Verizon looking to bump early termination fee to $350 on ‘advanced’ devices

You know what’s worse than showing your Bitter Beer Face to the world after you passed on Apple’s iPhone and let AT&T enjoy the spoils? Raising your early termination fee to stratospheric heights. Just over a year ago, we honestly though this whole ETF thing was headed in the right direction, as most of the major carriers (VZW included) sought to prorate contracts in order to lessen the charge as one’s contract drew closer to an end. Now, however, Big Red is evidently gearing up to pull a 180, with the slide above showing a $350 ETF for “advanced” devices (read: probably anything deemed a smartphone). The newly hiked rate will go into effect on November 15th, and while that $350 will decrease by $10 per month over the life of the agreement, this pretty much guarantees that you won’t be adding a line, disconnecting and then flipping that phone on eBay.

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Verizon looking to bump early termination fee to $350 on ‘advanced’ devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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US government lays out cash for wall-based, in-home ‘smart meters’

Google has its PowerMeter, Microsoft has its Hohm and Obama has his “smart meters.” Got it? Good. Around two years after UK taxpayers began footing the bill for in-home energy monitors, it seems as if America’s current administration is looking to follow suit. While visiting the now-open solar facility in Arcadia, Florida today, the Pres announced that $3.4 billion in cash that the US doesn’t actually have has just been set aside for a number of things, namely an intelligent power grid and a whole bundle of smart power meters. Aside from boring apparatuses like new digital transformers and grid sensors (both of which are designed to modernize the nation’s “dilapidated” electric network), 18 million smart meters and 1 million “other in-home devices” will be installed in select abodes. The idea here is to give individuals a better way to monitor their electricity usage, with the eventual goal set at 40 million installed meters over the next few years. Great idea, guys — or you know, you could just advise people to turn stuff off when they aren’t using it, or not use energy they can’t afford. Just sayin’.

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US government lays out cash for wall-based, in-home ‘smart meters’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung develops first chip for US mobile digital TV transmission, provides no release date

Mmm, nothing like a pinch of predictability to wake us in the morning. Just days after the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) finally announced that a North American mobile DTV standard was struck, Samsung has jumped in with what it’s calling the planet’s first single chip solution designed to handle those very transmissions. All we’re told is that the solution combines RF and “digital chip components” into one 65 nanometer chip, making it ideal for smaller devices such as smartphones, car-mounted televisions and portable media players. Of course, Sammy doesn’t even bother to mention a mass production date, so we’re guessing we all just rise awkwardly and start a roaring slow clap to celebrate the accomplishment.

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Samsung develops first chip for US mobile digital TV transmission, provides no release date originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI retools Wind Box DE200 and DC200, puts ’em up for pre-order

Well, what do you know? Last we saw MSI’s Wind Box DE200, it was sittin’ pretty at a booth at CeBIT. Evidently it has seen quite the makeover since that debut, with the latest imagery showing it (alongside the DC200) with far edgier enclosures. We have to say we dig the new digs, but we’re most excited about the US pricing and pre-order pages. Both units are still (under)powered by a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, and predictably, both feature 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP Home running the show. No firm release date has been nailed down for the US market, but Amazon has ’em both up for pre-order right now at $249.99 (DC200) / $299.99 (DE200).

[Via iTechNews]

Read – MSI press release
Read – Wind Box DC200 pre-order page
Read – Wind Box DE200 pre-order page

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MSI retools Wind Box DE200 and DC200, puts ’em up for pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC HD2 to arrive Stateside in early 2010 — huzzah!

Snap, looks like that painful feeling in our gut was just from that late-night Mickey’s sesh after all. HTC’s Peter Chou told SlashGear today that the monstrous, amazing HTC HD2 will be coming to the United States of America sometime in Q1 of 2010. That’s not too far off, but let’s be honest — it’s gonna be a long wait.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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HTC HD2 to arrive Stateside in early 2010 — huzzah! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Viliv’s WinXP-powered X70EX MID now on sale in America

We’re still not exactly sure who among us is buying MIDs, but as with those mysterious video glasses, it’s abundantly clear that someone, somewhere definitely is. Take Viliv’s X70, for instance. This thing’s been around the world a time or two in more than one iteration, but at long last, the E70EX has departed Hong Kong and landed on US soil. Over at NewEgg, the X70EX Express P, X70EX Premium P and X70EX Premium 3GP are available for immediate shipment, though you’ll still have to justify the $599.99, $729.99 and $879.99 (respectively) price tags. Good luck with that, and be sure to let us all know how it turns out.

[Via Laptoping]

Read – Viliv X70EX Express P
Read – Viliv X70EX Premium P
Read – Viliv X70EX Premium 3GP

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Viliv’s WinXP-powered X70EX MID now on sale in America originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FCC to propose new net neutrality rules disallowing data discrimination

Based on what we’re hearing, a slate of soon-to-be-proposed FCC rules may stop the likes of Comcast from discriminating against P2P applications on their networks, and AT&T sure will have a tougher time justifying why it won’t let the iPhone’s version of SlingPlayer run on 3G while giving WinMo and BlackBerry users all the bandwidth they can handle. Julius Genachowski, the new chairman of the entity, is slated to discuss the new rules on Monday, though he isn’t expected to dig too deep into the minutiae. Essentially, the guidelines will “prevent wireless companies from blocking internet applications and prevent them from discriminating (or acting as gatekeepers) [against] web content and services.” We know what you’re thinking: “Huzzah!” And in general, that’s probably the right reaction to have as a consumer, but one has to wonder how network quality for all will be affected if everyone is cut loose to, well, cut loose. Oh, and if this forces telecoms to deploy more cell sites to handle the influx in traffic, you can rest assured that the bill will be passed on to you. Ain’t nuthin’ free, kids.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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FCC to propose new net neutrality rules disallowing data discrimination originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NTT DoCoMo might just enter the US cellphone market, MVNO graveyard wishes it luck

If you’ve paid any attention whatsoever to the goings-on in the American cellphone market, you’d know that ponying up the dough to start an MVNO here is probably not your best shot at striking it rich. One after another has fallen flat, even ones that had millions (and millions) in marketing dollars behind ’em. That said, Japan’s own NTT DoCoMo is mulling the possibility of fully entering the US cell market next year, offering up smartphones and “other high-performance handsets with its i-mode mobile internet service.” We’re told that the operator may start as an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator), leasing capacity from T-Mobile USA or AT&T until it decides on its next move. Call us crazy, but we’re guessing it just might have a shot here on US soil if it snags the iPhone, enables all those 3G services that have been running for years on other platforms and only charges one (as opposed to three or four) human limbs for a monthly plan.

[Thanks, shinbunboi]

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NTT DoCoMo might just enter the US cellphone market, MVNO graveyard wishes it luck originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ion-equipped Samsung N510 netbook shipping stateside next month

Momma always said you had to pay to play, and it looks like those Europeans won’t be the only ones coughing up dearly for the pleasure of having NVIDIA’s Ion platform shoved within Samsung’s forthcoming N510 netbook. According to the fine folks over at Liliputing, a Samsung rep has confirmed to them that said machine will begin shipping to US soil starting in September (far later than the “July” date we heard earlier in the year), bringing with it a sizable 11.6-inch display, HDMI output, GeForce 9400M GPU, Atom processor and the ability to handle high-def and Blu-ray content. Trouble is, all that multimedia prowess will demand a stiff premium, and by “stiff,” we mean “$599.” So, is anyone actually planning on laying down six bills for a netbook, or did you just convince yourself that a thin-and-light is the way to go?

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Ion-equipped Samsung N510 netbook shipping stateside next month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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US Sony Walkman X-series unboxing and hands-on

After waiting what’s seemed like an eternity, we’ve finally got our very own US-spec Sony Walkman NWZ-X1051. Just like the Japanese unit we toyed with a few months ago, there’s no denying the sexiness of the hardware here — the OLED screen is gorgeous, and the faux-granite shell is quite nice in person, lending the whole experience a nice solid feel. We just wish the gigantic FCC sticker on the back wasn’t so nasty — it’s strangely cheap compared to everything else about the device. We’re putting this thing through its paces and we’ll have some more impressions in a bit, but for now check the unboxing and a quick head-to-head with the iPod touch in the gallery!

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US Sony Walkman X-series unboxing and hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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