After years of hinting at looming wireless data pricing changes, AT&T has finally buckled to recommendations by stock jocks like Sanford Bernstein’s Craig Moffett and killed their unlimited 3G iPhone pricing plan. In an announcement that insists they’re introducing “new lower-priced wireless data plans,” the company says the unlimited data plan will be replaced by two new data plans for new users: “DataPlus” and “DataPro.”

•DataPlus: Provides 200 megabytes (MB) of data for per month. If customers exceed 200 MB in a monthly billing cycle, they will receive an additional 200 MB of data usage for for use in the cycle. AT&T insists that 65 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 200 MB of data per month on average.

•DataPro: Provides 2 gigabytes (GB) of data for per month. If a customer exceed 2 GB during a billing cycle, they will receive an additional 1 GB of data for for use in the cycle. AT&T insists that 98 percent of their smartphone customers use less than 2 GB of data a month on average.

AT&T says they’ll send text messages to users as they reach 65 percent, 90 percent and 100 percent of their monthly cap. AT&T also says they’re finally going to allow tethering for the iPhone, allowing users who subscribe to the DataPro data package to tether for an additional a month.

The pricing changes of course arrive ahead of the announcement of a new, more HD video-centric iPhone next week. While most users currently use far less than 2 GB of data – AT&T knows that’s going to change quickly. The company has long wanted to impose more expensive caps that would please investors by placing a premium on mobile data in the face of declining voice revenues.

Most iPhone users will very soon use considerably more than 200 MB a month, and will naturally trend toward the more expensive tier. But now, instead of unlimited data for , they pay for 2GB and for each additional gigabyte. As we’ve long noted – AT&T’s dream pricing model isn’t about fairness or usage-based pricing – it’s about shoving most of their users toward a higher monthly wireless data bill.

Update: It looks like existing iPhone customers will be able to upgrade to the new iPhone next week and grandfather their unlimited pricing plan, but they won’t be able to add tethering if they do.

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Samsung Electronics today announced the launch of Samsung Monte, Model S5620, their new full touch screen device for style-conscious mobile users.

The handset is launched with a host of multimedia features and a sleek, organic design with a sophisticated and glossy look, providing the style and performance of a high-end handset at affordable price. With a stunning design and an intuitive TouchWiz 2.0 Plus User Interface (UI), the Monte is set to become the latest must-have full touch device.

The Samsung Monte has a lot to offer to the social network savvy consumer with a suite of native social networking applications including Facebook and MySpace, allowing users to access their profiles whenever and wherever they choose. This is combined with advanced Twitter and Bebo widgets – and multi-IM capability – to provide users with the opportunity to chat in real-time via their chosen service. In addition, Monte users can enjoy full Internet browsing, with an accelerometer sensor allowing the onscreen image to automatically adjust as you rotate the phone.

And for the connected lifestyle, the Monte includes GPS supported by Google Latitude™, ensuring you know where you are – and can keep your friends updated on your location at all times. This combined with Geo-tagging, allowing users to imprint their photos with geographic tags to share their travels and experiences with friends. Other connectivity features include optional anytime, anywhere Wi-Fi connectivity, Exchange ActiveSync for access to Outlook email accounts, and Google Sync™. This allows users to simultaneously update their social networks schedules and Outlook calendar, without the hassle of accessing each application individually.

To showcase this feature rich and stylish handset, the Monte comes equipped with a 3.0-inch WQVGA LCD screen with 16:9 landscape viewing. It also boasts a 3.2-megapixel camera with many value-added features including smile shot, panorama shot, and face detection. For convenience, the phone also supports Smart Unlock and One finger zoom.

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LG Electronics has launched its new clamshell phone Candy Phone (model: LG-SU410) targeting young female customers, now available in the Korean market via SK Telecom and Japan market via NTT DoCoMo.

Available in white and pink colors, the Candy Phone is designed with a unique keypad and red LED lights on the front panel. Adopting a 2.8-inch LCD screen, it features T-DMB, a micro SD card slot supporting up to 16GB and more.

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Perhaps one of the worst kept secrets, the HTC built Google Phone, formerly named “Phone 88″ and now “Nexus One” – which still might be one of the project names and not its final name – has finally been sussed out and shown to the world… but not fully announced yet. So no release date but all indicators do point to a very likely February release.

Many sites are reporting more about this Android 2.1, HTC sourced phone that promises to have a speedy Snapdragon CPU mated with a 5mp camera and a 3.7″ AMOLED capacitive screen. Yep, I think I’ve found my next phone to replace my Apple iPhone.

More links for information pertaining the oft-rumored Google Phone:

Engadget – “What We Know, What We Don’t Know”
Gizmodo – “The Google Nexus One Phone, In Pictures”
UberGizmo – “Nexus One Has T-Mobile Support”
Neowin – “New Google Phone Pictures Leak“

I’ll update more as I find out more. But this is definitely a phone that might easily replace my iPhone or displace my Nokia N900 lust.

LG Electronics today launches its new smartphone LG GW550 running on Windows Mobile 6.5 OS in twenty countries starting in Brazil and Argentina. Coming in a candybar form-factor, the LG GW550 features 12mm-thick 2.4-inch LCD screen and front-facing QWERTY keyboard. Designed for businessmen, it supports ‘Smart E-mail’ and ‘Smart Contact’ functions, and adopts a high-performance dual-speaker. Other features included a 3.2M camera, Wi-Fi support, A-GPS and more.

Looks a lot like the Nokia E series.

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