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<title>Haaze.com / ahstuzl100 / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:11:03 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[iPhone service pricing: Verizon vs. AT&T (FAQ)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-service-pricing-verizon-vs--att-faq</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-service-pricing-verizon-vs--att-faq</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:11:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ahstuzl100</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=iphone-service-pricing-verizon-vs--att-faq</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The long-awaited launch of the Verizon WirelessiPhone is almost here, so how much will Verizon charge new iPhone users on its networkWhen Verizon Wireless first announced a couple of weeks ago it would begin selling the CDMA version of the iPhone, the company didn't disclose pricing of the service plans. And for the past two weeks, the company has been rather cagey about talking specifics of the pricing plan.Even though Verizon has danced around the idea of offering usage-based billing with various pricing tiers for months, the company has now revealed that it will charge iPhone subscribers the same price it's been charging other smartphone customers. The news has left many would-beVerizon iPhone customers pondering what they should do. The Verizon iPhone that goes on sale February 10 is the same model that Apple launched in June 2010 on AT&amp;T. Most of the features are the same. The networks are different, which will be the deciding factor for many customers. But for bargain-hunters looking for the best deal in terms of service for the iPhone, Verizon isn't giving them much to get excited about. So far, it doesn't appear that Verizon is taking any aggressive steps in pricing to win customers from AT&amp;T, which has been the only carrier in the U.S. to offer the iPhone since it was launched in 2007. But the carrier is hoping to entice some consumers by continuing to offer its unlimited data plan for $29.99 a month, at least for now.To help iPhone fans get a better handle on service pricing from Verizon and AT&amp;T for the iPhone, CNET has put together this FAQ.How much will it cost me per month to own the Verizon iPhoneYour individual monthly bill will depend on what features you add. But for now Verizon plans to charge iPhone users the same fees it's charging its other smartphone customers. So this means you will have the choice between different voice plans that range in price from $39.99 for 450 minutes of voice time to $69.99 for unlimited voice. Verizon also offers texting plans, including a $20 unlimited texting plan. The data plan, which is required when you subscribe to any Verizon smartphone, costs $29.99 per month. And it is unlimited. Verizon caps data usage on its wireless data cards that are used to connect laptops to the Internet. And it also applies a data cap on devices that connect to its network via a MiFi device. But for pure smartphone Internet data usage, such as subscribers using the iPhone, the service is considered unlimited. So there are no hidden overage charges from Verizon when using an unlimited data service on your smarpthone in the U.S.Didn't Verizon offer a cheaper data plan for smarpthones that only cost $15 What happened to thatVerizon has eliminated the $15 a month plan that offered 150MB of data per month. The company said that this service, which it introduced in October last year, was a promotion. That said, the company has indicated that it will offer tiered services in the future. So perhaps it will change the amount of data or the price tag in a future offering.How does AT&amp;T's iPhone service compare in price to what Verizon will offer with the iPhoneIn terms of voice services, AT&amp;T and Verizon offer almost the exact same plans that range in price from $39.99 to $69.99 a month for 450 minutes to unlimited, respectively. AT&amp;T also offers texting options, which include a $20 a month unlimited texting plan.Where the price differs between the two service providers is in data. AT&amp;T no longer offers an unlimited data plan for new smartphone customers, including new iPhone customers. Instead, new customers can choose between a $25 a month plan that offers 2GB of data and a $15 a month plan that offers 200MB of data. What about tethering How much does it cost from either AT&amp;T or VerizonEach carrier offers tethering. And they each charge $20 extra a month to use the iPhone or any smartphone as a modem to connect at least one other device to the Internet. But beyond the basic prices, the plans work very differently and that can factor into the overall cost of the service. That sounds complicated. Can you explain how Verizon prices the tethering plan for the iPhoneIt is sort of complicated. So the way it works for Verizon is that a customer who wants to tether can pay $20 on top of the $30 data fee for the ability to use their iPhone as a modem. The added benefit of Verizon's tethering plan is that turns the iPhone into a Wi-Fi router, and you can connect up to 5 devices to the Internet via the iPhone. The $20 additional fee will give you 2GB of data that is separate from the unlimited data that you can use when using your iPhone as an iPhone. But if you go over the 2GB cap, Verizon charges an additional $20 for every 1GB that you use over the cap.How is this priced differently from the tethering feature that AT&amp;T offers on the iPhone Can the AT&amp;T iPhone be used as a hot spot, tooAT&amp;T offers the ability to turn the iPhone and other smartphones into a modem to connect one other device to the Internet. But it does not turn it into a Wi-Fi hot spot, like the Verizon iPhone does.Like Verizon, subscribers to the service must pay an extra $20 a month on top of the $25 2GB a month data fee. But one key difference is that 2GB of data usage is for both regular iPhone data usage and also any data usage incurred by a device connected through the iPhone. This means it's very easy to eat through the allotted data on this plan. But the overage charge is cheaper than Verizon's. It's only $10 extra for an additional 1GB of data if you exceed the 2GB limit.I've heard that Verizon is only offering the unlimited data plan for the iPhone on a limited basis now. When will they stop offering limited data plansYou are correct. Verizon representatives have said that the unlimited iPhone data deal will only be offered for a limited time. After that the company plans to offer some kind of tiered service that provides buckets of Gigabytes per month. That's all they are saying at the moment. They haven't said how long the promotion will last or what the new plan will look like in the future. But if you get an unlimited data plan while it's offered, you will have that unlimited plan until your contract expires.What happens after my contract expires on Verizon Will I be able to get a new phone and keep my unlimited data plan The terms and pricing of your Verizon data plan only apply for as long as you are within your contract period. After your two-year contract expires, you can keep your phone and keep the unlimited data plan. But if you want to upgrade to a new phone, you'll have to sign a new contract and be subject to whatever the new pricing is at that time.I've heard that if you already have an unlimited data plan on AT&amp;T's network that you get to keep that for life Is that trueAT&amp;T has &quot;grandfathered&quot; all its smartphone subscribers who were using its service before June 2010. This means that existing customers on contract can keep the unlimited data plan. And if they don't change their plans, they can keep the unlimited plan as long as they like, even if they upgrade to a new phone. For customers who bought their phones after June 7, 2010, they must choose one of the two plans currently offered. How important is it to have unlimited data service Should this even be a factor in my decision between getting the iPhone on Verizon or AT&amp;TIt depends on how much data you think you will use. But for the average person, the 2GB plan from AT&amp;T offers plenty of data usage each month. And for some very low-data usage customers, AT&amp;T's $15 a month plan with 200MB of data is sufficient. And it offers them a way to save some money. But most people will need the 2GB plan, which at $25 a month is only $5 cheaper than Verizon's current unlimited data plan.AT&amp;T and Verizon offer tools on their Web sites to help you estimate your data usage. Who would benefit most from an unlimited data planIf you plan to stream a lot of media or use applications that you must constantly refresh then you might benefit from an unlimited data plan. For example, listening to Pandora for three to five hours at a time could be a problem. Watching one or two movies a day could also get your monthly usage close to the 2GB mark. Using Google Maps several hours a day every day could also almost reach that limit. Using Skype as the primary way to call people will also get consumers close to their data limit.But if you are using these applications in moderation, or if you use them mostly in Wi-Fi hot spots, which does not count toward your data usage totals, then you probably would be fine with AT&amp;T's 2GB service. You can also cut down on your data usage by not installing or upgrading apps over the air. You can upgrade them without consuming wireless data by syncing your phone to your computer.One thing to keep in mind is that data usage will likely increase as more data-hungry applications are introduced. So for many people, the unlimited data plans are really an insurance policy to guard against potentially heart-stopping data overages at the end of the month.Correction 3:25 p.m. PT: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of minutes available on Verizon Wireless's $39.99 voice plan.        Marguerite Reardon     Full Profile E-mail Marguerite Reardon   E-mail Marguerite Reardon If you have a question or comment for Marguerite Reardon, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Digital City: CES 2011 special edition]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=digital-city-ces-2011-special-edition</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=digital-city-ces-2011-special-edition</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ahstuzl100</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=digital-city-ces-2011-special-edition</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Management blamed for space telescope cost overrun]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=management-blamed-for-space-telescope-cost-overrun</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=management-blamed-for-space-telescope-cost-overrun</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:10:48 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ahstuzl100</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=management-blamed-for-space-telescope-cost-overrun</guid>
<description><![CDATA[NASA management miscues threaten to drive up the cost of the agency's next generation space telescope by some $1.5 billion, an independent review panel reported today, pushing the overall cost of the project into the neighborhood of $6.5 billion. That's a best-case assessment that assumes the agency launches the observatory in 2015, the earliest realistic target.But making that earliest possible launch date also assumes NASA comes up with an additional $250 million in both 2011 and 2012, an unlikely prospect in the current political environment. Barring a sudden infusion of cash, it's not yet clear what NASA can do to avoid additional delays--and even higher long-term costs--for the agency's successor to the hugely successful Hubble Space Telescope.A drawing of NASA&amp;39's James Webb Space Telescope.(Credit:NASA)Panel chairman John Casani, a widely respected project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said NASA had not squandered money budgeted for the next generation James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST. Rather, agency managers failed to accurately estimate the complex program's true costs in the first place.&quot;The fundamental root cause of the problem is that at the time of (the program's formal approval), which goes back to July 2008, the budget that NASA was presented with by the project office was basically flawed,&quot; he told reporters in an afternoon teleconference. &quot;The budget simply did not contain the content that the project even knew about at that time. And so from a money standpoint, it was just insufficient to carry out the work.&quot;The second major problem driving the projected cost overrun was that NASA Headquarters &quot;did not spot the error in it,&quot; Casani said. &quot;I don't think they fully recognized the extent to which the basic budget was understating the full requirements of the project. Those were the two major problems, the two root causes, at the outset.NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who does not participate in news briefings, said in a statement that he was pleased the panel did not find any major technical problems with the new space telescope. But he added, &quot;I am disappointed we have not maintained the level of cost control we strive to achieve, something the American taxpayer deserves in all of our projects.&quot;&quot;NASA is committed to finding a sustainable path forward for the program based on realistic cost and schedule assessments,&quot; he said.The James Webb Space Telescope Independent Comprehensive Review Panel, or ICRP, was set up by NASA at the request of Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat whose district includes NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center where the telescope project is based. The review panel, which spent about two months evaluating the JWST project, presented its report today.Hailing the scientific potential of the new telescope, &quot;this report raises significant concerns about the way in which the JWST project has been planned and managed and how its budgets were established,&quot; the panel's report concluded. &quot;The ICRP did not find that the funds used by JWST over the last 7-8 years were wasted. On the contrary, a substantial amount of cutting-edge hardware has been delivered and is now being tested as part of the first steps toward the overall integration and test of the observatory.Mirror segments, built for the James Webb Space Telescope, undergoing testing.(Credit:NASA)&quot;The JWST project does face serious difficulties, however, largely stemming from the lack of a well-defined plan for completion and because a series of decisions have led to substantial underfunding. The project must find the path to a successful launch with a realistic budget and executable schedule.&quot;Chris Scolese, associate NASA administrator, said a new program office has been set up at agency Headquarters under the direction of Richard Howard, NASA's deputy chief technologist, who will report directly to Bolden and senior management.Scolese would not speculate on what NASA might do to find additional funding and avoid additional launch delays, telling reporters the agency would need several weeks to get a better idea of what might be needed.&quot;Our main goal right now is to strengthen the management, which we're doing, to strengthen the oversight, which we're doing, and develop a good, strong estimate that we can defend,&quot; he said. &quot;We aren't in the business of cost overruns...We're taking this very, very seriously.&quot;Howard said he hoped to present initial findings by February.The Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's premiere scientific satellite, has generated a flood of scientific papers, stunning pictures and major discoveries over the past 20 years. Thanks to a recent shuttle servicing mission, Hubble should remain operational through at least 2013 and possibly longer.The James Webb Space Telescope, named after NASA's second administrator, promises to push the frontiers of knowledge back almost to the big bang explosion that created the universe.&quot;We've all seen the stunning results that have come out from Hubble over the last nearly two decades,&quot; said astronomer Garth Illingworth, a member of the JWST review panel. &quot;The James Webb is a hugely more powerful facility than Hubble, a hundred times more powerful at least.&quot;Optimized to study infrared light emitted from the most ancient stars and galaxies, JWST is expected to give astronomers a glimpse of the first generation of stars to form in the wake of the big bang.Unlike Hubble, which rode into orbit aboard a space shuttle, the JWST will be launched by an unmanned European Ariane 5 rocket and boosted to a location known as the sun-Earth Lagrange point about one million miles from Earth. Satellites placed at gravitationally balanced Lagrange points can maintain stable orbits around the sun without the need for frequent rocket-powered maneuvers.To save money and simplify the engineering challenge, JWST was not designed to be serviced or repaired by spacewalking astronauts. Once launched, the telescope will be on its own for the duration of its five-and-a-half-year design life or however long it stays healthy.At the heart of the JWST is a huge, 21-foot-wide segmented mirror that is 2.7 times wider than Hubble's with about six times more light-collecting area. An instrument module is located below the mirror to analyze the ancient light collected by the telescope.Once in space, the JWST will unfold like a huge mechanical origami. A giant five-layer sunshade the size of a tennis court will unfold to shade the mirror, helping keep it at an operating temperature of about 50 degrees above absolute zero. The mirror itself will unfold to achieve its full diameter, along with an adjustable secondary mirror mounted at the apex of three folding support masts.The JWST will weigh about 14,300 pounds on Earth, about half the weight of the Hubble Space Telescope with its heavy one-piece mirror and closed-tube design. But given the one-shot make-or-break nature of the mission, the telescope's state-of-the-art systems must work perfectly right out of the box for the mission to succeed.&quot;This is a very large, complex project and to estimate something with any read degree of precision that's never been done before is a tough job,&quot; Casani said. &quot;The bottom line is, there was just not enough money in the budget to execute the work that was required.&quot;He said the review panel did not find &quot;any way that the project costs could be reduced in any way. But we did identify a number of things that could be done that would reduce the likelihood of future cost growth. ... All of those are doable and can be handled quite readily by headquarters.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Twitter's promoted tweets come to Google]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitters-promoted-tweets-come-to-google</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitters-promoted-tweets-come-to-google</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ahstuzl100</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=twitters-promoted-tweets-come-to-google</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The first promoted tweets on Google&amp;39's real-time search page.(Credit:Search Engine Land)Twitter has scored some of the most prime advertising real estate on the Internet: Google's search pages. In what Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan called a first, Google has agreed to show Twitter's promoted tweets on its real-time search results page. The companies will share revenue from clicks on those ads, Sullivan confirmed with Google, although the nature of the split wasn't disclosed.Twitter allows businesses to purchase ads in the form of tweets that show up at the top of search results for a given topic. Those ads will also now appear in Google search results for that topic, but only above results displayed on Google's real-time search page, which can be accessed by clicking on the &quot;Updates&quot; tab on the left-hand side of a regular search-results page. Still, even that page draws a fair amount of attention. Google confirmed to Sullivan that this was the first time it has ever allowed a third-party ad network to place ads on Google's own pages, although it didn't rule out developing its own ad product for real-time search.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Platform helps jump-start new companies - Springwise]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=platform-helps-jump-start-new-companies---springwise</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=platform-helps-jump-start-new-companies---springwise</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ahstuzl100</dc:creator>
<category>Style &amp; Leisure</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=platform-helps-jump-start-new-companies---springwise</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It''s no secret that successful businesses are built on more than just a good idea. Much the way Bethnal Green Ventures aims to help incubate socially focused business concepts, so Estonian HumanIPO seeks to help gather momentum for startups of any kind.Entrepreneurs can use HumanIPO to build a business by sharing their ideas in order to find partners, mentors, consultants, foreign sales agents and investors. Toward that end, leaders of startups can upload their business ideas in a4Astealth modea4 on HumanIPO, including just basic details such as a startup teaser, pitch and attachments to explain the idea further. From there, they can invite feedback on their idea from contacts on LinkedIn and elsewhere. As on Facebook, visitors can post comments and suggestions on the startup idea''s a4Awalla4' they can also follow the concepts they like. Eventually, when the startup is ready for further visibility, the entrepreneurs involved can publish the teaser on the HumanIPO directory, opening it up to new potential partners and funding opportunities. In fact, HumanIPO can even help obtain funding from a number of different investors by setting up a separate investment company that will become a shareholder in the enterprise. Investors get charged a 5 percent commission on the invested amount, while entrepreneurs get charged EUR 1,000 per year for administration of the investment company and annual reports and for handling dividends. Rome wasn''t built in a day, as they say a4&quot; and you can bet it was a collaborative effort. One to put to work for *your* next big thing... (Related: Swedish entrepreneurs get access to untapped patents a4&quot; ''Open-mic nights'' for business ideas.)Website: www.humanipo.comContact: kresten.buch@humanipo.comSpotted by: John Greene <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CEO of Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba quits after fraud investigation]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ceo-of-chinese-e-commerce-site-alibaba-quits-after-fraud-investigation</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ceo-of-chinese-e-commerce-site-alibaba-quits-after-fraud-investigation</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ahstuzl100</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ceo-of-chinese-e-commerce-site-alibaba-quits-after-fraud-investigation</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Alibaba.com said that its chief executive David Wei has resigned after an investigation found evidence that more than 2,000 subscribers engaged in fraudulent sales.Bloomberg said that Wei (pictured) and chief operating officer Elvis Lee quit to take responsibility for the scandal, although they weren&amp;'t involved in the activities that led to the fraud. That&amp;'s a big shake-up at a company that is poised to become a huge rival of Amazon.com in the global electronic commerce market. It also shows how Asian leaders at big companies often have to take responsibility for failures that happen on their watch.The investigation found some suppliers offered bulk orders of consumer electronics at very low prices, a low minimum order quantity and less reliable payment transfer methods. Alibaba&amp;'s site is used by companies such as Wal-Mart and Procter &amp;amp' Gamble to find Chinese exporters. The investigation found that 100 Alibaba China Gold Supplier staffers knew about the fraud but stayed quiet so that they could make their sales numbers and receive commissions. The company has terminated the store fronts of 2,326 members suspected of fraud.Alibaba&amp;'s shares fell 3.5 percent on the Hong Kong stock market before the announcement. The fraudulent activity was noticed by senior management in late 2009 and is not expected to have a &amp;''material financial impact&amp;'' on the company. Jonathan Lu, head of the Alibaba Group&amp;'s Taobao.com e-commerce division, will take over Wei&amp;'s job.Yahoo owns a large stake in Alibaba&amp;'s parent company.AllThingsD has a copy of a company memo circulated by Alibaba chairman Jack Ma in wake of the resignations.Ma said, &amp;''Over this month, I&amp;'ve experienced a lot of torment, a lot of frustration, a lot of anger.&amp;''[photo credit: Bloomberg]Next Story: Student tablet maker Kno may drop hardware to focus on software Previous Story: Motorola&amp;'s Xoom tablet to ship without Adobe FlashPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: e commerceCompanies: Alibaba, Alibaba.com, Amazon, Wal MartPeople: David Wei, Elvis Lee          Tags: e commerceCompanies: Alibaba, Alibaba.com, Amazon, Wal MartPeople: David Wei, Elvis LeeDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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