Unlimited data is not what it used to be.
I'm Bridget Carey and this your CNet update.
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Data throttling it's annoying it feels unfair and AT&T is facing a huge fine for doing it to customers with old unlimited contract.
You may have been throttled and not even know it, Put simply, throttling is when a mobile carrier slows down your connection speed, usually because you are using more data than it wants you to use on an unlimited plan.
Now, when you slow down, it lasts until the end of the billing cycle and if you're in a busy area You may be at such a crawl that you can't even send a photo text message.
Unlimited doesn't mean unlimited speed anymore.
AT&T stopped selling unlimited plans in 2011, but if you're like me and you're holding onto your old AT&T unlimited plan from the days of yore, You may have noticed this little text message pop up recently.
Your data has reached 75% of the 5GB management threshold blah blah blah.
And we will slow you down yada yada.
In 2012 AT&T put a 5 GB.
Cap on unlimited customers, but it only started sending these text messages now.
We live in a world where video apps like Periscope are gobbling up data so fast, and social networks are auto-playing videos, and music streaming is all the rage.
That it's hard not go past 7 gigs in a month with casual use, which always leaves you hunting for a wi-fi network.
And you don't just wanna hook up to any wi-fi network cuz that can be a security issue.
This week the Federal Communications Commission hit AT&T with a proposed $100 million fine for its lack of transparency on throttling.
Now AT&T plans to fight that fee and argues it did communicate this to customers, and sending text messages is part of that communication.
The FCC's new net neutrality rules went into effect last week, which requires all internet traffic be treated equally, and internet providers are prohibited from blocking or slowing traffic down without being clear about it up front.
So it may not stop throttling, it just means carriers need to be very clear about it, but with these new FCC rules, Sprint just stopped throttling for its unlimited plans, and it confirmed the change to the Wall Street Journal.
It makes you wonder if other carriers are gonna now do the same.
Let's end on more upbeat mobile news.
There's a new type of attachment for your phone that may have you thinking differently about your future camera.
This is the DxO One.
It's a small grippable camera that plugs into an iPhone or iPad charging port, giving your phone DSLR powers.
20 megapixels, 1 inch sensor, an f/18 aperture.
And your phone screen is showing you all the action.
It's for advanced photographers who value photo quality which is why it has a $600 price tag when it launches in September.
That's it for this tech news round up and there's always more at cnet.com.
From our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey.
