
Samsung preps Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S4 Mini variants with seamless dual-mode LTE
Posted in: Today's Chili
It hasn’t been easy to bridge differing LTE network types in one phone; ZTE’s attempt requires a reboot, for example. Samsung claims to have solved that problem with new dual-mode LTE versions of the Galaxy S 4 and Galaxy S4 Mini. Both devices can switch between the common FDD-LTE standard and TDD-LTE without restarting, and they’ll automatically hand over any ongoing data sessions or voice calls. The advantages are potentially huge for both roaming and bandwidth — travelers are more likely to stay on 4G, and providers running both FDD and TDD can switch customers to whatever network has the most capacity. Samsung hasn’t said where and when the dual-mode Galaxies will be available, although TDD-LTE’s worldwide reach (including the US) suggests that the smartphones could soon be commonplace.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Source: Samsung
Jul 07
Welcome to The After Math, where we attempt to summarize this week’s tech news through numbers, decimal places and percentages.
During this Independence Day-tinged week, the Engadget team has been peering into the past, present and future of manufacturing in the US. We touched on the implausible costs of a real-life Death Star, how to educate kids in code and the finer points on bringing more tech manufacturing to America. Europe also gets a brief nod, as the EU announced the first wave of substantial roaming cost-cutting across the continent, making several of our often in-transit UK editors very happy indeed. We’ve got a list of notable numbers right after the break.
Jul 01
EU reduces roaming charges across Europe today, makes data 36 percent cheaper and teases further cuts
Posted in: Today's Chili
Starting today, anyone hopping between EU member countries with their smartphone will see roaming charge caps substantially cut across networks and services. As promised by the EU Commission’s VP Neelie Kroes last week, new price caps will drop call charges by “at least 17 percent,” while receiving calls are reduced by 12 percent per minute starting today. Text message costs are down 11 percent, while (perhaps most importantly) data charges across networks in Europe have been cut by 36 percent, down to 45 Euro cents per MB — 91 percent cheaper than they were in 2007.
The commission says it has managed achieve price reductions of over 80 percent across mobile services in the last six years, but it isn’t done there. Further price caps are promised for the same time next year too, as you can see after the break, with roaming data charges set to be further halved (down to 20 cents) by July 2014, with voice calls and text charges also seeing further, admittedly less substantial, reductions. Now, let’s see how the EU fares on those ridding the old country of throttled data speeds.
Image credit: Die Bundeskanzlerin
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Source: Europa (EU), @NeelieKroesEU (Twitter)
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