data

T-Mobile rips up contract on unlimited data plan

LAS VEGAS--Take that, Sprint.

With T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel jockeying for customers with their respective unlimited data plans, T-Mobile today upped the ante by offering its plan without a contract.

For $70 a month, T-Mobile customers can get unlimited data, text messages, and phone calls.

The no-contract option represents T-Mobile's desire to further expand into the prepaid business -- a move that will be accelerated by its pending merger with regional prepaid carrier MetroPCS. The company has been aggressive as it works to re-spark customer growth.

In August, T-Mobile opted to follow Sprint's lead and offer an unlimited data plan without any strings. … Read more

Archive it old-school with wired, LED-lit filing cabinet

LAS VEGAS--The paperless office is a utopian dream. We're still surrounded by mountains of paper, especially organizationally challenged people like yours truly.

Enter the iMD Smart Filing System, a rather charming blend of analog and digital tech. Shown off at CES 2013 by the unheralded iMicroData, it lets you find an individual paper folder and its contents in old-school filing cabinets.

If you've lost your birth certificate, for instance, you just look it up on the app that comes with the system, and it'll tell you what drawer to look in.

It's almost as simple as completely analog filing cabinets, but you don't have to use your brain all that much. … Read more

Kingston: Behold the 1-terabyte flash drive

Want to back up your entire computer and more on a single flash drive? You'll be able to do that courtesy of the latest gadget from Kingston.

The DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 USB flash drive is currently shipping with 512 gigabytes of storage. But the next generation due out this quarter will ramp up the capacity to a full terabyte, making it the largest USB drive available on the market.

Kingston is also touting the drive as fast. With SuperSpeed USB 3.0 support, the HyperX Predator offers transfer speeds of up to 240MB per second when reading … Read more

Like virginity, lost privacy is gone for good -- CES panelist

LAS VEGAS -- The future of privacy and the cloud occupied a sidestage at CES 2013 this morning, with one panelist comparing privacy lost to something else that can't be replaced.

"Getting your privacy back is like getting your virginity back," said Jim Reavis, Executive Director of the non-profit Cloud Security Alliance, from a room on the second floor of Las Vegas Convention Center North building. The on-stage conversation between Reavis and other privacy experts focused mainly on desired changes to how to make the nebulous concept of online privacy more user-friendly.

Sid Stamm, lead privacy engineer … Read more

Apple said to be talking to Foursquare for maps data

Days after Google launched its Google Maps iOS app, rumors are circulating that Apple is making another play to beef up its own mobile mapping service.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the tech giant is said to have been talking to social network Foursquare about integrating user data into Apple's maps app. Apparently, Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue has been meeting with Foursquare representatives over the past few weeks about how the service uses data to find locations and business listings.

Apple debuted its new mapping service and booted Google Maps from its mobile devices in September … Read more

How to disable all Facebook apps

There are many apps that can tie into your Facebook account. These are not just mobile apps, but also those directly offered on the desktop Web site. This option is for those who are serious about removing apps or Web sites from performing actions associated with their Facebook account.

You may want to take special consideration before you disable all apps, and not just some of them. For instance, if you use Foursquare to post the places you check in to on your Timeline, you won't be able to anymore. And if you use Facebook to log in to … Read more

Get a no-contract mobile hot spot that 'pays' you for sharing Wi-Fi

You've heard of FreedomPop, right? It's the Clearwire-powered 4G service that gives you a "free" mobile hot spot and 500MB of data per month, with the option of earning extra by referring friends.

FreedomPop is still in beta, but already it has some interesting competition. Karma offers a Clearwire-powered 4G mobile hot spot with 1GB of free data, with the option of earning extra by referring....strangers.

It works like this: You pay $79 for Karma's compact, 2.1-ounce hot spot, which can share its 4G goodness with up to eight devices. After you activate … Read more

Apple's Australian maps mishap linked to local data

The bad directions issue that led local police in Australia to steer motorists away from Apple's Maps app may not entirely be the iPhone maker's fault.

Apparently there are two listings for the same problematic location in the Australian Gazetteer, the de facto local geographical dictionary that lists some 322,000 locations and their corresponding GPS coordinates.

As reported by The Register, this resulted in two possible results for "Mildura" -- one of which was located in remote wilderness more than 40 miles away from the town of the same name. People were reportedly getting stranded … Read more

Could Verizon nix unlimited data for everyone?

Verizon Wireless isn't making it easy for loyal, longtime smartphone customers to keep their existing unlimited data plans. And now some subscribers, who are willing to pony up the full price for a new smartphone, worry that Verizon may change its policy again and get rid of the plan for everyone.

Truth be told, few people actually need unlimited data. But for those who do, it's a good deal. In fact, it's such a good deal, these customers worry about losing it. And if you're a Verizon customer who wouldn't worry?

The carrier got rid … Read more