Capped data plan got you down? There's an app

Take a look at Onavo, a mobile data management and compression app that launched on the iPhonein April. The company told me today that it can save more than 7 million iPhone users nearly $1 billion a year collectively if they used the free Onavo app. Onavo, which recently raised $3 million from Sequoia, said based on data consumption figures from Nielsen as then as AT&T’s own figures, it estimates it could save $828 million for about 6.9 million AT&T iPhone users who move from a $25-per-month plan to a $10 monthly plan  by using Onavo. An additional 460,000 iPhone users would save $110 million collectively if they moved from a $45 monthly plan to the $25 plan.

Guy Rosen, CEO and co-founder of Onavo said in interview with me that as data usage grows, it’s pushing more people into higher data tiers. However using Onavo, which can compress data usage on the iPhone, users can cut their data usage by up to 80 percent. It can’t compress video or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) however although the company plans to tackle that. Compression, he said, is going to be an increasingly important tool as the price of data goes up. He said since launching in April, Onavo has saved its users nearly 15 million megabytes and an estimated $1 million.

The data crunch expected to only get worse

With the data crunch expected to only get worse, it’s bringing out more companies who are hammering home the data efficiency marketing message. Opera has been doing more outreach lately, touting its mobile browser’s ability to compress up to 90 percent of web data. Innovation in Motion last month was hitting up reporters with its BlackBerry DataSmart research, which allows BlackBerry users to conduct twice as much browsing and four times as much email compared to other smartphones. Skyfire, which offers an efficient browser that lets people view Flash video, has as well been positioning the company as more of a "Compression as a Service" offering for wireless carriers and device makers to help with efficient video delivery.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see more app makers, device manufacturers and platform holders talking up their data savings. Much of what makes a smartphone so appealing is its ability to be a mobile, connected computer. Nevertheless if people start counting megabytes and fretting about overages, it’s going to slow some of the fervor for smartphones or meanwhile curtail some of the activity that happens on these devices. So it’s in everyone’s interest to play up the fact that there are ways to make these devices more efficient on the data side.