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Financially struggling Americans paid an increasing amount of money in overdraft fees last year, in spite of a 2010 rule designed to prevent abusive overdraft charges, analysts say a new report reveals.

The report, by Illinois-based Moebs Services, found banks and credit unions were able to increase how much they earned in overdraft fees to $32 billion last year, a jump of 1.3 percent from the previous year.

Consumer advocates and banking experts told The Huffington Post those increased bank revenues came at the expense of people in dire financial straits, and they show much needs to be done to keep those consumers from being forced into costly overdraft-protection schemes.

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Ms. Joffe-Walt, who is neither an economist nor a specialist on disability, is making a claim that in an economics class would be red penciled with the corrective — “be very cautious when trying to provide simplistic explanations for data you’ve brought together.”
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More on This American Life

Not only can eating a Mediterranean diet lower your risk of heart-related disease and even help you live longer, it could also improve food security among people who rely on food banks for groceries, a new study suggests.

Researchers from The Miriam Hospital and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank found that people educated about how to eat, cook and abide by the Mediterranean diet experienced decreases in their grocery bills, decreases in their reliance on the food pantry, and increases in their produce consumption.

“Our results also suggest that including a few plant-based meals per week is an attainable goal that will not only improve their health and diet, but also lower their food costs,” study researcher Mary Flynn, Ph.D., RD, LDN, a research dietitian at Miriam Hospital, said in a statement.

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At this year’s New York International Auto Show BMW is expanding its portfolio of connected apps — by four. The company announced iOS integration for Audible, Glympse, Rhapsody and TuneIn Radio and we couldn’t help but swing by to check them all out. This integration (which also will work on Connected Minis) entails an update to those existing iOS apps. In other words, you won’t need a dedicated BMW app nor second versions of these individual apps. You can use the ones you already know and love.

Join us below for a little more information on how that works, and a look at the company’s in-car LTE router that’s also on display.

Filed under: Transportation, Software

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It’s finally time to take a peek at BlackBerry 10‘s first big smartphone presentation here in the United States with the Verizon iteration of the BlackBerry Z10. This device is an all-touch smartphone – that feature a given on most other mobile operating systems, but a relatively new concept for BlackBerry – and works with Verizon’s rather speedy 4G LTE network. What we’re looking at here on day 1 are just the basics: what’s different from the international edition?

In our original BlackBerry Z10 Review, Chris Davies spoke about both the hardware and the software in great detail. Lucky for you, not a whole lot has changed since that device was ready for action nearly 2 months ago. Here with the Verizon version we’ve only got the addition of big red’s 4G LTE connectivity compatibility and a couple of Verizon account apps.

With My Verizon Mobile and Backup Plus Contacts you’ll now have the ability to work with your Verizon bill and monitor the data you’ve used during the month. You’ll be able to back up your contact list with Verizon as often as you’d like. And that’s it.

This version of the BlackBerry Z10 uses the same 2 megapixel camera on the front, the same 8 megapixel camera on the back with LED flash, and the same processor under the hood. Inside you’ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, the same that exists in every version of the Z10 that exists thus far – this same processor is used in such phones as the Samsung Galaxy S III (USA edition), the Motorola DROID RAZR HD, and the HTC One X (USA edition). You’ll also find the first, most updated, and only version of BlackBerry 10 mobile OS on the market.

Up front you’ve got a lovely 4.2-inch 1280 x 768 pixel LCD display, complete with the third-densest pixel arrangement on the market. While the HTC One wins at the moment with 468 Pixels Per Inch, and the HTC DROID DNA is in second (with the Xperia Z and GALAXY S 4) with 441 PPI, the BlackBerry Z10 stands alone as holding the only display on the market with 355 PPI. Of course at that level of density, it’s nearly impossible to tell the difference between the lot with the naked eye, but it’s always fun to compare!

Have a peek at our hands-on photos above and below, keep your eye tuned to our BlackBerry Z10 tag portal for more information on this device and see the timeline below for our adventures with BlackBerry 10 up to and including this week!

Verizon BlackBerry Z10 hands-on and unboxing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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