Ebay Sellers Still Jacking iPhone Buyers

More then 24 hours after the iPhone price drop and Ebay sellers are still pushing them out the door at a premium. You’d think that the Apple event would’ve hit the far reaches of the globe but I guess not. That’s what you get for not reading Gadgetreview. Huh!

Add comment September 6th, 2007

Acer Snaps up Gateway

A cool $710 million later and you too can own the 3rd largest PC maker in the US. Acer is simply looking to increase it’s footprint here in the US and also prevent Lenovo from making yet another acquisition. What’s shocking is that they purchased the struggling PC maker. Gateway’s hay day has come and gone. I purchased a Gateway P60 (the Pentium 1 with 60MHz) when they were at the top of their game. It was a solid machine, but I only ran DOS, downloaded porn pics (no movies back then) over my 28.8kbps modem and played video games. I think Acer has made a mistake but then again if they can reorg things and institute some of their Korean business practices (aka fire some folks and cut costs) then they might find themselves in a position for success with the Gateway brand. Who knows if they’ll kill the ‘cow’ branding but the deal does include Gateway’s Emachine line of computers as well. Part of Acer’s move was to get right of first refusal on the Lenovo Packard Bell deal. I don’t know too much about that, but you can read more about it at Business Week.

The Acer brand is number 6 in the US. With the purchase of Gateway they now have combined machine sales of 18.6 million beating out Lenovo which boasts 16.6 million.

5 comments August 27th, 2007

Paramount Drops Blu Ray For Cold Hard Cash

Paramount has dropped Blu Ray in favor of HD DVD. One, its cheaper to produce HD DVD discs. Two its more “market ready� – whatever that means. And three, HD DVD offered (allegedly) $50 million and $100 million in marketing dollars.

Paramount Opts for HD DVD Format [MarketingVox]

4 comments August 22nd, 2007

Apple Genuis Bar Isn’t So Smart

Unfortunately, my MacBook’s screen began to flicker (known problem) and the Airport card has issues connecting to networks (note that I said plural networks - tested it to make sure it wasn’t just mine).  Fortunately, I am still under my 1 year warranty.   I figured my best bet was to take it to the Apple store and drop it off for service.  Ain’t that simple.  First you have to make an appointment;  I can live with that.  But the real hook is when you get there at the specified time you sit around wondering when your next.  They have a screen that displays your place ‘in line’, but the employees don’t give you a time gauge.  I eventually gave up (after about 20 minutes of having zero communication) and called Apple’s tech support.  If you’ve got a tech problem and you’re under warranty I highly, highly suggest this.  Apple sent me a prepaid box direct to my door within two days.  No line, no silly questions and no need for patience.

Apple’s Tech Line: 1-800-275-2273

5 comments August 14th, 2007

9 iPhones for 99 Cents

The 99 cent store will sell 9 4GB iPhones for $.99 on Thursday, August 9th. They expect over 300 -400 people in line by 7.30am that day. I bet it’ll be worse. The deal is only available at their first store in Westchester, LA. The 99 cent store has sold iPods in the past for $.99. Folks in position 10 - 108 will have the opportunity to purchase a scooter for $0.99. No word on what kind of scooter it will be.

99¢ Only Stores Selling 9 iPhones For 99¢ To Promote Pricing [Marketing Daily]

6 comments August 6th, 2007

CA Gym Adopts a Wii

This just might explain why them damn Nintendo Wiis are so difficult to find…or not.  A Canadian health club, Studio 55, has opened the first Wii Workout Station.  Its 400 square feet of pure Wii exercise boasting a big screen projection.  The gym’s owner estimates that users can burn up to 125 calories in a Wii workout session.  Just another reason to leave the US and move to Toronto - JUST KIDDING!

Canadian gym puts Wii workout on its schedule [Reuters]

6 comments July 31st, 2007

Netflix Customer Service Wait Times Absurd

So you might have heard that Netflix didn’t meet their customer acquisition goals this past quarter.  Furthermore, their site went down this past Tuesday (7/24) for a few hours.  Then I had my personal Netflix experience. A few days ago a movie wouldn’t play.  I called, they said they’d ship out a replacement copy.  The replacement copy that arrived was pristine (wonder if they checked first?) - no matter.  I got on the phone, asked the CSR if I could keep this disc longer and still have 3 out.  She confirmed.  I sent the two other discs back a few days later.  Unfortunately, they still haven’t shipped out the 2nd (3 total) disc in my queue probably because I still have the replacement disc.  This doesn’t make sense from a customer service standpoint.  I should be allowed to keep the 3rd (or replacement disc as long as I’d like since my watching it was inconvenienced by the poor disc quality - not my fault.  Here comes my frustration:  I just called and got a 26 minute wait time for a CSR.  Are you freakin’ kidding me?!?!

Oh ya, and I paraphrase (almost quoted), Netflix depends on their CUSTOMERS to find problematic discs.  Makes sense, but they didn’t even sugar coat.

Netflix better act quick cause I smell smoke and when there’s smoke there’s….

8 comments July 25th, 2007

Amp’d Goes Bust

Sure, we knew that they filed for Bankruptcy, but based on the filing (Chapter 11) we all thought they’d “restructure their business” and get back on their feet. Doens’t look that way any more. Their site says they’ve discontinued customer service as of yesterday (7/23) and will *probably* suspend - more like permanently kill - service as of July 31st.

This seems to contradict their Press Release on June 1st:

“On June 1st, 2007, Amp’d Mobile Inc. filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure the business. As a result of our rapid growth, our back-end infrastructure was unable to keep up with customer demand. We are taking this step as a necessary and responsible action to sustain and strengthen our momentum in the market place.

We expect to continue normal business operations throughout the reorganization process.
We are confident that we will emerge from this stronger than ever for the following reasons:

• The strength of Amp’d Mobile’s brand and high customer demand for the product.
• During the reorganization process, we are working with one of Amp’d Mobile’s largest investors to obtain debtor-in-possession financing. Our investor supports our vision, strategic direction and business plan.
• Amp’d Mobile’s senior management team remains largely intact as we continue to focus on improving and scaling our backend infrastructure.

We are committed to assuring Amp’d Mobile services remain uninterrupted and will continue to provide our customers with the best service possible.”

5 comments July 24th, 2007

Sprint Boots 1,200 Customers b/c Too High Touch

Sprint just booted (aka client pruned) 1,200 of their customers. According to Sprint Nextel (and the letter seen here) these folks called their customer service reps too often. According to a Sprint customer service rep the average customer calls once a month. These folks apparently called 40-50 times a month. I’ve heard of client pruning in law firms, but on consumer products, come on Sprint! This is a PR nightmare to say the least. They’re clearly better off keeping these customers and incurring the additional cost then kicking them to the curb and getting all the bad press. The good news is that these folks will get their account balances set to $0 and won’t incur an early termination fees. I am sure some of these folks were looking to go iPhone anyway.

Sprint Boots Customers for “unreasonable requests� [Fort Wayne Observed via Notes From the Digital Frontier]

4 comments July 16th, 2007

Google Buys Grandcentral

If you didn’t know about Grandcentral then you’re missing out. I got wind of them just as I was searching for a ‘forwarding service’ for my front door (I have an out of state cell phone and that doesn’t work with my apt’s front door…blah blah…so I wanted something free and convenient). I have had an account for about 2 months, used it primarily to let my friends in and have no qualms whatsover (even got to use the ring back service until it was cut short by copyright issues). The service - all for free and too many features to mention - is a god send for those with multiple phones and a tendency to travel. The company caught the eye of many print pubs and Google just picked them up for an undisclosed sum (Techcrunch thinks $50 mill). Google is cutting off sign ups, but if you know anyone who is a member (like me) then you can score an invite (they are giving 5 per current user). If you’d like an invite just comment below and then ping me via our ‘contact us’ lin - I’ll give 4 away so first come first serve.

Official announcement here.

16 comments July 3rd, 2007

Cingular to Pay Customers $160 - Class Action So Don’t Get Too Excited

I didn’t know this, but it turns out Cingular just settled an $18.5 million class action lawsuit. If you are a California resident who cancelled their service between Jan 2000 and April 2002 and were charged an early termination fee (this is 115,000 folks) then you should expect a $160 check in the mail, interest included, in about 60 days. Why are they paying folks back? The settlement claims, which I guess they proved, that Cingular (now AT&T) didn’t provide adequate service when they nearly doubled the number of customers (to 3 million) on their network - it strained the system. The best part is that a Cingular spokes person said “While we have a strong case for appeal, it is time to move forward”. Guess I know it now - duh.

Cingular Wireless to refund customers $18.5 million [Whittierdailynews via CrunchGear]

4 comments March 16th, 2007

Check Your Fruit’s Details Any Where in the World

You ever wonder where your fruit came from? And if you’re like me, you probably think it’s just “labeled� organic and they’re in fact pumping it full of chemicals and hormones rbST style. Dole Food now labels its bananas with a three-digit organic code. Visit Doleorganic.com, plug in the code and you’ll see the plantation it grew on, organic certification details, worker photos, and get this: satellite maps images via Google Earth. Course this could all be easily fabricated. Credence could be brought to the table by having the workers take monthly pictures with recent newspapers - kind of like the kidnappers do in the flix.

Via BusinessWeek

2 comments March 14th, 2007

Vonage Loses Battle to Verizon and Must Pay Out the Nose

Verizon was awarded $58 million in damages after an 8 person jury found Vonage guilty of ‘infringing’ upon 3 patents owned by the telecom – they were absolved of 2/5. The jury concluded that Vonage meant no mal intent which apparently helped soften the blow – apparently Verizon wanted more money. Patent infringement included, but not limited to call-waiting and how you hook up a standard phone line over the Internet. Additionally, Vonage must pay Verizon “5.5% in licensing fees per subscriber each monthâ€?. Vonage’s stock dropped 3.86% as a result of the news hitting an all-time low $4.85/share. It remains to be seen to how this will impact Vonage’s customers, but I’d expect to see more pics like this.

What the Verizon Verdict Means for Vonage [BusinessWeek]

6 comments March 9th, 2007

Cingular Rep Provides a List of Ways to Manipulate the Cell Phone Behemoth

Although these aren’t the most ground breaking tips, or absolutely sound without reading the FINE print, they’re still useful and reaffirming when it comes to Cingular contract manipulation. I’ve put my faves below, but you’ll have to head over to the Consumerist for the complete list.

• Avoid contract extensions by changing your rate plan at a store. “If you want to change your rate plan, do it in a retail store instead of on-line or over the phone. Officially after 1/2 of your contract is over a rate plan change results in a contract extension, but I’ve never once seen that rule enforced in the store.”

• Get credit for your mistakes. “If you go way over on your text messaging one month, go into a store and ask if they can credit you the difference if you sign up for a bigger text package. They should be able to do this, and you can always drop your text back down after you’ve gotten your credit.”

Via Digg

Add comment March 6th, 2007

Cingular Adds Unlimited “IN Text Messaging”

Recently Cingular and Verizon increased it’s per text message cost from $0.10 to $0.15. They’ve obviously ran the numbers and seen the profits. In fact, I’ve known teenagers whose Family Plan’s cost ballooned due to finger mashing, not chit-chatting. To remain competitive in the cell phone marketplace and to lock in some guaranteed monthly revenue, Cingular will soon start to offer unlimited ‘in network’ text messaging for $5/month. You’ll have to subscribe to a text or media package to be eligible - means the lowest amount you could pay for this feature is $10 ($5 text bundle at Cingular gets you 200 texts a month). The ‘IN text’ option includes photos, texts, video messages, but not instant messages.

Verizon Wireless And Cingular Hope You Get The Message With New Rates [Information Week]

59 comments March 5th, 2007

Nokia to Acquire Palm

The net is flush with rumors that Nokia is in talks with Palm Inc. to purchase the Treo driven company. According to PC World, Motorola might also play the acquisition card, although Nokia appears to be the frontrunner. At this point it seems to be ‘rumorville’ so hang tight as I’m sure official details will emerge. As PC World points out, Palm is still flush with success from the release of its consumer level Treo680.

9 comments March 2nd, 2007

Costco Cancels Bottomless Return Policy

Amid concerns that Costco’s ‘bottomless’ or ‘endless’ return policy was impacting margins and ultimately its stock price, the warehouse retailer today revised its Consumer Electronics return policy to reflect a 90 day window. I’ve emailed their customer service department to see if consumers that purchased electronic devices (defined as Televisions, computers, cameras, camcorders, iPOD/MP3 players and cellular phones) prior to the change would be ‘grandfathered’ into the old return policy. Stay tuned for more details.

UPDATE: We found a Costco memorandum indicating that those who purchased before the new policy rollout will be grandfathered into the old policy. Furthermore, Costco will extend the manufacture’s warranty by 2 years for those purchasing under the new return policy.  See the memorandum just below for complete details.

Costco’s Revised Return Policy here.

Reuter’s article here.

You can reach Costco customer service at customerservice@costco.com or 1-800-955-2292.

Thanks Nick

1 comment February 26th, 2007

4G = 100MBpS Wirelessly in China

That’s right. 3G is so yesterday, it’s all about B3G (beyond 3G) aka 4G. 4G provides up to 100MBps wireless data rates and has been rolled out in trial in a district of China’s Shanghai’s Changning. The trial is costing $19.2 million dollars (150 million yuan) and will continue to be rolled out in commercial testing between 2006 and 2010. No wireless data system is complete without its own acronym: FuTURE as in Future Technology for Universal Radio Evironment. The technology has already been awarded over 200 patents, but don’t expect it to show up in US shores any time soon. Heck, we’re just getting 3G here in LA.

China Skips 3G, Goes Straight to 4G [Technewsworld]

4 comments January 29th, 2007

Minority Report Like Touch Screen

If you’ve seen Speilberg’s Minority Report then you probably already know what we’re talking about. At TED 2006 (Technology Entertainment Design Conference) in Monterey, CA Jeff Han showed off what looks like the most amazing, to date of course, touch screen technology. Using one hand or two, the presenter seamlessly navigated his way through photographs, maps and more. At times he used two hands and it seemed to create an axis for the other hand to work off of. You gotta watch the video here. Eat your heart out Apple (iPhone).

Can’t Touch This [FastCompany via DigitalExamples]

7 comments January 26th, 2007

Some European Countries to Ban the Use of iTunes

Shed a tear because Apple is being hit, yes once again, with another suit. This time it’s not a company but a country. Norway has concluded that Apple’ iTunes breaks Norway’s consumer protection laws by not allowing iTunes music to be played on any other device (other then the iPod) due to its DRM or Fairplay technology. Norway has given Apple until October 1st to make its ‘code’ available to other device manufactures and it looks like Germany and France is are about to follow suit with Sweden and Finland closely behind. If Apple doesn’t concede they’ll be fined and eventually shut down.

We should add that rumors are afoot that Apple may allow device manufactures to license their Fairplay DRM.

This comes on the heels of California sueing Apple as well.

Norway declares Apple’s iTunes illegal [Financial Times]

2 comments January 25th, 2007