Prose Hacking

Question. I’ve got an unlimited-broadband wireless plan, one that my carrier doesn’t offer anymore. How can I keep that? 

This week’s USAToday.com column offers a possibly heretical thought: Do you actually need the unlimited wireless plans that some users struggle to hold on to? (I got the idea for it after hearing from one local tech-policy type explain how he’d just bought a Galaxy Nexus on eBay to keep his unlimited Verizon plan.) The piece also throws in a reminder about keeping a spare charging cable handy.

A step back from the hubbub of Mobile World Congress, in which I note the fundamental oddness of the U.S. wireless phone market compared to the rest of the world. One example of that is sitting on this table: an unlocked GSM phone running cheap prepaid service that I bought at the airport on Sunday, a luxury unavailable to most American subscribers.

I thought doing a census of the installed OS versions on current Android smartphones—so as to put a number on my frequent whining about late software updates—would make for a quick post for Discovery News. Wrong: The carriers’ own sites offer little guidance, and it took a few rounds with their PR types to pin down which models ship with which releases and have which updates available. 

My series for CNNMoney on Apple’s new smartphone concludes with this look at your choice of carriers, prepaid and otherwise. If you want the best LTE coverage, it’s an easy call: Verizon. But by most other metrics—cost, tethering options, world roaming—the choice quickly gets complicated. What carrier would you/have you chosen?

My first read on this new smartphone from Apple that you may have heard about. (It’s an outrage how the media continues to ignore that company’s work in this area.) I’m seriously impressed by the battery life Apple claims—hey, Android manufacturers, are you paying attention?—but skeptical about the tradeoffs it had to make to get this phone so thin. 

Now, you all can tell me: Are you more or less interested in this phone after knowing its specs?

This week’s USAToday.com column compares Verizon Wireless’s new “Share Everything” plans with competitors’ smartphone service plans (hint: the news isn’t good news for a single-device subscriber) and tries out the offline mode Google just added to its Google Maps app for Android phones.

I reviewed Sprint’s HTC Evo 4G LTE—that carrier’s version of the HTC One X sold by AT&T. After seeing so many promising Android phones wrecked by awful battery life, this one was a pleasant surprise. Too bad nobody can buy one while Customs determines if it infringes on an Apple patent. (Would anybody like to suggest how we as customers are supposed to deal with that kind of uncertainty?)