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Super Bowl ad frenzy stretches far beyond the game (AP) : Technet |
- Super Bowl ad frenzy stretches far beyond the game (AP)
- Vodafone: Egypt forced us to send text messages (AP)
- Ahead of iPhone, Verizon says it may slow data (AP)
- Wireless Charging Powers Forward for Mobile Devices (PC World)
- Foursquare's Super Bowl Campaign to Test Badge Redemption Codes (Mashable)
- 2X Client top Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)
- Verizon may curb heavy iPhone data users (Reuters)
- Journalists detail on Twitter media attacks in Egypt (Reuters)
- Play Little Big Planet 2, win a TV (Digital Trends)
- Get an iPhone 4 Cheap by Canceling Your Verizon Contract (PC World)
- Microsoft sells $2.25 billion of debt at low rates (Reuters)
- Zynga hacker caught, but not before landing $12M in virtual poker chips (Digital Trends)
| Super Bowl ad frenzy stretches far beyond the game (AP) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 06:46 PM PST NEW YORK – The Super Bowl commercial blitz is extending beyond the usual talking babies and office chimps to engage viewers online and get more for advertisers' $3 million-plus investment. Marketers are using every trick in the playbook to dominate the buzz before the game and long afterward, too. The gimmicks include online contests, a car "race" powered by Twitter mentions, and a secret new level of a hit iPhone game. The goal is to build buzz, not get lost in the 42 minutes of Super Bowl ad time, and get cheap or free exposure when viewers watch again on YouTube. "Nowadays you've got to get more out of your investment than 110 million viewers watching a 60-second spot," said Steve Cannon, head of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA. As part of a tie-in to the automaker's first Super Bowl ad, which introduces five new vehicle models and celebrates the company's 125th anniversary, Mercedes developed a pre-game race among four teams headed for the Super Bowl in Arlington, Texas. The racers' speed is dictated by the number of tweets they receive. Advertisers have bought up all the commercial time on Fox's broadcast. Last year, space was still available near game time, but for this year's contest, it was gone by October. Thirty seconds of air time is selling for $3 million, up slightly from last year's $2.97 million, according to Kantar Media. Most other nights of the year, a 30-second prime-time commercial runs between $100,000 and $500,000. Companies covet the Super Bowl audience because it is huge and because viewers are paying attention. As people spend more time on computers and smartphones and browse among 500 cable channels, it's perhaps the only broadcast that allows advertisers to reach such a broad audience. "It's the most efficient media buy out there. Where do you pull such numbers consistently?" said Bob Horowitz, producer of the annual TV show "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials." "It also delivers a huge female audience." The ad lineup features both familiar and new characters. Budweiser's classic Clydesdales return, E-Trade sticks with its talking babies, and Careerbuilder.com brings back its office chimps. Following its hit ad last year with Betty White and Abe Vigoda on a football field, Mars Inc.'s Snickers brand will reprise its theme "You're Not You When You're Hungry," this time with comedians Roseanne Barr and Richard Lewis. A musical odd couple, Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne, will star in Best Buy's first Super Bowl commercial, which is still under wraps. Standing out in an increasingly crowded Super Bowl ad lineup takes more than a funny gag or celebrity of the moment. "We're seeing social media embraced by Super Bowl advertisers like never before," said Tim Calkins, marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He said advertisers can get a lot of traffic for a rather modest investment by capitalizing on social media. Among the gimmicks advertisers are using to extends their ads' impact: • Twentieth Century Fox will air an ad for the animated movie "Rio" that contains a code that will unlock a secret level in the popular smartphone game "Angry Birds." The level will let users enter a sweepstakes for a trip to Rio de Janeiro on March 22 for the film premiere. • PepsiCo's six ads for Doritos and Pepsi Max were created by consumers and selected by popular vote at Pepsi's http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com. Ten finalists got $25,000 and a trip to the game. The creators of the seven commercials have a shot at prizes of up to $1 million if the spots rank at or near the top of USA Today's ad meter. • Anheuser-Busch posted still images from three Bud Light ads on Facebook two weeks before the game. If people who "Like" Bud Light on Facebook correctly guess the plot of the ads, a fourth online-only ad will be unlocked. "Before, everyone asked, `What was the best spot?' But now, people are broadening their idea of what that means," said Steve Slivka, chief creative officer of Colossal Squid Industries, a digital ad agency in Chicago. For Mercedes, the social-media push seems to be working. Since its Tweet race was announced, Mercedes' Facebook following has more than tripled to 85,000 fans. It started a Twitter account for the race, which now has 73,000 followers. And since the racers began posting YouTube videos when the race started Tuesday, they have been viewed 1.8 million times. |
| Vodafone: Egypt forced us to send text messages (AP) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 12:16 PM PST LONDON – Egyptian authorities forced Vodafone to broadcast pro-government text messages during the protests that have rocked the country, the U.K.-based mobile company said Thursday. Micro-blogging site Twitter has been buzzing with screen grabs from Vodafone's Egyptian customers showing text messages sent over the course of the demonstrations against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old regime. A text message received Sunday by an Associated Press reporter in Egypt appealed to the country's "honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor." Another urged Egyptians to attend a pro-Mubarak rally in Cairo on Wednesday. The first was marked as coming from "Vodafone." The other was signed: "Egypt Lovers." In a statement, Vodafone Group PLC said that the messages had been drafted by Egyptian authorities and that it had no power to change them. "Vodafone Group has protested to the authorities that the current situation regarding these messages is unacceptable," the statement said. "We have made clear that all messages should be transparent and clearly attributable to the originator." The company also said its competitors — including Egypt's Mobinil and the United Arab Emirates' Etisalat — were doing the same. Etisalat, known formally as Emirates Telecommunications Corp., declined comment. Vodafone said the texts had been sent "since the start of the protests," which kicked off more than a week ago. Vodafone did not immediately return an e-mail asking why the company waited nearly 10 days to complain publicly. Its statement was released only after repeated inquiries by the AP. The company declined to reveal how many such messages it had sent, or whether it was still pumping them out. Vodafone has already come under fire for its role in the Internet blackout that cut Egypt off from the online world for several days. The company said the order to pull the plug on its Egyptian customers could not be ignored as it was legal under local law. Vodafone was able to restore its data services on Wednesday — five days after it suspended all services in the country, according to company spokesman Bobby Leach. The company, however, was still unable to provide mobile phone text message services as of Thursday evening, he said. ____ Adam Schreck in Kabul contributed to this report. |
| Ahead of iPhone, Verizon says it may slow data (AP) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 08:30 AM PST NEW YORK – On the same day it started taking pre-orders for the iPhone, Verizon Wireless started reserving the right to slow down data service for subscribers who consume far more than others. A document on the company's website said that, starting Thursday, subscribers who sign a new contract for an unlimited data plan — a requirement to buy a Verizon iPhone — are agreeing that the carrier may throttle their data speeds if they use so much data that it slows down service for other users. Heavy data use from iPhone users has caused congestion and poor service in some places on AT&T's network, but Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson says Verizon's move isn't related to the launch of the iPhone. The growth in smart phone use in general prompted it, he said. "This is looking ahead and making sure that our customers get the experience that they expect from us," Nelson said. "We all have seen what happens when a company doesn't manage its network." Verizon started taking pre-orders for the iPhone from current subscribers at midnight. It starts selling the phone in stores next Thursday. Previously, AT&T Inc. has been the exclusive carrier for Apple Inc.'s iPhone in the U.S. Verizon isn't planning to slow data speeds for heavy users by default, Nelson said. Where there are few other users who connect to the local wireless tower, heavy data use may not affect others. Nelson said Verizon won't throttle speeds for subscribers who signed their data-plan contracts before Thursday, nor will it do so for users on limited plans. They pay extra when they use more than their monthly data allotment. Verizon has said that the unlimited data plan for the iPhone is a temporary measure designed to give it a marketing edge over AT&T Inc., which provides only limited plans for new customers. All wireless carriers report that a small number of wireless users account for the majority of data use. Video and audio streaming services are typically the ones that push up data usage. T-Mobile USA already throttles the speeds of some heavy smart-phone users. AT&T doesn't, according to spokesman Mark Siegel. Verizon also said it reserved the right to "compress" or shrink video feeds to smart-phone subscribers. The blog Boy Genius Report reported first on the Verizon document. |
| Wireless Charging Powers Forward for Mobile Devices (PC World) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 05:30 PM PST What if you could travel with just one charging option for all your digital devices, instead of lugging around a tangle of charging cables? Wouldn't it be nice if you could set down your smartphone on a special charging table or car dashboard to power it up without any cords? Major growth is coming soon for the wireless charging market, according to market research firm iSuppli. The company predicts a 65-fold increase in the overall market in the next few years, and estimates that more than 230 million electronic devices with wireless charging functionality will ship in 2014. In this article, I'll discuss the pros and cons of inductive and conductive wireless charging technology, and I'll describe how three wireless charging products worked for me. Why Wireless Charging? Plugging your device into an electricity source with a cord is a tedious pain--especially when you consider the diverse array of connector types and power cords involved. Traditional charging relies on electricity conducted directly between a device and a connecting physical wire or through contact with batteries. On the other hand, inductive charging uses magnetic and electromagnetic energy to induce a transfer of power wirelessly. Many electric toothbrushes charge this way. Most smartphones rely on old-fashioned conductive charging, requiring you to plug in the handset. However, you can charge the Palm Pre by placing it on the HP Touchstone wireless charging base, because inductive charging technology is built into the Pre's case. Both HTC and LG announced smartphones at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show that include wireless charging capabilities built into their batteries. Other wireless charging options include the Energizer Qi, the Powermat, and the Duracell MyGrid, all of which enable users to wirelessly charge a variety of gadgets and devices. It's awesome to be able to charge a mobile gadget without the hassle of untangling cords and plugging it in; you just set the device down on a charging pad and walk away. A single charging system can work with devices from different manufacturers, and in some cases it can even charge multiple devices simultaneously. The technology still has some kinks to work out, though. For each of your devices, you need some sort of charging sleeve or a connector to a charging module; unlike the Palm Pre, other gadgets don't have inductive charging technology built in. Another drawback is that you must have access to the charging mat. The convenience of not having to worry about cords is lost when you must ensure that you have both the right proprietary inductive charging sleeve and the appropriate charging mat. In Video: Wireless Power Charges Ahead Wireless Charging Standard Imagine if hotel rooms came standard with universal charging mats. Instead of having to carry the bulky chargers for your laptop, mobile phone, tablet, e-reader, and music player--and being out of luck when you forget one at home--you could simply set your gadgets on the charging mat. That's the goal, more or less, of the Wireless Power Consortium. The organization--consisting of more than 70 companies--is developing the Open Inductive Charging Standard, more commonly known as Qi. Named for the Chinese word for "life force," the Qi standard enables devices from different vendors to charge interchangeably as long as they are Qi-compliant. Only a handful of Qi-compatible products are available currently, and the standard has existed for just a few months, but so far it's showing impressive momentum. The key to the long-term success of wireless charging is standardization. As long as charging systems such as the Powermat work only with their own proprietary hardware, the concept will continue to be a niche novelty. But if many vendors agree to standardize devices and to make charging systems interchangeable, as is the case with the Energizer Qi, the possibilities are nearly limitless. Next page: A look at three wireless charging mats Energizer Qi is compliant with the Wireless Power Consortium standard. That's a plus for the Energizer system--assuming that other Qi-enabled devices or charging mats soon become available to take advantage of it. As long as my Energizer Qi mat and my Energizer Qi iPhone 4 sleeve ($35) are all that I can work with, it's really no different from the proprietary Powermat system. I really like the look and feel of the Energizer Qi iPhone 4 sleeve, which is smooth, solid, and a nice fit on the phone. It does add some heft, though: The sleeve weighs about twice as much as the Powermat's iPhone 4 sleeve, adding just over an ounce to the total weight of the smartphone. I had two big issues with the Energizer Qi system. First, the charging mat itself is big (it's fairly flat, but it takes up about as much space as a sheet of paper) and not aesthetically pleasing. It isn't the sort of thing I want visible in my home as a permanent fixture. The second, much larger problem is that you have no way to sync the iPhone 4 with iTunes or your PC while it is in the Energizer Qi iPhone 4 sleeve. For other smartphones that can sync wirelessly--which in all fairness the iPhone should be able to do--this obviously would not be an issue. Powermat 2x Mat with Powercube ($70): The Powermat charging system, on the other hand, has a Micro-USB connector in the bottom of the iPhone 4 charging sleeve. It comes equipped with a USB-to-Micro-USB cord so that you can still connect the iPhone 4 to your PC and sync its data without having to remove the phone from the charging sleeve. Of course, the irony of needing a wire to maintain the functionality of my smartphone while using it with my "wireless" charging system is not lost on me. The Powermat charging system is much more versatile than the Energizer Qi. Sleeves for a variety of smartphones are available, ranging in price from $20 to $40; the assortment covers iPhones as well as Android and BlackBerry handsets. Plus, you can find charging sleeves for the Nintendo DS and DS Lite, an inductive charging dock for the iPod and iPhone, and a universal charging module for devices that aren't equipped with sleeves. Powermat also offers a portable rechargeable battery that you can charge wirelessly and then carry as an emergency backup for your mobile device. As with the Energizer system, I have two complaints about the Powermat. The first problem is with the flip-down top of the iPhone 4 sleeve, where the device slides in; it clips on too snugly, and getting the iPhone 4 in and out of the charging sleeve is a pain. The flip-down part seems unnecessary. The other issue is that Powermat's technology is proprietary--although I like the Powermat system more than the Energizer Qi system today, I would rather invest in a standardized platform that doesn't lock me in to one vendor. Duracell MyGrid Cell Phone Starter Kit ($57): Falling somewhere between the Qi and the Powermat is the Duracell MyGrid charging system. The MyGrid cell phone starter kit comes with a MyGrid power clip and the necessary adapters to connect with a variety of BlackBerry, Motorola, and Nokia handsets. Similar to Powermat, Duracell also offers a rechargeable portable battery capable of providing up to 35 hours of additional power. Unlike the other two wireless charging systems, the Duracell MyGrid uses conductive, rather than inductive, technology. Power transfers from metal strips on the MyGrid charging mat to metal contacts on the charging sleeve or clip, but the MyGrid mat is engineered so that it's safe to touch and not a shock hazard. The charging sleeve for the iPhone 4 is a lightweight, flexible rubber case. It's my favorite of the three; like the Energizer Qi sleeve, however, it does not provide any way of syncing the iPhone 4 while the handset is in the case. Duracell's charging mat is less sleek and attractive than Powermat's system, but it has the advantage of being able to charge up to four devices simultaneously. And it's less picky about where or how devices should rest on it in order for them to connect and charge. The MyGrid seemed to charge a little faster than the other two products did. Recharge times on the Duracell were more like plugging my iPhone 4 into the wall, while the Powermat and Energizer models were somewhat slower--more like charging the iPhone 4 with a USB cable connected to my PC. Going Sleeveless Wireless charging for mobile devices is cool and has potential, but currently it doesn't really make life more efficient or convenient. Instead of having to connect your smartphone to a charging cord, you have to make sure you have the right charging sleeve. Instead of needing the right adapter and connector to juice up your gadget, you require the appropriate charging mat. These are the same drawbacks as with wired charging, but with different items to remember. For my iPhone 4, in fact, cord-free charging actually adds complexity. Instead of connecting the phone to my PC via USB cable and then charging, syncing, and backing it up simultaneously while I sleep, I now have to charge the phone wirelessly, and then connect it to the PC to sync and backup. That might even require removing the charging sleeve, depending on the wireless charging platform. "It is about time some sort of standard emerges for charging devices," says Al Hilwa, an analyst for research firm IDC, adding that vendors have had little financial incentive to adapt a shared standard. However, the Qi standard has major backing--including from Duracell, Energizer, Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung--so the future looks bright. If Qi gains momentum, then smartphone, tablet, and laptop vendors will simply build Qi-compatible inductive charging functionality into the cases of their devices, eliminating the need for external charging sleeves. The Wireless Power Consortium envisions incorporating Qi into a wide range of settings, including homes, hotels, airports, convenience stores, and restaurant chains. Imagine if automobile manufacturers built Qi-compatible charging into vehicles. Wireless charging everywhere could be great--but today it remains a cool, niche novelty. In Video: Powermat Eliminates Charging Cables |
| Foursquare's Super Bowl Campaign to Test Badge Redemption Codes (Mashable) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 02:20 PM PST This year, startups and brands are hungrier than ever to capitalize on the Super Bowl and the anticipated volume of conversations that will spill over on social sites by association. In doing just that, Foursquare will be testing out two new ideas: A global promoted venue and redemption codes attached to badges. The location-based mobile game is trading in the local appeal of its service for a day and working with the NFL on something more global in nature. On Sunday, all Foursquare users will see the same promoted trending venue -- "Super Bowl Sunday" -- for the duration of the game. Foursquare will be doling out team-themed Super Bowl badges to Steelers and Packers fans who check in to the promoted venue and include the name of a team in their shouts. Foursquare users at the game can unlock a special Super Bowl XLV badge if they check in to the stadium. More importantly, every unlocked badge comes with a unique redemption code that badge holders can use for a 20% discount on select merchandise at NFLShop.com. Foursquare fans will appreciate the badges and the merchandise discount, but there's much more to this promotion than ephemeral trophies and sporting memorabilia. The "Super Bowl Sunday" manually promoted venue is a notable tangent from the startup's everyday fare of venues promoted by popularity. For starters, Foursquare will likely see its most venue checkins to date. Then, of course, is the potential for the startup to open up promoted venues to paid advertisers. Badge holder redemption codes are also something we'd anticipate the startup will proffer to future partners to better tie Foursquare activity to actual sales. A Foursquare representative stressed that this particular promotion is merely an experiment and that no money is changing hands. But, in testing badge redemption codes and Foursquare-promoted venues, the startup seems to be laying the foundation for products with advertiser appeal. |
| 2X Client top Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 11:34 AM PST |
| Verizon may curb heavy iPhone data users (Reuters) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 04:50 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) – Verizon Wireless warned customers it may clamp down on heavy users of its wireless data services before an anticipated deluge of Apple Inc iPhone customers. The mobile service provider is expected to benefit from strong pent-up demand for the device as it ends AT&T Inc's more than three-year hold on U.S. iPhone sales. During the first day of online sales of its new iPhone, the Verizon appeared initially to be facing heavy demand for the phone on its website, as some who tried to buy it were instead stymied by error messages. Verizon said its system ran smoothly and that the errors were user-specific. One perceived advantage of buying the Verizon Wireless iPhone was its offer, at least initially, of unlimited data services for a flat monthly fee of $30. AT&T eliminated its unlimited data plan last year. However some consumers may be less excited about this, if Verizon Wireless starts slowing down download speeds for the heaviest 5 percent of its smartphone data users as a document on its website suggests, analysts said. "Neither one is rolling out the red carpet for heavy data users," said Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart. "It makes Verizon Wireless equally unattractive." Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc, did not respond to requests for comment on the restriction. The No. 1 U.S. mobile service started taking online orders from existing customers for the iPhone at 3 a.m. EST on Thursday, a week before it is due to hit its store shelves. The company said the ordering system was holding up well and they were still taking pre-orders as of 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT). A spokeswoman said the glitches tended to be "account-specific", such as when a would-be customer may not have been authorized to buy an iPhone because they were not the primary holder of a family or business account. Verizon was working to replace a now-generic error message with messages explaining what that specific customer's problem is, she added. When AT&T and Apple launched pre-orders of the iPhone 4 in June last year, heavy demand caused technical problems on both companies' websites. Some analysts said Verizon Wireless could sell as many as 13 million iPhones this year. Verizon's earnings guidance for the year assumed sales of 11 million iPhones, in line with the average analyst estimate. GOOD BUT WITH TRADE-OFFS While many of AT&T customers are tied into contracts, analysts still expect some to leave for Verizon due to AT&T's reputation for poor network performance, particularly in cities like New York and San Francisco. The first reviews of the iPhone designed to run on Verizon network, which came out on Thursday, said the Verizon Wireless iPhone voice service worked better than the AT&T iPhone service. They noted that switching from AT&T would come with some trade-offs. Wall Street Journal reviewer Walt Mossberg said that while the Verizon Wireless iPhone had fewer dropped calls than AT&T's, the Verizon Wireless Web surfing speeds were slower than those experienced by AT&T's iPhone. New York Times reviewer David Pogue said he was impressed the Verizon Wireless iPhone made calls in his house, which he described as "The Cellphone Signal Torture Chamber of Doom." But unlike AT&T's iPhone, the Verizon Wireless phone does not allow simultaneous Web surfing and voice calls. If you receive a call while Web surfing in Verizon's 3G network coverage area, the online session is interrupted so you can answer the phone, but if you are in an area with a slower 2G connection, the call goes directly to voicemail, Pogue said. The Verizon iPhone may also frustrate some business travelers as it works in far fewer countries than the AT&T iPhone, which supports a more widely used network technology. AT&T shares closed up 1.2 percent at $27.99 on New York Stock Exchange, while Verizon stock ended 0.6 percent at $36.38. Verizon also said on Thursday that it had authorization to buy back up to 100 million shares of its stock out of the 2.8 billion shares it has outstanding. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Oatis; editing by Dave Zimmerman, Maureen Bavdek and Tim Dobbyn) |
| Journalists detail on Twitter media attacks in Egypt (Reuters) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 07:26 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Several international journalists are detailing on Twitter attacks on the media in Cairo. Following are some of their recent Tweets: Anderson Cooper (CNN): "Got roughed up by thugs in pro-mubarak crowd..punched and kicked repeatedly. Had to escape. Safe now ... Thanks for tweets of concern..I'm sore and head hurts but fine. Neil and mary anne are bruised but ok too. Thanks" ABC News' Brian Hartman: "Just escaped after being carjacked at a checkpoint and driven to a compound where men surrounded the car and threatened to behead us ... One man who swore to kill us wore police uniform. Mubarak banner over the scene. But anger at perceived media bias was genuine." Katie Couric (CBS): "Outside square Pro mubarak protestors very hostile...wouldn't let us shoot video, pushing etc another photog just got punched and maced ... It is pretty scary and unruly out there, but we're being very cautious." Al-Jazeera's Dan Nolan: "2 sides faced off for 15mins, no violence just war of chants then kaboom! Don't know what exactly ignited it but boy did it turn ugly fast! ... Sorry for the radio silence guys but situation has become much worse in past 24hrs esp for media even more so for aljazeera!" Independent Television News' Jonathan Rugman: "Morning from Cairo! Thugs we think are Mubarak secret police threatening journalists. Many turned back for safety ... One journalist punched in face, another stabbed in leg by pro-Mubarak thugs in Cairo this morning. On their way to hospital now ... Gunfire as anti Mubarak protestors push beyond their barricades ... Chant going up "the regime must cpme down" ... What I have not described is the constant chanting, shouting, beating of metal barricades - all night and all day." Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey: "Please don't respond to my phone or BBM. This isn't me. My phone was confiscated by a thug of an officer who insults those who call." Al-Jazeera's Anna-Lisa Fuglesang: "So I'm in what people are calling a war zone, journos with bandages on their heads. I on the other hand have got an eye infection ... Monday we were out filming freely talking to people on the streets. The atmosphere was good. Today we can't leave our hotel .. All the journos sitting in the hotel lobby have been moved away from the entrance. Rocks are being thrown close to the front door." Christiane Amanpour (ABC): "Tried filming on bridge into sq. Mob surrounded us, chased us into car shouting that they hate America - kicked in doors & broke windshield ... In the pre-dawn hours, there was heavy shooting into the protesters & into that square, where women & children also had been all night." BBC's Jon Williams: "Security situation in Cairo deteriorating. One BBC team detained by Presidential Guard, others roughed up by protestors. Tempers fraying..." (Editing by Jill Serjeant) |
| Play Little Big Planet 2, win a TV (Digital Trends) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 03:38 PM PST
When you head online and download the level entitled "LittleBigPrius 2", you then use the collected items to build your own LittleBigPlanet Prius-inspired level. Once you have created your masterpiece, simply name it "Prius (then your level's name)", and Sony Computer Entertainment of America will listen to the community feedback before picking the top 10 most popular levels. Once the top 10 is selected, five will be chosen, and of those five, four will receive a PlayStation Move Sports Champions bundle. The grand prize winner will then receive a 46" Sony Bravia 3D HDTV with a PlayStation Move hardware bundle. While in itself, the contest is interesting, perhaps more importantly is what it signifies. Sony has confirmed its commitment to growing the PlayStation Network, and this might be the start of a larger campaign to lure people into interacting with the online communities on the various PlayStation devices. Besides, free 3D HDTVs are cool. The contest runs through March 8 at 11:59pm, and the winners will be announced in May.
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| Get an iPhone 4 Cheap by Canceling Your Verizon Contract (PC World) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 04:45 PM PST Attention Verizon Wireless customers considering upgrading to an iPhone 4: Read the fine print. That heavily promoted $200 upgrade deal you've probably seen from Verizon doesn't apply to everyone. To hear most sites tell it, you can pick up an entry-level 16GB Verizon iPhone for just $200. It'll run you $300 if you want the extra 16GB, but hey, $200! That's not so bad. These things sell for $650 and $750 without the discount. Who'd actually pay that? Anyone who's already a short-term Verizon customer, of course. Like me. In fact I'm not even eligible for the $100 discount the company offers users every 20 months (a discount it's phasing out). I signed up with Verizon last April. My wife and I grabbed the family plan and a couple of cheap LG clamshells. We'd considered AT&T iPhones, but I'd heard the rumors about a Verizon iPhone coming in 2011. My wife's family lives on a farm in the Midwest with no AT&T data service and questionable voice coverage. Verizon voice and data, on the other hand, work fine. We decided to stick with Verizon and wait. Until last night, that is, when I received one of those portentous e-mails: "iPhone 4. Verizon. It begins tomorrow. 02.03.11." Racing through the online pre-order procedure after it activated in the wee hours this morning (3am ET, thanks a lot Verizon!) I smacked into the following screen: Full retail price? $650 for the 16GB iPhone 4? That's what it looked like, and sure enough, my Verizon online account page said I wasn't eligible for an upgrade until January 2012. Just to be sure, I gave Verizon a call. "That's right Mr. Peckham, you'll have to pay full retail price if you want an iPhone 4," said the Verizon rep half an hour later (Verizon customer service is swamped today, no surprise). "We're not able to offer any other discounts, and you're not eligible for a phone upgrade at this time." "Okay, but what if I cancel my existing contract?" I said, probing a different angle. "What if I just pay the termination fee and sign up again?" "You could do that," said the rep. "It would cost you $135 to cancel today [Note: This fee varies based on how far along you are in your contract]. You could cancel, pay the $135 fee, then sign up again and get the 16GB iPhone 4 you want for $200." Me: "So you're telling me that if I'm willing to lose my number and pay an activation fee, it's a lot cheaper if I want the 16GB iPhone 4 to cancel my contract and set up a new one?" Verizon: "That's correct." There you have it. Cancel your contract, pay the $135 termination fee, pay the $35 one-time new contract activation fee, and you can nab a 16GB iPhone 4 from Verizon for much less than you would pay by simply upgrading within your contract. And there's more. It turns out you might not have to lose your Verizon number. Not if you port it to Google Voice (before canceling, of course). The cost to do so: $20. My port's pending as I type this. As I understand it, it's possible to port from Google Voice back to Verizon as well, but even if that turns out not to be the case (or too much of a headache to bother) I can always forward calls from Google Voice to whatever my new Verizon number turns out to be, once I sign back up. Let's review the math. For $650, I keep my number and get a Verizon iPhone 4 without the extra steps. Or I cancel my Verizon contract for $135, lose the number (or pay Google Voice $20 to port it for safekeeping), set up a new contract for $35, pay $200 for the 16GB iPhone 4, all for $370--a savings of $280. I might have to wait a little longer for my iPhone 4, since new contracts aren't allowed until February 9 (next Wednesday). But hey, it's $280. Hardly chump change. For that, I'd wait a lot more than a week. Matt Peckham writes PC World's Game On video games blog. Keep tabs on him: Twitter - Facebook - RSS |
| Microsoft sells $2.25 billion of debt at low rates (Reuters) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 02:11 PM PST NEW YORK/SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Thursday sold $2.25 billion of bonds at close to record low borrowing levels as it looks for cheap ways of raising cash to fund its share buybacks and dividend payouts. The world's largest software company, making its third trip to the US corporate bond market in two years, has $41 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet, but likes to borrow as the most of that cash is locked up overseas. The proceeds of the debt sale are for general corporate purposes, including working capital, expenditures, stock buybacks, acquisitions and dividends, according to the company's regulatory filing. With a stagnant stock price over the past 10 years, Microsoft likes to reward shareholders, spending more than $170 billion on dividends and share repurchases in that time. In its latest offering, Microsoft sold $750 million of five-year notes at a yield spread of 38 basis points over comparable Treasuries, close to a record low, according to syndicate sources. The second tranche comprised $500 million of 10-year notes, at 48 basis points over Treasuries and the third tranche was $1 billion of 30-year bonds at 68 basis points over Treasuries. That makes it one of the more tightly priced bonds this year, but the slight payout did not deter investors, which have flooded the bond market this year looking to diversify out of financials, snapping up recent debt from Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide (BUD.N) and Kimberly-Clark Corp (KMB.N). Microsoft's debt offering was massively oversubscribed, with $6 billion of orders placed, according to market sources. The company's shares fell less than 1 percent as the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose slightly. STRONG CREDIT With AAA ratings from Standard & Poor's and Moody's, Microsoft is one of the strongest U.S. companies, with its $41 billion cash pile and a mere $8.5 billion in outstanding senior unsecured debt. The majority of that cash is held overseas -- as most of Microsoft's revenue comes from outside the United States -- so the company likes to raise cash from bond investors rather than pay high tax rates to repatriate cash. With a stock trading at the same level as 10 years ago, Microsoft is a major buyer of its own shares, repurchasing $5 billion worth alone in the last quarter, out of a $40 billion repurchase program that expires in 2013. Last September, the company hiked its quarterly dividend 23 percent to 16 cents per share, declaring $1.3 billion in dividends in the last quarter. Microsoft only started paying a dividend in 2003, and surprised the market with a special dividend of $3 per share the year after, dispersing more than $30 billion to investors in one go. Microsoft generally makes dozens of small acquisitions per year, but has not made a large deal since its $6 billion purchase of web ad firm aQuantive in 2007, which was not a success. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and RBS are lead managers on the sale. Last week Microsoft reported record quarterly revenue of $19.95 billion and net profit of $6.63 billion, boosted by strong sales of its Windows operating system and its new Kinect hands-free gaming system. (Reporting by IFR reporter Timothy Sifert in New York and Reuters reporter Bill Rigby in Seattle) |
| Zynga hacker caught, but not before landing $12M in virtual poker chips (Digital Trends) Posted: 03 Feb 2011 11:30 AM PST
The 29-year-old was only able to sell around £53,000 (or $86,000) worth of his stash. If he'd been able to sell everything he had stolen, though, he'd be $300,000 richer. The chips, sold legitimately by Zynga, amount to $12 million. Mitchell has pled guilty, and through his lawyer insists he struggles with a gambling addiction. He faces four charges of converting criminal property as well as consequences for violating the Computer Misuse Act. Not helping his case? His record: Mitchell hacked into his local government's network three years and his latest actions breach a suspended sentence. Some people never learn. Prosecutor Gareth Evans pointed out that seeing as Zynga's currency is in-game only, it doesn't directly affect the company's revenue as most customer thefts do – Zynga can always recreate the "money" Mitchell stole and its value is difficult to determine since it exists online only. However, he noted that Zynga could lose users who fear falling subject to hackers. |
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