mobile data
Deals
2:58PM Nick Broughall | On top of checking out Lifehacker’s guide to mobile broadband, if you’re in the market for a mobile broadband plan, you should know that Vodafone’s just dropped the price of their prepaid starter pack to $129. That gets you a USB modem plus 2GB of data if you pick it up before the end of September (after that you’ll just get 500MB). More »
Vodafone Drops Price Of Prepaid Mobile Internet
2:58PM Nick Broughall | On top of checking out Lifehacker’s guide to mobile broadband, if you’re in the market for a mobile broadband plan, you should know that Vodafone’s just dropped the price of their prepaid starter pack to $129. That gets you a USB modem plus 2GB of data if you pick it up before the end of September (after that you’ll just get 500MB). More » 
Networks
10:56AM Nick Broughall | A mobile broadband connection is like the Batarang in every good gadget hero’s belt – you don’t need it every time you head out to fight crime, but it comes in handy more often than not. If you’re wondering which mobile broadband solution is the best for you, make sure you head over to Gus’s Road Worrier column on Lifehacker this week, as he runs through all the Aussie 3G networks and rates them accordingly.
[Lifehacker]
Best 3G Modem Deals Rated By Lifehacker
10:56AM Nick Broughall | A mobile broadband connection is like the Batarang in every good gadget hero’s belt – you don’t need it every time you head out to fight crime, but it comes in handy more often than not. If you’re wondering which mobile broadband solution is the best for you, make sure you head over to Gus’s Road Worrier column on Lifehacker this week, as he runs through all the Aussie 3G networks and rates them accordingly.
[Lifehacker]
Networks
WSJ: Unlimited Data Phone Plans Are Doomed Thanks to the iPhone
11:10PM Matt Buchanan | The complicated tango between the iPhone and AT&T’s network isn’t a new story, but the latest stats—web browsing eats 69 percent of phone bandwidth—highlight the fragility of networks, allowing fresh portents of doom. More »
Peripherals
10:13AM Nick Broughall | Despite the fact that the 3 brand could disappear completely in this country as they merge with Vodafone later this year, the little-network-that-could is still popping out products. This time, it’s an internet key that swivels through 270 degrees, so you can “optimise reception and position your Internet Key for ultimate convenience”. Indeed. More »
Three Launches New Swivel Internet Key
10:13AM Nick Broughall | Despite the fact that the 3 brand could disappear completely in this country as they merge with Vodafone later this year, the little-network-that-could is still popping out products. This time, it’s an internet key that swivels through 270 degrees, so you can “optimise reception and position your Internet Key for ultimate convenience”. Indeed. More »
Phones
British Airways to Launch Text- and Data-Only Mobile Phone Usage on London-NYC Flights
1:00AM John Mahoney | Hey, this makes sense. No one wants to hear (or pay for) in-flight voice calls, and since only grandpa uses the voice feature of his phone these days, why not simply allow data plan usage? More »
Computers
HP Wants To Sell You a Carrier-Subsidised Netbook For Cheap With 3G Data
11:40PM John Mahoney | We’ve seen netbooks bundled with a mobile data service contract popping up in other parts of the world, but a report today by the WSJ finds HP considering the same tactic here in the US, where it hasn’t been done effectively yet. This would let you buy a Mini 1000 or any other HP netbook at a steep (hopefully), smartphone-esque discount on carriers that may include AT&T and Verizon. More »
Networks
10:00AM Nick Broughall | It looks like the mobile data wars are starting to heat up, with Vodafone today dropping the price of their mobile broadband offerings.
For 20 bucks (or $19.95 for the pedantic among us) over 24 months, you get 1GB of data over Voda’s 3G network, plus it will cost you $5 per month for the USB Internet stick. That price is $10 a month less than the previous offering.
If you’re a data hound, you can get 5GB for $39.95 a month, with the USB modem included for free over 24 months. That’s down $10 on previous pricing as well.
Considering Vodafone pops you on their 2.5G network when you run out of 3G (rather than charge you roaming fees on Telstra’s network, a la 3), this is a pretty solid deal, and potentially the best offering on the market at the moment.
[Vodafone]
More »
Vodafone Cuts Mobile Broadband Pricing
10:00AM Nick Broughall | It looks like the mobile data wars are starting to heat up, with Vodafone today dropping the price of their mobile broadband offerings.
For 20 bucks (or $19.95 for the pedantic among us) over 24 months, you get 1GB of data over Voda’s 3G network, plus it will cost you $5 per month for the USB Internet stick. That price is $10 a month less than the previous offering.
If you’re a data hound, you can get 5GB for $39.95 a month, with the USB modem included for free over 24 months. That’s down $10 on previous pricing as well.
Considering Vodafone pops you on their 2.5G network when you run out of 3G (rather than charge you roaming fees on Telstra’s network, a la 3), this is a pretty solid deal, and potentially the best offering on the market at the moment.
[Vodafone]
More »
Networks
AT&T Adds DataConnect Overage Charges, Pulls Plug on Unlimited Pre-Paid Data Plans
1:45AM Sean Fallon | Shockingly, AT&T has discovered that *gasp* people are abusing their unlimited pre-paid data service by tapping into it with their laptops. As a result, the plug is being pulled on the $US19.99/month option starting on November 12th. AT&T will also place a cap on the legitimate laptop DataConnect plan that works out to 5GB a month for $US60. Overages will be billed at $US0.00048 per kilobyte, which translates into a bank account-busting $US480 per gigabyte. However, rumours claim that AT&T will terminate service once a $US100 overage threshold has been reached. [PhoneNews via Engadget Mobile via MobileBurn] More »
Networks
9:56AM Nick Broughall | Mobile data keeps getting cheaper. You can now get 1GB per month from pretty much any network for under $30, often including the price of the wireless modem.
The exception, of course, is Telstra, who are banking on the fact that their NextG network is superior to the other carrier’s offerings that it keeps its prices at a premium to put it politely.
The good news is that even Telstra is starting to come to the mobile data pricing party, although they’re still waiting in their car out the front, waiting for everyone to come to them rather than go inside and be social.
More »
Telstra Reworks Data Plans, Still Not Competitive
9:56AM Nick Broughall | Mobile data keeps getting cheaper. You can now get 1GB per month from pretty much any network for under $30, often including the price of the wireless modem.
The exception, of course, is Telstra, who are banking on the fact that their NextG network is superior to the other carrier’s offerings that it keeps its prices at a premium to put it politely.
The good news is that even Telstra is starting to come to the mobile data pricing party, although they’re still waiting in their car out the front, waiting for everyone to come to them rather than go inside and be social.
More » 