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March 2010
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Take the quiz: How Millenial are you? VoIP could end expensive wireless voice plans, but AT&T still wants to raise data rates Blockbuster reinstates late fees on DVDs, inadvertently makes case for death of DVDs I've got a Motorola Backflip from AT&T. You got any questions? Older PlayStation3 consoles crashing; Sony blames bug in internal clock [UPDATE: Fixed!] Wireless industry helping out in Chile after earthquake Crazy publishers make iPad apps Sell TV airspace for wireless Web Categories
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March 3, 2010
In conjunction with a new report on attitudes among millenials (ages 18 to 29), the Pew Research Center has posted a short online quiz where you can see how your personal attitudes and behaviors compare to the average spoiled millenial puke. It turns out I'm not very millenial at all, with a score of 24, where a score of 100 is an ultra-millenial, and the average millenial is a 73. If I didn't have a Facebook page (which I haven't updated in months) my score would have been 6. In other words, this is my hero:
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|  E-mail entryThe entry "Take the quiz: How Millenial are you?" is tagged: Pew Research Center , attitude , millenial , quiz , score
I've got an article in today's paper looking at the growing number of options for consumers to dump traditional voice plans on their smart phones and make calls over VoIP. Basically, all you'd pay for is a data plan, which would make smart phones cheaper for everyone. But the carriers don't want those data plans to become too cheap. AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson said yesterday that he expects heavy wireless data users will eventually pay more for their service than lighter users. Stephenson was simply confirming what another AT&T executive said a few months ago, although at the time those comments elicited much more controversy and "That's not what he meant" denials and clarifications from AT&T's public relations squad. Stephenson expects changes in how the wireless industry prices its mobile data services going forward, with heavy data users being charged more. Smartphone users currently pay a monthly fee of about $30 for unlimited data. I don't know that this will be as matter-of-fact as Stephenson hopes, though. The FCC has been very curious recently about pricing practices in the wireless industry, and I expect any attempt to institute progressive pricing will be met with some pushback from the feds. On the other hand, if AT&T is even semi-reasonable about raising rates, most people will never see an increase in their bills. For example, I'm a moderately heavy user of my Pre for e-mail and Web stuff, but I basically average between 150 megs to 200 megs per month in data downloads. If AT&T and others keep the rates in place for anyone downloading 5 gigs a month or less, I'd guess that will exempt 95 percent or more of wireless users from the higher rates. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "VoIP could end expensive wireless voice plans, but AT&T still wants to raise data rates" is tagged: AT&T , data , Randall Stephenson , rates , smart phone , voice over internet protocol , voice plan , VoIP March 2, 2010
Oh, Blockbuster. Fiscally challenged Blockbuster has quietly re-instituted late fees on store-based movie rentals -- with a capped rate. A little further down, Blockbuster spokeswoman Michelle Metzger took on the thankless, Obi Wan Kenobian task of trying to argue that this late fee is not the late fee you're looking for: "This is not a late fee. This is an additional daily rate and if the customer is choosing to keep out a movie past the due date, then they are going to charged [accordingly]," Metzger said. "If you keep a rental car out an extra day, the rental car company has to charge you." Uh, what? But here's the worst part: "If a customer is keeping a release out past the initial rental agreement, they are keeping that title away from somebody else," Metzger said. What makes that statement so painful is not that it's not true, but that it is true. Now that streaming and downloadable HD video is so practical and inexpensive, traditional physical media is all but dead. In a few years, the notion of your movie rental "keeping that title away from somebody else" won't just be comical. It will be incomprehensible. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Blockbuster reinstates late fees on DVDs, inadvertently makes case for death of DVDs" is tagged: Blockbuster , DVD , late fee , streaming , video March 1, 2010
The psychology of the bezel. If ever I were to teach a class to cellphone designers, it would be about the psychology of the bezel. When I first pulled the Backflip (AT&T's first Android phone) out of the box, my initial thought was, "Gee, that screen is tiny. Unusable, really." But then I held the Backflip up next to my Pre and realized that the screens are exactly the same size: 3.1 inches. However, the Backflip is 108 millimeters tall, compared to 100.5mm on my Pre. Those eight extra millimeters of bezel are just enough to make the Backflip's screen seem a bit smaller. With that out of the way, the phone is solid otherwise. The backflipping keyboard mechanism (the keys are exposed, but nonfunctional, when the keyboard is flipped shut) feels solid, and hopefully the 1.5 version of Android will (as promised by Motorola) be upgraded to 2.1 before long. If you've got any questions about the phone, fire away. Comments (3) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "I've got a Motorola Backflip from AT&T. You got any questions?" is tagged: Android , AT&T , Backflip , Google , Motorola , smart phone
If you're still using the older, bulkier PS3 to get your game on, chances are you basically have a non-functioning hunk of metal and plastic right now. Don't worry, Sony's aware: We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system. That last bullet point needs additional emphasis: if you have an older, fatter PS3 and have not recently turned your console on and experienced this problem, LEAVE YOUR CONSOLE OFF UNTIL THE FIX IS READY!! The tricky part for Sony is going to be that if users can't connect to the PlayStation network, how is it going to distribute a patch or update to fix the bug? I think I know the answer. Free slim PS3s for everyone!! UPDATE: Apparently the bug was due to the fact that the fatty PS3s thought 2010 was a leap year. So they rolled from Feb. 28 to Feb. 29, and everything went haywire. Now that all the systems have advanced another day to March 1, everything should be copacetic. And no patch was required. If your PS3 is still showing the incorrect date, you should be able to update it manually. Either way, all functionality has been restored. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Older PlayStation3 consoles crashing; Sony blames bug in internal clock [UPDATE: Fixed!]" is tagged: bug , clock , crash , fat , network , phat , PlayStation 3 , PS3 , slim , Sony
Passers-by observe the remains of a destroyed building in Concepcion on February 28, 2010, a day after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile early morning, killing at least 700 people. Click for larger version. (photo: MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images) The big wireless carriers launched major relief efforts for Haiti just a few days after the island was hit with a massive earthquake, but the help is coming even faster for victims of the earthquake that hit Chile this past weekend. On Saturday, the day the quake hit the South American nation, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless all announced programs to help. Both AT&T and Sprint wireless users can send donations to the following groups: -Text the word "CHILE" to 25383 to donate $10 on behalf of the Habitat for Humanity. Verizon Wireless seems to be partnering with just two of those groups: Habitat for Humanity ("CHILE" to 25383) and World Vision ("CHILE" to 20222). However, Verizon also said its wireless customers in the U.S. can make free voice calls to and from Chile for at least a week. Finally, T-Mobile is also supporting $10 donations to Habitat for Humanity (text "CHILE" to 25383), World Vision ("CHILE" to 20222) and the Salvation Army ("CHILE" to 52000). All the carriers are waiving standard text messaging fees, as they did with Haiti donations. Good stuff. And it's been fascinating to see the text messaging system instantaneously become the most efficient and effective crisis relief system in history. As the Christian Science Monitor reports, text donations have topped $41 million for Haiti since the earthquake hit in January. By comparison, in 2008, total mobile donations for all causes were about $500,000. I suspect the donations for Chile will be much smaller than for Haiti, since Chile seems to have been far more prepared and is obviously much wealthier. But texting is now clearly the standard method of donation for severe crises. It's simple, painless and requires less than 10 seconds of effort. And it doesn't require coordinating dozens of aging music superstars for a bloated telethon no one wants to watch. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Wireless industry helping out in Chile after earthquake" is tagged: AT&T , Chile , donation , earthquake , Haiti , Sprint Nextel , T-Mobile , text message , Verizon Wireless
Magazine publishers, who have never convinced Web users to pay a nickel for their content, see the iPad as a second chance to charge. They somehow believe users will ignore the iPad's Web browser and choose to buy content they'd otherwise get free online. H.L. Menken once said, "No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people." Menken was a wise man, but the iPad will prove this maxim wrong. People are just not stupid enough to buy stuff that can just as easily be had for free. What if publishers coordinate the iPad's launch with the closure of their free sites? That would certainly give iPad users more incentive to purchase subscriptions, but it's a worse idea. It would also shut off the 95 percent of the world that will never own an iPad. (The better plan would be charging for the Web site, though even that will only work for publishers with truly unique and valuable content. Web users will just find free substitutes for any other Web site that starts charging.) Want more craziness? Some publishers are apparently designing special iPad apps without planning to charge. They just want their content to look its best on this one device. This, too, is madness, not only because the iPad will never sell like the iPhone but also because apps will not dominate the iPad the way they dominate the iPhone. We iPhone users love apps because they camouflage the shortcomings of the device and the current state of wireless networks. The iPhone has a tiny screen that makes regular Web sites hard to use, particularly given the lack of Flash. Battery contraints limit the chip speed. And wireless data speeds still suck, even with perfect connections. Those limitations (aside from the lack of Flash) apply much less to the iPad. It has a faster chip, a big screen and will surely be Wi-Fi connected at most times. IPad users won't want apps for the same reason that computer users don't want apps: it's easier to just use the Internet. So why would any publisher adjust content specifically for one device -- and thus create expectations of similar apps for every new platform that comes out? Because they're all crazy. That's why most of them are teetering on bankruptcy. The whole point of the Web is to eliminate the need to make different programs for different devices. Apps have been a great success on smart phones, but they're not the future. They're a stopgap measure that helps out mobile device users while we wait for the future to arrive. Publishers would do well to keep this in mind and to focus on their main problem: finding ways to generate enough revenue -- either through pay walls or advertising -- via their regular Web sites. Comments (1) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Crazy publishers make iPad apps" is tagged: apps , ipad , magazines , publishers February 28, 2010
Economist Richard Thaler says over-the-air TV needs to die. It occupies huge chunks of valuable spectrum and serves an ever-dwindling population. Society would get much more benefit by selling that space to wireless carriers. Selling off this spectrum could raise at least $100 billion for the government and, more important, create roughly $1 trillion worth of value to users of the resulting services. Those services would include ultrahigh-speed wireless Internet access (including access for schools, of course) much improved cellphone coverage and fewer ugly cell towers. And they would include other new things we can't imagine any more than we could have imagined an iPhone just 10 years ago. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Sell TV airspace for wireless Web" is tagged: over-the-air TV , radio frequencies , wireless spectrum February 26, 2010
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about how the Dallas area has a large number of mobile app developers. But I realized that there's no comprehensive list of local app makers. So let's make one! I've posted after the break all the local developers I know of, including some I interviewed for the story and others I didn't have a chance to meet. But I'm sure I'm missing a lot. So if you're an app developer not on this list, or if you know of a local developer I didn't include, post a link in comments, and I'll check it out for inclusion. Here are my criteria for inclusion on the list:
List after the break. Will update as new links come in. Comments (2) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "A list of all Dallas-area mobile app developers" is tagged: Android , app , BlackBerry , Dallas , developer , iPhone , list , mobile , Symbian , webOS , Windows Mobile
Some crude language ahoy, but this little skit spoke to me on such a profound, spiritual level, that I had to share: Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Video: The life of a tech journalist" is tagged: embargo , video
Only very marginally tech related (and I'm sure these have been around forever, so don't bother complainin'), but those these little concoctions made me smile this week. First, Mr. Rick Roll joins forces with Team Grunge: Next, Hetfield and the gang definitely don't stop believing: See? Feel better already, dontcha? Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "TGIF: Nirvana meets Rick Astley and Metallica meets Journey" is tagged: Journey , mashup , Metallica , music , Nirvana , Rick Astley February 25, 2010
Revenues for the quarter and full year are being impacted by slower than expected consumer adoption of the company's products that has resulted in lower than expected order volumes from carriers and the deferral of orders to future periods. Accordingly, Palm expects fiscal year 2010 revenues to be well below its previously forecasted range of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion. The company will provide more detail on its financial results during Palm's third-quarter financial results conference call currently scheduled for Thursday, March 18. The Pre Plus and Pixi Plus apparently have not been selling well on Verizon Wireless. In fact, there are strong rumors that Verizon might stop selling the two phones altogether. Top it all off with the fact that Palm's promised release of the 1.4 update to webOS is still not here, and us Pre owners can't be blamed for feeling a bit... stranded. It looked for awhile like webOS had a chance to be the 7Up to the iPhone's Coke. The uncola. But it looks increasingly like Google's Android will nab that spot, and Palm will have to settle for being, oh, I don't know, the Mountain Dew of carbonated beverages. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Palm is pooping out" is tagged: iPhone , Palm , Pixi , Pre , sales , Verizon Wireless , webOS
Italian courts have just made a ruling that endangers civilization: Basically, technology company workers are subject to prison sentences the instant their technology enables viewers to see any image that the subject of that image really dislikes. It sounds impossible. It sounds like hyperbole, but it's not, which is why technology companies should take serious measures -- truly serious measures -- immediately. They should present Italy with this ultimatum: Enact true freedom-of-speech protections and sane business laws within the next month or we will abandon you. Totally. What constitutes total abandonment? Web site operators should block Italian users. International telecom companies should decline any traffic that begins or ends in Italy. Software makers should stop supporting Italian customers and, where possible, remotely disable software installed on Italian computers. Yes, this would utterly destroy Italy. Companies large and small would cease operation. Even its government would be unable to function. No, this isn't an overreaction akin to bulldozing your house to silence a squeaky door. Such a big step is perfectly legitimate for two reasons. First, neither nations, nor companies, nor individual people have any God-given right to continued service from the technology industry. Just as customers have every right abandon companies when a relationship no longer serve their needs, companies have the right to abandon a customer when the relationship no longer serve their needs. And when a customer suddenly assumes the power to arbitrarily jail your employees, the relationship with that customer is no longer serving your needs. Second, Italy would always have the power to immediately undo all the horrific damage. A few simple votes to protect free speech and establish some reasonable idea of corporate responsibility would result in immediate reinstatement. Failure to act, on the other hand, will only encourage Italy and every other dysfunctional nation to further shackle the Internet -- a trend that would imperil the development of the world's most precious resource. It's worth taking a stand. (Will any tech company, let alone the entire industry, take such a stand? God, no. Radical action involves the sort of obvious risk that can get executives fired. Inaction, aside from some behind-the-scenes lobbying, poses far less career risk. No exec will get the blame for any of the countless speech restrictions that countries. Such restrictions, while annoying to Silicon Valley execs, are less annoying than unemployment. There will be no real response to this. Bad governments will continue to keep increasing Internet censorship.) Comments (2) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Tech companies should unite to fight Italy -- and abandon it if necessary" is tagged: arbitrary arrest , boycott , censorship , EU , freedom of speech , google , italy , politics , technology industry
Since Wal-Mart announced its acquisition of video streaming service Vudu, there's been a burst of speculation over how Apple should respond. Should Apple make its own line of TVs with the Apple TV service integrated into the set? Should Apple just upgrade the Apple TV box? Or should Apple focus on the mobile and PC space and abandon the living room? It's tempting to want Apple to get into the TV business, selling its own displays. The company already makes a line of highly regarded (if expensive) computer monitors. Why not just release those in bigger sizes with built in tuners and Internet connectivity? But the TV industry is an extraordinarily low-margin business, and Apple hates being in the commodity space. And I'm not sure how much innovation Apple could bring that would justify higher prices. So upgrading the Apple TV box (say, by adding a Blu-ray player or negotiating exclusive movie launches with the studios) would seem the most logical step. But I wonder if Apple is simply spread too thin right now to give Apple TV the attention it needs to thrive. Apple, despite its huge profits, is not a very big company overall. As Cnet notes, it's only the 71st largest U.S. company. I think a lot of people who don't necessarily buy Apple products want to see the company expand into as many consumer tech categories as possible, just to see what Apple comes up with and how it forces competitors to respond. But Apple, despite Steve Jobs' wizardry, isn't all-powerful. So they may just sit this one out. Comments (4) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Should Apple start making televisions, improve the Apple TV, or just get out of the living room altogether?" is tagged: Apple , Apple TV , living room , streaming , television , video , Vudu , Wal-Mart February 24, 2010
If you ever watch late night TV, you've seen the magicJack ads. Basically, it's a little device that plugs into your computer and lets you make low-cost phone calls over the Internet. It's advertised incessantly, but by all accounts, it works pretty well and is reasonably priced. Yet, for such a solid product, the company that makes it is generating a lot of bad headlines. And customer complaints are legion. Any magicJack users out there? What do you think of the product and company? Comments (1) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "MagicJack seems to be a quality product made by a questionable company" is tagged: complaints , lawsuit , magicJack , telephone , voice over internet protocol , VoIP
Many others have already slammed NBC's Olympic coverage, but nothing I've seen hammers the massive failure that most annoys my tech-geek friends. The people who run NBC seem completely unaware that technology developed since the 1970s could actually enable viewers to understand and enjoy the otherwise obscure sports on display... Comments (5) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "NBC Olympic fail: Technology edition" is tagged: NBC , Winter Olympics February 23, 2010
Dallas-based AT&T is boasting today of a new survey by PCWorld that found that AT&T's 3G network is much faster than the 3G networks of Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile: After registering the lowest average download speeds in our 3G performance tests last spring, AT&T's network turned in download speeds that were 84 percent better than the numbers from eight months ago; in our latest tests, AT&T's download speeds were 67 percent faster on average than those of the other three largest U.S. wireless providers--Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Unfortunately, Dallas wasn't one of the cities tested. But this seems like a pretty solid endorsement of AT&T's 3G coverage. On the other hand, if you care more about voice call quality than 3G data download and upload speeds, J.D. Power recently found that Verizon Wireless is the top performer in that area. Notably, in the southwest region, which includes Texas, Verizon Wireless was best and AT&T was worst. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "AT&T 3G network is fastest of the big carriers, PCWorld finds" is tagged: 3G , AT&T , download , network , PCWorld , speed , Sprint , T-Mobile , test , Verizon Wireless
Apple has recently cracked down on sexually-suggestive apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and, as with everything Apple does, the move has generated controversy. You've got developers who were profiting from the racy apps up in arms over the new policy -- which eliminated about 5,000 apps -- and critics who cry hypocrisy because Apple is letting a handful of sexual apps from big name publishers Sports Illustrated and Playboy stay in the store. And honestly, this is a pretty terrible quote from Phil Schiller, Apple's head of worldwide product marketing: When asked about the Sports Illustrated app, Mr. Schiller said Apple took the source and intent of an app into consideration. "The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format," he said. Blah, blah, blah. What Schiller really meant, but couldn't say, is that SI, unlike the various little piss-ant developers producing titillating apps like SlideHer and Sexy Scratch Off, represents real money and Apple desperately wants Sports Illustrated on the iPhone, iPod Touch and the upcoming iPad. So when Schiller says this: Mr. Schiller said Apple had to prioritize its customers. "We obviously care about developers, but in the end have to put the needs of the kids and parents first," he said. You can add the implicit caveat "unless those developers make us a lot of money" to the end of that last quote. But still, as two-faced as Apple is being on this issue, so what? So a bunch of sleazy apps get flushed down the memory hole and life goes on. Plus, the iPhone and iPod Touch and iPad won't be losing their single biggest porn conduit: the Web browser. Comments (2) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Apple clumsily bans (most) sex-related apps on iPhone, iPod Touch" is tagged: app , Apple , ban , iPhone , iPod Touch , Playboy , sex , Sports Illustrated
That chart pretty much looks how you'd expect: Nokia dominant but declining, RIM, Apple and Google growing strong, Palm floundering and Microsoft starting to tumble off a cliff. Which is why I don't understand the lack of urgency on Microsoft's part with Windows Phone 7 Series. I think Microsoft thinks it can just throw buckets of money at the problem and push Windows Phone to glory. But I'm not sure that's going to work. Comments (1) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Chart of 2009 smart phone OS market share shows why Microsoft needs to hurry up" is tagged: market share , Microsoft , smart phone , Windows Phone 7 Series February 22, 2010
A fool and his money are soon parted, and now, thanks to the pre-order process, idiots can squander a fortune faster than ever before. Case in point, a handful of retailers are now taking pre-orders for the first wave of 3D televisions. Sears, for example, sent out a press release this morning touting two new Samsung 3D LCD sets now posted for pre-order on Sears.com for delivery in March:
Vann's also seems to be taking pre-orders on some 3D televisions. Note, these TVs do not include 3D glasses, so, whenever those become available, you can tack on a few hundreds bucks to each of those price tags. Second, there is no actual 3D content available yet on regular TV that I know of. (Am I wrong here? Are any cable or satellite providers broadcasting anything in 3D right now?) So these companies want you to throw a bunch of money at a product you literally cannot yet use. And by the time there's any 3D content worth watching, prices on the TVs will already be falling. So not only are suckers being asked to pay a huge early adopter premium on these TVs, but they're being asked to pay a premium for no actual benefit. Look, you may have convinced yourself that 3D is the next big thing and you want to get in on the ground floor. Great. Good for you. But this isn't getting in at the ground floor. This is digging four hundred feet down into the dirt and waiting for the building to be constructed over your head. Bottom line: don't be an idiot. Comments (4) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Some retailers already taking pre-orders from suckers for first batch of 3D televisions" is tagged: 3D , pre-order , Samsung , Sears , television , Vann's
Just a reminder, here's the game we're talking about:
The LA Times isn't really sure what to make of this: There are traces of science-fiction elements to the game (the story is putatively set in another galaxy) as well as military overtones. And the film would likely be shot in 3D, tapping into the current vogue. But how a studio could turn Missile Command into a full-fledged action movie remains a question. Both the look and story behind Missile Command were, as they were with so many titles from the so-called golden age of video games, spare to say the least, though a manual did offer some detail: players were defending cities on Zardon from the invading armies of Krytol (aren't you glad we told you that?). Oh, c'mon LA Times! Use your imagination! That screenshot above has everything: love, war, betrayal, laughs, tears, missiles and commands! Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Atari discussing "Missile Command" movie with Hollywood studios" is tagged: Atari , Missile Command , movie February 21, 2010
I chatted Friday with Karen Wong-Duncan, Microsoft product manager for the mobile communications business, about the recently-unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series mobile operating system. I was able to glean some new info, but overall, Microsoft is playing its cards pretty tight to the vest, at least until its MIX conference in March. Before we go on, though, you should probably check out either the video of the unveiling and demo at Mobile World Congress, or this video showing a more in-depth walk-through of the software. And you should definitely play with Microsoft's interactive demo. Some highlights from my interview: Microsoft thinks the "hub" design in Windows Phone 7 makes more sense than the list of icons popularized by Apple with the iPhone. So, for example, the music+video hub opens your various music and video options, and you have to drill down from their into, say, your podcasts or downloaded songs or streaming radio.
"It's a very typographically-driven design," Wong-Duncan said. "There's just a lot more print rather than focusing on icons or generic iconography. it's just a lot more easy to digest." Comments (1) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Microsofts talks to me (a little bit) about Windows Phone 7 Series" is tagged: Karen Wong-Duncan , Microsoft , music , operating system , smart phone , social networking , video , Windows Phone 7 Series , Xbox Live , Zune February 19, 2010
Here's my review that ran in today's paper. Bottom line: If you're interested in the Pre, the subtle upgrades in the Pre Plus version available on Verizon Wireless are just enough to make this handset superior to Sprint's version. HOWEVER, you need to do the math before jumping at the Pre Plus. If you buy the Pre from Sprint, your minimum monthly plan (including unlimited data, unlimited text messages and 450 voice minutes per month) will cost $69.99 On Verizon, the minimum Pre Plus plan (including unlimited data, no text messages and 450 voice minutes) will cost $84.98. So if you get the original Pre through Sprint, over the course of a two-year contract (which is required to get the lowest price on the handset -- $149), you'll pay $1,679.76 in monthly fees, not including taxes and fees. But on Verizon you'll pay a total of $2,039.52. That's a difference of $359.76. Now, the additional memory, slightly more solid construction and ability to turn the Pre Plus into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot (for an additional $40 per month) might be worth it to you. But look before you leap. Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "Review: Palm Pre Plus on Verizon Wireless offers upgrades, but more expensive plans" is tagged: Palm Pre Plus , plan , price , review , Sprint , Verizon Wireless February 18, 2010
Well, not too old, exactly. I still love massive, complex games like Mass Effect 2. I could easily spend days cruising the galaxy, meeting interesting aliens and shooting them in the face. But that's the problem. I don't really have days and days to devote to roleplaying games anymore. For example, I found that as much as I loved Fallout 3, I played for 30-40 hours, then had a few weeks go by where I was busy with other stuff, and then came back and tried to get back into the game. By that time, I'd forgotten where I was in the plot, had to relearn some of the controls, and half-expected my character to stare at me in disgust for abandoning him for nearly a month. But I sank another 10 hours or so into the game. And that was, oh, three or four months ago. I still haven't finished the game, and it nags at me, like a loose tooth. So I here I am, about five or six hours into Mass Effect 2. I'm entranced by the graphics, immersing myself in all the backstory that I'd forgotten from the first game, slowly leveling my character up and exploring the motivations of the other characters.
But man, I just don't know if I want to do this again. I love this game. But I'm not a college student anymore. Last night, I fell asleep on the couch with the controller in my hand. If I had but world enough, and time, I'd happily give myself to Mass Effect 2. As it is, I'm more of a Modern Warfare 2 guy these days: eight hours of non-stop action, game completed, and then back on the shelf. But if you've got the time, Mass Effect 2 may well be enough game to last you the rest of 2010. Comments (1) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "First impressions: Mass Effect 2 for Xbox 360 - I'm getting too old for this $&#%" is tagged: first impressions , Mass Effect 2 , review
AT&T is the last of the big four carriers to release a phone based on Google's Android OS, but the Android-powered Motorola Backflip seems like a nifty device if you're a big Facebook/Twitter/other social media user. A physical keyboard flips out from the back (hence the name), and also doubles as a stand, if you want to set your phone down to watch a movie. See? Nifty. The Backflip is also compatible with the faster HSPA 7.2 flavor of 3G that AT&T is rolling out (and has already activated in parts of Dallas). The Backflip goes on sale March 7 for $99, after $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract. Here's a little demo video from AT&T: Comments (0) Leave comment
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| E-mail entryThe entry "AT&T announces its first Android device, the Motorola Backflip coming March 7" is tagged: 3G , Android , AT&T , Backflip , Google , HSPA 7.2 , Motorola , smart phone |
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Bio
thanks for your list. At urmobile.com
Good points re apps and iPhones. I agr
I have an iphone I'm looking to replace
FROM VICTOR: My Exchange e-mail, calend
How does it sync to a computer, does it
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I can watch the videos on the NBC Olymp
My company, Semaphore Mobile, is locate
Not that big? Apple is the 113 biggest
In this particular case, they only rece