Gadgets For Geeks
Add This Feed
Subscribe in Bloglines

Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Add to My AOL
Add to netvibes
Add to The Free Dictionary

Add to Excite MIX
Add to netomat Hub
Add to fwicki
Add to Webwag
Add to Plusmo
Add to Google Reader or Homepage
Categories

Posts Tagged ‘att’

postheadericon AT&T tells customers using unauthorized tethering methods to pay up or stop (update)

Been using an app like MyWi to enable tethering on your jailbroken iPhone? Then there's a good chance you've already received a message like the one above from AT&T, or perhaps an email like the one after the break. By all accounts, the carrier is now cracking down on all unauthorized tethering, and it's asking folks engaged in such behavior to either pay up for a proper tethering plan or simply stop tethering altogether -- if it doesn't hear anything back for you after sending the message, AT&T says it will automatically enroll you in a DataPro 4GB tethering plan (at a rate of $45 a month). We should note that all the reports we've seen so far are from iPhone users, although that certainly doesn't mean Android users will simply be allowed to slip by unnoticed. Exactly how AT&T is identifying users isn't clear, however, and we could well just be seeing the beginning of a cat and mouse game as folks try to discover workarounds to go undetected. More on this one as we get it.

Update: AT&T reached out to us and, yes, this is pretty much all there is to the tale: the "small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but aren't on our required tethering plan," are being contacted to either cease and desist or prepare to start paying for the service. No word yet on how many customers have been contacted, but it does seem that they're all using iPhones.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading AT&T tells customers using unauthorized tethering methods to pay up or stop (update)

AT&T tells customers using unauthorized tethering methods to pay up or stop (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

postheadericon William Shatner explains what microprocessors are and do… from way back in 1976

For a man that spent the best part of his acting career representing a savvy dude from the future, William Shatner looks pretty well at home in the past as well. This video, dusted off from AT&T's Tech Channel archives, shows Shatner dressed in a casual tan ensemble and dropping some knowledge on the subject of microprocessors. Aside from the retro visuals and presentation, what's great about the vid is that the seemingly lavish claims about where computers could take us -- and their own move toward increasing importance, utility and ubiquity -- actually seem pretty tame in light of what we know today. Beam yourself past the break to see this golden nugget from the Bell Labs archives.

[Thanks, Dan]

Continue reading William Shatner explains what microprocessors are and do... from way back in 1976

William Shatner explains what microprocessors are and do... from way back in 1976 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 07:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAT&T Tech Channel  | Email this | Comments

postheadericon AT&T makes calling Japan free until the end of March (update: Verizon and Sprint, too)

We imagine that many of you, like us, have been making frantic calls to friends and family in Japan over the last few days without regard to the costs. Now, in the face of otherwise devastating news, we have some good news to share courtesy of AT&T. Ma Bell is offering wired and wireless billing relief for calls made on AT&T between March 11th and March 31st. Under the plan, AT&T wireless postpaid customers will not be charged for international long distance or text messages to Japan from the US and Puerto Rico. Likewise, residential wireline customers can seek credits for up to 60 minutes of direct dialing to Japan. Sure it's a shameless publicity grab but this one seems genuinely helpful.

Update: Sprint and Verizon have both now elected to waive call and text message fees (in Verizon's case, the move applies both to landline and wireless numbers).

Continue reading AT&T makes calling Japan free until the end of March (update: Verizon and Sprint, too)

AT&T makes calling Japan free until the end of March (update: Verizon and Sprint, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 06:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

postheadericon AT&T makes calling Japan free until the end of March (update: Verizon and Sprint, too)

We imagine that many of you, like us, have been making frantic calls to friends and family in Japan over the last few days without regard to the costs. Now, in the face of otherwise devastating news, we have some good news to share courtesy of AT&T. Ma Bell is offering wired and wireless billing relief for calls made on AT&T between March 11th and March 31st. Under the plan, AT&T wireless postpaid customers will not be charged for international long distance or text messages to Japan from the US and Puerto Rico. Likewise, residential wireline customers can seek credits for up to 60 minutes of direct dialing to Japan. Sure it's a shameless publicity grab but this one seems genuinely helpful.

Update: Sprint and Verizon have both now elected to waive call and text message fees (in Verizon's case, the move applies both to landline and wireless numbers).

Continue reading AT&T makes calling Japan free until the end of March (update: Verizon and Sprint, too)

AT&T makes calling Japan free until the end of March (update: Verizon and Sprint, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 06:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

postheadericon AT&T will cap DSL and U-Verse internet, impose overage fees (update)

Ladies and gentlemen, the days of unlimited broadband may be numbered in the United States, and we're not talking wireless this time -- AT&T says it will implement a 150GB monthly cap on landline DSL customers and a 250GB cap on subscribers to U-Verse high speed internet starting on May 2nd. AT&T will also charge overage fees of $10 for every additional 50GB of data, with two grace periods to start out -- in other words, the third month you go over the cap is when you'll get charged. DSLReports says it has confirmation from AT&T that these rates are legitimate, and that letters will go out to customers starting March 18th.

How does AT&T defend the move? The company explains it will only impact two percent of consumers who use "a disproportionate amount of bandwidth," and poses the caps as an alternative to throttling transfer speeds or disconnecting excessive users from the service completely. Customers will be able to check their usage with an online tool, and get notifications when they reach 65 percent, 90 percent and 100 percent of their monthly rates.

We just spoke with AT&T representative Seth Bloom and confirmed the whole thing -- rates are exactly as described above, and the company will actually begin notifying customers this week. He also told us that those customers who don't yet have access to the bandwidth usage tool won't get charged until they do, and that AT&T U-Verse TV service won't count towards the GB cap.

Update: What prompted this change to begin with? That's what we just asked AT&T. Read the company's statement after the break.

Continue reading AT&T will cap DSL and U-Verse internet, impose overage fees (update)

AT&T will cap DSL and U-Verse internet, impose overage fees (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDSLReports  | Email this | Comments