Will iMessage really affect AT&T’s SMS cash cow?
by Justin Horn on Jun 11th, 2011 @ 3:13 pmA couple days ago I was looking through my AT&T bills to see how many text I send a month. I wanted to see if I could ditch the $30 unlimited shared text plan and go to the $5 for 200 plan after iMessages is released to the public. At the time I didn’t even look for the $5 plan, since I wasn’t going to switch off unlimited just yet, but then I saw the following tweet from Dan Frakes:
AT&T evidently discontinued the $5-for-200-messages plan—cheapest is now $10 for 1000. <headshake> iMessage can’t come soon enough.
Just checked it out, and sure enough the $5 plan is gone. At first I thought it was a response to the iMessage announcement, but then thinking cleary I knew AT&T couldn’t react that fast…even though it is in line with their normal dick moves. I did a little more research and it turns out the $5 for 200 and $15 for 1500 plans were killed in mid January of this year.
Further examination of my texting reveals I send about 2,000 a month, most (~70%) of which are to my girlfriend. The others are a mix of Twitter text (which I have now turned off), iOS users, and others. Taking out all the people that will be on iMessages leaves me with about 150 – 200 text a month. Right now I’m paying $30 for shared text between my and Chiyin’s iPhone, so $15 per phone for unlimited messaging. Now let’s look at my text plan options.
Pay per text
This is really expensive, at 20 cents per text. So if I send 175 text a month on average it will cost $35 / month.
$5 – 200 Text Plan (no longer exist)
This plan would be perfect, $5 a month vs $15, too bad it’s been killed. If I was on a normal $20 unlimited plan, this would be an even bigger savings.
$10 – 1000 Text Plan (UPDATE: This plan no longer exist now, it’s all or none deal now. Shame on you AT&T, shame!!!)
Looks like this will be my only option. I won’t send anywhere near 1000 text a month, but price wise it’s the same to buy 1000 messages in a package or send 50 without.
So if both Chiyin and I switch to this plan, we’ll be saving $10 a month. Saving anything is nice, but I still feel like AT&T is winning. Text message is the biggest rip off in the wireless industry! Even though they are getting $10 less than before out of their cash cow, that $20 they are still getting is like printing money. I can send 500 hundred emails without putting a dent in my 2GB data plan, but send 500 text and it will cost you at least $10. I know I’m picking on AT&T in this post, but it really applies to all wireless carriers.
With push notification and iMessage, traditional texting’s days are numbered, but until there is a mainstream ubiquitous system in place that works across iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone, traditional texting won’t disappear. I doubt iMessage will go open source, but there are other apps out there that are already filling this role, it’s just a matter of getting all your friends to use them. I’m now using WhatsApp [Website / iTunes], which works with iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Nokia. It’s only a buck and works great!
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AT&T to add unlimited Mobile to Any Mobile calling February 10th (Updated 2x)
by Justin Horn on Feb 9th, 2011 @ 12:22 pmUPDATE Ars Technica confirmed with AT&T spokesperson Seth Bloom, the qualifying voice plans include Nation 450 and 900, or FamilyTalk 700 or higher.
UPDATE 2 BGR got their hands on the internal memo with the details:
Looks like AT&T is getting a bit more nervous about losing its precious iPhone subscribers, with their above average monthly bills, to Verizon.
According to AT&T, unlimited calling to any mobile number is available to customers with an unlimited messaging plan and a qualifying voice plan. You’ll have to check to see if your current voice plan is supported for the new feature.
You can check if qualify for this new plan starting tomorrow on AT&T website: http://www.att.com/anymobile
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Official Google Voice app already approved?
by Justin Horn on Sep 28th, 2010 @ 12:41 pmThe App Store review office at 1 Infinite Loop has officially frozen over: we’ve gotten word that the official Google Voice application is on its way to the iPhone in the next few weeks. In fact, we’ve heard from a source close to Google that it’s already been approved — Google just needs to revamp the application to work with the iPhone 4 and iOS’s multitasking capabilities.
You remember the shit storm surrounding the official and third party Google Voice app rejections, with the FCC questioning all the players; Apple, AT&T, and Google. It seemed like all hope was lost…that was until Apple recently changed the app store rules and the third party GV apps started to appear in the app store again. Since then we’ve all been waiting to see when/if the official Google Voice app would be approved, and now it looks like it has!
(via iPhoneInCanada)
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Apple vs ?, at&t, Google, iPhone apps, Speculation
iPhone 4 3G speeds: 5x faster upload, 2x faster downloads
by Justin Horn on Jun 26th, 2010 @ 7:01 pm
I’ve been using the Speedtest.net app a lot over the last few days to test the iPhone 4 signal issue. Checking whether the signal was actually degraded or if it was just a display issue. That’s a post for another time, but most of the time the signal was actually degraded.
During this testing I’ve discovered that when I have a good signal, my upload speeds have gone from an average of about 0.25 Mbps to 1.21 Mbps last night. I’ve also hit new 3G speed record for download, 4.6 Mbps. I was never able to hit speeds faster than about 2.5 Mbps with my 3GS even though it was capable of using the 7.2 Mbps network AT&T supposedly finished installing in Miami earlier this year.
The real test will be when I travel to New York City in a few weeks!
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Real AT&T security breach today?
by Justin Horn on Jun 15th, 2010 @ 4:41 pmReading a thread over at forums.tipb.com some user are reporting that when logging into their own accounts they were presented with another users information.
User ugahairydawgs reports:
Had that happen to me too. Logged in and was looking at the account for some guy from Wisconsin who works for IBM.
I thought I had hit the jackpot and that the AT&T computers had messed up and given me full upgrade pricing, but then I realized that the name at the top of the page didn’t quite match the one on my drivers license.
This is a much more serious issue than the iPad email leak last week. This also explains why no one could preorder a phone due to the check with ATTs servers during the order process.
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Where in the world is the 3G Skype app? (Updated)
by Justin Horn on Mar 24th, 2010 @ 5:20 pm
First a quick recap…
On January 27th Apple updated their terms to allow 3G VoIP apps. With Skype’s official stance on the subject being they had the 3G version ready, everyone expected the new app to hit the virtual shelves within a couple days.
Then on February 3rd, when we all expected to download the 3G version to our iPhones, Skype said it would be delayed in order to get it right. Even though it seemed a bit suspicious since they were supposed to have the 3G version ready and waiting, everyone was just excited that VoIP over 3G was finally a reality.
…end recap!
Here we are, 2 months later and still waiting. With no official word since February 3rd, the excitement has been replaced with frustration. Many people, myself included, are starting to wonder if the Skype – Verizon deal is the reason for the iPhone app delay.
After digging around I stumbled upon a thread in the Skype forums where a user claimed that Peter Parkes told him:
The deal with Verizon included exclusivity so Skype is not going to issue an update for the iPhone that will allow it to work over 3G.
As plausible as this is, I doubt anyone from Skype would let this slip to a random person. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow after the Verizon Skype app is released.
UPDATE In another thread the same user made the claim, but in this case Peter Parkes responded directly to this claim:
There’s no way I would have said that we’re backing away from iPhone, let alone not releasing a 3G-capable version, quite simply because it’s not true.
We’re absolutely committed to the iPhone platform: I cannot emphasise this enough. We’ll be releasing the 3G-capable version of our app very soon indeed.
Thanks to @paulmontag for the link (via @PhoneinCanada)
As I continued my search, I found two official responses on the matter.
First, Twitter user Dakota Allen claimed to get an official tweet saying the app was “coming soon” on March 23rd. I did a little fact checking and was able to confirm this claim:
@dakotadallen: Is Skype for iPhone over 3G coming? Or has Verizon paid to ensure that doesn’t happen? (view tweet)
@skypemobile: it’s coming soon – watch this space (view tweet)
Second, taking a look back at the comments on the February 3rd update, Peter Parkes finally replied to all the questions:
Nikunj and others – I appreciate your patience. Unfortunately we don’t have any additional information to share right now. Our iPhone team is working hard to get the updated app ready to release – when it is, we will get it to you as soon as we can.
So the official stance is basically the same as it was on February 3rd, we are are still working away and it should be coming soon. I’m not 100% satisfied with this response, but any response is better than none. At least we know they are still working on it…right? I’ve also contacted Skype PR for an official response, but not holding my breathe that they’ll respond.
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