Wal-Mart announced plans to introduce its own wireless service to run on the T-Mobile's network. Called Family Mobile, the new service will offers unlimited talk and text for $45 a month for the fist user with additional lines costing $25 each a month. To be available in Wal-Mart stores starting September 20, the new service will be offered with a choice of phones from major brands like Samsung, Motorola, and Nokia with prices starting at $35 and the possibilities to upgrade a phone any time.
This will be the third Wal-Mart offering of prepaid wireless services coming on the heels of two other services, Straight Talk in partnership with Verizon Wireless and Common Cents offered with Spring Nextel. The new Family Mobile costs the same as the Straight Talk service but is a better value with the possibility to add additional lines and comes preloaded with 100 MB Web Pak Internet access to be shared by all lines in the same account. Any unused data credit can be indefinitely carried over the next month. On the other, additional WebPak can be purchased pre-paid at a rate of $40 per gigabyte.
For more, see tgdaily.com
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Cardstar and Key Ring make loyalty shopping cards easy to manage.
As Online coupons are becoming more and more popular, a growing number of start ups are springing up trying to capitalize on the trend. Beside a traditional Web site, some of these start ups have moved into the mobile world by having their products available in the form of apps for smart phones users. Earlier this month, two interesting apps Cardstar and Key Ring have moved in the arena and their offerings are impressive.
While Key Ring is designed for Android and Apple devices, Cardstar works on both those platforms and on Blackberry's too. But in general, they both function as a central command for your multiple loyalty shopping cards numbers as the number of those grow.
When it comes down to how they work, the two apps differ a little bit; while you type your loyalty numbers into Cardstar, you can do the same with the Key Ring or use your cellphone’s camera to scan the card’s bar code. By the way, it is worth mentioning that the scanning is not one hundred percent infallible as your chances for success depend greatly on the type of phone that you are using. And more often than not, you will have to manually enter the loyalty card member into your phone and that is particularly true regardless which type of phone you are using. According to these apps developers, the good news is, that as phones' scanners improve, so should be the experience with these apps.
For more, see NYTimes.com
While Key Ring is designed for Android and Apple devices, Cardstar works on both those platforms and on Blackberry's too. But in general, they both function as a central command for your multiple loyalty shopping cards numbers as the number of those grow.
When it comes down to how they work, the two apps differ a little bit; while you type your loyalty numbers into Cardstar, you can do the same with the Key Ring or use your cellphone’s camera to scan the card’s bar code. By the way, it is worth mentioning that the scanning is not one hundred percent infallible as your chances for success depend greatly on the type of phone that you are using. And more often than not, you will have to manually enter the loyalty card member into your phone and that is particularly true regardless which type of phone you are using. According to these apps developers, the good news is, that as phones' scanners improve, so should be the experience with these apps.
For more, see NYTimes.com
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Shopkick makes its debut at more than 187 Best-Buy stores.
In partnership with a start-up called Shopkick, Best-Buy has started last month an in-store mobile couponing system in 187 of its stores with plans to have it in place in 257 stores by October 1.The system borrows a page from the playbook of geo apps like Foursquare and Gowalla and then take it a bit further. Instead of having users checking in as they would with those services,
Shopkick automatically recognizes when someone with its app installed in their phones, walks into a store. The main difference being that Shopkick doesn't use GPS like other location-based apps to recognize when a person with it in their phones, walks through the doors. It uses a custom hardware app system created and installed in partner stores. The minute you enter a Best Buy location, your phone recognizes it and you get points and a message that there are deals available at this location. You can also use it to scan items and get more points and other potential deals according to Techcrunch. What that means is, it eliminate drive-by check-ins and also allow users to do more interesting things like scan items with your phone, look for deals and earn points or "kickbucks" redeemable at in various ways including discounts at the store, Facebook credits, or songs download from Napster. The app is free and people interested to sign up for it, can do it at Shopkick.com
For more, see techcrunch.com
Shopkick automatically recognizes when someone with its app installed in their phones, walks into a store. The main difference being that Shopkick doesn't use GPS like other location-based apps to recognize when a person with it in their phones, walks through the doors. It uses a custom hardware app system created and installed in partner stores. The minute you enter a Best Buy location, your phone recognizes it and you get points and a message that there are deals available at this location. You can also use it to scan items and get more points and other potential deals according to Techcrunch. What that means is, it eliminate drive-by check-ins and also allow users to do more interesting things like scan items with your phone, look for deals and earn points or "kickbucks" redeemable at in various ways including discounts at the store, Facebook credits, or songs download from Napster. The app is free and people interested to sign up for it, can do it at Shopkick.com
For more, see techcrunch.com
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Barcode Hero is an in-store shopping app with a gaming aspect to it.
Combining the attributes of location-based services like Foursquare and StickyBits an app that turns barcodes into message boards, Barcode Hero is an app that attempts to make shopping more social. When a user takes his or her phone with the free app to a store and launch it, he or can start scanning the barcodes on merchandises. Every time they do so, they earn points and rewards called dukedoms and kingships, just like on Foursquare.
The purpose of the whole process is to help the service built a database of product categories therefore make it easier for it to offer a more personalized shopping experience.
Another aspect of BarcodeHero is its gaming side which can be very additive by pitting for instance a group of friends against one another to see who would gain more points in a product categories. Founded by two former Amazon workers, BarcodeHero has a lot competition in start-ups like Blippy, Swipely or the new hot upstart Shopkick. Only available on the iPhone platform for now, the founders have plans to expand to others very soon. It can be downloaded from the iTunes store here.
For more, see techcrunch.com
The purpose of the whole process is to help the service built a database of product categories therefore make it easier for it to offer a more personalized shopping experience.
Another aspect of BarcodeHero is its gaming side which can be very additive by pitting for instance a group of friends against one another to see who would gain more points in a product categories. Founded by two former Amazon workers, BarcodeHero has a lot competition in start-ups like Blippy, Swipely or the new hot upstart Shopkick. Only available on the iPhone platform for now, the founders have plans to expand to others very soon. It can be downloaded from the iTunes store here.
For more, see techcrunch.com
Friday, September 3, 2010
Times iPad news aggregator gives users more control over their news.
iPad ownerss who use the social news aggregator Flipboard to get their news, now have another option that will allow them to define their own sources of news and information instead of leaving it up to their network of friends on Twitter or Facebook. According to AppScout,"Times is a feed reader that reformats news stories to look and behave like a newspaper on your iPad screen, complete with categories across the top of the page, popular news stories highlighted with larger images and more prominent placement on the display, and the ability to save and share news stories with your friends."
With Times, users have total control over the feeds they read and the sites that make it to the app. It is accommodating in terms of how many feeds users want to incorporate in one single page therefore giving them the possibility to scan through headlines, photos, and videos all at the same time.
Inspired by the magazine-style look of apps like Flipboard, Times adds the convenience of having each section of the layout scroll independently with the option to read a chosen story in its original Web page.
The extra convenience doesn't stop there with Times offering users the possibility to
add their favorite blogs and Web sites by just entering their URL, to create categories to help organize them. "You even get control over Times' layout: you can add or remove columns, change the number of articles included in each column, and change the way stories and photos are presented. Times also allows you to share stories on Twitter and Facebook, and e-mail them to your friends directly from the app" according to AppScout.com .
Times news aggregator doesn't come cheap, costing $7.99 at the iTunes store.
For more, see AppScout.com
With Times, users have total control over the feeds they read and the sites that make it to the app. It is accommodating in terms of how many feeds users want to incorporate in one single page therefore giving them the possibility to scan through headlines, photos, and videos all at the same time.
Inspired by the magazine-style look of apps like Flipboard, Times adds the convenience of having each section of the layout scroll independently with the option to read a chosen story in its original Web page.
The extra convenience doesn't stop there with Times offering users the possibility to
add their favorite blogs and Web sites by just entering their URL, to create categories to help organize them. "You even get control over Times' layout: you can add or remove columns, change the number of articles included in each column, and change the way stories and photos are presented. Times also allows you to share stories on Twitter and Facebook, and e-mail them to your friends directly from the app" according to AppScout.com .
Times news aggregator doesn't come cheap, costing $7.99 at the iTunes store.
For more, see AppScout.com
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Ways to keep Facebook status updates invisble.
If you are a Facebook user who didn't use a lot of discretion when accepting someone as a friend or just no longer want to have some members' status updates visible to you and find it akward to defriend them, there are some options.To make someone statu update invisible to you, all you have to do is place your mouse over his or her name and wait for a light blue X to appear on the right upper corner of the update. By clicking on the X, you will be presented with three options: Hide, Mark as spasm, or Cancel. If you choose Hide, that person's updates will never be visible to you again. To keep someone from reading your updates, a multiple steps process is needed and here is the walk through offered by the New York Times: After writing an update, look for the lock-shaped icon below and to the right of the text input box. Click on the lock, and Facebook will pop up a menu. Click the bottom option, Customize. That will pop up a dialog box labeled Custom Privacy that lets you filter who will see your update.
There are two ways to exclude people. The quick and easy way is to type their names into the box labeled “Hide this from these people” at the bottom
of the dialog box. To hide all future updates from these people, click the check box at the very bottom that says “Make this my default setting.” Then click the big blue Save Setting button. From now on, evil Charlie won’t get your updates.
The more sophisticated solution is to replace this blacklist with a list of people you do like. That way you can accept any number of new friends without having to accidentally share your updates with them.
To do this, click on Friends in the left margin of Facebook’s interface. You’ll see a button at the top of the Friends page labeled “+ Create a List”. Click that and use the dialog box that pops up to make a list of the friends you want to share with. Call it, say, True Friends.
Next time you post an update, follow the instructions above to bring up the Customize dialog box. But instead of typing into the “Hide this” field, click the menu at the top labeled “Make this visible to these people.” Select the option Specific People. A text input box will appear. Type the name of your new list, True Friends, into this field. Click “Make this my default setting” and then Save Setting. From now on, only your True Friends list will see your updates.
For more, see NewYorkTimes.com
There are two ways to exclude people. The quick and easy way is to type their names into the box labeled “Hide this from these people” at the bottom
of the dialog box. To hide all future updates from these people, click the check box at the very bottom that says “Make this my default setting.” Then click the big blue Save Setting button. From now on, evil Charlie won’t get your updates.
The more sophisticated solution is to replace this blacklist with a list of people you do like. That way you can accept any number of new friends without having to accidentally share your updates with them.
To do this, click on Friends in the left margin of Facebook’s interface. You’ll see a button at the top of the Friends page labeled “+ Create a List”. Click that and use the dialog box that pops up to make a list of the friends you want to share with. Call it, say, True Friends.
Next time you post an update, follow the instructions above to bring up the Customize dialog box. But instead of typing into the “Hide this” field, click the menu at the top labeled “Make this visible to these people.” Select the option Specific People. A text input box will appear. Type the name of your new list, True Friends, into this field. Click “Make this my default setting” and then Save Setting. From now on, only your True Friends list will see your updates.
For more, see NewYorkTimes.com
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
How to put your Facebook account on hold?
If you are a Facebook user and want to take a break from the service with an intent to be back one day, there is way to do just that without having to delete your profile.
Here are the steps needed to put your Facebook page on hold according to the New York Times: Click on the Account button at the top of the screen and choose the Account Settings option. At the bottom of the screen, you should see an option to “deactivate” your account.
Account deactivation differs from outright deletion because Facebook keeps all of your profile content (like your Friends list and photos) in storage, but it removes your profile page from public view to everyone else on the site. The deactivation page requires a reason for leaving and gives you the chance to send messages to friends telling them you’re going AWOL.
Later, if you decide to return, you can log back into Facebook with your old name and password and reactivate your account. Your profile content should eventually reappear on the site. If you decide that you want to leave for good, log back into Facebook and submit a request to permanently delete your account from Facebook’s database.
As the site’s help center explains, all the personally identifiable information (like name, e-mail address and screen names) from your account gets flushed, but a copies of things like photos and notes may stay on Facebook’s servers for “technical reasons.” Facebook states that the content left behind is dissociated from any identifying information and that it does not use material from deactivated or deleted accounts.
For more, see NewYorkTimes.com
Here are the steps needed to put your Facebook page on hold according to the New York Times: Click on the Account button at the top of the screen and choose the Account Settings option. At the bottom of the screen, you should see an option to “deactivate” your account.
Account deactivation differs from outright deletion because Facebook keeps all of your profile content (like your Friends list and photos) in storage, but it removes your profile page from public view to everyone else on the site. The deactivation page requires a reason for leaving and gives you the chance to send messages to friends telling them you’re going AWOL.
Later, if you decide to return, you can log back into Facebook with your old name and password and reactivate your account. Your profile content should eventually reappear on the site. If you decide that you want to leave for good, log back into Facebook and submit a request to permanently delete your account from Facebook’s database.
As the site’s help center explains, all the personally identifiable information (like name, e-mail address and screen names) from your account gets flushed, but a copies of things like photos and notes may stay on Facebook’s servers for “technical reasons.” Facebook states that the content left behind is dissociated from any identifying information and that it does not use material from deactivated or deleted accounts.
For more, see NewYorkTimes.com
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