usage

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has added a key feature for those who are on a capped mobile data plan with their wireless carrier.

ICS gives users the ability to monitor the amount of mobile data being used on their device, and in some cases, automatically turn off mobile data. … Read more

According to CNET UK's Crave blog, in a recent survey conducted by coupon site MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, out of a group of 1,531 U.K. iPad owners, many claimed their iPads were largely going unused. We want to know what our readers think.

According to the poll, 26 percent of iPad owners responding to the poll only use the tablet once per week while 10 percent say they may not use it at all. While those numbers come from a small sample size on a single site's survey, I wanted to know if our readers were having similar usage patterns with their iPads.

I find I use my mine nearly every day, whether I'm reading a book, catching up on the latest social goings-on with Facebook, or mulling over a crossword puzzle. The iPad also comes in handy for creating some cool content for my film experiments and perfecting my musical chops in GarageBand.

How do you use your iPad? Answer the poll and let me know in the comments!… Read more

If you aren't fortunate enough to still be on an unlimited data plan, you may be paranoid about how much data you are using on a daily basis. With iCloud and the eventual release of more iCloud-enabled apps, the amount of data being used by your device is inevitably going to go up. … Read more

Google was by far the most popular online destination in July among Americans, according to data released yesterday by Nielsen.

According to the research firm, 172.5 million unique visitors in the U.S. went to Google in July, spending an average of nearly 1.5 hours on the site. The world's top social network, Facebook, had nearly 159 million unique visitors. However, the social network was far and away their favorite place to be, with folks spending an average of over 5 hours on the site during the month.

Yahoo came in third place in Nielsen's study … Read more

AT&T may be looking at new ways to control data hogs on its wireless network.

The company is rumored to be considering throttling super-heavy data users and restricting them to slower speeds in an effort to better manage its network and keep up with demand for mobile data, according to the blog 9to5mac.

The new policy could start the first in October, which is right around the time that Apple is expected to launch its next generation iPhone, the blog said.

AT&T wouldn't be the first wireless operator to employ such tactics. T-Mobile USA, which … Read more

Sprint Nextel's unlimited data plan will eventually face its limits.

As the only carrier that can now boast of offering an all-you-can-eat buffet of data with no strings attached, Sprint has become a haven for bandwidth hogs. It's a boon to customer growth and gives the company a competitive edge beyond pricing or network quality. Unfortunately, it's also tough for the company to reverse its position.

The growth also comes at a cost. The more heavy users jump on the Sprint ship, the heavier the burden the carrier will start to feel. The company has employed tricks … Read more

The war of words over usage-based pricing on Internet service continues to heat up.

AT&T General Counsel Wayne Watts fired off a response to an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) by Netflix General Counsel David Hyman criticizing the need to charge consumers a different price based on the amount of data they consume at home.

The piece, which ran on Friday, said bandwidth pricing was "bad news for consumers and threatens to slow down the innovation powering today's Internet economy."

Watts, however, argued that the continued need to invest capital in … Read more

Virgin Mobile, the prepaid arm of Sprint Nextel, said today that it is moving away from a fully unlimited data plan and will begin to slow the connection speed of its more excessive bandwidth-hogging customers in October.

Virgin said that customers who exceed 2.5 gigabytes of data in a month will see reduced speeds, a practice known as throttling. The company said less than 3 percent of its customer base go over that mark. The policy will affect all customers.

Virgin is the latest carrier to acknowledge the pressures that heavy data usage by its customers have placed on it. Last week, Verizon Wireless switched to a tiered data plan, following AT&T's move last year. T-Mobile also throttles its customers' connection speeds.

As further evidence of the pressures Virgin faces, the company also unveiled new plans starting July 20 that raise the price of its cheapest options. Its 300-minute plan, which includes unlimited messaging and data, costs $35, $10 more than before. Its 1,200-minute plan goes from $40 to $45.

The company did cut its $60 unlimited calling plan down to $55, likely an acknowledgement of the competitive threat presented by MetroPCS and Leap Wireless. The company also said it would waive the $10 add-on fee for BlackBerry smartphones.

The plans were first reported by Fierce Wireless.

Virgin has been a major factor for much of Sprint's turnaround with its customer base. While winning back contract customers has been difficult, the carrier has seen explosive growth in the prepaid segment, where customers pay on a month-to-month basis and can leave at any time. … Read more

If you have a grandfathered unlimited data plan from your mobile carrier, hold onto it like it's unobtainium. For those of you just now joining the smartphone movement on Verizon or AT&T, you'll have to choose a tiered data plan. Don't worry, though; we're here to help!

In our FAQ on how to manage tiered data plans, we mentioned tracking your data usage with apps. Here are a few apps to track data usage on your Android phone.

Carrier app The simplest way to track data usage on your Android phone is by using … Read more