Hasta La Gadget!

Griffin has started to ship their Merchant Case + Square Reader after making a successful announcement of the device over at the recently concluded CES 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In fact, the Merchant Case is touted to be the first protective solution of its kind that has been specially optimized for the spanking new Square Reader. According to a certain J. Curtis, who is the Director of B2B Product Development at Griffin, “We’re extremely excited about the enthusiastic response to the Merchant case. Our case, combined with a Square Reader, is a perfect solution for business on-the-go.”

It might not sound like big news to some of us, but the Square reader could come in handy down the road if this particular technology is adopted across a wider scale among the masses. As for the Merchant case itself, it will come across as a custom-molded chassis which will be able to secure the Square Reader in place, all the while doing away with any kind of excess strain on the iPhone’s headphone jack when it is connected. There will also be a groove that runs across the bottom which will align with the Square Reader, enabling credit cards to slide through it easily and consistently.

Made out of a durable silicone, the case itself will protect the handset from knocks as well as unexpected drops, while the case’s non-slip material would make it a snap to hand over for customers’ signatures. Apart from that, there is also a built-in slot that is located on the back of the case which will be able to conveniently stash the Square Reader away whenever there is no need to use it.

The Merchant Case + Square Reader will play nice with the Square Register, where it is the free point of sale app that allows anyone, anywhere, accept credit card payments and run their business. Sporting a customizable checkout flow, smart business analytics, and digital receipts, Square Register would be able to assist businesses regardless of its size and type. Expect to pick up the Merchant case + Square Reader for $19.99 a pop.

Press Release
[ Griffin Merchant Case + Square Reader starts to ship copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

This article was written on March 01, 2008 by CyberNet.

Back when the iPhone first launched, there were many people who wanted to get one but had to decide whether it was worth it or not to be locked into a required 2-year contract with AT&T. As it turns out, a good chunk of people must have felt it was in fact worth it, given how well the iPhone has done so far. Every cell-phone provider out there that we know of requires people to sign at least a one year contract at the time they subscribe for service. This contract that locks users in to one carrier is part of the reason that companies are able to offer phones at subsidized prices.  If someone decides to break their contract though, it can be very costly and include a lot of hassle.

The reason we’re bringing up the topic of a contract free cell-phone is that earlier this week, a State Representative from Massachusetts proposed a bill which would force the cell-phone carriers in the United States to offer no-contract phones. The only condition under this bill, if the subscriber decided to go this route, would be that they’d have to pay full price for a phone. In return though, they would not be locked into one provider and wouldn’t have to worry about paying early termination fees. Additional items that are part of the bill which is being called the Wireless Consumer Protection and Community Broadband Empowerment Act include:

• Better  and more detailed coverage maps
• No penalties for canceling a contract within 30 days (if a user decided to stay locked-in a contract)
• Detailed cost breakdowns for wireless plans that are clear and easy to understand
• Carriers would be forced pro-rate early termination fees for contracts (some already do this)
• Phones wouldn’t be able to be locked to just one provider (e.g. Apple and AT&T would be forced to unlock the iPhone)

Some of you are probably thinking that not having a contract would be great because you have an iPhone and you already paid full-price. You may want to think again though because some analysts have estimated that AT&T already subsidizes the phone by $400 meaning you’d pay $800 for the phone with no contract.

Given the choice, would you be willing to pay more for a contract-free phone? Take our poll below! Please note that you must have Flash enabled and the poll below does not replace the current site poll in the right sidebar.

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Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

Among the many surprise costs that annoy cellphone owners, unwanted text message service fees can be the worst; they’re hard to stop, and not always worth the effort. Those fees may not irk many US subscribers after today, though — AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile now stop “problematic” premium SMS services from billing their customers. Donations and those all-important talent show votes will still go through. Verizon isn’t part of today’s announcements, although the company’s General Counsel William Petersen tells us that Big Red is already “winding down” premium SMS services. There’s a good chance that these shady messagers will simply change tactics, but they’ll at least have a tougher time scamming phone owners.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Source: Vermont Attorney General, T-Mobile

Many students have trouble scrounging up money for loan payments, let alone cellular service. Thankfully, Sprint and Best Buy have teamed up on a promotional cellphone plan built for these non-existent budgets. The My Way promo adds a line with a year of free phone service to a parent’s existing account; customers just need to sign up at Best Buy and prove that Junior is going to school, whether it’s elementary or college. As you’d expect, though, there’s a big catch. While the plan includes unlimited calls and messaging, data is capped at 1GB per month unless you pay an extra $10 per month for unfettered internet access. Even so, it’s a potentially huge bargain for students who get in before the deal ends January 1st — they may finally have cash to spend on the finer things in life.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Sprint

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Source: Sprint

Confession time: I don’t lock my phone. No password or key, no swipe pattern, no fingerprint scan. Nothing. It’s really stupid and I will probably regret it someday.

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