Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Didn’t we just reported that eBay has given Skype until the end of this year to prove its worth and viability before they decide to sell it off or keep it? Looks like Skype is starting to shape up as it just announced that it will begin offering an unlimited international calling for $9.95 a month.

The new Skype plan will give users unlimited calling features to 34 countries worldwide including most European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. The new plan also includes Skype to landline and cell phone calls in Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

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Rumor has it that Sony BMG is launching an unlimited music subscription. Rolf Schmidt-Holtz was noted saying in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, that the company is already working on music subscription service, of course, for the greater good of the Internet users. We’re expecting the music service would launch before 2008 is over and would cost between $9 to $12 per month. Songs are expected to play on all types of digital players including the iPod, which would imply that they were going to be released as DRM-free. 

Schmid-Holtz disclosed:

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The long running rumor about The Beatles music coming to iTunes had recently resurfaced, and once again was quickly proven untrue, so now it only makes sense that we should see the unlimited download plan stories start to resurface. The Financial Times is reporting that Apple is again talking with the “major music companies to offer customers free access to its entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPods and iPhones.”

According to the story the negotiations are stalled over just how much Apple is willing to pay up, Apple of course had not made any statement confirming or denying the story. We here would tend to believe this one is not true, but hey stranger things have happened.

Read [Reuters]

Alltel has quietly announced, albeit a little while after the other major carriers, their unlimited calling plan. Currently available for only $99.99 per month, Alltel subscribers can now talk anytime, anywhere without having to keep tab of the minutes with the new unlimited phone plan. Called the National Freedom Unlimited, this call plan is an attempt by Alltel to keep up with other carriers such as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon that have recently launched their own unlimited plans. 

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If you are not worried about data, then Sprint’s other unlimited plan may be something to consider. The second unlimited plan, which is more in-line feature with the other major carriers. Sprint’s plan goes for $10 less than the other carriers and costs $89.99 a month, it includes unlimited voice, messaging and direct connect. In addition to the lack of data, this plan also does not include the Sprint TV and GPS services.

Personally for just $10 more, I would suggest going for the $99 Simply Everything plan and getting all those extras, but I suppose there are a lot of people out there who could care less about surfing the web or watching TV on their phone.

Via [MobileBurn]

Sprint has officially added their unlimited plan to the lineup and at the same time seem to have one-upped the other carriers. Sprint’s unlimited plan will be at that familiar $99 a month price, but includes more than just voice or voice and SMS. Sprint’s $99 “Simple Everything” plan includes just that, everything, meaning unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, web surfing, Sprint TV, Sprint Music, GPS, Direct Connect and Group Connect.

The “Simply Everything” plan will be available beginning February 29, 2008 for all CDMA and iDen customers. The “Simply Everything” plan will be available for both new and current customers, and those current customers can switch over without extending their contract. This new unlimited plan is also available to family plan users, and the good part here is that each additional “Simply Everything” plan will get a $5 savings. So the first will be at $99.99, the second at $94.99 and so-on, with discounts up to the fifth plan.

Read [Business Wire]

US Cellular has gotten into the unlimited offering spree that we have seen from the other carriers this past week. Their new unlimited national calling plan is $99 per month and includes unlimited voice calls. In addition to the unlimited voice plan, US Cellular also has an unlimited texting option for $14.95 and unlimited easyedge data for $9.95. The unlimited voice plan is available for new and existing customers but is a limited-time only offer.

Read [US Cellular] Via [IntoMobile]

With Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Helio recently advertising unlimited calling plans AT&T must have felt left out. They have since announced their own unlimited calling plan, which will be available February 22 and cost just $99 per month. The plan will be open to both new and existing users but is going to be available for a limited selection of phones. AT&T’s unlimited plan will cover US based calls with no roaming or long distance charges. The plan will be open to standard phones only, PDA’s, smartphones and the iPhone are left out. Overall it seems Helio has the closest offer to unlimited, which includes both calling and data. Of course a calling plan technically is for calling.

Via [CrunchGear]

Verizon has made those unlimited calling plan rumors official, except they may not be as nice as we had thought and hoped. The new plans are broken down into a Basic, Select and Premium plan and each offer unlimited calling, but that is where the unlimited features end for most.

The Basic plan will run you $99.99 and offers just unlimited calling, messaging and data will be extra at $1.99 per MB. 

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Rumor has it that Verizon Wireless is going to begin offering unlimited voice, data and message plans. With some good news that these will become available as early as February 19. The rumored plans are said to have several options to include:

• $100 - Nationwide Unlimited (voice)
• $120 - Nationwide Select Unlimited (voice, SMS, MMS)
• $140 - Nationwide Premium (voice, SMS, MMS, VZNav, VCAST, email)
• $150 - Nationwide Email and Messaging (voice, SMS, MMS, and data)
• $170 - Nationwide Global Email and Messaging (voice, SMS, MMS, and international data)
• $200 - Family plan with two lines, $100 per additional line.

In addition to the wonderful unlimited options these plans are also reported to include no roaming or long distance charges, be available with one or two year agreements, have no contract extensions for current users and include Mobile Web 2.0 portal access. Possibly the best part, assuming these rumors are true is that the 5GB data cap is out.

Via [Engadget]