Verizon Is Taking Back Something They Promised To Customers
Verizon CFO Fran Shammo reportedly told an audience at the JPMorgan Technology, Media, and Telecom conference today that 3G unlimited data plan holders will eventually have switch to a “data-share” plan. The company’s data-share plans will launch this summer and effectively end single device/single data plan polices. But data-share plans are tiered and anyone upgrading to use a 4G-enabled device must have one.
I remember when they initially got rid of the unlimited plans, they made a big deal out of it and used it to sign a lot of people up because they’d be “grandfathered in.” Less than a year later, they’re planning to take this away. I’ve never agreed with any of Verizon’s business practices. This doesn’t come as a very big surprise.
Windows 8 Will not play DVDs For Free
Windows Media Player will continue to be available in all editions, but without DVD playback support. For optical discs playback on new Windows 8 devices, we are going to rely on the many quality solutions on the market, which provide great experiences for both DVD and Blu-ray.
Two steps forward, one step back.
Microsoft is Investing in Nook
Books and bits united Monday as Microsoft provided an infusion of money to help Barnes & Noble compete with top electronic bookseller Amazon. In exchange, Microsoft gets a long-desired foothold in the business of e-books and college textbooks.
I hate to say it but this just appears to be a typical Microsoft move. One thing I hope we can look forward to, though, is a cheap Windows 8 tablet… Before this whole idea fails miserably and Microsoft tries to sell their share to Facebook…
Google Drive is everywhere you are—on the web, in your home, at the office and on the go. So wherever you are, your stuff is just…there. Ready to go, ready to share. Get started with 5 GB free.
I love the idea of this and hate the idea of giving Google all of my personal files. I’ll use it for little things, but never as if it is a hard drive on my computer.
This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.
This move totally makes sense – but $1 Bn… whoa! I would prefer if facebook spent the money on a better photo service (like 500px). While it isn’t as “socially popular” as Instagram, it is more polished, a better medium for photography, and probably cheaper. Though my preference probably isn’t the best business decision in this case.
Amazon Now Lets You Trade In Your Old CDs In Exchange For Gift Cards
The Amazon Trade-In Program, for those unfamiliar, is a service that allows customers to send in items to a third-party merchant in exchange for Amazon gift cards. The program currently supports a wide variety of merchandise including movies, textbooks, video games, electronics (including phones, iPads, iPods, Kindles, non-Kindles, laptops, etc.), and more. The items can be packed up and shipped in one box, so if you want to throw your old iPod on top of your CD collection, you can now do that too.
Just the other day I was wondering if there was an easy way to get some money for my CD collection, which I will likely never use again. Looking forward to trying this out.
Microsoft Bought 800 AOL Patents and Part of Netscape
Marking the latest escalation in the technology industry’s intellectual-property arms race, Microsoft is paying AOL a shade over $1 billion for 800 patents…
And from the second article:
Here’s a deal that would have made many minds explode back in the 1990s: Microsoft is buying Netscape. Or at least most of the important parts of the company that used to be synonymous with “Internet.”
Mercedes Can Now Update Car Software Remotely
Motavalli writes that Mercedes-Benz’s new mbrace2 ‘cloud infotainment system’ has a secret capability: it can update software automatically and wirelessly.
Why has this not existed until now?
Apple expected to become world’s first trillion-dollar company by 2014
Shares of Apple have been projected to reach $1,000 in calendar year 2014, which would give the company a market capitalization of about a trillion dollars, making it the first company to ever reach that milestone.
The title says it all. Absolutely incredible considering where Apple was not too long ago…
Ashton Kutcher to play Steve Jobs
…”Two and a Half Men” star Ashton Kutcher is attached to play Steve Jobs in the indie pic “Jobs,” which Joshua Michael Stern (“Swing Vote”) will direct from a script by Matt Whiteley.
I read this on April 1st so I (naturally) thought it was a joke. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s true. I get it. He looks like Steve Jobs. But…ugh.