pay-as-you-go

Why a smartphone may not be the best choice for everyone

Smartphones are hitting the mainstream market. And that means old and young want a piece of the action. But at more than $1,000 per year for service, a smartphone may not be the best choice for every consumer.

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I help a reader decide if he should get his parents smartphones or if he should spare them the hefty monthly service fees and get them new basic feature phones. I also help another reader decide if there is a less-expensive alternative to Verizon that will allow him to keep his unlimited data plan.

Feature … Read more

Clearwire launches Rover pay-as-you-go 4G service

Clearwire announced a new pay-as-you-go brand for its 4G wireless service on Monday.

The new brand is targeting 18- to 24-year-olds who are recently out of college, urban, and looking to stay connected. The service will not require a contract, and customers can sign up for unlimited data usage for just $5 per day, $20 per week, or $50 a month.

The Rover Puck will offer download speeds of 3Mbps to 6Mbps. The Puck is available for $150. And the Rover Stick is $100 and will work on MacBooks using Mac OS X, as well as Netbooks and laptops using … Read more

T-Mobile unveils pay-as-you-go Android phone

T-Mobile has demonstrated the first pay-as-you-go Android handset to go on sale in the UK.

The Pulse, which is manufactured by Huawei, was announced on Thursday. Huawei is best known in the UK for manufacturing mobile broadband dongles for operators such as T-Mobile, and the Pulse marks its entry into the British handset market.

"The T-Mobile Pulse represents another Android milestone from T-Mobile," said Nicola Shenton, who currently heads the operator's handset business in the UK, in a statement. "We introduced the first Android handset, the T-Mobile G1, to the UK back in October 2008, launched … Read more