With some Apple Watch Series 3 models gaining cellular support, the big unknown from Apple's event was the cost of that add-on to users' existing phone plans. We've now had that answer as AT&T and Verizon have revealed to The Street that they will both charge $10 per month. T-Mobile also confirmed to iDB reader Matthew M. that the carrier will also be charging $10 per month.
Bloomberg today shared research conducted by Twin Prime and Cellular Insights in a story suggestively headlined “Apple's Chip Choices May Leave Some iPhone Users in Slow Lane” which asserts Apple may have throttled LTE performance of the Verizon iPhone 7 handsets to make them perform about as well as the AT&T iPhone 7 models.
Apple in a statement shot down the report and denied throttling, insisting there's “no discernible difference” in wireless performance between various iPhone 7 models.
United States carrier AT&T said yesterday that some of its customers in select areas can now make Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) calls to users on other carrier networks. Cross-network VoLTE calls are currently supported for just one unnamed carrier, but AT&T will eventually implement support for multiple carriers.
Unlike traditional calls that use a carrier's voice network (which is separate from a 3G/4G data network), VoLTE calls use a 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, resulting in crisp sound quality and optimized bandwidth use.
Apple is shipping four different models of iPhone for its yearly refresh. The iPhone 6s sports two models—A1633 and A1688, while the iPhone 6s Plus feature models A1634 and A1687.
Although both iPhones in the 6s and 6s Plus lines are virtually the same, the model numbers differentiate the cellular LTE band capabilities of each phone. Thus, by familiarizing yourself with each model number, you can learn what networks each phone will support.
Why is this important? Say you wanted to order a new iPhone 6s in rose gold. As you might have heard, rose gold is proving to be very popular, and is selling out quicker than some of the other iPhone color options. Rose gold 64GB iPhones designated for T-Mobile and Verizon are now on backorder for 2-3 weeks.
But some rose gold models remain available—for example, some Sprint-designated rose gold models are still shipping on 9/25. By using our knowledge of iPhone model numbers, we might still be able to obtain a rose gold iPhone 6s to use with a provider like T-Mobile or Verizon by purchasing the Sprint model...
U.S. wireless carrier AT&T announced this morning a few notable changes coming to its shared-data plans beginning tomorrow. For starters, customers on existing Mobile Share Value Plans with fifteen and twenty gigabytes of cellular data will now pay less for their high-speed 4G LTE data: the 15GB plan will drop from $130 to $100 per month while the 20GB tier will go from $150 down to $140 per month.
AT&T is pulling back on its throttling efforts against unlimited LTE customers, reports ArsTechnica. The site noticed that the carrier recently changed its policy to say that it will only throttle users with unlimited LTE data plans who have both exceeded 5GB in a billing cycle and are in an area experiencing network congestion.
Previously, AT&T's policy said that unlimited LTE users could experience slower data speeds after reaching 5GB, with no mention of location. The change comes after customers complained the carrier's throttling—some reported speeds as slow as 0.5Mbps—was part of its strategy to sway them away from their unlimited plans.
If you ever wanted to buy a cellular iPad but couldn't wrap your head around forking out an extra $130 for LTE functionality, AT&T has you covered.
Here at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the #2 U.S. wireless carrier announced a new case that gives Wi-Fi-only iPads the ability to connect to its high-speed 4G LTE network.
It's basically a case with an integrated mobile LTE hotspot and it's available in several editions, including versions for the iPad Air and iPad Air 2, as well as all three generations of the iPad mini.
In a joint press release today, AT&T and Verizon announced their voice over LTE (or VoLTE) interoperability plans for 2015. The companies say they are working to allow customers from the two carriers to make VoLTE calls between each of their networks.
Engineers from Verizon and AT&T have begun extensive testing in lab environments and then plan on moving to field trials. "This approach ensures customers will have a seamless experience making VoLTE HD Voice calls between networks," the release said.
The nation's second-largest carrier, AT&T, said on Friday that it will be increasing monthly data allotments for two of its Mobile Share Value plans.
Beginning Sunday, November 2, Mobile Share Value customers will get three gigabytes of high-speed 4G LTE data for $40 a month instead of two gigabytes.
In addition, customers on a pricer tier will be treated to six gigabytes for $70 a month instead of four gigabytes like before.
Furthermore, all Mobile Share Value plans now get unlimited international messaging for text, picture and video for no additional cost.
Leading United States carriers — Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint — have responded to the release of Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in literally the same manner, by doubling the amount of LTE data included in shared plans albeit on a temporary basis.
AT&T is doubling cellular data on 15GB and higher Mobile Share Value plans through October 31.
Sprint has responded by changing its 32/40/60GB Family Share Pack buckets to 60/80/120GB ones at no additional charge, also valid through October 31.
And arriving late to the party, Verizon is now getting in on the double-data action by increasing the amount of data available to customers who subscribe to its higher-end family plans. The Big Red carrier's time-limited promotion lasts between tomorrow and — you guessed right — October 31.
Jump past the fold for additional information and the fine print.
Verizon Wireless has announced the roll out of its Voice over LTE technology - better known as VoLTE - will begin across the US later this year.
The new technology will move Verizon's LTE service past data and will offer an HD Voice experience, using the AMR-wideband standard. "This solution provides the best voice quality available now and allows for future interoperability with others using the standard," Verizon claims.
Folks living in and around Chicago will be happy to hear that AT&T has souped up its network in the Windy City. Using an LTE-Advanced technology called 'carrier aggregation,' the company has bonded two 4G networks together in the area resulting in a big boost in performance.
So essentially, AT&T is taking two, single one-way highways and merging them into one, single two-way highway, allowing for more bandwidth and theoretical download speeds of up to 110 Mbps. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of devices that support the beefier network...