Jan 27

Switching to Verizon iPhone? 3 Ways to Shave the Termination Fee

Posted in: Apple, att, iPhone, Phones, Today's Chili, verizon

The Verizon iPhone is due in stores soon, but AT&T customers aching to switch face one nasty hurdle: the early-termination fee.

Many AT&T customers who bought an iPhone are still stuck in two-year contracts, and they’d have to pay a hefty price to get out. AT&T increased the early-termination fee last June from $175 to $325. (The ETF is reduced by $10 for each month you’re on contract.)

So that means switching to a Verizon iPhone would require buying a new phone and paying the termination fee, which would set you back at least $500. Yeowch.

Pre-orders for the Verizon iPhone 4 begin Feb. 3, and if you just can’t stand the thought of sticking with AT&T any longer, here are a few simple ways to help subsidize the switch.

Sell Your iPhone on Gazelle

I’ve sold a number of devices on Gazelle, an electronics trader, with no issues. Hop over to Gazelle, type in iPhone 4 and answer a few questions about the condition of the phone. Right now Gazelle is quoting a perfect-condition iPhone 4 for $360. Not bad at all — that covers more than the termination fee.

After you opt to sell your iPhone 4 to Gazelle, you enter your information in the site, and then Gazelle will send you a free box with a shipping label to stuff your iPhone 4 into. Drop it off at your nearest FedEx location, and wait a few weeks for the money to roll in. You can choose to receive payment in the form of check, PayPal payment or Amazon gift card.

I like this option, because you can get a quote first and mail your iPhone to Gazelle after buying a new one, so you won’t be left phoneless for a few days.

Sell on Craigslist

This solution is obvious: Put your iPhone 4 on Craigslist and wait for the fish to bite. There’s a good chance you’ll get more money than you would from Gazelle, if you’re willing to put up with often-flaky Craigslist buyers. Some iPhone 4 listings on Craigslist are going as high as $600.

If you take this route, we recommend erasing all data from the device and removing your SIM card before handing it off to a stranger.

Trade It In to Verizon

Verizon has a trade-in program, where you can swap your AT&T iPhone for a Verizon Wireless gift card, which can go toward your purchase of a Verizon iPhone. To get a quote, visit Verizon’s trade-in program website, and enter your iPhone model.

If you choose to sell the device, Verizon will mail you a self-addressed prepaid envelope. Drop it off at a mailing center and wait for that gift card. Verizon is currently quoting the 16-GB AT&T iPhone 4 at $212.

Photo: Sam Gustin/Wired.com


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Jan 27

News Corp and Apple set date for The Daily launch: February 2nd

Posted in: Apple, ipad, launch, tablet, Today's Chili

The Daily, News Corp’s iPad-specific news”paper,” is living up to speculation about an early February inauguration with the announcement of a launch event on February 2nd. CEO Rupert Murdoch is explicitly mentioned on the invite, though Apple’s presence will be fulfilled by Eddy Cue, presumably a late draft-in to substitute for his company’s CEO, Steve Jobs, who’s currently out on medical leave. Even without the great Apple orator, we expect the arrival of the first tablet-only news outlet to be a significant event, so we’ll be strapping on our liveblogging gear and heading out to the Guggenheim Museum for a looksie. You’ll join us in spirit, won’t you?

News Corp and Apple set date for The Daily launch: February 2nd originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 27

Navigon rolls out iPhone Car Kit for $50

Posted in: Apple, iPhone, nav, navigation, Today's Chili

The turn-by-turn navigation specialists at Navigon are pairing up their MobileNavigator iPhone app with an official Car Kit today, debuting at MacWorld out in San Francisco. As you might expect, said kit includes the usual array of car-mount necessities — a USB car charger, an Apple-approved 5-foot iPhone cable, and the suction-style mount itself, which the company describes as “a stylish example of German tech design” featuring a “barely there look” that won’t detract from your car’s sumptuous, indulgent interior. The Kit is available now for $49.99 — $44.99 through February 3rd. Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Navigon rolls out iPhone Car Kit for $50

Navigon rolls out iPhone Car Kit for $50 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 27

Using Google Voice to Find Your Phone, Hotmail Adds Push Support, and More

Posted in: Apple, Today's Chili, WrapUp

This article was written on September 06, 2010 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

angry birds.jpgAngry Birds Beta Available for Android
One of the most popular iPhone games (and definitely a personal favorite of mine) is on its way to the Android platform.


youtube piracy.jpgYouTube Ads Turn Piracy into Revenue for Content Providers
Some content providers are apparently not requesting the takedown of copyrighted materials on YouTube, and instead are having ads displayed on the user-uploaded clips.


amazon vod-1.jpgAmazon’s $0.99 TV Episode Pricing (to own, not rent) is a Steal?
Amazon’s TV episode pricing appears to be a bargain when you compare it to Apple’s newly announced $0.99 rental pricing.


windows phone 7.jpgWindows Phone 7 Released to Manufacturing
Microsoft has announced that the Windows Phone 7 OS is finalized, and that they will begin final integration with their partners’ hardware, software, and networks.


idevices.jpgRoundup of Apple Announcements
Gizmodo provides a rundown on the new Apple TV, iPods, iTunes, and iOS announcements made by Apple last week.


xbox 360 controller.jpgThe New Xbox 360 Controller
Microsoft is taking an interesting approach with their new Xbox 360 controller. It is a silver color with gray buttons (instead of the typical colored ones), and must be purchased with a $65 play and charge kit.


cisco bug.jpgCisco Patches Bug That Crashed 1% of the Internet
A critical bug in Cisco’s router software has been patched after causing an Internet blackout for approximately 1% of online users.


email overload.jpgGmail Tries to Tackle Email Overload with Priority Inbox
Google’s newest mail feature, called Priority Inbox, tries to automatically sort the content in your Inbox so that the most important stuff is near the top.


hotmail exchange.jpgHotmail Adds Exchange ActiveSync Support
Hotmail users are now able to get their email, calendar, and contacts pushed to their mobile device.


xbox live subscription.jpgMicrosoft Increasing Xbox Live Annual Membership by $10
The cost of an Xbox Live subscription will go from $49.99 to $59.99 on November 1st. You can, however, renew before then at a discounted 12-month price of $39.99.


reddit digg logo.jpgDigg Goes Through Early Issues
Digg users expressed their dislike of the newly upgraded Digg by promoting a large number of stories from Reddit to the Digg front page.


firefox cartoon.jpgFirefox 4.0 Feature Freeze Coming on September 10th
What does a feature freeze mean to you? Well, when Mozilla stops adding new features that means they’ll focus on bug fixes, performance, and stability. This is also the time that a lot of extension developers jump on board to make their extensions compatible.


amd graphics.jpgAMD Will Retire ATI Brand Later This Year
After some research AMD has decided that they will be better off leaving the ATI brand behind, and labeling everything as an AMD product instead.


–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

facebook remote logout.jpgFacebook Adds Remote Logout Feature
A new feature in Facebook lets you view your recent activity and kill a session you may have left open on another machine.


itunes close minimize.jpgMove iTunes 10 Buttons Back to the Top on a Mac
Running a simple command in the terminal will let Mac users move the open, close, and minimize buttons back to the top bar in iTunes 10.


skype 5 beta.jpgConference Call Up To 10 People with Skype 5 Beta
The most recent beta version of Skype 5 will let you video chat with up to 10 people simultaneously.


google storage.jpgGoogle Storage Can Be a Lifetime Backup Solution
Lifehacker noticed that when you buy additional Google storage and let your plan expire, your data will still remain available in a read-only state.


google voice.jpgUsing Google Voice to Find Your Phone
With the recent addition of free computer-to-phone calling to Gmail you can actually call your own cellphone to try and locate it.


dll preload update microsoft.jpgMicrosoft Releases Fix for Critical Flaw Found in 100+ Popular Apps
Microsoft has posted a “FixIt” solution for a vulnerability that can be exposed for certain applications that load DLLs in an insecure way. Affected apps (that have been reported) include Notepad++, uTorrent, Foxit Reader, VLC, Office 2007, Opera, Firefox, and many other popular apps.


filerfrog.jpgFilerFrog Adds Useful Context Menu Entries to Windows Explorer
With FilerFrog you can organize, rename, split/join, or encrypt/decrypt files all from the context menu in Windows Explorer. You can also manipulate images.


chrome extension analyzer-1.jpgAnalyze a Chrome Extension Before Installing It
 A new Chrome extension called Extension Gallery Inspector is actually able to analyze other extensions to see what kind of things they are doing under-the-hood.


media center.jpgAwesome Guide to Windows 7 Media Center
If you haven’t used Media Center before I highly recommend you at least skim through this guide. It has some tips on helpful add-ons like Boxee, and also demonstrates how you can edit a show.


textbook college.jpgNew Textbook Torrent Site Launches
A new site, called TorrentMyBooks.com, is making textbooks available for free. Most of what’s on the site is illegal, but the BitTorrent network isn’t exactly known for the amount of legal material it holds. :)


chromium.jpgEnable GPU Acceleration in Chromium Builds
You can enable GPU acceleration for rendering pages in Chromium builds by using a special flag when starting up the browser..


–Downloads–

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Jan 26

Deutsche Bank ditches BlackBerry for iPhone, Apple puts chink in RIM’s enterprise armor

Posted in: Apple, BlackBerry, cellphone, enterprise, iPhone, Microsoft, RIM, smartphone, Smartphones, Today's Chili

For years, suit-and-tie circles have bowed to BlackBerry as the king of corporate communication, but iOS has been creeping in on enterprise territory, calling into question RIM’s sovereignty in the boardroom. The folks at Deutsche Bank Equity Research struck the most recent blow to RIM’s enterprise dominance with the announcement that they’ll buck BlackBerry for iPhone, following a trial using Good Technology’s secure email app. The company tested the app in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server, delivering AES 192-encrypted email and calendar data to employees, and, according to the firm’s research analyst, the iPhone proved an easier and faster solution to BlackBerry. Last summer, AT&T announced that 40 percent of iPhone sales are enterprise, and we just reported on RIM’s possible move to devices beyond the BlackBerry. We’re not saying it’s off to the guillotine with the old standard bearer, but it definitely looks like there are new contenders for the enterprise crown.

Deutsche Bank ditches BlackBerry for iPhone, Apple puts chink in RIM’s enterprise armor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 26

AT&T trying to cling on to iPhone customers by offering them unlimited data (again)

Posted in: Apple, att, iPhone, Today's Chili, verizon, vzw

Were you riding one of AT&T’s unlimited data deals until recently? If so, this whole new Verizon iPhone thing is about to work in your favor, as the Associated Press is reporting AT&T iPhone users are being offered a sort of unlimited data amnesty: if they had it before, but switched to a limited data plan since, they can now have it back. This is clearly in response to Verizon’s promised $30 uncapped deal, though it remains entirely unofficial and unannounced — no reason why AT&T would want to advertise its desperation, after all. When asked for comment, a company spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny the news, saying only that AT&T handles “customers and their situations individually.” Still, we’d pick up the blower and threaten to start wearing red to see what the incumbent iPhone carrier might offer up as an incentive to stay blue.

AT&T trying to cling on to iPhone customers by offering them unlimited data (again) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MacRumors  |  sourceAP (USA Today)  | Email this | Comments

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Jan 26

Price Chart: Verizon iPhone vs. AT&T iPhone

Posted in: Apple, att, iPhone, Phones, pricing, Today's Chili, verizon


Bits and pieces about the Verizon iPhone have finally fallen into place to tell the full story on how much the coveted handset will cost you.

Apple’s website this week temporarily revealed that the Verizon iPhone voice plans start at $40 per month. Text-messaging plans start at $5 per month, or you can pay per use for 20 cents each text.

Also news is that Verizon’s hot-spotting feature — the ability to turn the handset into a Wi-Fi network to share an internet connection with multiple devices — will cost an extra $20 per month on top of voice and data plans. As part of the same plan, customers will also have the option to use tethering, which shares the iPhone’s internet connection with one device. The plan includes 2 GB of data for hotspotting plus tethering per month.

As for the price of internet usage, Verizon said Tuesday that the iPhone would offer an unlimited data plan for $30 per month. However, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam clarified that this plan would be available for a limited time, as Verizon will eventually move to a tiered pricing structure for data.

  • Voice
  • Data
  • Text
  • Verizon iPhone
  • 450 minutes for $40/month.
    900 minutes for $60/month.
    Unlimited minutes for $70/month.
  • Unlimited data for $30/month (temporary offer).
    2 GB of data for tethering or hot-spotting for $20/month.
  • 250 messages for $5/month.
    500 messages for $10/month.
    Pay-per-use for 20 cents/text.
    Unlimited messages for $20/month.
  • AT&T iPhone
  • 450 minutes for $40/month.
    900 minutes for $60/month.
    Unlimited minutes for $70/month.
  • 200 MB for $15/month.
    2 GB for $25/month.
    Tethering for $20/month; no additional data included. (No hot-spotting available.)
  • 1,000 messages for $10/month.
    Unlimited messages for $20/month.

So there you have it: the Verizon iPhone starts at $200 with a two-year contract, and if you go with the minimum voice, data and texting plans, you’ll pay about $75 per month. Factor in tax and government fees, and that should amount to roughly $90 per month.

On AT&T, the options are a bit different:

  1. Unlimited data is no longer an option for new subscribers, though many old subscribers still have the option to stay on their unlimited data plan. The cheapest data plan costs $15 per month for 200 MB.
  2. There isn’t a pay-per-use option for texting.
  3. AT&T doesn’t support hot-spotting, though it does offer tethering for the same $20-per-month rate.
  4. However, AT&T doesn’t give you additional data for tethering when you pay $20 each month; this comes out of your data plan. (So if you buy a 2-GB data plan for general internet usage, for example, tethering counts toward the 2 GB.)

So with the tiered data-pricing structure, the minimum you’ll pay for an iPhone on AT&T per month is $65 for voice and data; after fees and taxes that comes out to roughly $75 per month.

Confused yet? See the chart above for a side-by-side comparison of AT&T and Verizon iPhone costs.

The Verizon iPhone hits stores Feb. 10.

Updated: A clarification of the AT&T iPhone’s tethering plan was added to this story Jan. 27, 2011 at 10 a.m. PT.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com


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Jan 26

Apple’s New Security Chief Has a Master’s in Information Warfare

Posted in: Apple, security, Today's Chili

Geekonomics Cover Art

As Apple’s reach expands beyond desktops and laptops and into your bags and pockets thanks to the iPhone and iPad, it’s natural to expect the company to spend some time focusing on security, and making sure their products are as secure as they can be. That explains why Apple decided to hire a new Director of Global Security. 
Still, the hiring process at Apple must be pretty stringent, since David Rice, the man they decided on for the job, not only worked at the National Security Agency (NSA) as a Global Network Vulnerability Analyst, but graduated from the US Naval Academy with a Master’s Degree in Information Warfare and Systems Engineering, and served in the Navy as a Special Duty Cryptologic Officer. 
Along with those impressive credentials, Rice is also the author of “Geekonomics,” a book on why companies should focus on making sure their software products are secure. What Rice’s duties will be when he’s onboard at Apple aren’t clear, and it’s unlikely they’ll ever be really public, but one thing is for sure: you can’t say the company isn’t taking security seriously. 
[via SlashGear]
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Jan 26

Apple Third Largest Global PC Maker, Including iPad

Posted in: Apple, ipad, Today's Chili
Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for ipadnytimes.jpg

Those are words I never expected to type, three years ago. According to new numbers from research firm Canalys, Apple is the third largest global maker of PCs, smaller than only HP and Acer. 

Of course, as one might imagine, there’s a pretty major caveat here that puts the company just ahead of Dell (the two manufacturers are at 11.5 and 11.4 million shipped units, respectively)–the number includes iPads shipped. Apple nabbed 10.8 percent of the total PCs shipped globally for the fourth quarter of 2010 (HP and Acer got 17.7 and 13.6 percent). 

When the company’s popular tablet is factored in, Apple’s shipping volume increased 240 percent from Q4 2009 to Q4 2010 (versus a less staggering 19 percent growth of the industry overall).
Canalys justified the inclusion of the iPad thusly,
Any argument that a pad is not a PC is simply out of sync. With screen sizes of seven inches or above, ample processing power, and a growing number of applications, pads offer a computing experience comparable to netbooks. They compete for the same customers and will happily coexist. As with smart phones, some users will require a physical keyboard, while others will do without.
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Jan 26

Samsung takes aim at Apple’s notebook crown, projects 60 percent increase in laptop sales in 2011

Posted in: Apple, business, industry, laptop, Laptops, sales, samsung, Today's Chili

Samsung has sought to take market share from all manner of iProducts over the years, and it seems the company is now shooting to steal Apple’s MacBook thunder in 2011. Sammy sold ten million laptops in 2010 — only 150,000 less than Jobs & Co. through the first nine months of the year — and purportedly plans to move between sixteen and seventeen million portable machines in 2011. That is a massive increase in sales, but if the Korean company’s 9 Series is an indication of what’s to come, we can’t say it’s a completely unrealistic goal. Whether they move more product than Apple is still to be determined, but given its record Q4 earnings, there’s no indication that the Cupertino crowd will be slowing down any time soon. Game on, fellas.

Samsung takes aim at Apple’s notebook crown, projects 60 percent increase in laptop sales in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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