AT&T

AT&T Follows T-Mobile – Allows Mobile Data Rollovers

Beginning January 25th, 2015 AT&T follows T-Mobile and allows you to rollover data. There’s only two small gotchas. Rollover Data is used only after the full data allowance for your Mobile Share Value plan in the current bill cycle is used. And only one month carries over before expiring and the next month’s unused portion rolls over. If you go over your data allotment and purchase additional data – that purchased data won’t roll over.



AT&T Doubles 15 GB and Higher Shared Data Plans

This weekend AT&T trotted out a  promotion effective  September 28, 2014 through October 31, 2014 offering to double some data allotments. Users must be on a 15 GB or higher AT&T Mobile Value plan, and existing users may have to call AT&T to have their plan upgraded. In some cases  the plan may not appear online for existing users.


Lumia 925 Coming to AT&T

The Lumia 925 is, by all accounts, an excellent flagship Windows Phone. At least in the United States, it has been tied to T-Mobile since launch, but now that exclusivity has lifted, and it will be arriving on AT&T on August 28th, presumably to replace the Lumia 920! If you aren’t familiar with the Lumia 925, it is one of Nokia’s top-shelf Lumia devices. It has a 4.5in screen, a Carl Zeiss lens, and the latest update to Windows Phone, giving it access to amazing apps like Nokia Pro Cam. Unlike previous Lumias, the 925 also ditches the polycarbonate body…


HTC First Was Last and It’s Now Almost Free

A few weeks ago we got exclusive information that the HTC First was in big trouble. As we first reported, sales number for the first phone designed specifically for Facebook Home were close to nonexistent. Our inside information told us that the pre-order and first weekend sales numbers of the HTC First were less than 500 total units on the East Coast. In other words, the HTC First was all but dead on arrival. My conclusion at the time was that: I cannot begin to imagine what stock AT&T is currently holding of the device, but I have a pretty…


FCC Cellular Signal Boosters Certification Specifications Adopted Today

I’ve made no secret of the fact that if it weren’t for the Wilson Electronics AG Pro 75 Celluar Signal Booster, mobile phone service at my house would be pitiful; we would have likely had to incur the (possibly substantial) expense of putting in a landline. I live outside a rural community and in the middle of a ranch; you could argue that poor signal is the price Kev and I must pay for being able to enjoy the great outdoors, and perhaps you would be right. But what about people like Dan, who live in the middle of an urban…


AT&T HTC 8X Windows Phone Review

Earlier this year, Dan and I gave Windows Phone 7 a solid try. We put our iPhones away, and for the next two months we used only the HTC Titans that we had received at a CES event. You can read about our entire experience here, here, here, and here. As much as we both liked the Windows Phone OS and the Titan’s hardware, we each ultimately went back to our iPhones. Probably the biggest reason I couldn’t make things work with my Titan (or the Lumia 900 that I later bought in April) was that I missed the efficient app…


In Defense of Landlines

This week had a rough start here in New Jersey. Something like 80% of the state lost power, and we were no exception in our household. While we don’t have a landline, we do have cell phones, and were extremely grateful to never lose signal, even as cable and then electricity dropped. Our neighbor across the street wasn’t so lucky, and she barely had enough signal to send text messages. My parents somehow managed to keep both cable and AND electricity, but they had intermittent landline and cell phone issues all day. However, the one lesson I took from this…


iPhone 5 Plus AT&T MicroCell Equals… a Quiet Afternoon (and not in a good way) UPDATED

Meet my iPhone 5 lock screen. Now take a close look… See the ATT Microcell symbol at the top? No? Me either and that’s a problem. You see, I live in rural Texas where there is no AT&T cell reception without the help of a signal booster. Oh, no, sorry, I got that wrong. I live in SUBURBAN NEW JERSEY WHERE THERE IS NO AT&T RECEPTION WITHOUT THE HELP OF A MICROCELL. And guess what? The microcell doesn’t work with my new iPhone right now. And those two bars you see? That’s actually the best reception I’ve gotten, and that…


AT&T Joins the Shared Data Game

So I’m working though my latest summer sinus headache and I see the news – AT&T has finally announced (as expected) that they are going to follow Verizon in offering shared data plans.  And, like Verizon’s offering, the plans all include unlimited voice and texting plus a fixed amount of data.  The primary difference you notice between the AT&T and Verizon offerings is that Verizon charges a fixed $40 per smartphone and AT&T lowers the per smartphone cost as you increase the amount of data you purchase.  But Verizon’s “base” charges tend to be lower (per GB) as you get…


Samsung’s First 4G LTE Windows Phone, the Focus 2, Will Be $49.99 at AT&T

Samsung wasn’t content to let HTC hog all the new device announcements this morning; they, along with AT&T have announced the Focus 2. This is Samsung’s first 4G LTE Windows Phone, and AT&T’s third. The Focus 2 will be “an affordable smartphone that will be available beginning May 20 in pure white for $49.99 (with a two-year service agreement). Featuring a 4” Super AMOLED display and front-facing VGA camera, the Focus 2 is sure to grab your attention.” You can read more about the Samsung Focus 2 on the Windows Phone Blog. You can pick yours up for $50 on May 20th at…


Nokia Lumia 900 Has Botched Retail Launch, Yet Still Hits #1 on Amazon!

This past Sunday, my brother was visiting; he and my wife and I went for a long bike ride, taking a path around the local mall along the way … and noting that everything was closed. Because it was Easter. It just also happened to be the launch day of the Nokia Lumia 900, the de facto flagship phone of the entire Windows Phone line-up. There have been articles questioning the wisdom of an Easter launch, but none more pointed than the one from the New York Times: AT&T said last month that when Nokia’s new Lumia 900 phone went…


Nokia Lumia 900 Now Available for Pre-Order from AT&T

For those chomping at the bit for the Nokia Lumia 900, AT&T is now offering the phone up for pre-order on their website. Retailing off-contract for $449.99 or $99.00 with contract, this has been a heavily anticipated phone in Windows Phone circles. For me, this device will mark my departure from the Android realm for the first time in nearly two years, so I am very excited to give the Lumia 900 a whirl. Sporting a 4G LTE, a 4.3″AMOLED screen, Carl Zeiss optics with an 8 MP primary camera with dual LED flash, autofocus, a 1 MP front camera…


News Flash – You Can Use Up Your Data Plan Faster on Your iPad With 4G Speeds!

We already know that Dan is a heavy data user – AT&T has him nationally ranked, after all! Today Dan mentioned that in the first week with the new iPad he has already exceeded 2GB of usage. My usage has been much lower, but I am surrounded by WiFi much of the time – but the 4G service has been indispensable, as has the WiFi hotspot! But Dan isn’t alone – there have been several articles about people suddenly finding themselves going over their 2GB data limit and having to pay an extra $10 per GB of data. In the…


The Wilson Electronics AG Pro 75 Was Worth the Upgrade

It’s no secret that if you live or work in an area that isn’t in the middle of a strong cellular coverage zone, your mobile phone signal is going to suffer. That’s one of the things I knew I would have to deal with when I moved to the ranch, but I wasn’t about to let it be the deciding factor.


Can You Hear Me OW!?! AT&T Continuing Their Heavy-Handed Assault on Unlimited Data Plans

Much has been written about AT&T now warning the “top 5% of iPhone data users” on unlimited plans that they would begin seeing their data speeds slowed because of their adverse affect on the network as a whole. At first pass most would think that meant individuals streaming video constantly and using up tens of gigabytes of data. That isn’t the case. In a month where I have been switching on and off between the iPhone 4S and the Titan (in other words using my iPhone far LESS than normal), I got the above warning. “Uh Oh!” I thought to…


AT&T Set to Double Their Upgrade Fee to $36?

AT&T is reportedly slated to increase their device upgrade costs from $18 to $36 this coming Sunday, February 12. Because the overall costs associated with upgrading to a new device have increased, effective Sunday, February 12, 2012, AT&T will change its upgrade fee from $18 to $36 Just my luck. I’m due for an upgrade, and I’ve been chomping at the bit to try a Windows phone, as evidenced by Dan and Judie’s saga of their HTC Titan usage. Speaking for myself, it’s just unfortunate that by the time I want to try out the Titan II or the Nokia…


Quick Impressions: Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket Speeds

As a small town guy living in the Chicago area, there are a lot times when I get frustrated with the traffic, the density, and the general inconveniences that are necessarily associated with urban living. Then again, there are times like today, when I’m happy to be living in one of the larger metropolitan areas in the country because we tend to be among the first to get new technologies, such as AT&T’s new LTE network. At the moment, AT&T has two phones able to take advantage of the LTE network: the HTC Vivid and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket….


AT&T Lets Us Down Again

Ah, AT&T. So, I’m sitting here staring at my shiny new iPhone 4S. It’s unusable right now, thanks to AT&T’s lack of preparedness. They’ve had several years to figure out how to handle the spike in the load on their servers that accompanies the launch of a new iPhone model. Yet they still manage to hack up a hairball when it comes time to process orders and activate phones. Apparently, I’m not the only one, either. Several blogs are reporting AT&T customers are experiencing widespread problems with activations. When AT&T carried the iPhone exclusively, I could at least understand that…


Adventures in Customer Support: AT&T

Guess which Stooge is Doug in this little scenario It all began back in January . . . See, here’s the deal:  for the kids’ “big holiday gift,” I got them both iPhone 4s.  Alas, now you have to get limited data plans.  But these are good kids, and I knew that if I got the lowest plan and threatened them with severe consequences–and then had to actually dole out punishment one time–they would stay on WiFi, not download games and music over the cell network, and otherwise avoid non-WiFi data. So yes, one month they both went over.  I…


The AT&T HTC Status Android Mobile Phone Review

If you are a Facebook junkie who can’t go for even five minutes without checking in, then I may have found the perfect phone for you. HTC recently brought one their two Facebook-integrated phones to the US; somewhere along the way, the device formerly known as the ChaCha became the Status. You may  remember that the ChaCha was the candy-bar style Android phone with full QWERTY keyboard that so impressed me at Mobile World Congress — mainly because its keyboard blew away the one on the BlackBerry Bold I was using while traveling. the phone formerly known as “ChaCha”, shown without its AT&T logo in Barcelona…