Verizon is preparing to throttle 4G LTE unlimited data users

Starting October 1, Verizon customers on unlimited data plans that meet certain criteria will see their 4G LTE wireless connection throttled as part of what the carrier calls "Network Optimization," a practice that previously only affected 3G connections.

The good news is that the list of criteria that must be met for speed reduction to occur is pretty lengthy. Here's the full rundown according to Verizon:

Top 5% of data users (you use 4.7GB of data per month or more)Enrolled on an unlimited data plan or featureHave fulfilled their minimum contract termAre attempting to use data on a cell site that is experiencing high demand

Keep in mind that a customer must meet all of the above criteria before reduced speeds kick in. Also, once a user has been throttled, they may continue to be impacted for the rest of the current billing cycle and through the next billing cycle.

The key here seems to be whether or not you're on a high demand network or not. Verizon doesn't consider this to be true throttling as speeds aren't reduced for the entire billing cycle, 100 percent of the time. For example, if you are a heavy data user and there's plenty of available bandwidth, your speeds won't be impacted.

Unlimited data plans were once an effective marketing method but as we slowly transitioned to a data-heavy society, carriers realized they could make more money by eliminating unlimited data plans and moving customers to tiered plans where they can charge a lot for overages.

According to DroidLife, more than 20 percent of Verizon data customers are still on unlimited plans. Verizon, however, claims this figure isn't accurate and the actual percentage is lower.

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Users can now make web-based calls on Google Voice via Hangouts without a G+ account

There are a number of rumors out there pointing at Google merging its Voice service with Hangouts. The company has been unifying its services and social network for some time, and now it looks like Google Voice is getting another step closer. 

Google's Alex Wiesen took to Google+ recently to announce that users can now make web-based phone calls using Hangouts from directly on the Google Voice site. Requiring no connection to Google+, users can now hit the option from within the "phone to call with" drop down menu. Gmail users have had very similar functionality right in the inbox for a while, but the service was never available directly on Google Voice. 

As some have mentioned, the move to have the service being available even to those without a Google+ profile is an interesting one considering how aggressively the company has been integrating its social network in with its other services. 

While the update is a minor one, some users will likely find it a handy addition. The move doesn't directly point at the services one day merging into one, but even without Google+ being a requirement with Hangouts calls in Google Voice, is still feels like a fully unified service is where the company is headed.

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Users can now make web-based calls on Google Voice via Hangouts without a G+ account

There are a number of rumors out there pointing at Google merging its Voice service with Hangouts. The company has been unifying its services and social network for some time, and now it looks like Google Voice is getting another step closer. 

Google's Alex Wiesen took to Google+ recently to announce that users can now make web-based phone calls using Hangouts from directly on the Google Voice site. Requiring no connection to Google+, users can now hit the option from within the "phone to call with" drop down menu. Gmail users have had very similar functionality right in the inbox for a while, but the service was never available directly on Google Voice. 

As some have mentioned, the move to have the service being available even to those without a Google+ profile is an interesting one considering how aggressively the company has been integrating its social network in with its other services. 

While the update is a minor one, some users will likely find it a handy addition. The move doesn't directly point at the services one day merging into one, but even without Google+ being a requirement with Hangouts calls in Google Voice, is still feels like a fully unified service is where the company is headed.

Next Google X is working on a project to map perfect human healthPrev China Telecom to carry Xbox One starting this September

View the original article here

Verizon is preparing to throttle 4G LTE unlimited data users

Starting October 1, Verizon customers on unlimited data plans that meet certain criteria will see their 4G LTE wireless connection throttled as part of what the carrier calls "Network Optimization," a practice that previously only affected 3G connections.

The good news is that the list of criteria that must be met for speed reduction to occur is pretty lengthy. Here's the full rundown according to Verizon:

Top 5% of data users (you use 4.7GB of data per month or more)Enrolled on an unlimited data plan or featureHave fulfilled their minimum contract termAre attempting to use data on a cell site that is experiencing high demand

Keep in mind that a customer must meet all of the above criteria before reduced speeds kick in. Also, once a user has been throttled, they may continue to be impacted for the rest of the current billing cycle and through the next billing cycle.

The key here seems to be whether or not you're on a high demand network or not. Verizon doesn't consider this to be true throttling as speeds aren't reduced for the entire billing cycle, 100 percent of the time. For example, if you are a heavy data user and there's plenty of available bandwidth, your speeds won't be impacted.

Unlimited data plans were once an effective marketing method but as we slowly transitioned to a data-heavy society, carriers realized they could make more money by eliminating unlimited data plans and moving customers to tiered plans where they can charge a lot for overages.

According to DroidLife, more than 20 percent of Verizon data customers are still on unlimited plans. Verizon, however, claims this figure isn't accurate and the actual percentage is lower.

Next China Telecom to carry Xbox One starting this SeptemberPrev Phone unlocking to become legal in the United States again

View the original article here

In China more users now access the internet with a mobile device than a PC

China has been going through a major internet usage boom over the last little while, due largely to mobile device use. New numbers published by a state supported research group say that for the first time mobile internet usage has surpassed that of laptop and desktop PCs.

Around 83.4% of China's 632 million internet users recorded across June of this year did so via a mobile device, compared to about 80.9% accessing the web via PC. As internet usage as a whole grew around 2.3% since the beginning of 2014, mobile surfing grew 5.4% and usage on PCs dropped between 0.1 and 0.4% over the same time period. 

Internet usage in the country has hit nearly 47% compared to 87% in the US. However, even with nearly half the adoption numbers, China had more than double the entire US population logon during June 2014.

While the numbers are still the other way around in most other places in the world, some suggest the combination of low cost phones and the considerably low average income in China, make mobile devices a much more practical internet solution than pricey PCs. The popularity of mobile internet is also likely parallel with the boom of social networks, online mobile gaming and other on-the-go services in the region.

Image via Shutterstock

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