Click below to
find interesting
information from our
June 2010a
newsletter
relating to:
Roaming
Travel
Mobile phones
Roaming
Optus
hikes
data roaming
prices
Optus has just
(without
announcement)
raised its price
for data usage
when roaming.
Optus now
charges $0.20
per 10kB for
data when
roaming, whereas
previously the
charge was $0.02
per 1kB. That
sounds like the
same
rate-per-kilobyte,
but make no
mistake, this
can
substantially
increase the
data cost for
travellers.
The reasons are
that the minimum
and incremental
charges for a
data session are
both now $0.20.
A smartphone
with an
application
checking e-mail
every few
minutes will
incur at least a
$0.20 minimum
charge each time
(as a new
session is
started each
time). And even
if a session
goes over the
minimum 10kB,
the cost on
average will
increase, as a
data session of
say 11kB which
previously cost
$0.22 will now
cost $0.40 as
the incremental
charge has gone
up ten-fold.
vRoam's estimate
is that this
will increase
average
data-roaming
costs with Optus
by around 12%.
Travel
Unusual
routes
Texas-based
airline
Continental
Airlines has
just announced
that it is
planning to
start a new
route late in
2011, using its
new Boeing 787s
(aeroplanes so
new that none
are yet in
service).
This sort of
route
announcement
happens so often
in the travel
industry that it
would normally
not take our
attention. What
makes this one
different is
that the route
is non-stop
between Houston
and Auckland,
five times per
week.
This is the
first example of
a long, thin
(meaning a
smallish
passenger
volume) route
that the 787 was
specifically
designed for.
Whilst
Continental is
doubtless
expecting to
also carry
passengers that
transfer onwards
at either end
(for instance
travellers
between
Australian
cities and the
southern USA
might well find
this the
quickest link),
the economics of
air travel
previously meant
that very long
flights could
only be flown by
very large
aircraft (which
to be profitable
had to be filled
with many
passengers).
It's a sign
that perhaps
Boeing's
strategy of
medium-sized
secondary
destination
aircraft may be
about to
succeed, and
that air travel
will undergo yet
another
evolution.
Mobile phones
Turning off iPhone
data
Occasionally
iPhone users
need to reduce
their handset's
usage of data.
This might be
because they are
roaming overseas
and want to
avoid very high
data-roaming
costs, or
perhaps
domestically
they are getting
close to their
included-data
cap or plan
limit.
This can be
surprisingly
difficult to do.
There is a
setting to
disable data
while roaming
(Settings,
General,
Network, slide
Data Roaming to
Off), but this
won't work with
domestic usage.
And (perhaps
surprisingly) it
doesn't
guarantee that
no data is
consumed (and
billed) when
roaming (as data
roaming is
re-enabled on
reboot, and
individual Apps
may not check
this setting and
so bypass the
feature anyway).
You can
switch to
Airplane Mode
(or remove the
SIM) which will
absolutely stop
all data usage,
but also disable
voice calls and
SMS (so not
terribly
useful). Or
systematically
remove all
unwanted Apps
that might use
data (many do).
Better is to
change the APN
(Access Point
Name) - perhaps
add a "*" in
front of the
current one -
which prevents
any
mobile-network
data usage
entirely.
To just
reduce data
usage (rather
than eliminate
it entirely),
try (under
General
Settings)
turning off
Notifications
and Location
Services.
To reduce the
data usage for
e-mail, switch
off "push"
service in your
e-mail (and
calendar and
contacts...),
change "Fetch"
to "Manually",
set Mail to only
download the
last 25
messages, switch
off "Load Remote
Images" and
avoid storing
drafts and sent
messages online
instead of on
the handset. It
might be a good
idea to reduce
spam before it
gets sent to
your phone, so
check with your
e-mail provider
or sign up for
one of the
on-line
anti-spam
services.
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