Data

Wireless carrier Sprint Corporation launched the new Best Buy One Plan nationwide on March 1. The program is described as an "industry-first, all inclusive plan" that offers unlimited voice calling, messaging, data, and a "whole new way to get a wireless phone". Not surprisingly, Sprint's Best Buy One is exclusively available at Best Buy retail outlets.

Customers can get the unlimited data plan along with top smartphones for no money down and no sales tax at the time of purchase. The program works by leasing the hardware for a fixed monthly price, which is rolled into the total plan cost. This means with a two-year contract Sprint subscribers can lease the 16GB iPhone 6 along with unlimited data, voice calling and messaging for a total of $65 per month plus taxes and fees.

Tracking cellular data usage by apps and the iOS system is possible using Settings -> Cellular. In addition to data usage itemized by app, system services and roaming totals are also listed. While this can help keep track of data usage, left to its own devices iOS will never reset the stats. Users must manually tap the Reset Statistics button.

Monitoring cellular data usage can be more useful when the statistics are only recorded for a specific interval, such as your billing cycle. The jailbreak tweak ReStats adds this functionality to iOS 8, automatically resetting the totals based on user preferences. Once installed, configuring the tweak is a two-step process.

GoPhone customers will automatically get major improvements to their data and calling plans starting in two days. AT&T has announced increases to high-speed data allowances on pre-paid $45 and $60 per month plans. The less expensive plan will jump from 1GB to a 1.5GB allowance.

Customers with $60 plans will see an increase from 2.5GB to 4GB. These changes will not increase billing costs. All GoPhone plans are actually unlimited data, however the data allowance is the amount of high-speed monthly data usage. After these amounts are reached, speeds are reduced.

AT&T fired another salvo in the ongoing battle between mobile carriers today. Responding to T-Mobile's Data Stash announcement, AT&T launched Rollover Data. Long-time AT&T subscribers will recognize the Rollover concept, which was applied to voice minutes in older calling plans. Rollover Data makes it possible to carry over an unused data allotment into the following month.

This can help prevent overages and additional costs for eligible customers. The Rollover Data is shareable between devices, and will expire at the end of the rollover month if not used. The entire cycle begins again with each billing period. Rollover Data is set to begin on January 25, but what plans are eligible for the feature?

iOS 6 added the ability to check how much data you use but it didn't reveal the breakdown of your usage. Luckily Apple remedied the situation with iOS 7 by adding a System Services feature that tells you how much cellular data you are using per app. This is a great tool for helping you pick a data plan, or to see why you tend to go over your data plan each month. Here's how to check your cellular data usage in iOS 7.

First open your Settings app and tap the tab marked "Cellular". It is located right underneath the Bluetooth settings. Scroll down until you see your Call Time log and Cellular Data Usage stats. Just below Current Period Roaming you will see an alphabetical list of all the apps which you allow to use cellular data. If you scroll down further, you will see the Systems Services option.