Recent Stories with tag smartphone

TechFlash sees afterimages of Webvan in Amazon's new Tote delivery service, but I can't help thinking of the gold standard: Kozmo.com couriers delivering lunch half an hour after I ordered it. Tote won't be quite that fast, but from a cost perspective, Amazon has one-upped Kozmo: the twice-weekly Tote service is free, and there's no minimum spend. (You do have to complete your order two days before the next delivery date.)

If you order something from Amazon and you'd like them to deliver it the next time they're delivering in your neighborhood (the delivery days are zip code-specific), they'll truck it on over. The first zip to get Tote is 98112. The Tote bags are weather-resistant and reusable, and one way you can reuse them is to return items if there's any problem. Get the Tote FAQs here. (Perhaps you'd like to order a discounted Kindle? Even the Kindle DX has a lower price.)

Meanwhile, today inaugurates 1) a City of Seattle ordinance mandating that all single-use food service packaging at restaurants and grocery stores be either recyclable or compostable, and 2) a fully operational battlestar Starbucks recycling and composting program that incorporates front-of-store waste, too (i.e., there are more bins out front).

You've probably seen evidence of this, since Starbucks has been rolling out the new program at its 90 Seattle stores over the past month. The city's goal is to keep 6,000 tons of packaging and compostable waste out of landfills each year. Starbucks' goal is to get front-of-store recycling into all company-owned locations by 2015. (Their paper cups will head back to the plant for a second life as paper napkins.)...

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AT&T's hold messaging is still trying to sell you its unlimited data plan--so you never get a surprise on your bill!--five days before its new, limited data plans go into effect on June 7, and bring with them overage charges. (I was calling to confirm that, in At&T's world, texting doesn't involve "data" and the answer is no, AT&T will still bill you separately for your texting plan.)

The upside of the announcement is that AT&T will finally be offering iPhone tethering when Apple ships its OS 4 this summer (though since OS 4 full functionality isn't supported on the 3G or original iPhone, it's not spelled out that tethering will arrive for older models: note that Apple's tethering page is for the iPhone 3GS model).

If your iPhone can tether (AT&T's wording is the blanket "iPhone customers"), it will cost you $20 per month on top of your $25 per month DataPro plan, and you'll be able to use your iPhone's 3G wireless with your laptop or other compatible device.

As of June 7, existing iPhone owners will have the option to do nothing (retain their $30/mo. "unlimited" data plan), buy a DataPlus plan (200MB per month at $15/mo.), or buy a DataPro plan (2GB per month at $25/mo.). AT&T's announcement details the overage charges are $15 for an extra 200MB for DataPlus customers, and $10 for each extra 1GB for DataPro customers. Again, tethering is only available with the DataPro plan--you won't be able to keep the unlimited plan and tether.

AT&T will send you texts, by the way, as you use up your bandwidth (a text is triggered at 65, 90, and 100 percent), so in theory you won't walk into an extra $15 or $10 fee blindly.