messaging Archive

  • How-to: stay connected while traveling internationally

    How-to: stay connected while traveling internationally

    It's a harsh reality that every avid traveler faces, and unless you're fortunate enough to have been born in a generation where you're not expected to check your inbox every half-hour, glance over Twitter updates every 7.23 minutes seconds and tell the world where you're at this very moment via Foursquare, you've probably found yourself wondering how on Earth you're going to remain connected once your swipe that passport and leave the comfy confines of a native network. Staying connected while traveling abroad is no easy task, and while the internet may feel ubiquitous to tech-savvy smartphone owners who remain planted within the borders of their home nation, the world wide web suddenly becomes a whole lot less easy to track down once you plop down on foreign soil. Looking to splurge on a little international travel this summer, but can't figure out how you're going to (affordably) upload those Twitpics and YouTube videos once you get there? Fret not, young jetsetter -- we've got the keys to keeping you connected whilst overseas just beyond the break.

    Continue reading How-to: stay connected while traveling internationally

    How-to: stay connected while traveling internationally originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story

  • T-Mobile rolls out fresh unlimited prepaid voice and text plans

    T-Mobile rolls out fresh unlimited prepaid voice and text plans

    So those rumored new prepaid options for T-Mobile's American customers have turned out to be delightfully legit, and they're being made available pronto. To be specific, there are two new options coming into the fold: a $50 unlimited voice and text plan along with a $15 unlimited messaging plan that lumps in voice for 10 cents a minute -- potentially perfect for those of us who've migrated a solid 90 percent of our communication from calling to texting. It's also similar in theory to a plan being floated by Sprint's Common Cents Mobile, offering the same deal for $20 plus 7 cents per minute with its round-down feature -- in other words, Common Cents is probably the better option among the two if you do significantly more calling, though you'll be stuck with a bargain-basement selection of CDMA handsets. Both of T-Mobile's new options go live this Wednesday.

    T-Mobile rolls out fresh unlimited prepaid voice and text plans originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 17 May 2010 17:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story

  • Coalition of carriers, manufacturers settles on voice standard for LTE

    Coalition of carriers, manufacturers settles on voice standard for LTE

    Filed under: ,

    As much fanfare and support as it's been getting over the past couple years, LTE's dirty little secret is that there's been no unified stance on how to ferry voice services over the technology; the concentration has been on data alone so far. Sure, the occasional carrier has raised concerns -- and a variety of solutions have been proposed, ranging from VoIP to repurposing legacy networks for voice alone -- but until now, voice has been an afterthought that everyone's been procrastinating on solving. Fortunately, a veritable who's-who of industry players from both the manufacturer and carrier sides of the fence have congealed this week to announce the One Voice initiative, which basically just hand-picks existing 3GPP-defined standards for voice and SMS services over LTE. Strangely missing is T-Mobile, one of the loudest voices in demanding a voice standard for LTE up until this point -- but considering that AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Verizon, and Vodafone are all on board along with Samsung, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and others, we think they'll have no option but to fall in line in the long term. For consumers, this means we can all breathe a sigh of relief that LTE handsets won't be arbitrarily compartmentalized by supported voice standard, so it's a big win any way you slice it.

    Coalition of carriers, manufacturers settles on voice standard for LTE originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story