T-Mobile Announces Data Tethering And Wireless Hotspot Add-On

T-Mobile recently stated that it was working on delivering hotspot support to T-Mobile G2 users, and it finally seems like it might be happening. T-Mobile has just announced that it will be offering a data tethering add-on for a $15 per month fee. The data tethering add-on will allow you to tether via WiFi, Bluetooth, or a USB cable. The tethering add-on will share the unlimited data of your smart phone, but it is only available on T-Mobile's $30 unlimited data package. This means that if you have T-Mobile's new 200 MB data package you won't qualify for data tethering, which probably wouldn't have been useful with such a small amount of data anyway. You also won't be able to tether to your Galaxy Tab. The data tethering add-on is reportedly coming to T-Mobile on November 3, which is also the day which T-Mobile is rumored to be releasing the new T-Mobile myTouch. T-Mobile's data tethering add-on seems great compared to other carriers' data tethering packages. The press release for the new data tethering add-on is below.


T-Mobile Kicks Off the Holidays With a Compelling Lineup of Affordable Android-Powered Smartphones and New Low-Cost Data Service Plans

T-Mobile Is Making It Easier for Families to Stay Connected This Holiday Season and Beyond

BELLEVUE, Wash. - Nov. 1, 2010 - T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced new products and service plans designed to help families stay connected without busting their holiday budgets. Beginning Nov. 3, T-Mobile is planning to offer a variety of new Android™ smartphones, including the T-Mobile® Comet™, LG Optimus T™ with Google™ and Motorola DEFY™ with MOTOBLUR™, each for less than $100.

"We're heading into this holiday season with our strongest and most affordable lineup ever of Android-powered smartphones," said Cole Brodman, chief marketing officer, T-Mobile USA. "Combine that with low-cost data service plans and even easier ways to give T-Mobile products as gifts, and we believe families will make the move to smartphones -- enriching how they communicate in the new year."

Affordable Android Smartphones for All
T-Mobile's compelling suite of affordable Android smartphones appeals to each member of the family, even first-time smartphone users. In addition to providing access to the mobile Web while on the go, Android-powered smartphones provide customers with one-click access to their favorite Google services, such as Google Maps™, Gmail™, YouTube®, and over 100,000 applications in Android Market™. For less than $100 with qualifying rate plan on a two-year agreement (plus taxes and fees), T-Mobile customers can purchase any of the following devices during the holiday season:
The T-Mobile Comet offers a compact form factor, 528 MHz processor, 2.8-inch full touch screen display and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Perfect for customers who are ready to make the affordable transition to their first smartphone, the T-Mobile Comet is also available for prepaid customers at less than $200 (plus taxes and fees), the lowest-priced 3G Android smartphone in the T-Mobile portfolio. The T-Mobile Comet is available in a black finish.
The LG Optimus T is an easy-to-use smartphone with a user customizable home screen, 600 MHz processor, 3.2-inch full touch screen display and a 3.2 megapixel camera with video capture. Featuring Voice Actions for Android pre-loaded on the device, the LG Optimus T allows customers to perform commands through voice entry, such as calling, texting, e-mailing and navigating to a specific destination. The LG Optimus T is available in a burgundy or titanium finish.
Slim and pocket-able, the Motorola DEFY is equipped to withstand all that life throws your way. The DEFY is scratch- and water-resistant, as well as dust-proof, combined with MOTOBLUR™, an 800 MHz processor, a 3.7-inch full touch screen and a 5-megapixel camera with flash and video capture. The Motorola DEFY is available in a black and linen finish.
The Motorola CHARM™ with MOTOBLUR features a full QWERTY keyboard for easy messaging, a 2.8-inch touch screen paired with a BACKTRACK™ pad for simple navigation, and MOTOBLUR, making it easy to keep up with family and friends. Also featuring a 600 MHz processor and a 3 megapixel camera, the Motorola CHARM is available in a golden bronze or cabernet finish.

Services Families Can Afford
In addition to affordable Android-powered smartphones, T-Mobile is delivering new low-cost data service plans expected to be available this holiday season, making data even more accessible for families. New value offers include these:
Mobile data plans. With T-Mobile data plans, customers will have two options for data: the Web – 200MB plan or the Web – Unlimited plan. The Web – 200MB plan will be available for $10 per month with a new two-year service agreement or contract extension for a limited time or for $15 per month, which will not require a two-year contract extension. The Web – Unlimited plan will be available for $30 per month. Both data plans will be sold paired with a new or existing voice and text message plan.
Tethering and Wi-Fi Sharing service plan. T-Mobile is offering a new tethering service plan that enables select smartphones to function as wireless modems for connecting devices, such as laptops, tablets and netbooks to the Internet through the T-Mobile network. Customers can add the Tethering and Wi-Fi Sharing plan to their Web – Unlimited $30 monthly plan for an additional $14.99 per month.

Availability
The T-Mobile Comet, LG Optimus T and Motorola DEFY are expected to be available starting Nov. 3 at T-Mobile retail stores, select dealers and online at http://www.t-mobile.com. The T-Mobile Comet will also be available as a prepaid Android smartphone at Best Buy, Radio Shack and Target. T-Mobile expects its new mobile data plans and tethering service plan will be available this holiday season.

Making it even easier for consumers to give T-Mobile devices and accessories to their friends and families this holiday season, T-Mobile Gift Cards can be purchased and redeemed at select T-Mobile retail stores nationwide.

For more information on T-Mobile products and services, visit http://www.t-mobile.com.

AT&T Kills Unlimited Data, Expects Other Carriers to Follow

AT&T has announced some major changes to their data plans. They are basically killing all unlimited data plans, and replacing them with 2 GB and 200 MB plans. Personally I think that this is a very bad change to make and I don’t think that their customers will like it either. Pretty much the only good thing about this change is that cheaper data options for people who cannot afford the now retired $30 a month unlimited data plan will now be available. The new data plans will be called DataPlus and DataPro. DataPlus gives you 200 MB of data for $15 a month, and if you go over your 200 MB per month cap you pay $15 for an extra 200 MB. DataPro gets you 2 GB of data for $25 a month, but unlike DataPlus, on DataPro you pay $10 for each extra GB. AT&T will also allow you to switch between the two data plans easily, so that if you see that you are approaching your monthly limit or you will be using a lot of data, you can easily switch to another plan. This switch will also be affecting iPad data plans. The unlimited iPads data plan will be replaced with DataPro and DataPlus will also be available. A good thing that AT&T is also doing with this change is allowing tethering from your phone to your computer. Tethering will cost you an extra $20 per month, and will be available only with the DataPro plan. Tethering will share your phone’s 2 GB of Data with your computer. This is great for light users but heavy users will be affected. All this started on June 7, but iPhone tethering will be released with the launch of iOS 4. Another good thing that will come out of this is that the load on AT&T’s network will be greatly decreased. In my opinion this is a bad decision on AT&T’s part, but they think that a lot of other carriers will soon follow. The only reason that you could have kept your unlimited data is by having it before June 7, and I am happy for those of you who did. Good luck to the rest of you.