Items tagged with Data
According to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, mobile data is on the rise with no abatement in sight. The study found that the amount of mobile data traffic doubled in the last year (between Q3 2011 and Q3 2012), and it’s expected to grow 12-fold over the next 6 years. Perhaps unsurprisingly, streaming video is responsible for much of that traffic--about 25% of smartphone traffic and 40% of tablets’--which is a finding that jibes with other recent reports on Web traffic. (Here’s looking at you, Netflix.) Smartphone proliferation has a lot to do with it, of course, and the study noted that 40% of all phones sold this quarter were smartphones. Expanded 4G LTE coverage (here’s...
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AT&T is offering customers $100 off of the purchase of any tablet, provided you're willing to sign a two-year agreement for a data plan. The promotional offer begins today. The discount applies to tablets purchased at AT&T company owned stores, online at AT&T's website, and at selected agents and retailers. Several of AT&T's data plans will work with this offer, including AT&T's Mobile Share plan. With Mobile Share, you can add a tablet to a Mobile Share plan for just $10 per month. Mobile Share lets customers share data with all of their devices including smartphones, tablets, gaming devices, etc. AT&T's tablet data plan options include: AT&T Mobile Share: $10 to...
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Google has recently opened up the covers on how a lot of its magic behind the scenes work, at least from a server farm standpoint. Most of it is laden with techobabble, thrilling only to nerds that follow the company. But given that you're here, we figured we might as well pass along some other relevant information. The company has recently revealed some "best practices" when it comes to cooling its legion of servers and data centers. Google Senior Director of Data Centers Joe Kava recently discussed some of those details. Among other tidbits, the enter data center room severs as a cold aisle. You'll find raised floors, but not perforated tiles, and cooling coils use chilled water in order to...
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Mobile data plans have significantly evolved over the last few years, especially in the US. When smartphones initially hit the scene, they were much more expensive and mostly incapable of using significant amounts of data due to numerous inherent limitations of the devices and available content. Wireless carriers knew this and attempted to entice consumers by making data plans as attractive as possible. Hence, the $30 unlimited plan was born. With Windows Mobile and early BlackBerry products, mobile data was used for little more than checking e-mail. Early mobile Web browsers weren't capable of loading most sites cleanly, and things like Twitter and Facebook weren't even...
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AT&T had finally confessed earlier in the year that shared data plans were en route, but now we know exactly when to look for them: August 23rd. Following in the wake of Verizon's own decision to split data across devices for a hefty price, AT&T's Mobile Share plans are going live in just a few weeks. For many families, they may be worth considering, particularly if one or two members need a smartphone with data, but use it so infrequently that they can't justify the monthly rate for solo data. The plans work across multiple data-driven devices, from phones to tablets to mobile hotspots. But, the devil is in the details. For many, these shared plans are actually a raw deal. AT&T charges...
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International roaming has been, and continues to be, a huge ordeal. For the average consumer, the simple act of checking Facebook while abroad can lead to some pretty insane bill shock. In most nations outside of the U.S., the average carrier dings you for between $3 and $5 per megabyte. AT&T is changing up its international roaming packages today, and while they still aren't "affordable," it's arguably a move in the right direction, if only a small one. The new Global Data Packs, which can be added during months that you'll be traveling overseas, include a bit more data from the get-go. The new packs will be available on June 1st, with $30/month getting you 120MB overseas. Larger plans include...
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International travel is pretty stressful as-is, but when you combine the fact that getting smartphone data while abroad could end up costing more than your flight -- well, that's even less fun. Global data roaming is a major, major expense, and while many savvy travelers attempt to pick up loaner SIMs at their destination, there's no doubt that it's not possible to do so in every instance. For those who routinely find themselves scurrying to foreign lands, Verizon Wireless has introduced a new Global Data Plan. Beginning April 23rd, US-based customers can get a 100MB monthly pool of data for $25. That's a tiny pool, yes, but it's far greater than VZW's prior offerings. Whenever you go over that...
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Look, not everyone is into the idea of contracts. And for those people, there are plenty of prepaid options on the table. AT&T is hoping to get itself back in the prepaid spotlight soon with new prepaid data packages. It's good news for users, too, as the new packages include "double the data or more for the same price for GoPhone customers." The changes go into play on April 22, with 1GB costing $25, 200MB costing $15 and 50MB costing $5. Per usual, all data packages are available on the $50 Unlimited Talk & Text nationwide plan for GoPhone smartphones and the $25 Unlimited Text with 250 minutes nationwide GoPhone plan. Now, if only the prepaid phone selection would get a little better...oh,...
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Guess what, Lumia 900 users? You've got an update to download. Already, just days after launch, Nokia's new Windows Phone-based flagship has an update, and it's to fix some lingering data connectivity issues that some customers were facing. Nokia knows that they have to nail this launch if they ever want Windows Phone to be a major player in the U.S. (and to get carriers excited about it), and even in addition to pricing the LTE handset at just $100 on a 2-year contract, now they're really stepping up to the plate in terms of customer service. Even though the issue only plagued a certain segment of users, the update is available now for all, via Zune (PC) or Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac....
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There's been no new Star Trek TV series since Enterprise limped off screens in 2005, but the huge success of the 2009 Star Trek movie and the gradual growth of Blu-ray has caught CBS' attention (CBS acquired ownership of the Star Trek franchise in 2006). The broadcast company is preparing to release Star Trek: The Next Generation on Blu-ray -- with substantial improvements. The DVD boxed sets that exist today were created from the taped broadcasts that were shown in the early 90s. Rather than repackaging that material, CBS has gone back to the original film stock and started from scratch. "They're taking the original film elements and recompositing them," says Michael Okuda, the graphics designer...
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Starting April 5, T-Mobile customers will have domestic data roaming limits on their cell phone plans according to a document acquired by TmoNews. As of right now, there are no limits on domestic data roaming. According to this leaked document, T-Mobile plans to stager data limits depending on which plan you're on. For example, users with the 2GB plan will be limited to 50MB of data while roaming. The 5GB plan will get 100MB and the 10GB plan will get 200MB of roaming. If a customer nears the allotment, T-Mobile plans to send a text message to alert the user. If a user goes over the limit, T-Mobile will cut off roaming data services until the user is back in network range. The allotment will...
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Who needs a wad of cash in their wallet dragging them down? If that's how you feel, you'll be thrilled with AT&T's new data plans for smartphone and tablet customers. The plans, which launch this Sunday, January 22, 2012, are designed to "give customers more data and value," but that additional data and value comes at the cost of higher prices. AT&T's current data plans run $15 per month for 200MB of data and $25 per month for 2GB of data. If you're a mobile hotspot customer, your're paying $25 per month for 2GB plus another $20 for 2GB of hotspot data, which adds up to 4GB for $45. Source: Flickr (MrVJTod) The new smartphone plans shake out like this: AT&T Data Plus 300MB: $20 for...
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Opera realizes that wireless carriers are placing limits on how much data is included with many smartphone plans. In an effort to give users the mobile web without going over their data limits, Opera has released the latest version of the Opera Mini browser. The latest version, 6.5, is available for iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Java-enabled phones. In addition, the Opera Mobile 11.5 browser is now available on Symbian S60. If you're not familiar with Opera Mini and Opera Mobile, both offer cost saving features that help reduce your data consumption. With Opera Mini, remote servers compress webpages before sending them to your phone, thereby using less data. With Opera Mobile, you'll...
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Did you know that there's an actual place in the world called the San Diego Supercomputer Center? Let's just say you just found your next place of employment, huh? It sounds like a pretty awesome venue, and they just announced the launch of what is believed to be the largest academic-based cloud storage system in the U.S., specifically designed for researchers, students, academics, and industry users who require stable, secure, and cost-effective storage and sharing of digital information, including extremely large data sets. Michael Norman, director of SDSC, had this to say: "We believe that the SDSC Cloud may well revolutionize how data is preserved and shared among researchers, especially...
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