AT&T Adds Unlimited International Messaging to Mobile Share Plans

AT&T today announced plans to add unlimited international messaging to all of its Mobile Share and Mobile Share Value plans, allowing customers in the United States to send international messages as part of their existing plans, with no additional cost. Text, picture, and video messages are all included.

On Friday, February 28, all AT&T Mobile Share and Mobile Share Value plans will now include unlimited international messaging from the U.S. to the world. AT&T consumer and business Mobile Share customers can send unlimited text, picture and video messages. Current Mobile Share and Mobile Share Value customers will automatically benefit from this offer.

AT&T is also deploying a new World Connect Value international calling package, which offers one cent per minute calls from the United States to more than 35 countries including Canada, Mexico, and several other locations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The add-on, which is available to all AT&T wireless postpaid customers, costs $5 per month.

AT&T's new unlimited international messaging follows Verizon's recent introduction of new More Everything plans that also include unlimited international messaging.

Both the World Connect Value plan and the unlimited international messaging will be available beginning on Friday, February 28.

Tuesday February 25, 2014 1:22 pm PST by Juli Clover - macrumors.com

Oral-B Shows Off iPhone-Compatible Smart Toothbrush at Mobile World Congress

Proctor and Gamble first introduced its smartphone-connected Oral-B toothbrush earlier this month, but the company is on hand at the Mobile World Congress conference in Spain to give attendees a look at the upcoming device.



The Oral-B SmartSeries 7000 connects to the Oral Blue iPhone app using Bluetooth 4.0, allowing the app to provide real-time guidance on brushing habits. It records brushing activity on a chart that can be shared with dental professionals to create personalized brushing routines and because the Bluetooth connectivity works both ways, the app can also be used to program the toothbrush.

Engadget went hands-on with the Oral-B SmartSeries 7000 to show off how the app interacts with the brush itself. While brushing, the iPhone app runs a timer in real-time to keep track of how long a user has brushed and it also includes a stream of news articles to keep users entertained while brushing.

In case the sheer boredom of brushing your teeth for that long is too much to bear, you can also thumb through a stream of news articles or local weather reports (no, really) to help you hang in there. Turns out, just furiously mashing those bristles into your teeth isn’t great either, so the timer will blink red if you're pressing too hard.

In addition to Bluetooth connectivity, the SmartSeries 7000 features oscillating-rotating-pulsating technology, six different cleaning modes (Daily Cleaning, Deep Clean, Whitening, Gum Care, Sensitive, and Tongue Cleaning), a pressure sensor to prevent users from brushing too hard, and several different travel accessories.

Oral B's Bluetooth 4.0 smart toothbrush technology will be available in several of its toothbrushes, beginning with the Oral B SmartSeries 7000, which is expected to launch later this year for $220.

Tuesday February 25, 2014 2:45 pm PST by Juli Clover - macrumors.com

MLB At Bat Updated for 2014 Baseball Season With Full iOS 7 Redesign

In what has become a yearly tradition for late February, Major League Baseball today updated its MLB At Bat app for the 2014 baseball season. The app, perennially one of the most popular -- and highest grossing -- on the App Store, received a top-to-bottom redesign to match iOS 7 and to improve the user experience.

Photos and video are more prevalent in At Bat, running edge-to-edge and inline with other content. For example, video embedded in a news article displays within the article itself, with users able to tap a full-screen button if they wish. The redesign emphasizes MLB's aim to improve the fan experience and help technology augment the game and otherwise get out of the way.

Showing how the design team has embraced subtlety, text and selection highlights in the app change depending on which team a user selects as their "favorite". For example, a Red Sox fan will see red highlights throughout the app, while a Yankees fan would see navy blue. A MLB spokesperson told MacRumors that the app is the mobile focus point for millions of baseball fans and the design teams strive to make the app seem like home, no matter which team they're a fan of.

Long hailed as the standard bearer for introducing features that matter to fans, At Bat this year will report for live Spring Training games with a full app re-design for iOS 7 on iPhone and iPad, among other new enhancements. Fans again will have access to the core functionality At Bat has pioneered over its first five years, including: personalized team experiences to deliver a linear feed of content for a designated favorite team; searchable libraries of tens of thousands of video-on-demand highlight clips; and customizable original news reporting and fantasy baseball analysis from MLB.com club beat reporters and national columnists.

Like last year, there are two main subscription packages for the iPhone and iPad -- a $130/season MLB.tv Premium offering that includes live home-and-away television broadcasts for out-of-market games, as well as live home-and-away radio broadcasts. It also includes the ability to watch on any device regardless of how the viewer purchases the package -- users can buy MLB.tv Premium via a $130 in-app purchase can watch live games within the app, as well as on the Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation or any number of other connected devices.

The cheaper At Bat 2014 product, available as a $20/season in-app purchase, offers home-and-away radio broadcasts with no blackout restrictions. Both the Premium and At Bat services are also available as month-to-month subscriptions, though the whole-season package is quite a bit cheaper than buying month-to-month.



MLB Advanced Media told MacRumors that the company is aware that customers would very much like to stream local games without blackout restrictions, but that the content deals to allow that are extremely complex and difficult to negotiate. It also is well into its iBeacon rollout and expects to have twenty ballparks outfitted with the devices by Opening Day. The At The Ballpark app will see an update before then to support the new iBeacons.

MLB At Bat is a free download from the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

Tuesday February 25, 2014 4:22 pm PST by Jordan Golson - macrumors.com

Square Testing 'Pickup' App to Speed Up Ordering of Takeout

Square is testing a new app called Square Pickup that allows users to order and pay for takeout food. The app is currently in beta testing with select San Francisco restaurants, according to Priceonomics.

Instead of calling a restaurant to place a pickup order, users can just make the purchase with the Square Pickup App. The app is loaded with the restaurant’s menu. Just choose what you want, pay with Square, and then pick up your food when it’s ready. The app is currently in beta testing for both iOS and Android.

Square is not the only big company innovating with restaurants and in-app purchasing -- earlier this month, OpenTable began testing a feature that would have guests paying for restaurant checks in the OpenTable app.

Square is processing billions of dollars worth of credit card transactions annually and has an extensive point-of-sale system aimed at restaurants and other small businesses.

Tuesday February 25, 2014 4:44 pm PST by Jordan Golson - macrumors.com

FCC Launches 'FCC Speed Test' iPhone App to Measure Mobile Broadband Performance

The FCC today launched a new ad-free FCC Speed Test app for iOS devices, designed to measure mobile broadband performance. The app is an expansion of the Measuring Broadband America program, which aims to measure both fixed and mobile broadband to “bring greater clarity and competition to the broadband service marketplace.”

Like other mobile speed testing apps, the FCC's app analyzes mobile broadband performance (both Wi-Fi and cellular) and displays a breakdown of download and upload speed, latency, and packet loss. It also keeps a historical record of mobile speeds for comparison of performance over time.


The FCC is using data collected from the app to build an aggregated map of mobile broadband performance across the country, but it does not collect personally identifying information aside from carrier, country code, and GPS location.

Privacy is paramount. The FCC has taken significant measures to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of volunteers for this program. Using privacy measures developed and reviewed by a diverse team of privacy experts, any data that could potentially identify specific smartphones is analyzed and processed to ensure privacy protection.

The FCC previously launched an FCC Speed Test app for Android back in November and has published multiple reports on broadband performance as part of Measuring Broadband America.

FCC Speed Test can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tuesday February 25, 2014 5:48 pm PST by Juli Clover - macrumors.com

KGI: iPad 2 done and iPad 4 back in Q1, iPad Air with A8 + Touch ID in Q3, bigger iPad & new Mini unlikely in ’14

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi-Kuo, who has a strong Apple product prediction track record, is out with a new report today with his expectations for the iPad line in 2014:

• The iPad 2 will be discontinued in Q1 2014, and this lines up with a report from earlier this week. The iPad 2 has been on sale since March of 2011 and it sports old technologies such as a non-Retina display, 30-pin dock connector, and A5 processor, making it due for discontinuation. The iPad 2 has, however, remained popular in the education market, so perhaps Apple will keep that model around as an educational-only version of the iPad.
• The fourth-generation iPad will go back into mass production in Q1 2014. Justlike Apple brought the iPhone 4 back (at least for some regions), Kuo says the iPad 4 will be making an encore. The reasoning is unclear (perhaps to replace the iPad 2), but the device’s technologies are still strong with the Retina display, Lightning connector, and A6X system-on-a-chip.
• The iPad Air will be updated in late Q3. Kuo says that this new iPad (unsurprisingly) will gain a more advanced processor (the A8 in all likelihood) and the Touch ID fingerprint reader from the iPhone 5s. A late Q3 launch would mean that the new iPad would arrive earlier than the October/November timeframe of last year’s models.
• Chances of a new iPad mini in 2014 are “slim,” according to Kuo due to the popularity of the iPad Air and Apple’s focus on developing other new products this year. The iPad mini was updated with the A7 chip and Retina display in late-2013, so the current technology is fairly stable, and this makes an update not truly necessary this year.
• Bigger iPad unlikely to launch this year. While Kuo says Apple is certainly developing a 12.9-inch version of the iPad to drive new applications, he says a 2014 launch is unlikely. If it happens this year, shipments will be limited. Why? Kuo says Apple’s software teams are focusing on finishing up the software for the impending iWatch, which is taking priority over the software enhancements necessary for a larger iPad display.

So, unlike in 2012 or 2013, Kuo is not expecting multiple new iPads this year. Instead, Apple will replace the aging iPad 2 with the faster iPad 4, keep the iPad mini at status quo, and beef up the popular iPad Air with the latest technologies.

- 9to5mac.com

KGI: iPad 2 done and iPad 4 back in Q1, iPad Air with A8 + Touch ID in Q3, bigger iPad & new Mini unlikely in ’14

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi-Kuo, who has a strong Apple product prediction track record, is out with a new report today with his expectations for the iPad line in 2014:

• The iPad 2 will be discontinued in Q1 2014, and this lines up with a report from earlier this week. The iPad 2 has been on sale since March of 2011 and it sports old technologies such as a non-Retina display, 30-pin dock connector, and A5 processor, making it due for discontinuation. The iPad 2 has, however, remained popular in the education market, so perhaps Apple will keep that model around as an educational-only version of the iPad.
• The fourth-generation iPad will go back into mass production in Q1 2014. Justlike Apple brought the iPhone 4 back (at least for some regions), Kuo says the iPad 4 will be making an encore. The reasoning is unclear (perhaps to replace the iPad 2), but the device’s technologies are still strong with the Retina display, Lightning connector, and A6X system-on-a-chip.
• The iPad Air will be updated in late Q3. Kuo says that this new iPad (unsurprisingly) will gain a more advanced processor (the A8 in all likelihood) and the Touch ID fingerprint reader from the iPhone 5s. A late Q3 launch would mean that the new iPad would arrive earlier than the October/November timeframe of last year’s models.
• Chances of a new iPad mini in 2014 are “slim,” according to Kuo due to the popularity of the iPad Air and Apple’s focus on developing other new products this year. The iPad mini was updated with the A7 chip and Retina display in late-2013, so the current technology is fairly stable, and this makes an update not truly necessary this year.
• Bigger iPad unlikely to launch this year. While Kuo says Apple is certainly developing a 12.9-inch version of the iPad to drive new applications, he says a 2014 launch is unlikely. If it happens this year, shipments will be limited. Why? Kuo says Apple’s software teams are focusing on finishing up the software for the impending iWatch, which is taking priority over the software enhancements necessary for a larger iPad display.

So, unlike in 2012 or 2013, Kuo is not expecting multiple new iPads this year. Instead, Apple will replace the aging iPad 2 with the faster iPad 4, keep the iPad mini at status quo, and beef up the popular iPad Air with the latest technologies.

- 9to5mac.com