My old friend, AT&T, yet what Scumbaggery after all these years

MG Siegler wrote to TechCrunch since 2009. It covers web, mobile, social, big companies, small companies, in fact all. And Apple. A lot. Prior to TechCrunch he covered various technology beats for VentureBeat. Originally from Ohio, mg attended the University of Michigan. He had previously lived in Los Angeles, where he worked in Hollywood and in San Diego where ... ? Read More

19 January 2011. It is a day when I will always remember. This day, I finally got to destroy the Horcrux, lead poverty in my life: AT&T.

This day, I finally canceled my AT&T service after years of missed calls, non-existant Service gross over charges and all around. I even did it before I knew exactly what Verizon getting the iPhone. I have had enough. What should I undo it in Google voice, adding insults, just icing on the cake.  Looking back, it was one of the best solutions, technology-wise, I've done in the past few years. And now he looks even better.

You see, after several months of AT&T time of sight, out of mind, they broke into my brain last night when I read at Engadget that they will eliminate the separate text messaging plans for several days. In AT&T marketing jargon this is called "Optimization". In my jargon this is called "bullshit".

In particular AT&T is cheaper than $ 10 per month option, which provides users with 1000 text messages. All that remains is only $ 20 per month unlimited parameter. Or you can have a predetermined plan and pay $ 0.20 for each SMS and $ 0.30 for each MMS.

Of course, that "Optimization" in that they are now two three options. However, the important reasons for the move.

Here's what's really happening. Naturally AT&T would never allow this, but they are scared shitless fully attacks currently in SMS. You see, these short messages have reached income stream of billions of dollars for carriers, with profits rising to 100 percent for each message. In other words, it has a long history of plagiarism. And carriers milking it dry years.

But now startups as GroupMe, which allows users to bypass the SMS and use the data to send short messages, are gaining popularity. Meanwhile, the massive players like Google and Facebook have introduced their own solutions to bypass SMS. And with the launch of iOS 5 this fall, Apple is going to bake a work-around in every iPhone there as iMessage.

AT&T "Optimization" is purely a defensive maneuver. It is true that neither GroupMe or Facebook Messenger is going to kill SMS per night. No iMessage. But what these services are going to do is slowly but surely people to understand that they should not send nearly as many text messages. I look at my use. In the past six months I sent seven message SMS. 7. all the rest of my short messages are passed through the Beluga, GroupMe, Google app voice or now Facebook Messenger. Each of these messages have been sent or received free of charge (they just use a tiny amount of data you already pay if your 3 G). This is the future.

So now with the services out there to make people less rely on SMS, what happens? People were going to want to drop their plans. Who wants to pay $ 20 a month when you use only a small number of messages? Why not pay the $ 10? Well now you can not. You can either pay $ 20 for unlimited, or have no plan and AT&T funny messages.

AT&T knows that most people are not going to chose the latter. Again we have no point yet where people will be comfortable letting go of SMS. Features all the services I have mentioned using it as a backup in one way or another.

Think of it this way: no SMS is heroin. $ 10 per month limited plan was methadone, which you can use to get rid of. AT&T simply cut off the supply of methadone. They're bold you go cold Turkey. Most will not.

I am sure that this is purely a coincidence that this move is happening right now, just weeks before the start of the iOS iMessage with 5. Of course AT&T "arrange" their SMS plans several months ago, but why not do it again? I am sure he has nothing to do with the fact that Apple unveiled the iMessage without telling carriers. AT&T just felt like the clients you want to change right now.

No, do not miss one bit, AT&T.

Update: not even 2 minutes after I publish my old foil, Seth Bloom wrote in to point out that this change applies only to new customers. In other words, this affects only millions of new users who sign up for AT&T get an iPhone (or any new Android phone, etc.) soon. No biggie.

In other words, part 2: "go ahead, sign up for SMS plan, we dare you."

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After Zynga Frontierville channels Wild West again for Facebook game pioneer trail

Leena Rao is currently working as a writer for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school of the Medill School of journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007 she helped lead efforts for advocacy and community relationships Congressman Carloyn Maloney in New York. She graduated from Columbia University in 2003 where it was ... ? Read More

For the first time for the social gaming giant Zynga actually fires the spinoff of one of its hit Facebook game, Frontierville. Today, the company announced the debut of the pioneer Trail (which is going live today), a new Facebook game where players build cars and crossed by three separate maps-Beaver Valley, plateaus and avalanche Pass – all while trying to achieve in one place — Fort courage.

As in the case of the majority of Zynga Games, social gaming mechanics are similar, but with different themes and plots. Pioneer trail story revolves around a young boy who was kidnapped, named Ezekiel, a gang notorious Gratchett and as a player, you are on a quest to complete the trail and save Ezekiel from Fort courage. The plot is a big part of this game than any other, and pioneer Trail makes a pretty big emphasis on the history of the gameplay. The story unfolds gradually and as players encounter new keys.

You essentially start the game by creating a cab, but instead of centralizing the whole game around this action, it will take about five minutes to put together your farmstead in the game. After you build your cabin, you upload your conestoga, your crew (with the Hunter, doctor and Carpenter) and start your way down the trail.

As you make your way down indicates end-of-mission and make a trail. There are many unique aspects of pioneer Trail, but one of the most interesting features is a function of the social partners. For the first time in the game players can sign up to be combined with other players that they cannot be friends with based on the characteristics of the existing teams, players can choose in the pioneer trail to compare them with players beyond their core group of friends on Facebook. This function will not live at the start, but should be available shortly after.

Zynga is changing things in terms of social engineering. Instead of accumulating as many friends as you can throughout the life of the game, players actually, you can select a small group of three friends to help them along. He becomes a strategy games because players, whose friends are more active will develop faster throughout the game.

Another feature of differentiation in this game, that is clever, choose your own layout adventure with several different ways to progress in history. Selection of individual players in the game determine how they would fair as they journey through the mysterious and treacherous lands on the trail. Once players play through a certain card, they can play again and get a completely different result.

Other differences include much more hame Board, and Zynga said pioneer trail approximately five times the size of the last Zynga Games. It is also the first game to game progression through several maps and changing conditions. In addition, the game introduces new game system where players earn points and trail on the road in the prize tickets Fort courage (where Ezekiel is captured). As you go down the trail and earn more points, you can unlock the ability of some virtual goods. Players have a rating from all the other Trail Blazers and can play the game over and over to get a high score.

As John Oswald, GM FrontierVille, tells us, a pioneer Trail introduces many new social interactions and mechanics that could eventually be used for other games. There is no set plans in place, said Oswald, but this game is a test to see how these features resonate with users.

Zynga's on a roll when it comes to churning out of the game, the recently launched Chinese version of CityVille, rolling out CityVille iOS app starting words with friends on Facebook and start hanging out with friends.

Zynga was founded in July 2007, mark Pinkus and named after his late American bulldog, Zinga. Loyal and spirited, Zinga's name is a nod the legendary ...

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One billion aftershocks later, Urbanspoon comes after Otkryt′Tablicu

Eric Schonfeld is currently working on TechCrunch as co-author. He joined in 2007 and based in New York. Schonfeld oversees the editorial content of the site, selects and edits guest posts, conference program helps Disrupt and CrunchUps, produces some TCTV shows and daily wrote in a blog post. He is also the father of three. ? Read More

One of the all-time most popular applications on mobile is the restaurant Urbanspoon (iTunes link). This is still one of the top 10 travel apps on the iPhone. App signature gesture is shake to find nearby restaurants. UrbanSpoon just passed the one billion cocktails and downloaded 20 million times all mobile platforms (Android, Blackberry, MOD). In March 2010 he hit 500 million knocks, so it has doubled in less than a year and a half.

But what exactly is the value of the shake? Well apps run ads, and Web site. With 100 million pages a month through the application and the aftershocks are impressions. But the real game here restaurant reservations. UrbanSpoon comes after Otkryt'Tablicu.

In the past year, Urbanspoon Rezbook iPad app started, which allows restaurants take reservations directly from the application site and Urbanspoon. "Two years ago, the online reservation system requires massive upfront investment," said Kara Nortman, Senior Vice President of the IKA on Urbanspoon (and CityGrid media). Now all they need is the iPad and simple application.

Currently, only about 800 restaurants are Rezbook system, 800 000 listed in Urbanspoon. When they show up in the Urbanspoon, the users can book a table. Nortman said that Urbanspoon seating 19 000 visitors per month in these 800 restaurants which comes to about 24 visitors per month for a restaurant. Otkryt'Tablicu, on the contrary, seats on average 450 diners a month, a restaurant, but it was at this time.

Only use UrbanSpoon is one thousandth of the restaurants in their lists, and is now starting to sign them in a more serious effort after testing the service. "As more and more consumers think about Urbanspoon as a place to discover and then follow-up with a reservation in real time, we should see this number grow," said Nortman.

She sees her mobile applications as its competitive advantage, because it is more relevant. For reservations made from your application, Urbanspoon 22 per cent are in the HR and 77 per cent within 24 hours. Of course Otkryt'Tablicu also has a great mobile application for the reserving State, which covers a lot more restaurants right now. But Urbanspoon sees hole and going after it.

UrbanSpoon allows users to find all the local restaurants. Users can read, user submitted, recommendations and reviews, as well as from critics. It was acquired by IAC.

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OpenTable provides restaurant management system for restaurateurs, titled ERB (eBook). In addition the company operates OpenTable.com, a Web site to book a restaurant online. Web site ...

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