NEW YORK—Apple moves to stop kids racking up iTunes bills
Apple Inc. has changed how purchases inside iPhone and iPad games are authorized after customers complained that their kids were racking up hundreds of dollars worth of charges.
The issue was that after a user entered his or her iTunes password on a device, the device didn't prompt for the password again for 15 minutes. Any purchases, whether in the iTunes store or inside kid-friendly games such as "The Smurf's Village," went through without a new password prompt.
This meant that parents who handed over their iPhones or iPads to their kids were sometimes shocked by large purchases of "Smurfberries" and other virtual bling.
An Associated Press story in December highlighted the phenomenon. A subsequent story in The Washington Post prompted Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., to ask the Federal Trade Commission to look into the issue.
With the iOS 4.3 software update, Apple devices have one 15-minute password-free timer for the App Store and iTunes, and a separate one for in-app purchases, Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said.
Muller said she couldn't say why Apple made the change.
Free, child-friendly games that allow in-app purchases are still on the list of top-grossing apps in the App Store. At the top is "Tap Zoo," and "Smurfs' Village" is No. 6. "Smurfberries" and similar items in other games allow players to speed up what is otherwise very slow processes, such growing crops for the Smurfs.
The parents the AP talked to for the December story had received refunds from Apple for the inadvertent purchases.
-- Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer
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AT&T caps monthly traffic for DSL subscribers
AT&T is placing a limit on the amount of data its home Internet subscribers can transfer in a month.
AT&T Inc. portrayed Monday's announcement as an attempt to curb "data hogs," but it could help the company preserve a revenue stream in the long run as people shift to Internet-based TV services.
AT&T said it will start charging extra after subscribers go past 150 gigabytes in a month, an amount it said only 2 percent of subscribers reach.
In practice, only frequent high-definition movie downloads, file sharing or perhaps constant videoconferencing can propel subscribers close to the limit. AT&T said the average monthly consumption for DSL customers is 18 gigabytes.
For U-Verse, a faster version of DSL available in some areas, the monthly cap will be 250 gigabytes.
Beyond the limits, AT&T will charge $10 per 50 gigabytes. It said it will warn subscribers repeatedly as they approach their monthly limits.
AT&T said the caps will start applying on May 2, and it plans to notify subscribers this week.
Most U.S. Internet service providers already place limits on data traffic, but most of them don't charge extra when the limits are exceeded. Instead, they warn subscribers and kick them off after repeated warnings.
Time Warner Cable Inc. tried to institute much lower usage caps in 2008, charging $1 per gigabyte of overage. The idea turned out to be very unpopular with subscribers, and the company had to back away from the idea. AT&T ran a similar experiment in a few areas, but with higher caps as well.
Analysts view usage caps and overage fees as a way for cable and phone companies that sell TV services to defend the value of their network. If households move their TV watching from such services to the Internet, the Internet service providers will still get paid through overage fees, analysts reason.
AT&T's move provides "air cover" that makes it easier for the rest of the industry to follow, Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said.
AT&T's caps were first reported by Broadbandreports.com.
-- Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer
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Verizon Wireless to start selling first 4G phone
Verizon Wireless says it will start selling its first phone capable of using its new, faster "4G" data network.
The ThunderBolt from HTC Corp. will go on sale Thursday for $250 with a two-year contract. It has a large, 4.3-inch touch screen and runs Google Inc.'s Android software.
Initially, Verizon will be selling it with an unlimited 4G data plan, but spokeswoman Brenda Raney says this option will probably go away later this year, along with the rest of Verizon's unlimited data plans.
Verizon launched its 4G network in December, based on a technology known as Long-Term Evolution, or LTE. But only laptop cards have been available for it. Verizon says customers can expect download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second, nearly ten times faster than 3G speeds.
Verizon's 4G network has limited coverage and doesn't carry phone calls, so the phone uses the 3G network as well.
Verizon has said it plans to sell 10 devices for the 4G network by this summer, including phones and tablet computers. Xoom tablets from Motorola Mobility Inc. are already on sale with 3G modems, but it will be possible to upgrade them with 4G modems later this year.
Sprint Nextel Corp. launched its first 4G phone, the HTC Evo 4G, last summer. Its 4G network, run by subsidiary Clearwire Corp., is slower than Verizon's.
T-Mobile USA and AT&T Inc. don't have 4G networks under the common industry definition of the term, but call their 3G networks "4G" where they've been upgraded to higher speeds. They offer speeds similar to Sprint's 4G.
Verizon started to sell the iPhone last month in a 3G version. There's no word on a 4G version.
-- Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer
