By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

After much criticism when people managed to read the fine print on their 3G detail page, T-Mobile has backtracked on their throttling policy after a user reaches 1 GB of data usage. Originally, the sentence read:

If your total data usage in any billing cycle is more than 1GB, your data throughput for the remainder of that cycle may be reduced to 50 kbps or less.

It was in bold, as shown above, but it was in the fine print at the bottom of the page. Well, T-Mobile quickly realized what a poor PR move it was, and quickly sent the following message to the New York Times:

Our goal, when the T-Mobile G1 becomes available in October, is to provide affordable, high-speed data service allowing customers to experience the full data capabilities of the device and our 3G network. At the same time, we have a responsibility to provide the best network experience for all of our customers so we reserve the right to temporarily reduce data throughput for a small fraction of our customers who have excessive or disproportionate usage that interferes with our network performance or our ability to provide quality service to all of our customers.

We removed the 1GB soft limit from our policy statement, and we are confident that T-Mobile G1 customers will enjoy the high speed of data access over our 3G network. The specific terms for our new data plans are still being reviewed and once they are final we will be certain to share this broadly with current customers and potential new customers.

They removed it all right, but read the statement now (emphasis mine this time):

To provide the best network experience for all of our customers we may temporarily reduce data throughput for a small fraction of customers who use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth. Your data session, plan, or service may be suspended, terminated, or restricted for significant roaming or if you use your service in a way that interferes with our network or ability to provide quality service to other users. Some devices require specific data plans; if you do not have the right plan for your device, you may not be able to use data services. Additional charges may apply. Domestic use only.

Interestingly, the original sentence was in bold and in the place of the current first sentence (which is no longer bolded; go figure). Obviously they don’t want to draw attention to it this time.

So while they removed the explicit cap that previously existed at 1 GB, what they’ve now done is created a policy very similar to Comcast’s new policy of throttling high usage users.

As I said previously: T-Mobile, meet Comcast. While certainly better than before, it still leaves them a loophole to throttle.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Today was the introduction of the T-Mobile G1, the first Google Android cell phone. The launch event didn’t include details on the service plans, but closer examination of the plans after they were posted to T-Mobile’s site reveals some worrisome details.

First of all, T-Mobile’s 3G network is the smallest among U.S. carriers. T-Mobile insists that they’ll have HSDPA up and running in twenty one markets by mid-October when the phone hits stores — and twenty seven markets by year’s end. Many of T-Mobile’s customers will be relegated to EDGE anyway.

But then, here’s the kicker: the fine print at the bottom of T-Mobile’s 3G detail page (emphasis T-Mobile’s):

If your total data usage in any billing cycle is more than 1GB, your data throughput for the remainder of that cycle may be reduced to 50 kbps or less. Your data session, plan, or service may be suspended, terminated, or restricted for significant roaming or if you use your service in a way that interferes with our network or ability to provide quality service to other users. Some devices require specific data plans; if you do not have the right plan for your device, you may not be able to use data services. Some downloads, such as movies, music, and games, not included. Domestic use only.

One thing’s for sure: you’re not going to be using the G1 for tethering purposes.

Some will say, big deal, 1 GB is a lot of data. Well, in reality, nowadays, it’s not. And the way they advertise their service plans is somewhat misleading:

You can choose from a data plan that offers 400 messages and unlimited data access for $25 a month—or add unlimited messaging for just $10 more a month.

While we all know that cell phone data plans aren’t really unlimited, this is the first time I’ve heard of throttling like this, and after only 1 GB of usage. Comcast, meet T-Mobile.

I expect users to buy the phone anyway, but I also expect to see some fallout.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Let’s not let the fact that the device hasn’t even been officially introduced yet slow us down, shall we? On Tuesday, prior to the introduction of the T-Mobile G1 (AKA the HTC Dream or Google’s first Android phone), Amazon confirmed rumors of a built-in app on the device which allows access to and purchase from the Amazon MP3 store directly on the phone.

Amazon’s music is all MP3, and thus all DRM-free, from all four major labels as well as independents. The rumored application had been nicknamed “AndroidTunes” by some.

While browsing, searching, sampling and buying can all be done over a cellular connection, according to the press release, downloading requires a wi-fi connection:

The T-Mobile G1 comes pre-loaded with an Amazon MP3 application, giving customers a phone-optimized version of the Amazon MP3 store and the immediate gratification of buying and playing their favorite music. Amazon MP3 has worked to make its DRM-free music available through numerous products and services, such as Pandora MySpace Music, and now Android and T-Mobile G1.

Downloading music from Amazon MP3 using the T-Mobile G1 requires a Wi-Fi connection but searching, browsing, listening to samples and buying MP3s can be done wherever customers are connected to the T-Mobile network. Downloaded MP3s can be played anytime on the T-Mobile G1, PCs, Macs or any other MP3 music player.

The best thing about Amazon MP3’s music, as I keep emphasizing to anyone who will listen, is the DRM-free MP3 format. Even if you buy DRM-free music from iTunes it’s still AAC format. Thus, I generally steer people toward Amazon MP3.

However, iTunes’ dominance lies not just in the iPod / iPhone devices but in the ease of buying. You already have iTunes installed on your PC, making it easy to buy.

So, if the G1 and descendents take off, will this app make a real impact, because it makes it easier to buy? This could be the “vehicle” that drives Amazon MP3 to iTunes level, because now Amazon MP3 will have a similar method to drive people to the store. And once people figure out the benefits of DRM-less music, this might actually become a battle.

The real war won’t start until more devices come out. And the stranglehold that iTunes has on the marketplace is still a big obstacle, even with this new system.

This could be fun.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) met on Thursday to discuss an emergency order which would ban the use of cell phones by train operators. While individual companies may have had such rules in place, there was no law backing up the rules.

In a unanimous vote, the CPUC approved the order. The ruling comes less than a week after a Metrolink commuter train ran head-on into a freight train, killing 25 people and injuring more than 130 others, after the operator failed to stop at a stop signal.

The NTSB requested the cell phone records of the Metrolink train engineer, Robert Martin Sanchez, 46, from Verizon Wireless. Verizon has already turned over some of the records to the NTSB, and it’s been determined that he was text-messaging on his cell phone while on duty. Authorities have not determined if he was texting just prior to the crash, however.

Sanchez was killed in the accident.

However, one would think that common sense would say that if many states have banned talking on cell phones sans a hands-free setup while driving, it would be obvious that texting and emailing while driving is far more distracting. I can’t see anyone with an ounce of common sense disagreeing. So why is it that almost all states haven’t addressed this?

Is there a strong Blackberry lobby I don’t know of?

By Martin Regtien

Contributing Writer, RealTechNews 

Aimed at extreme sports enthusiasts, the VHoldR is a compact video recorder which is small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, rugged enough to strap to the side of your car or bike and able to deliver 30 frames per second of VGA video.

Read on here for Paul Moon’s experiences with Twenty20’s VHoldR.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

While the NTSB sought to determine if the engineer of a Metrolink commuter train was text messaging before a crash with a Union Pacific freight train, the head of the California Public Utilities Commission said he would seek an emergency ban of cell phone use by California train operators. 25 people were killed in the accident.

There is, as yet, no evidence — except for statements by two teenagers, who say they were texting with the engineer up to a minute prior to the crash — that the engineer was text messaging prior to the crash. It is true, however, that he ran a stop signal before the crash, and investigators said on Tuesday that the signals were operating properly at the time.

In a press release, Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission said:

“On behalf of the CPUC, I would like to express our condolences to the family and friends of those involved in the Metrolink accident. The CPUC is the principal state agency for rail safety and we are leaving no stone unturned in our investigation of this accident, including interviewing the former spokesperson for Metrolink who resigned from the agency, allegedly after her candor in assessing responsibility for the accident was questioned by her superiors. Further, I will ask my fellow Commissioners on Thursday to approve an emergency order prohibiting the personal use of cellular communication devices while operating a freight or passenger train anywhere in California. Some railroad operators may have policies prohibiting the personal use of such devices, but they’re widely ignored. Our order would make it the law and we’ll go after violators. We owe it to the public.”

At the same time, Peevey said that he will ask the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to require Automatic Train Stop (ATS) systems immediately on all freight and passenger trains that share tracks in California. With ATS installed, trains automatically stop when required at signals.

The NTSB has requested the engineer’s cell phone records from Verizon Wireless, and has given Verizon five days to respond. The Coroner’s Office has identified the engineer as Robert Martin Sanchez, 46, of La Crescenta.

While only four states have banned texting while driving (Alaska, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington), 16 other states are considering such a ban, and in August the California Legislature sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill that would outlaw texting while driving.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

While some states have implemented hands-free cell phone laws for drivers, there hasn’t been such attention paid in terms of text messaging or emailing, despite studies that have found as many as 30% of drivers text while behind the wheel.

There have been auto accidents in which texting has been implicated (though not proven), but could last Friday’s tragic commuter rail crash be the final straw which ends up creating laws over texting while operating any sort of vehicle?

The NTSB is investing last Friday’s tragic collision between a commuter rail train and a freight train in Southern California. The crash resulted in 25 deaths. The NTSB is planning to review the cell phone records of two 14-year-old boys and the engineer after the teenagers told CBS2-TV that they received a text message from the engineer just prior to the crash.

The engineer, who was killed in the crash, ran a stop signal prior to the accident.

According to the LA Times,

A woman who identified herself as the mother of one of the teenagers, but asked that her name not be used to protect her 14-year-old son’s privacy, said that he and some of his friends often rode the Metrolink train on Friday afternoons and had become friendly with the engineer. Investigators had spoken to some of them, she said.

“They knew the engineer very well,” she said Sunday, “and they are mourning the loss of this gentleman. They all aspire to be engineers.”

At this point this is all conjecture. Investigators have not recovered the engineer’s cell phone, if it’s even in the wreckage. But while it’s all still unconfirmed, it’s true that last year a Harris Interactive study indicated 89% of those surveyed felt that texting while driving should be banned.

And while there may in fact be no connection, text messaging is far more distracting than a phone call while operating a vehicle. It makes sense that we should enforce a “no text messaging while operating any vehicle” law.

Why do we continue to wait on this? Do we really need an accident that we can be 100% confirmed to be caused by texting before we do the common-sense thing?

What do you readers think?

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

The iPhone 2.1 software update, which has been long awaited (long, because despite only being announced at Tuesday’s “Let’s Rock” event, long-suffering 3G users have been waiting for an improvement in 3G support since the iPhone 3G’s launch), has arrived.

Interestingly, once again it installed “Apple Mobile Device USB Drivers,” which had also been installed by iTunes 8.0 when I installed that yesterday (yes, on Vista). The download is 237.8 MB, and for once Apple is fairly open about the changes.

Not only does the software show release notes when downloading (above), they’ve even gone so far as to put up a web page with details.

Here are the details (emphasis mine):

The iPhone 2.1 software update contains many bug fixes and improvements. To get it, connect your iPhone to your computer using iTunes 8 and click Check for Update.

Update includes:

• Decrease in call set-up failures and dropped calls
• Significantly better battery life for most users
• Dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
• Improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• Faster installation of 3rd party applications
• Fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes for users with lots of third party applications
• Improved performance in text messaging
• Faster loading and searching of contacts
• Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
• Repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
• Option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation

The question is, does “improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength” display mean it’ll just show different bar results, but still perform poorly when compared to other 3G phones in the same area (within inches, in my informal testing)?

Still updating, will update this post when I’m done testing. More