Hasta La Gadget!

We all know AT&T just loves its tiered pricing models, so it’s no surprise to hear that the carrier intends to turn its forthcoming LTE service into a tier-vana of great new sophistication. BGR has come across an internal document detailing how AT&T plans to segment its 4G pricing on the basis of both speed and data allowance, meaning that your price will reflect both the amount of data you consume and the rate at which you gobble it down. To add further complexity flexibility, Top Ups will be available that’ll allow users to amp up their connection speed for a limited time or increase their allowance on a per-month basis. We’re hearing trials of this new offering will commence in May, which fits in neatly with the currently planned LTE rollout in the second half of this year. So it’s not all set in stone yet, but irrespective of the number of data options AT&T throws our way, the paramount question will always be the same: how much?

Mobile broadband shocker: AT&T looking at tiered data pricing and speeds for upcoming LTE service originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Jan 2011 04:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“The iPad 2 has a camera.” We know, it feels all but certain at this point (even when it’s far from official), but perhaps we can expand on that quoted assertion further. Like everyone else who can laugh at Objective-C jokes, 9 to 5 Mac has been digging through the latest iOS SDK and found some data referring to K94, which it claims is the codename for the next-generation iPad. (For reference, the original iPad was K48.) Anyway, within that code lies a string reference to “Back Facing 1MP Photo.” Going further, the front-facing camera is reportedly VGA — same as the iPhone, same as the iPod touch. It’s unclear if the also-found “K95” files also included the the same data, or what exactly that codename might be, but if you’re the betting sort, feel free to say, “the iPad 2’s megapixel mullet is 0.3 up front, 1 in the back.” It’s still a gamble until Apple unveils it with a puff of virtual smoke on a presentation slide.

iOS 4.3 beta suggests iPad 2 has one megapixel rear camera originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Launched in early 2009, Sprint’s Premier loyalty program has been one of the more generous (and easy to understand) perks programs in the American wireless industry: just keep a certain minimum spend per month or stick around for ten years, and boom, you’re eligible. Most importantly, Premier customers are currently able to get new contract pricing after just a single year into their existing contracts, which makes gadget freaks on the network far, far less likely to go bankrupt. Well, mirroring some of the other early upgrade changes we’re seeing in the business lately, it looks like these guys are planning on dialing things back come April 1st (and no, the irony is not lost). Though some Premier customers will still get upgrades after a year, that privilege will be dialed back to members of the new Gold tier which will require ten years of service with Sprint. Yes, that’s right: you’ll have needed to have a line on these guys since before the Matrix Phone came out to get the biggest benefit of the program. If you don’t qualify, you still could get in on the Silver tier, which gives you miscellaneous perks like accessory discounts… but not the full upgrade discount after a year. Instead, you’ll need to wait 22 months, which — at the current rate — is about 47 major versions of Android.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: As before, you’ll be able to skirt the 10-year requirement with a minimum spend and at least six months of service; that minimum will be $89.99 a month for individual lines at $169.99 a month for family plans. Whew!

Sprint Premier getting new premium tier on April 1st, many customers won’t get early upgrades? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh look, even more evidence that the next generation iPad will be equipped with cameras. The image above showing the three new iPad apps was discovered in the iOS 4.3 beta 2 by MacRumors. To be effective, the iPad’s Camera and FaceTime apps would require both back- and front-facing cameras just like the iPhone 4. The Photo Booth app is new to iOS but already ships on Macs running OS X — it could, presumably, use either camera to record snapshots (with filters) and video. And really, at this point, with such overwhelming evidence the only surprise would be for Apple to announce a new iPad without a camera.

iPad camera apps discovered in iOS 4.3 beta, nobody surprised originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like the iPad might not have an exclusive on those new “multitasking” gestures unearthed in the latest iOS 4.3 beta, because BGR‘s got some shots up of an purported internal build that seem to indicate Cupertino intends to push them down to the iPhone line as well. Now, there are a couple of obvious red flags here — using “four or five fingers” sounds pretty unreasonable for a 3.5-inch display, though it’d certainly tie in with recent rumors that Apple’s turning sour on the physical Home button and might indicate that the complete redesign we’re hearing about could include a slightly larger display. Of course, it could also indicate that this is really early software with the wrong (read: iPad) wording — but at any rate, we could definitely see the benefit of, say, a two-finger gesture to swipe between apps.

Now, on to part two: 9to5 Mac seems to have unearthed traces in the iOS 4.3 beta of a new feature called “Photo Streams” that seems to be — you guessed it — a way to share continuous streams of photos with friends you approve, presumably through MobileMe (which would fit in nicely with the Find my Friends stuff). Alone, that’s not worth $99 a year — plenty of other services offer similar functionality — but we wouldn’t be surprised if this were bundled in with a bunch of MobileMe refreshes this year.

Update: We just received an interesting tidbit of information on the above pic (and others that BGR has its hands on). According to sources, after the iPhone 4 barroom debacle, Apple made significant changes to how it keeps track of — and identifies to third parties — its devices. Namely, the company began adding clauses to screens on the phones which read “Confidential and Proprietary, if found, please contact…” followed by a 408 number (that’s Cupertino, of course). This prevents any misunderstanding from parties who may come across these devices. So what does it all mean? Well, not much, save that it seems these photos we’re viewing are in fact the real deal… which means gestures may be headed to your iPhone. Intrigue!

iPhone rumor two-pack: multitasking gestures and MobileMe Photo Streams? (Update: those pics are real) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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