Hasta La Gadget!

This one comes as no surprise, but T-Mobile has announced today that the availability of tethering and WiFi hotspot capabilities for “select smartphones” in its lineup in time for the holidays — and as is often the case with Big Magenta, they’re offering the service at a much more aggressive price point than its larger competitors: $14.99 a month on top of your $30 unlimited data plan buys you unlimited tethering on T-Mobile’s glorious HSPA+ network (and in its non-HSPA+ areas as well, of course). We still don’t know whether this’ll start to roll out on November 3rd as was rumored, but that’d be a nice way to get into the holiday spirit, wouldn’t it? Don’t get us wrong — we’d prefer if they offered it for free as part of your $30 package, but in our post-apocalyptic world of streaming video and incessant browsing on the go, that just wasn’t gonna happen.

Separately, T-Mobile is also announcing an alternative to that $30 smartphone data: a new 200MB plan clocking in at $10 on a new two-year deal or $15 a month without a contract extension. As you might imagine, tethering isn’t available with this one — we suspect it’s just an answer to the new fad adopted by AT&T and Verizon of offering a tiny-bucket data plan alongside your regular gluttonous-bucket package.

Continue reading T-Mobile offering unlimited tethering ‘this holiday season’ as $15 add-on

T-Mobile offering unlimited tethering ‘this holiday season’ as $15 add-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re still not sure what’s up with the few reports of G2s receiving OTA updates that add WiFi calling and native hotspot support, but T-Mobile isn’t fessing up to them just yet. In a statement issued to Phone Scoop, T-Mobile said that these features “are not currently supported” on the handset, although T-Mobile thankfully added that it “knows these features are important to consumers and we’re working to deliver them to G2 users in the future.” It’s hard to tell if that means an update is just minutes away from widespread distribution, or if we’ve still got weeks or months to wait for these features. Familiar story?

T-Mobile won’t confirm the G2 OTA update, says it’s working to deliver WiFi calling and tethering ‘in the future’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Really, Verizon? Play up the global roaming features of your new-but-not-unexpected Wireless Fivespot, only to strangle it with GlobalAccess plans that top out with 200MB of international data? Thanks, but no thanks. For those still interested in the new WWAN modem for domestic use (psst… the MiFi 2200 is a better deal), this ZTE-built device is the first in VZW’s stable to offer global data access. That’s due to having both a SIM card slot (for GSM roaming) and a CDMA radio inside, and as with the aforesaid MiFi, it’ll handle up to five simultaneous WiFi connections. The unit itself will run $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a two-year agreement, and Verizon’s providing both postpaid and prepaid domestic data plan options: $39.99 per month gets you 250MB with a $0.10 overage, while $59.99 nets you 5GB and a $0.05/MB overage (the prepaid details reside after the break). Where it really gets ludicrous is GlobalAccess — customers traveling abroad have the choice of two plans, a $129.99/month option with 5GB in the US / Canada and 100MB elsewhere, or a $219.99/month alternative that simply adds an extra 100MB on the international end. That’s $90 for an extra 100MB. We’ll spare you the chore of stressing over all of this and point you to Xcom Global — trust us, if you’re touching down in a foreign land for over an hour, you’ll need close to 100MB just to digest the inbox explosion from being in the air 14 hours.

Continue reading Verizon gets official with Wireless Fivespot mobile hotspot, touts awful global roaming plans

Verizon gets official with Wireless Fivespot mobile hotspot, touts awful global roaming plans originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well well, what’s this? We haven’t heard much about the Verizon Fivespot global mobile hotspot since we saw it hit the FCC after first leaking out in July, but it certainly seems like it’s about to get official — we just got this shot of Verizon’s “launch kit” for retail outlets. No word on when it’ll actually hit, but it’s bound to be soon — and if Verizon sells this thing cheap with some of those new prepaid data plans it’s going to be awfully hard to resist.

[Thanks, Wildkat]

Verizon Fivespot mobile hotspot launch materials hitting stores originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This actually happened a few days ago, but since we admittedly weren’t on the lookout for hot filings from Chinese manufacturer ZTE, we totally missed it until we circled back for our FCC Fridays roundup this week. That’s right: what you’re looking at above is a non-carrier-branded version of the Fivespot global mobile hotspot for Verizon that we’d broke the news on last month — and if you sift through the user’s manual in the FCC filing, you’ll see that this is indeed the same thing as the Verizon device. As a refresher, this puppy is supposed to replace the aging MiFi and offer support for triband HSPA alongside EV-DO in the event you’re dying for some 3G coverage outside the States. We’ve heard rumors that it’s been canceled recently to make room for Big Red’s LTE plans, but we’re not sure we buy it since widespread LTE coverage is still a long way out — especially in a tiny, sexy, global mobile hotspot form factor like this. And hey, with FCC approval behind ’em, why not go ahead and release it?

Verizon’s Fivespot gets FCC approval by way of ZTE originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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