AT& T & T-Mobile new Data Rollover programs

AT&T and T-Mobile will both begin offering the rollover of unused customer data in January in another small battle in the all out Carrier war.

We begin with giant AT&T, who has announced that later this month they will be introducing a data program allowing their customers on Mobile Share Value plans to roll over their unused data from one month to the next.

“Rollover Data is an added benefit of being an AT&T Mobile Share Value customer and it’s just another way that we’re saying thanks to our more than 50 million plus Mobile Share Value subscribers,” said Glenn Lurie, President and CEO, AT&T Mobility. “We’re providing even more value and flexibility, and the best part is it’s simple, shareable and easy to track for our customers. All Mobile Share Value customers get this automatically.”

The program is being provided at no extra charge, however, you will only be able to roll over any unused data for one month, after your normal monthly allotment in used.
AT&T will automatically enable the rollover feature on all Mobile Share Value plans starting January 25. Customers can track their rollover data using the MyAT&T mobile app or on AT&T’s website.

On the other side of the service provider raceway, we have T-Mobile, who although weren’t the first carrier to provide the Data rollover idea, were the first amongst the big boys (including At&T).

They are also offering what they call a ‘Data Stash’ program. Any T-Mobile customer on an eligible postpaid Simple Choice plan who buys extra high-speed data for their smartphone or tablet can roll over any unused data for up to a year.

“That data is rightfully yours,” added Legere. “And, we’re putting an end to this appalling industry practice today. With Data Stash, when you buy additional high-speed data, there’s no need to lose what you don’t use.”

As an added bonus, T-Mobile will also be giving every customer eligible for Data Stash 10 GB of 4G LTE data for free.

So, this is definitely a small step in the right direction. And we know who won this battle. Step on up, T-Mobile.

Eerie iPod disappearance!

Anyone round here notice anything a little…fishy going on lately? Specifically, fishiness emanating from the Apple store?

Well if you haven’t, here’s what’s going on:

The cheapest iPod, the iPod Shuffle, has mysteriously begun to disappear from Apple retail shelves and Apple online…shelves. If you try to buy one now, you might be fresh out of luck.

Apple has actually warned it’s retail employees that stock for the iPod shuffle will be short for an ‘unspecified’ amount of time, and to direct customers towards the online store. Where you might be lucky, but the item won’t ship for an unusually long amount of time – 7-10 business days.

So. Is this supply shortage because of a supply shortage in parts up the production line? Or is it a more ominous clue pointing towards the untimely demise of the iPod Shuffle?

Dun Dun DUUUUN.

So what will be the fate of the beloved $49 iPod Shuffle? Nobody knows! Well, some people at Apple probably know.

Record week in the App store!

It’s a good time to be an Apple! The company is currently celebrating their recent successes, namely, Apple Pay customer growth, record breaking App store success and high job creation! Yay!

The first week in 2015 set a new record for Apple’s App Store, bringing in almost $500 million. Now that’s a tasty start to the new year. Apple are also celebrating the record breaking year that was 2014 for the App Store, with a 50% increase in billings, and developers earning more than $10 million from revenue.

“This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users and that the developer community has now earned over $25 billion.”

So… 2014 was the time to turn that dumb idea that you secretly though was the best most genius thing ever into an App. But… we think it’ll probably work in 2015 too, so go knock that bad boy out of the park!

Apple is also celebrating Apple Pay customer growth, and job creation from the industry surrounding iOS and the App Store. With just over a million jobs created or supported by Apple in the U.S,  a massive 627,000 are related directly to iOS and the App Store.

You can see the full press release here!

Apple Watch release!

When the Apple Watch was announced back in September, all that was said about a release date was ‘early 2015’. Well, it’s early 2015, Apple. You know it, I know it, our company Guinea pig knows it…

But. When a company says a product will be released in ‘early 2015’, that really could mean anything. Even if it turns out to be mid 2015 (unlikely) Apple would be forgiven for their mis-speech, because the anticipation for said new product would be elevated to such a height that when people finally got their hands on it they would forget that they were supposed to be able to have their hands on it months ago.

We probably won’t have to wait that long, however. Here’s what we know about when the Apple Watch may be released.

It’s said that Apple have been trying to perfect a number of small features on the Apple Watch in preparation for release, most importantly the charging mechanism. They want the charge to last on these things, because people and critics are already amping up to call them out over it after the battery didn’t display such great stamina at the announcement.

Developers are already working on iOS  apps that will support Apple Watch and iPhone interaction.

Most rumors have pinpointed March for the release in the first wave of countries. Don’t worry, The U.S.A. is always in the first wave. Wouldn’t that be weird if it wasn’t? Weird and unhappy.

There have been almost-shaped-like concrete rumors that say that retail training for the Apple Watch will begin early February, which would support the March release date rumors. Apparently in the week of February 9th-16th, high level retail store representatives will be sent to main Apple offices (Cupertino for example) to be trained, and will then go back and share their training with their little Apple underlings. Aw. Makes them sound so cute.

So, what kind of holiday is there in March that we can celebrate by getting an Apple Watch as a present…? St Patricks Day? Does it come in Green? Google tells me that March 3rd is I Want To Make You Happy Day. Well, Apple, a nice green Apple Watch that we can wear fancy for St Patricks day,  that’s what’s gonna make us happy.

Thanks in Advance, iPhone Antidote.

Deals of The Week Wednesday!

Welcome to our first Deals Of The Week Wednesday for 2015!

* First up, make sure to check out Best Buy’s outlet clearance for up to 60% off a selection of clearance, open-box, refurbished and pre-owned items. Get in-store pick up unless your items are worth more than $35, in which case you get free shipping, however some items are only available in-store. Sale ends January 17th!

* Get yourself a nice new TV for 2015!  Get a LG 70″ LED  1080p 3D Smart TV for $1999.99 from Groupon.

*Like deals all the time? Like lots and lots of bulk items? Get a  1-Year Sam’s Club Membership PLUS a $25 Sam’s Club Gift Card (with a Facebook share) for just $45 (In-Store Only). Deal only live until January 31st.

*If you’re gonna get sh*t done in 2015, you gotta have sh*t charged!  Get 3D Luxe 10 Ft. MFi-Certified Apple Lightning Charge and Sync Fabric Cables for just  $13.99 from Groupon. 

* That 70 inch tv too expensive? How about a 50″ Vizio  1080pSmart LED HDTV  for just $499.99 PLUS Free Shipping or Free Store Pickup at Best Buy

*Get your language on with Rosetta Stone Level 1–4 in English or French for $179.99 from Groupon. 

* Get your good self to Staples for  $30 Off $150+ Orders using Visa Checkout, Limit 1 per customer. Expires 1/31/15

*Get your game on with a Wii U 32GB Black Deluxe Set PLUS Super Mario 3D World & Nintendo Land for just $270 with free shipping from eBay

There you have it! 2015 deals are looking pretty good so far, and we hope to bring you some STELLAR deals in the months to come! And if you’re in need of any cash to get your hands on these deals, how about selling that stinky old iPhone that’s lying in that bedroom drawer? We’ll take it off your hands and exchange it for cash in no time!

Tech of the week! Check out Charitweet!

Right now at iPhone Antidote, we’re all about creating good in the world, and here is a great way to contribute to that.

Charitweet is a fantastic way to empower your social network as a force for good in the world, providing you with a simple way to give to your favorite charities, whilst encouraging others in your social network to do the same.

The Boston based company is making it possible to give 100% of your donation to your chosen charity through Twitter.

Skip the middlemen, give in 140 characters, spread the word, and you’re done. Giving is good. Simple giving, where 100% of the donation goes to the charity is great.

All you need to do is tweet, making sure you include the following :

@CHRTWT
@CHARITYNAME
$(AMOUNT)

For example: “I’m donating $10 to @helpkids with @chrtwt!”

After your first Charitweet, you’ll receive a notification on your Twitter account. You’ll complete a billing form (asking only necessary information that will remain completely confidential). After that first tweet, you’ll never have to do more than tweet to donate again!

Here’s a list of the Charities that Charitweet are partnered with currently. You can also contact them to request that another Charity you might have affiliation with could partner with Charitweet in the future.

The only caveat is that in order to donate, your Twitter account can’t be private in order to process your donation, but that is something the company is working on getting around.

If you’re looking for a way to give in 2015, do yourself a favor and check out Charitweet. Spread the word! 

How you listened to music in 2014

Apple intends on releasing it’s revamped Beats streaming product in 2015, and it looks like they got the timing pretttty perfect on that, as the guys over at Nielsen SoundScan have just revealed their year-end stats for the music industry, and streaming gets a big ‘ol thumbs up.

There was a 54% growth in on-demand streams of audio and video content and total streams were up to 164 billion from 106 billion in 2013.

Sad face for the regular old retro (can we say retro yet in regards to this?) album, as digital album sales fell 9%, and digital song sales fell 12%. Physical and digital album sales fell 11%.

Happy face for the actual retro music format here, though – vinyl album sales in 2014 grew 52%. Fifty-two percent!  In fact, although vinyl sales have been increasing every year, 2014 was the best year for vinyl since 1991, and possibly only because that’s when Nielson SoundScan started keeping track of music industry stats.

Apple’s other streaming product, iTunes radio, has had a smaller than expected impact in the streaming music market, and is currently only available here in the States and in Australia.

So. The old big thing is Vinyl, and the next big thing is streaming. Which Apple knew, and is set to take a bigger advantage of the latter by revamping Beats Music, probably as a native iOS app in the first quarter of this year. It will either be entwined with iTunes or they’ll be looking to take another segment of the market with iTunes.

Beats Music will, of course, have some competition, with very loyal subscribers to Pandora and Spotify as well as other players in the market.

Currently, you can subscribe to Beats Music for $9.99 per month, or $99.99 for 12 months.

Future Tech Of The Week

It’s the future! Kind of.. so let’s take a look at some future, in-the-works tech that we’re looking forward to!

So, there’s a company called Scanadu. Initially their products were part of an Indiegogo campaign, they’re rocking it with their proposed tech by building a bunch of products that are health oriented.

With these products, they’re looking to do what a lot of impressive and inspiring tech companies are trying to do – improve your life in a significant, impressive and historic way.

How?

By making collecting accessible data about your and your families health easy and intuitive. Take, for example, their product Scanadu Scanaflo which will test your urine and be able to tell you important details about it – i.e. Pregnant or Urinary tract infection. Always important to make a distinction between those two.

Or, take their product the Scanadu Scout which, once pressed to your forehead, will read health data such as your temp, blood pressure, blood oxygenation etc etc and send it to your phone.

Check out their blog here, to keep up with how their product developing is going and be excited about the future prospects of stuff!

Apple’s ‘Start Something New’ Campaign

Apple introduced a new global campaign just before NYE called Start Something New.

The campaign is featured on both their website and in physical retail stores (NY, Toronto & London so far reported), and is showing off pieces of art from Twitter customers and artists such as Oz Hall, Matt Pyke and Craig & Karl. All the art pieces are created wholly on Apple Products.

Apple is pushing creative Apps for iOS such as  Procreate, Brushes 3, Slow Shutter, VSCOCam, Waterlogue and iDraw in their ability to create beautiful pieces of art.

“Every piece in this gallery was created on an Apple product. Every brushstroke, every pixel, and every frame of film was brought to life by talented Apple users from around the world. As you explore their work, we hope it inspires you to create something new.”

Go check it out – It is definitely inspiring and a perfect message for this time of year!

Apps to help you keep your new year’s resolutions!

Welcome to 2015 guys!

How many of you guys have made or are making New Year’s Resolutions? Resolutions are pretty great things in our book, if only for the chance to evaluate and examine your life and understand how you might like to improve it, looking for ways to inspire you to become a better person. Even if that’s all you do, that’s success.

But if you want to really stick to your goals for 2015, here’s some apps to help you out. And remember – one slip up is not a breakage, it can be a way to strengthen the resolution!

Coach.me (previously known as Lift) is a motivational tool that uses in-app professional coaching (for an $14.99 in-app purchase), community support and providing you with data that makes it easy to track, analyze, and celebrate your progress. It also includes features goal inspired plans, challenges and guides to help you achieve anything you’re up for achieving.

Free from the App Store (with in-app purchases).

StickK is an app that’s all about goals and helping you reach them. So, perfect!

When you begin, you customize and sign a contract. The contract lists the things you will do in order to achieve your goals. As part of the contract you get a ‘Referee’ , someone to report to, to motivate you and someone  to hold you accountable. You also have the option to include cash incentives to your contract. With the cash, a good example is that if you commit to $10 a week that you’ll go to the gym every day, and you fail, then that $10 goes to a charity or person of your choice. If you succeed, you get the money back.

The app also provides social media networking and weekly reports. You can sign up for free and get the app here.

Kickit is an app to help you achieve a SUPER IMPORTANT goal for 2015. Yup, we’re talking about quitting smoking. No lectures here, just take a look at the app, and see how it can provide you with the data, incentives, social media interaction and support to help you quit and let you know just how much money you’re saving and exactly how you’re improving your health.  

Get it free from the App Store. 

Want to get more in touch with yourself and your understanding of the world in 2015? Take a look at Headspace. It’s a mediation app that has been praised all over and is used by over a million people. It provides you with mindfulness techniques that work towards the creator’s mission of creating a healthier, happier world, one mobile device at a time. Sounds awesome.

You can sign up for free for their Take10 program (10 x10 mediation sessions) and download the app for free, with in-app purchases if you wanted to continue to subscribe to the Headspace material.

If you would like to give back more in 2015, check out Charity Miles.  It’s a way of turning your time and energy into Charity and giving back. After you get the App, choose a charity and how you’ll be moving about – i.e. walking, biking or running. For every mile, corporate sponsers will give  10¢ per mile for bikers; and 25¢ per mile for walkers and runners to your chosen charity.

Free from the App Store. 

Another charitable App to check out is One Today. A Google initiative, it presents you with a new Charity every morning, with the option to donate $1. It will also explain how your donation will work towards the Goals of that particular Charity. It’s a way of letting you ‘Give a little, and change a lot’.

Free From the App Store. 

Some websites to help you achieve your goals and feel inspired in 2015 –

For weight loss goals, we would recommend LoseIt! or My Fitness Pal (also available as Apps).

For saving money check out Mint.com.

If you would like to travel more, check out www.theflightdeal.com and MileValue.

Spend some time on www.freerice.com. For every quiz answer you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice to World Food Programme to end world hunger.

If you would like to feel good about the state of the world (we always do) check out the AMAZING things people are doing in technology and science at www.futurism.co

Happy 2015! May you achieve all your goals and may all your wishes come true! And teleportation. We think we’d like teleportation to become a thing in 2015.