We’ve reached out to Sprint and will update this post with any comments they provide.

Via a quick press release, AT&T has announced two, new postpaid data plans available to its tablet users. The new offerings closely match the prepaid options currently being offered, with a slight twist. “The new plans can be added to customers’ existing monthly wireless statements, offering the simplicity of a single monthly bill,” writes AT&T. Postpaid customers will be billed at an overage rate of $10 per gigabyte — prepaid customers have to buy an additional 2GB allotment when they exceed their quota ($12.50 per gigabyte). The company is also offering some incentive to jump on the postpaid bandwagon, “For a limited time, customers who activate a new postpaid $25/2 GB plan will receive the first month free.” Both the postpaid and prepaid options are on a month-to-month basis, no contract required. Hit the jump for the full press release.

AT&T INTRODUCES NEW MONTHLY BILLING OPTION FOR TABLETS

Customers Get First Month Free When Activating New Postpaid Plan

DALLAS, MARCH 3, 2011 — AT&T today introduced convenient new postpaid billing options for tablets.  Beginning today, customers can choose between AT&T’s existing prepaid billing options or the new postpaid plans.  The new plans can be added to customers’ existing monthly wireless statements, offering the simplicity of a single monthly bill.  For a limited time, customers who activate a new postpaid $25/2 GB plan will receive the first month free^[1].

The new postpaid billing option will be available across AT&T retail locations, as well as att.com, Best Buy, Fry’s, select Nexcom locations, and Walmart stores nationwide.

“Tablets offer the convenience of mobile broadband virtually anywhere and our new billing options give customers the flexibility to choose how they prefer to be billed,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets.

Customers may choose from the following options:

• Postpaid:  $14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB.  Customers on the 2 GB plan who exceed their monthly data allotment will be charged $10 per 1 GB of overage.  Charges will appear on customers’ monthly wireless statements.
• Prepaid:  $14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB.  Customers on the 2 GB plan who exceed their monthly data allotment may choose to purchase an additional 2 GB for $25.  Charges will appear on customers’ credit card statements.

Both options are month-to-month and do not require a long-term commitment.

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit www.att.com.

[1] Mobile broadband not available in all areas. Plan is for 30 days. Service free for new postpaid activations for first 30 days or the first 2GB of usage, whichever comes first. Offer available for DataConnect Personal for Tablets 2GB Plan only. Subsequent thirty day periods to be billed by AT&T Mobility at $25 for 2GB usage. To avoid subsequent charges, service must be cancelled prior to 30 days after activation of the plan, or prior to usage in excess of 2GB within the first 30 days after activation of the Plan. Usage in excess of 2GB during the first 30 days and in each subsequent thirty day period to be billed at $10 per each additional GB. Unused data does not rollover to the next 30 day period. Offer not available for on-tablet activation. DataConnect Personal for Tablets Plans are for compatible tablets only. Plans are not suitable for corporate email or intranet systems. Credit check required. No term commitment or termination fees apply. Plan automatically renews every 30 days, unless you cancel service prior to the start of the 30 day renewal. Service may be cancelled at any time by calling 1-800-331-0500 or seeing store representative. Limited time offer.

Following up on a story we broke last week: it looks like Rogers Wireless has reverted back to a 24-month term for their customer hardware upgrade program. The program — which previously allowed customers to upgrade handsets, with full subsidies, after fulfilling 24-months of a 36-month contract — was adjusted last week, requiring customers to fulfill a 30-month term before getting the discounted pricing. Now, according to a second company communication, it looks like Rogers will be reinstating the 24-month hardware upgrade term. A memo to employees reads:

Last week, we communicated some changes about our Hardware Upgrade Policy (HUP) eligibility. To ensure our current promotions are clear and consistent, Data to Data HUP eligibility will be revised to 24-months as of October 28. This current promotion aligns Voice to Voice, Voice to Data and Data to Data eligibility all to 24-months.

Important Note about Hardware Upgrades:
To remain competitive and increase customer loyalty, we regularly offer customers promotional options to upgrade their hardware before the expiry of their current commitments. However, it is important to remember that our HUP program is a promotion and not a plan feature. These promotions are subject to change and as a result, should not be promised to customers at the point of sale.

Back to business as usual in Canada. Anyone feeling relieved?

Thanks, solidsnake3467!

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 might be exclusive to one carrier in the U.S., but that hasn’t stopped the floozy of a handset from making the rounds in Canada. Bell Mobility recently announced that they too will be carrying the BlackBerry Torch slider — which we knew – beginning on September 24th. The device will retail for $199 on a 3-year contract and $599 off-contract. This brings the total number of Canadian networks launching the 9800 on September 24 to four: Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Virgin Mobile. Bell hasn’t put out an official press release yet, but we have a statement for you after the break.

Bell Mobility will launch the BlackBerry® Torch™ on September 24, and clients will be able to get the device for as low as $199.99 on a three year contract. The BlackBerry Torch will operate on the HSPA+ network, which is the largest and fastest wireless network in Canada, and reaches 93% of Canadians coast to coast in thousands of cities and towns.

The new BlackBerry Torch combines a large capacitive touch screen and optical trackpad with a 35 key full QWERTY backlit slide-out keyboard, designed to feel optimally balanced when opened for typing. It offers support for high-speed 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) networks around the world, includes the latest generation in Wi-Fi® (b/g/n) connectivity and built-in GPS for location-based applications and geo-tagging. Its 5 MP camera takes exceptional pictures with continuous auto focus, image stabilization, scene modes and zoom, as well as video recording. It also comes with a combined 8 GB of media storage out-of-the-box, including a microSD/SDHD memory card slot that can bring the total storage memory to 36 GB for customers that want more.

The BlackBerry Torch is the first to launch with BlackBerry 6, a new operating system for BlackBerry smartphones. It features a redesigned interface, and a new and rich WebKit-based browser that renders HTML web pages (as well as HTML email) quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience. The browser includes tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously, double-tap to zoom that can intelligently wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page’s key elements, and pinch to zoom.

BlackBerry 6 offers expanded messaging capabilities and RSS feeds (Social Feeds), which provides integrated access to the popular BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) service as well as Facebook®, Twitter™, MySpace™ and various instant messaging applications. The enhanced multimedia experience includes a dedicated YouTube app, and BlackBerry Podcasts, allowing users to easily discover, acquire and enjoy audio and video podcasts from leading content providers. A universal search feature, accessible from the Home Screen, allows users to search for content on the smartphone, as well as extend the search to the Internet or to discover applications on BlackBerry App World™, which is included and supports credit card payments.

Following this mornings announcement by Rogers, Telus has announced that they too will be carrying the BlackBerry Torch 9800 on September 24th. Telus’ VP of Mobility and Solutions, Brent Jonston, had this to say: “Both business and consumer customers will get an incredible mobile experience from the new BlackBerry Torch smartphone. Telus is pleased to bring the BlackBerry Torch to Canadians, which will allow them to easily stay connected, entertained and informed wherever they are while running on our blazing fast 3G+ network.” No pricing was given in the press release, but $199 on a 3-year contract is a pretty safe bet.

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There you have it folks — done and done. The Apple Store is back up, new gear is live and credit card portals are wide open. Keeping things nice and simple, Apple has taken one of its two standard routes and simply tossed out a bunch of refreshes sans-hullabaloo. Here it is, now buy it. So what have we got?

iMac:

• $1199 (only 20″ model) – 2.66 GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 320GB HD
• $1499 (24″) – 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 640GB HD
• $1799 (24″) – 2.93 GHz, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, 640GB HD
• $2199 (24″) – 3.06 GHz, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 130, 1TB HD

Mac Mini:

• $599 – 2.0GHz, 1GB 1066 MHz DDRS SDRAM, GeForce 9400M, 120GB HD, 8x SuperDrive, Mini DisplayPort, mini-DVI, 5 USB Ports, FireWire 800 Port
• $799 – 2.0GHz, 2GB 1066 MHz DDRS SDRAM, GeForce 9400M, 320GB HD, 8x SuperDrive, Mini DisplayPort, mini-DVI, 5 USB Ports, FireWire 800 Port

Mac Pro:

• $2499 – 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 processor, 3GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, 640GB HD
• $3299 – Dual 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 processors, 6GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120, 640GB HD

Apple definitely gave its desktop lineup a bit of an adrenaline shot, though it really didn’t come through with anything too Earth-shattering. What do you guys think? On a completely overshadowed note, Apple is now offering a 1TB Time Capsule for $500 (500GB for $299) and the AirPort Extreme Base Station, now capable of running two networks simultaneously, will run you $179 (old model is going for $159).

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