In what looks like to be the early onset of a trend in cell phone service, UK cellular service provider O2 is slashing their data consumption from unlimited to capped.  Plans, as illustrated in the table above, range from 500 MB of data through 1 GB.

While AT&T is the sole carrier for the iPhone in the US, O2 shares a similar status with the phone in England.  They will be launching the iPhone 4 on June 24th.

Where do you see this going?  Could only carriers providing service to the iPhone be that concerned about massive consumer data consumption or is this a trend that is going to creep over into CDMA and non iPhone carrying GSM areas?

[via pda-247.com]

Question of the Day:  Would you buy a phone, just to use it as a handheld?

This afternoon my wife and daughter visited a nearby craft store and while waiting on them, I visited the neighboring Radio Shack.  While only about 40 miles from my home, the store carries cell providers Sprint and T-Mobile… both are non-existent in my area.  Suffice to say, it was the first time I had seen an HTC HD2 in person.  Impressed and salivating, I left the store.  I couldn’t switch to T-Mobile.  I can’t move to an area with coverage just for a phone (or could I?).  What I could do, however, is buy a phone without entering contract just to use it as perhaps the most impressive Windows Mobile device to date.  Crazy, perhaps?!  Did I?  No.  But I wanted to.

I am sure that Mr. Stephenson is just as sick of seeing his face in the media lately as we are.  And unless you are going to reverse the Data Charges that are to go into effect soon, Mr. Stephenson, we would like you to stay out of it.  with the most regard of course. 

This is just laughable.  The official statement by AT&T is in my opinion their way of trying to backpedal out of a very slippery slope. 

We are apologizing to our customer. We’re working with him today to address his questions and concerns. This is not the way we want to treat customers. From Facebook to significant customer service channels, AT&T strives to provide our customers with easy ways to have their questions addressed. Because of this incident, we are reviewing our entire process to ensure a situation like this does not happen again.

As if they had no clue as to their policies and how things would be handled.  Please.

So what’s your take on this?

Serious or skeptical?

Or are you just sick of the carrier games?

[Engadget]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce myself to you.  I am the Sprint EVO 4G.  Today is my birthday, and you can find me on CDMA carrier Sprint.  There are several exciting features that I boast, including 4G network speed capabilities, a huge screen (4.3 inches if you are too shy to ask) and a few other goodies.  Check out more about what I will offer you here.  You can also check out my full details and specs, including my HTC Sense UI enabled Android 2.1 operating system, at the Sprint website, albeit right now my page is a bit slow to load.

Aside from my awe inspiring feature set that is generously integrated by my manufacturer HTC, I modestly present myself to you as a fine specimen of tech beauty.  Here are a few of my photos, gathered from around the web.  Enjoy!

This is me, rocking my integrated kickstand in horizontal layout. Courtesy of The-Gadgeteer.com.

Here's my camera. Did I mention it's 8 MP?! Courtesy of IntoMobile.com.

Here's another shot of me, this time from the front. Courtesy of IntoMobile.com.

In case I haven’t mentioned before or made it known, I’m the Sprint EVO 4G.  Today is my birthday, and watch out world!

[img 1: PC World]

As it does seem that AT&T has grown fangs and legs and lives under your bed, well actually that may be exactly what has happened. 

If you have been following along this week you may have noticed this trend.  First it was that AT&T announced they where going to slash data plans to an almost unusable oblivion.  Then when someone decides to speak up about it they get threats of legal action. 

Maybe this is their way of saying I’m sorry?  Doubtful but AT&T did say that users can keep their $30 unlimited data plan when upgrading.  However, if you want to take advantage of tethering you will have to switch to a capped data pro plan and pay the extra $20 for the tethering.

I am currently an AT&T subscriber and can’t personally say anything worse about them then any any other carrier.  I was with Sprint in it’s infancy, Alltel for a contract, and with Centennial before I got sick of them and opted out for AT&T before the merger happened. 

I choose GSM not because it has the best coverage, As I don’t agree that any of them do, but rather because MY wife has a Blackberry and I use a Sony Ericsson Windows Mobile phone.  I have never agreed with the outrageous usage charges so I opt for phones that allow me to be “unsupported”.  A Windows Phone is a Windows Phone and a Blackberry is a Blackberry.  But if done right the unlimited data plans can be $10 a month.  Oh, and I can tether my brains out too.  Maybe I’m rogue or maybe I’m slick. 

For an FYI no she can’t use the blackberry services but I’ve also never been too keen on those either.  She still gets Gmail on her device and I’ve never understood why that isn’t good enough.  And whenever I want to switch Just pop in a SIM card and nobody is the wiser.  I would imagine that I could get an unlocked iPhone jailbroke and tether just as I do my phone now.  Not exact on that but most likely. 

If my math is right I save $240 on someone that just upgrades their AT&T phone.  For that price you can always buy outright.

So the question is, Why do you have the carrier you do?

What will make you switch plans?   

Is your current carrier getting under your collar?

Let us know your thoughts.

[Engadget]