Hasta La Gadget!

Okay, look, guys — we know putting a satellite into space is a pricey endeavor — just ask Sirius XM — but you literally just launched your first commercial device, the Genus, and we don’t think that “launch a device then immediately declare bankruptcy” is a particularly sound business model. They’re not there yet, but sure enough, the WSJ is claiming that newly-minted satphone operator TerreStar could be just days away from filing for Chapter 11 as it bears the brunt of around $1 billion in debt, possibly in the form of a well-structured and prearranged bankruptcy on the heels of discussions with the company’s creditors. Seeing how restructuring does seem like the most likely scenario here, we wouldn’t necessarily let this scare anyone off from buying a Genus — but at $799, we doubt many of you were planning on running out this week and picking it up anyway. Echoes of Iridium, anyone?

TerreStar teetering on bankruptcy? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It might not be the Apple-Verizon tie-in you are most anxious to see happen, but the big red network has gone official with its plans to offer the iPad in its brick-and-mortar stores starting on October 28. VZW will be bundling the WiFi-only iPads with its own MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot with pricing set at $630, $730 and $830 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants of Apple’s tablet, respectively. There’s only one access plan on offer for now, granting users 1GB of monthly data allowance in exchange for $20 and no contractual commitments. AT&T will match the release date and upfront prices for each model, although its iPads will be of the WiFi + 3G variety, eschewing the need for a bundled MiFi; plan pricing will continue at 200MB for $15 or 2GB for $25 monthly. Full press releases follow after the break.

Update: According to an FAQ on Verizon’s website, spotted by AppleInsider, there are a pair of other service plans after all: $35 for 3GB and $50 for 5GB, each with penalties of $10 per gigabyte of overage. As the publication notes, these are pretty nifty deals compared to Verizon’s usual data rates, however the FAQ also stipulates that “customers will only be eligible for the new bundle data plans when purchasing the iPad and MiFi 2200 promotional bundle.”

Continue reading iPad going on sale in Verizon Wireless and AT&T stores October 28 (update: Verizon data pricing)

iPad going on sale in Verizon Wireless and AT&T stores October 28 (update: Verizon data pricing) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are fewer places to go to for consumers seeking access to unlimited data on their smartphones. T-Mobile plans to reduce data speeds for those consumers who use more than 5 GB of data in a single billing cycle, according to the Tmonews website.

The move will kick in this weekend and T-Mobile claims less than 1 percent of its customers will be affected.

T-Mobile’s decision is just a step short of the data caps announced by other wireless carriers. In September, Verizon said it plans to stop selling unlimited data plans to new customers and will, instead, introduce two service plans with monthly data caps. A few months earlier, AT&T decided to retire unlimited 3G-data plans. Sprint has said it will have to reconsider unlimited data for its 4G network if data usage increases significantly.

Consumers today are using their smartphones for more than just voice and e-mail. The rise of social networking sites and mobile video and apps has led to a tremendous increase in the amounts of data being sucked through wireless devices.

Average data consumption increased to 298 MB a month in the first quarter of this year, from about 90 MB a month for the same period last year. That’s a gain of approximately 230 percent in a year, according to research by Nielsen Mobile. And, so far, it hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.

T-Mobile has said only “extreme data users” will feel the pain. The company plans to send text messages warning users about their data speeds if they reach the limit.

This is not the first time T-Mobile has tried to throttle data speeds for power users. Earlier, the company capped usage around 10 GB but it seems to be reducing the threshold now.

For consumers this makes for a difficult choice. They can either get limited data from AT&T and Verizon and pay heavily for exceeding that or get “unlimited” data at T-Mobile and see their data download to a trickle after a certain point. Either way, it’s clear–the days of unlimited data on mobile devices are over.

See Also:

• AT&T Adds iPhone Tethering, Kills Unlimited Data for iPad
• Verizon to End Unlimited-Data Party
• AT&T’s Data Limits Rein In Cloud-Based Media Services
• What AT&T’s Limited Data Plans Mean for You
• Data-Gobbling Android Users Will Likely See Bandwidth Capped

Photo: (Shawn Mclung/Flickr)

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