AT&T will offer unlimited data for all customers tomorrow

Well that didn’t take long. Just a few days after Verizon announced it would start offering an unlimited data plan after years of selling capped data packages, AT&T will be doing the same. As of tomorrow, AT&T will let any current or potential customer buy an unlimited data plan; until now, only DirecTV customers were able to purchased unlimited data from the carrier. Just like Verizon, AT&T offered unlimited data back in the early days of the smartphone boom but moved to limited tiered data packages way back in 2010.

AT&T’s plans are very similar to what T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint are already offering. That is, unlimited data customers will get full LTE speeds up to 22GB, after which AT&T will reserve the right to de-prioritize those customers’ speeds in times of congestion. Verizon is doing that after 22GB, while T-Mobile de-prioritizes customers after 28GB.

From a cost perspective, AT&T says that four lines of unlimited data will cost $180 a month (plus any device payments you have on your account). AT&T’s press release didn’t say anything about if there would be any HD video or tethering restrictions, and there isn’t any pricing info yet for plans with less than four lines. But it looks like the company’s “stream saver” feature will be on by default, which limits video to standard definition — you should be able to turn that off, at least. We’ll have to check AT&T’s site tomorrow to get all the details, but we’ve also reached out to the carrier and will update this post with anything else we learn.

Source: AT&T

Samsung’s South Korean leader has been arrested for bribery

That took a little longer than expected. Samsung’s vice chairman Lee Jae-yong (better known as Jay Y. Lee) has been arrested over charges of bribery, according to Bloomberg. In early January a court had yet to approve the warrant.

Developing…

Source: Bloomberg

iPhone 8 Expected to Have 3D Facial Recognition Instead of Touch ID

Apple’s widely expected 5.8-inch iPhone with an edge-to-edge OLED display will feature a front-facing 3D laser scanner for facial recognition, corroborating previous rumors, according to JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall.

Hall said the scanner will replace Touch ID on the so-called iPhone 8, as Apple plans to remove the Home button to allow for the edge-to-edge display. His research note claims the so-called iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus could also have a 3D laser scanner based on increased volume of the module within Apple’s supply chain.

The scanner is said to add $10 to $15 per module to the iPhone 8’s bill of materials, which coupled with the OLED display, glass casing, and other increased production costs, could make its retail price up to $100 more expensive than it would be without those features, if Apple looks to maintain a similar profit margin.

The increased costs are in line with a recent report claiming the iPhone 8 could cost upwards of $1,000 in the United States.

Hall believes the switch to facial recognition will help alleviate consumer frustration when Touch ID does not work under wet conditions. He added that facial recognition will potentially be more secure than Touch ID, which could increase Apple Pay adoption among banks and merchants.

The research note said the 3D laser scanner could eventually be used for other purposes, such as augmented reality, but likely not until 2018 at the earliest.

One obvious and potentially most compelling use would be AR/VR experiences in which the user’s hands and other real world objects are being scanned and integrated into a field of view provided by the iPhone mounted into a Google Daydream-like headset. This would open up many interesting entertainment and gaming experiences not available today and might give Apple something extra in an AR/VR accessory compared to Google and others.

He also believes that Apple is likely to eventually open up a 3D scanning API to developers, who could use it to do “everything from determining your shoe size for online orders to helping make sure you are properly fitted on your bike.”

Hall expects a strong iPhone 8 replacement cycle later this year, and he said an announcement about the product is possible as early as WWDC 2017, which kicks off June 5. Apple has not made any iPhone hardware announcements at WWDC since 2010, so treat this claim with a proverbial grain of salt for now.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
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AT&T to Launch New Unlimited Data Plan

Following in the footsteps of T-Mobile and Verizon, AT&T today announced plans to debut a new unlimited data plan that’s available to all of its postpaid customers. The unlimited plan will be available starting tomorrow.

AT&T previously offered an unlimited data plan, but it was limited to customers who were also DirecTV or U-Verse customers.

According to AT&T, the new plan will provide unlimited talk, text, and data on four lines for $180, which is more expensive than T-Mobile’s ONE data plan for four customers and on par with Verizon’s pricing, also at $180 for four lines. A single line is priced at $100.

AT&T is including unlimited calls from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico and unlimited texts to more than 120 countries around the world. Customers are also able to talk, text, and use data in Canada and Mexico with no roaming charges.

“We’re offering unlimited entertainment on the nation’s best data network where and when you want to enjoy more of what you love,” said David Christopher, Chief Marketing Officer of the AT&T Entertainment Group.

AT&T’s $180 price point is after a $40 credit for the fourth smartphone line, which will start after two billing periods. Prior to then, customers will need to pay $220 per month for the plan.

The company’s fine print says that AT&T “may slow speeds” during periods of network congestion for customers who consume more than 22GB of data, which is not a surprise as T-Mobile and Verizon’s plans contain similar caveats. The unlimited plan also includes the Stream Saver feature, which downgrades video to 480p. Stream Saver is enabled by default, but can be turned off online.

With AT&T now offering an unlimited plan for all of its customers, all of the major carriers in the United States have unlimited data plans available, which is impressive because for the last several years, carriers like AT&T and Verizon have been heavily focused on eliminating their unlimited customers.

Sprint and T-Mobile have offered unlimited data plans since August, and T-Mobile’s growing popularity and regular feature additions at an affordable price appears to have inspired AT&T and Verizon to re-adopt unlimited plans.

Verizon announced its unlimited plan earlier this week with inclusions like 10GB of tethering data and HD video streaming, spurring T-Mobile to implement similar changes. With T-Mobile’s new tethering offerings and higher-quality video streaming, it continues to offer the best value at $70 per month for a single subscriber (Verizon’s plan is $80). Sprint’s plan is priced at $55 per month, but its coverage can’t compete with T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T, and AT&T’s plan is the most expensive of the four at $100 for a single line.

Tag: AT&T
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