• good AT&T will FINALLY allow data tethering via the iPhone, after blocking it for years.
• bad AT&T will no longer offer unlimited data plans, but instead two tiered data plans.
• okay Old customers won’t be forced to switch, but new customers will have no choice.

The new charges

• $15the cost per month for the 200-megabyte “DataPlus” plan; it’s $15 for each additional 200 megs
• $25 the cost per month for the 2-gigabyte “DataPro” plan; it’s $10 for each additional gigabyte

The bullet points

• » Why do this, anyway? Because AT&T found in its research that most customers only used a certain amount of data, and a small number of users accounted for most of the bandwidth-sucking data usage. Take that as you will, kids. On the plus side, AT&T is at least trying to make the new charges somewhat friendly to consumers, allowing for retroactive changes between the two plans.
• » The wildcard, of course? AT&T is the first company to do this. Which means that Verizon, Sprint, all those other companies? They still have unlimited data plans. And if Verizon gets the iPhone like is being predicted, it seriously puts them at an advantage. source

• Yeah, we get the point, guys. Geolocation is bad because it leaves your location open for people to take advantage of. But when Julius goes out tonight wearing a ski mask and preying on the poor residents of Dupont Circle who play FourSquare just a little too well, we’re going to want someone to hold the bag. We’re not going down for our crimes without taking someone else down with us! And, well, you’re it! source

• Former Nike designers gave Windows Phone 7 Series (that’s a mouthful) a visual reboot that focuses on simplicity over noise (as well as a consistent experience), and the result looks a lot like the Zune HD. Early reviews are super-positive; Engadget says that the OS “looks nothing like anything else on the market, and we think that’s to its advantage.” source

• What is this fatal attraction between Apple and AT&T? Pretty much everybody I talked to really expected Verizon.
• MKM Partners analyst Tero Kuittinen • Regarding the unexpected decision for Apple to stick with AT&T for data access on the iPad. Despite the controversy the phone company’s facing for its crappy service, Apple is sticking with them, at least for now. (On the plus side, it’s not mandatory.) It’s creating the kind of head-scratching which is causing some analysts to break skin. They bloody don’t know what’s going on. source

• $353 amount Verizon has spent in infrastructure per customer
• $308 amount AT&T has spent on infrastructure per customer
• $5B amount AT&T needs to spend, at least, just to catch up source

• $350 million amount Apple agreed to spend on Quattro Wireless, a mobile ad firm, just last night
• $750 million amount Google agreed to spend on AdMob, another mobile ad firm, in November source

• $750 million for the mobile golden goose source

• 85% of Americans have cell phones; it’s not higher? source