Cellular Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

iPhone owners have the highest cellular bills among smartphone users

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jan 30th, 2013)

Carriers may not like iPhone users who consume a lot of data, but they cannot complain about the whopping bills these customers pay each month. According to a survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) and reported by AllThingsD, almost 60 percent of iPhone users pay more than ...

Qualcomm tried to get Apple to put a radio in the Newton

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jan 3rd, 2013)

Steve Jobs will be forever known for his moving introduction of Apple's first phone in 2007, but history may have been different had Apple worked more closely with Qualcomm in the '90s. According to a report in Venture Beat, Qualcomm courted Apple and tried to get the company to put a cellular ...

Cellular-capable iPad pre-orders reportedly shipping

by Kelly Hodgkins (Nov 12th, 2012)

A report from MacRumors claims the cellular versions of the fourth-generation Retina iPad are shipping and will land on doorsteps by the end of the week. Customers who pre-ordered the iPad are receiving shipping notices with an estimated delivery date of November 16th. iPad mini pre-orders have ...

FaceTime over cellular from AT&T will only be available to Mobile Share customers

by Kelly Hodgkins (Aug 20th, 2012)

AT&T announced on Friday that it will offer FaceTime over Cellular at no additional cost to customers who are subscribed to a Mobile Share plan, says a report in Engadget. Customers who stay on a grandfathered unlimited plan or a tiered plan will be limited to using FaceTime over a WiFi ...

Apple to pay A$2.25 million fine in Australia for iPad 4G name

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jun 8th, 2012)

Apple may have to pay a stiff penalty in Australia over the use of "4G" in the new iPad's model name. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Apple has agreed to pay a A$2.25 million (US$2.2 million) fine to settle a legal battle it has been fighting with the Australian Competition and ...

Apple changes name of 'iPad WiFi + 4G' to 'iPad WiFi + Cellular' in several countries

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 14th, 2012)

As reported by 9to5 Mac, Apple has changed the name of the iPad WiFi + 4G to the less descriptive iPad WiFi + Cellular. The change is the result of criticisms from customers and consumer advocacy groups about the iPad's 4G branding. Groups in the UK, Sweden and Australia complained that the ...

AT&T and Verizon officially announce the March 16 availability of the WiFi + 4G iPad

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 13th, 2012)

As expected, AT&T and Verizon both announced today that they will sell the new WiFi+4G iPad starting Friday, March 16. AT&T will sell the iPad through all AT&T sales channels, while Verizon will offer the new iPad at all Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online. The iPad ...

New iPad models include high-speed LTE networking

by Michael Rose (Mar 7th, 2012)

As widely rumored, the new iPad models (one for Verizon and one for AT&T) announced today will offer several varieties of high-speed cellular wireless networking. iPads sold for use with those two carriers, plus Rogers, Bell and Telus in Canada, will work with an alphabet soup of fast ...

Softbank profits surge thanks to the iPhone and iPad

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 9th, 2011)

Japan's number three wireless carrier, Softbank, reported record profits thanks to the success of the iPhone and the iPad. Net profit for the quarter ending in March climbed to Y47.41 billion, up from Y1.85 billion in the same quarter last year. Softbank's ARPU (average revenue per user) also ...

Sprint concerned over AT&T, T-Mobile merger

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 21st, 2011)

Sprint responded to the announcement of the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T with a statement that expresses concern about the proposed merger. Sprint suggests federal regulators take a close look at the deal, which will dramatically change the structure of the wireless industry in the ...

Apple patent would require carriers to bid for iPhone service

by Kelly Hodgkins (Feb 10th, 2011)

Apple was recently awarded a patent describing a wireless selection system that would require carriers to compete for service on an iPhone. According to the patent, the phone would store the network settings for a variety of carriers and select the appropriate service based upon information sent to ...

iPad 101: Conserving your 3G data use

by TJ Luoma (Jun 28th, 2010)

Since I brought home my 3G + Wi-Fi iPad a little over a week ago, I've been running in Airplane Mode with Wi-Fi enabled to avoid using cellular data. Otherwise I kept getting a prompt (shown here) asking me if I wanted to setup an account, which I didn't want to do. Fortunately, there is another ...

3G technology: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

by Charles Figueroa, Jr. (Apr 30th, 2010)

Cellular technology has been evolving since its invention. With the first cellular telephone networks, developed by Bell Labs and AT&T, cellular technology began to make leaps forward in ease of use, voice quality, and data communication. The miracle of technology we know today as the cellular ...

Best iPhone cellular plan... ever?

by Kevin Harter (Aug 9th, 2009)

I like to joke that "Iowa is a great place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit." Residents often complain that there's nothing to do (other than milk cows and shuck corn). One can only stand so much antiquing. But we do have a few things going for us: clean air, relatively light traffic, lots of ...

TUAW Tip: Using your iPhone on a cruise ship

by Steven Sande (Aug 19th, 2008)

If you're going on a cruise vacation, don't be concerned about being out of touch. Chances are excellent that you can use your cell phone. Reader Steven Madow reminded TUAW that many cruise lines use a service called Cellular At Sea to provide you with satellite-linked cellular service. Almost 100 ...