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Verizon Wireless Offering $10 ‘Social’ Plan Is Scary

// November 21st, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Mobile

Recently, Verizon Wireless announced a new data plan for its BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphone – dubbed the ‘Social Messaging Data Package.’ This plan is only $10/month, which is about 1/3rd the price of a normal data plan, but it severely limits the user. You get 75MB of data (PLEASE stop offering consumers bucket data plans – they’re impossible for consumers to understand), as well as full access to Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. You also get full access to BlackBerry Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger. It sounds like a great deal, especially if you’ve got a teenager who pretty much only needs that level of access, but it’s the first step towards a very frightening mobile future.

Here’s the problem: Essentially, Verizon has said, ‘If you only pay us $10, we only give you access to these sites that we’ve chosen. If you want access to more sites, you need to pay us more.’ With the major carriers in the U.S. gradually moving away from unlimited data plans, this further restriction is very worrisome. It’s a clear backwards move for the industry, and not something we as consumers should take lightly. I’ve always been a huge proponent of unlocked phones that are free from the restrictions placed on them by the carriers and this is a great reason why.

What do you think? Are you concerned about the level of control that the major carriers are starting to exert over our devices and how we use them?

What’s The Point Of The MiFi?

// August 7th, 2009 // 11 Comments » // Mobile, technology

When the MiFi was announced, I thought it sounded like an awesome idea. If you don’t know, the MiFi is essentially a 3G modem combined with a WiFi router. The device is roughly the size of a credit card, though thicker, and connects to a cellular 3G network (there are both CDMA and UMTS variants). It then re-broadcasts this data connection via WiFi, so that other devices, such as a netbook, internet tablet, or laptop, can connect. Reviews have been positive, but I’m not sure I really see the point.

For starters, the carriers are all requiring a tethering-specific data plan, just like they do for their USB dongles. These data plans often have a 5GB cap, and run roughly $60/month. That’s in addition to whatever voice and data plan you already have for your cell phone, meaning you’re effectively doubling your monthly bill in order to use this MiFi.

This brings me to the main reason that I simply don’t see the point of the MiFi – if I already have a smartphone, with an unlimited data plan, why on earth would I pay an additional $60/month for *more* data, when I can simply tether my phone to my computer, and go from there? I get the same data speeds either way, and I only then have a single device to worry about.

Some will say ‘but with the MiFi, you can have up to 5 devices connected, whereas tethering only gets you one’. This is true, but how often do you really need more than one device connected? Obviously your phone is already connected, and tethering gets your laptop going, so now what?

Moreso, applications such as JoikuSpot exist that are able to turn your 3G and WiFi enabled smartphone into a WiFi router, using the 3G connection as the input, and then rebroadcasting it over WiFi. Of course, you have battery life to worry about, but it’d be much cheaper to purchase a USB cable to charge your phone from your computer than it would be to purchase the MiFi for $80 (with a 2-year contract, mind you) and pay an additional $60+taxes each month.

Can anyone help me out here, to explain how the MiFi might somehow outweigh the substantial costs involved?

Should Smartphones Come With Data Plans?

// May 15th, 2009 // 13 Comments » // Mobile

A recent rumor at Boy Genius Report claims that T-Mobile is going to require most of its smartphones to be sold with a data plan. The concept is nothing new – most BlackBerries are sold with an add-on that includes unlimited data connections, and the iPhone is sold with a data package bundled from AT&T. Personally, I think it’s a fantastic idea, and something the carriers should have done a long time ago.

The difference in using any mobile phone, much less today’s smartphone, with or without a data package, is nearly night and day. The extra connection isn’t only valuable for mobile browsing and email, it’s also the window to a whole new level of opportunity, both for the carrier and for consumers.

With bundled data packages, carriers win by getting that higher ARPU. They also win because an unlimited data package opens the door to a host of other services, such as streaming media (audio or video), as well as social networking and other data-oriented services on your mobile. Basically anything you can do on your computer, you can do on your phone through the internet. It’s a whole new opportunity for service upsells. Plus, with unlimited data, you’ve eliminated one barrier that often prevents customers from experimenting with these data-intensive services.

Consumers win because they can do so much more with their phones. Mobile internet is the future of how people will interact with each other, regardless of how you look at it. It enables communication on levels never seen before, and since it’s mobile, there are no geographical limitations. It cuts the cord and allows people to use internet-related products and services without having to be sat in a single place, which means it can more easily enrich and enable their real lives.

Another benefit that we’ve seen with the iPhone is that if the manufacturer knows a user will have unlimited data, they can more easily enable or create different applications. I love my S60-powered smartphones, but they’re held back slightly, specifically with 3rd party apps, because they have to ask permission to connect to the internet. They don’t have the luxury of knowing you have unlimited internet, which means they’ll probably always have that awkward interaction with the user of ‘are you sure I can do this?’

What do you think? Do you use a smartphone without a data package? Do you think it limits you?