Technologies

AT&T’s New Senior Mobile Plan Offers Big Discounts — and Sorry, 55 Counts as a ‘Senior’

AT&T has a new offering for customers 55 years old and up that’s cheaper than its other plans — and is available throughout the US.

AT&T has unveiled a new phone plan for seniors, offering mobile service at a discount for customers 55 years old and up. (Yes, Gen X, that’s you — or some of you, at least.) True, the new plan is a bit bare-bones without the fancier features of the carrier’s pricier offerings, but it’s also cheaper than those and notably more affordable than its former senior plan.

Carriers typically offer several plans to satisfy a range of customers, from the frugal to those that are willing to pay for every perk and bundled streaming service they can get. But plans targeting older Americans are often more bare-bones offerings, offered at lower prices to appeal to customers on fixed and limited incomes. AT&T’s new AT&T 55 Plus plan is the most affordable it’s offered in years.

In exchange, the AT&T 55 Plus plan is pretty basic. For $40 per month for a single line (or $35 per month per line with two lines), you’ll get unlimited voice calls, texting and data in the US, Canada and Mexico, and though AT&T’s senior plan page indicates it has «5G access included,» there’s no clarity on which circumstances will enable high-speed data downloads and uploads on the senior plan.

The plan also has 10GB of hotspot data per line per month, which is more generous than some other carrier offerings on our best senior plans list, along with a maximum 720p (SD) streaming speed for video. The plan also provides access to AT&T’s free ActiveArmor app that blocks spam calls.

Previously, AT&T offered a slightly discounted senior phone plan at $62 per month that was only available to customers living in Florida. Verizon retains a similar Florida-only senior plan. T-Mobile has several plans for seniors, from an older and basic Essentials Choice 55 plan starting at $45 per month up to Experience Beyond w/ 55 Plus starting at $85 per month and offering all the perks and extras of T-Mobile’s other plans, including a five-year plan price guarantee, streaming services and satellite service beyond T-Mobile’s network.

Here’s a breakdown of the best senior plans carriers offer 55-years-old and up customers:

Best Senior Plans: T-Mobile, AT&T, Mint Mobile and Verizon

	Plan	Cost 1 line (AutoPay)	Cost 4 lines (AutoPay)	High-speed data	Hotspot data limit	Price guarantee	Max number of lines	Streaming resolution
T-Mobile	Essentials Choice 55	$45	N/A	50GB	Unlimited 3G	N/A	2	480p (SD)
T-Mobile	Go5G 55 Plus	$75	N/A	Unlimited 5G	50GB	N/A	2	Up to 4K
T-Mobile	Experience Beyond w/ 55+	$85	N/A	Unlimited 5G	250GB	5 years	2	Up to 4K
AT&T	AT&T 55+	$40	$140	Unlimited	10GB	N/A	10	480p (SD)
Mint Mobile	Mint 55	$15	N/A	5GB	Shared 5GB main data budget	N/A	5	480p (SD)
Verizon	Verizon 55 Plus	$62	N/A	Unlimited 4G LTE	Unlimited 3G	N/A	2	480p (SD)

It’s worth noting that every carrier plan’s listed lowest price requires customers to sign up for autopay — otherwise, the plans are more expensive every month. Customers must also prove their age by submitting an identification document to their carrier.

Later this summer, AT&T will also offer a bundle combining two lines of AT&T 55+ with the customer’s choice of either AT&T Fiber or AT&T Internet Air fixed wireless access internet, according to the carrier’s blog post.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 23 #599

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 599.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be Halloween-themed, as the answers are all rather dangerous. Some of them are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Please don’t eat me!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Remember Mr. Yuk?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

POND, NOON, NODE, BALE, SOCK, LOVE, LOCK, MOCK, LEER, REEL, GLOVE, DAIS, LEAN, LEAD, REEL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

AZALEA, HEMLOCK, FOXGLOVE, OLEANDER, BELLADONNA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is POISONOUS. To find it, look for the P that is the first letter on the far left of the top row, and wind down and across.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 23, #395

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 395.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has one of those crazy purple categories, where you wonder if anyone saw the connection, or if people just put that grouping together because only those four words were left. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fan noise.

Green group hint: Strategies for hoops.

Blue group hint: Minor league.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection to hoops.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Sounds from the crowd.

Green group: Basketball offenses.

Blue group: Triple-A baseball teams.

Purple group: Ends with a basketball stat.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is sounds from the crowd. The four answers are boo, cheer, clap and whistle.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball offenses. The four answers are motion, pick and roll, Princeton and triangle.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is triple-A baseball teams. The four answers are Aces, Jumbo Shrimp, Sounds and Storm Chasers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends with a basketball stat. The four answers are afoul, bassist, counterpoint and sunblock.

Technologies

Amazon’s Delivery Drivers Will Soon Wear AI Smart Glasses to Work

The goal is to streamline the delivery process while keeping drivers safe.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it is developing new AI-powered smart glasses to simplify the delivery experience for its drivers. CNET smart glasses expert Scott Stein mentioned this wearable rollout last month, and now the plan is in its final testing stages.

The goal is to simplify package delivery by reducing the need for drivers to look at their phones, the label on the package they’re delivering and their surroundings to find the correct address.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

A heads-up display will activate as soon as the driver parks, pointing out potential hazards and tasks that must be completed. From there, drivers can locate and scan packages, follow turn-by-turn directions and snap a photograph to prove delivery completion without needing to take out their phone.

The company is testing the glasses in select North American markets.

Watch: See our Instagram post with a video showing the glasses

A representative for Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

To fight battery drain, the glasses pair with a controller attached to the employee’s delivery vest, allowing them to replace depleted batteries and access operational controls. The glasses will support an employee’s eyeglass prescription. An emergency button will be within reach to ensure the driver’s safety.

Amazon is already planning future versions of the glasses, which will feature «real-time defect detection,» notifying the driver if a package was delivered to the incorrect address. They plan to add features to the glasses to detect if pets are in the yard and adjust to low light.