Hasta La Gadget!

Too little, too late, we’re afraid. For the past decade or so, the RIAA (amongst others) have spent every waking hour figuring out how to best sue and frighten every internet-connected human that even dares think about an illegal download. Now that said practice has failed miserably, it’s finally resorting to something sensible. The entity announced today that AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have teamed up with the RIAA and MPAA in order to agree upon a six-stage notification system that’ll electronically alert internet users whenever their account is used for wrongful downloading. It’s actually not all that much different than the systems that have been in place at Suddenlink for what feels like eons, but at least this creates a standard protocol that the whole lot can adhere to. Oh, and before you ask — under no circumstances will any of these notices result in termination of your broadband connection. There’s no way an ISP would agree to such a thing, and indeed, they haven’t here. The full run-down can be delved into below, but it’s worth noting that no extra “watching” procedures are being put into place; your ISP will only drop you a line if a content overlord asks ’em to. Good times, no?

Continue reading ISP’s agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements

ISP’s agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola reduced the price of its Wi-Fi only Xoom tablet to $500. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Motorola announced on Wednesday that its Android tablet is now available for a hundred bucks cheaper than before, now priced the same as the entry-level iPad 2.

Originally priced at $600, Motorola’s Xoom tablet is now available for $500 in its Wi-Fi only version. The price reduction was announced via Motorola’s Twitter account, and first reported by The Business Insider.

Motorola’s Xoom was the first device to run Google’s tablet-optimized version of Android, (Honeycomb), beating all other major tablet manufacturers to market with its February release date. Sporting Nvidia’s dual-core Tegra 2 processor, an interface which eschews physical buttons and a fancy black matte finish, the Xoom looked like the tablet to beat in 2011.

The head start, however, doesn’t seem to have worked in Motorola’s favor. Critics of the Xoom denounced Motorola’s high prices right out of the gate — $600 for Wi-Fi only, and a whopping $800 for the Verizon 3G capable version. Compare that to the entry-level iPad 2’s $500 price tag, or even the fellow Android-powered Acer Iconia A500, priced at $450. A $500 base price tag is the predominant standard for the field, originally set by Apple.

It’s unclear whether the 3G-capable version of the tablet will take a price hit, though Motorola’s website shows no change to the price currently.

Verizon Wireless did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 3G version can be purchased at a subsidized rate, however; a Xoom with a two-year Verizon contract will set you back $600.

A Verizon spokesperson confirmed the company will soon shift to tiered pricing data plans. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Verizon confirmed Tuesday it will end its unlimited data pricing plan options for smartphone customers on July 7, continuing a broad shift to tiered-use plans amongst cellular carriers.

Instead of the existing $30 monthly fee Verizon currently charges for an unlimited data package, the company’s new structure mimics that of others in the industry. Verizon will charge $30 for 2 GB of monthly data, $50 for 5 GB, and $80 for 10 GB, according to mobile industry publication Fierce Wireless.

The elimination of unlimited data plan offerings confirms an earlier leaked report that the company would shift to a different pricing model before the end of the summer.

In doing away with unlimited data, Verizon follows the lead of the other major carriers. AT&T killed its unlimited data buffet last year. And just this May, T-Mobile rolled out a high-speed data access plan which throttles your connection speed to a lower rate after you hit your data limit. Verizon tried a similar data-throttling maneuver, although the company tried to sweep it under the rug by burying the change in an unpublicized memo.

As smartphones tied to data plans grow more commonplace, wireless carriers change data policies quickly to adjust to demand. Over half of all U.S. mobile phone purchases within the last three months were smartphones, according to Nielsen research findings, while data use has nearly doubled over the past year. Yet the cost per MB of data has dropped by nearly 46 percent. That’s a figure the carriers don’t want to see.

Sprint remains the sole holdout of the four big U.S. carriers, offering its unlimited 3G/4G unlimited data and minutes plan for $100/month, unlimited data and 450 minutes for $70 a month, and unlimited data and 900 minutes for $90 a month. In January, Sprint also tacked on a $10 “premium data fee” for any new smartphone subscribers requiring a data plan.

There’s some good news to Verizon’s announcement: If you’re an existing Verizon customer not on contract, you can upgrade your smartphone and still keep your unlimited data plan even after the July 7 deadline. The flip side to that, however, is you’ve got to sign a two-year contract.

The leaks about Verizon’s usage-based plans have become so abundant that it’s been nearly impossible to shake off with any amount of skepticism, but one key ingredient’s been missing from the saga: official word from the carrier itself regarding the exact date and specific pricing. A mere two days before DataGate’s rumored debut, Verizon’s finally cleared its throat to make a statement confirming the inevitable. The unlimited smartphone data plan will predictably make a sad and sudden departure from the company’s brochures — lingering only for those grandfathered into it — and a tiered structure will enter in its place.

There were no surprises on pricing: for smartphone data, plans start at $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5GB, and $80 for 10GB. New customers can add mobile hotspot service for an extra $20, and Big Red will throw in a couple additional gigabytes as well. Customers currently using the unlimited LTE mobile hotspot will be given the option to retain that service for another $30. We’ve yet to receive confirmation from our spokesperson, but will keep you updated as soon as we get word. Knowing is half the battle, though, so take action — interested parties only have two days left.

Verizon speaks up, confirms usage-based data plans are coming July 7th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever feel like your WiFi devices’ battery-lives are better off when not surrounded by peers and passersby? According to Duke University grad student Justin Manweiler and assistant professor Romit Roy Choudhury, this phenomenon is due to gadgets constantly fighting to retrieve the same data. Their Systems Networking Research Group has created a program dubbed SleepWell to alleviate the congestion; it puts WiFi to rest until the path is clear for accessing the specific data it needs, and provides improved power management all the while. The tech was shown off at MobiSys 2011 this past week and reportedly works well “across a number of device types and situations.” Notably, Microsoft and Nokia (amongst others like Verizon) are backing up the project, which makes us cautiously optimistic that it could be headed for WP7 (or Windows 8, for that matter) in due time. There’s no info on whether SleepWell will ever be distributed commercially, but may we suggest an LTE version to help out big V’s poor ol’ T-Bolt?

Update: We’d like to clarify that this software currently works from the accesss point side rather than the individual devices. You’ll a find an additional PDF about the project in the source links below.

[Thanks, Daiwei Li]

SleepWell forces WiFi to wait its turn, keeps gadgets well-rested (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jul 2011 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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