Hasta La Gadget!

Republic Wireless is one of the new kids on the block when it comes to offering pre-paid wireless service, but it’s also one of the most competitive. Republic Wireless offers its customers unlimited talk, text, and data for only $19 a month; no strings attached. However, it encourages its users to use Wi-Fi whenever they can. The Motorola Defy XT that Republic Wireless sells has a hybrid technology that allows users to make calls or texts though their Wi-Fi network, similar to that of T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi calling. If you can’t connect to Wi-Fi, nothing bad will happen, you’ll just be utilizing Sprint’s network.

Republic Wireless has some great news for many of its potential customers. The mobile service company knows that the $249 price-point for the Motorola Defy XT is a bit high, especially for a phone of its caliber, so it’s now offering the device for only $99. There’s one caveat however. If you purchase the phone for the $99 price-point, you’ll have to pay $29 a month for unlimited talk, text, and data, which in the long run will cost a lot more.

The Motorola Defy XT is a less-than-stellar smartphone. It features a 3.7-inch LCD display, 1GHz single-core Snapdragon S1 processor, 1GB built-in storage, 512MB RAM, 5MP rear-facing camera, 0.3MP front-facing camera, and Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread. It’s not very appealing, especially to tech fanatics. The phone is of course popular to people who want a super-cheap wireless service plan and could care less about the specs of their smartphone. As long as it works, everything’s fine.

Republic Wireless says that over a course of two years, a family of 3 can save $2,715 over 2 years on its $19 a month plan. They also say that with the $29 a month plan, the same family can still save up to $2,445. They compare it to the $195 a month plans offered by “leading brand” competitors, which ultimately costs the family a total of $4,830.

[via Republic Wireless]

Republic Wireless drops Motorola Defy XT price to $99 is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Monday, February 25 is the day that Halo 4 gamers will be able to download the latest map pack for the video game. The new map pack is called Majestic and includes three maps and a new type of game play. This is the second of three war games map packs that are planned for release.

The three maps offered in the download pack include Landfall, Monolith, and Skyline. Landfall is a map set on the world of Tribute in a massive city that has been destroyed by war. Monolith is set on a Forerunner monument adrift in an asteroid belt. Skyline is set on the rooftops of new space tether construction. All of the maps are small to medium scale and are designed to encourage close-quarters combat.

The new gameplay mode included with the map pack is called Infinity Rumble and will be exclusive to this map pack for a limited time. This play type is a free-for-all where players can earn personal ordinance, awards, and style points for their kills.

The Majestic Map Pack will be available on Xbox LIVE for 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD). Players who purchase the Halo 4 War Games Map Pass or Halo 4 Limited Edition will receive access to both the Crimson and Majestic Map Packs as well as the final map pack when it releases in April at a 15 percent savings compared to purchasing them individually.

We’re big fans of ThinkGeek here at Gizmodo. They carry some really cool stuff that you can’t get anywhere else, but like all superfluous-yet-undeniably-dope toys, the price has got to be right. You can’t shout “shut up and take my money” if you’ve got to check your bank account first. More »

It’s been roughly 16 months since the passing of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, and the chairman of the company’s board of directors, Arthur Levinson, says that it’s been “weird” not having Jobs around. Even though the company has released several new products since the co-founder’s passing, such as the iPad mini and the iPhone 5, Levinson says that it’s been tough to ignore Jobs’s absence.

Levinson has been on Apple’s board of directors since 2000, and was a close friend of Jobs. He says he’s still not to the point where he walks into boardroom and doesn’t miss Steve. He even admits that he can’t even finish Jobs’s biography, saying that “the Steve Jobs that was in the public eye was not, for the most part, the Steve Jobs that [he] knew.”

However, Apple reported $13.1 billion in profit and $54.5 billion in revenues last quarter, in which Levinson describes as “phenomenal.” And while the board gets to see products anywhere from 6 to 18 months before their launch, Levinson says that the board doesn’t really have much say into Apple products, saying that “ultimately, the board is there to hire and fire the CEO.”

Of course, after such a great quarter this time around, it doesn’t look like Apple has any plans to fire its current CEO, Tim Cook. Jobs left Apple in great hands, being high up on the executive list, Cook was a good choice to take over the Apple helm, and has so far led the company as well as anyone would’ve expected.

[via Fortune]

Apple chairman says it’s “weird” without Jobs, but last quarter was still “phenomenal” is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Twitter has just launched its new advertising API. The new ads API is designed to help marketers get their ad campaigns out to the right type of audience. This way, Twitter can help create more relevant advertisements for both marketers and users alike. Twitter states that “our focus has been on delivering better ads for users, not more ads”, because more ads would mean a lot of angry Tweeters.

There are 5 initial partners who have implemented Twitter’s Ads API into their marketing program. This list includes Adobe, HootSuite, Salesforce, SHIFT, and TBG Digital. By advertising using the marketing campaigns from these companies, marketers will not only be able to get their ads out through the company’s existing marketing program, but also to Twitter’s 200 million users as well.

The new API system will also be more targeted, providing Twitter users with ads that are most relevant to them. This new system was tested with the five partners back in January, and over several weeks, the companies were seeing very positive results. Adobe’s media optimizer was able to increase Adobe’s number of followers from 2 dozen new followers a day to about 400 new followers a day. By the end of the test, there was a steady rate of 115 new followers per day for Adobe.

Twitter is looking for new partners to add onto the list, and have placed an application on their blog. In the near future, you should see more promoted tweets, and more promoted accounts, but they should appear based on your interests. Twitter is also looking to launch a “promoted products” feature in its advertisement API soon.

[via Twitter]

Twitter launches Advertisement API is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.