VERIZON INCREASES ITS EARLY TERMINATION FEEDS, EBAY LAUNCHES AN ONLINE FASHION
MAGAZINE, AND THE JITTERBUG CAN HELP YOU IF YOU'VE FALLEN AND CAN'T GET UP.
IT'S THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE, COMING TO YOU FROM SAN
FRANCISCO THIS WEEK. IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
HERE IS SOME UGLY NEWS: VERIZON IS GOING TO INCREASE ITS EARLY TERMINATION FEE
TO $350. IT IS PROPRATED, MEANING IT DECREASES WITH EVERY PASSING MONTH BUT
ONLY BY $10. BIG WHOOP! THIS KIND OF FROSTS ME, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING VERIZON
HAS A BIG PHONE LAUNCH WITH THE DROID ON FRIDAY. THIS WAS REPORTED BY THE BOY
GENIUS REPORT AND IT APPEARS TO APPLY TO "ADVANCED DEVICES." I'M NOT SURE WHAT
THAT MEANS BUT I ASSUME IT HAS TO DO WITH HIGH-DEMAND SUBSIDIZED PHONES.
[*]
GOOGLE MADE SOME CHANGES TO FRIEND CONNECT THAT WILL MAKE IT EASIER TO
LEVERAGE GOOGLE MEMBERS TO CREATE A SOCIAL NETWORK OUT OF ANY WEB SITE. GOOGLE
FRIEND CONNECT IS A WAY FOR YOU TO ADD SOCIAL FUNCTIONS TO YOUR WEB SITE
WITHOUT BUILDING YOUR OWN SOCIAL NETWORK. YOU WILL SOON BE ABLE TO FILL OUT A
PROFILE ON FRIEND CONNECT THAT WILL BE COME SEARCHABLE. THAT PROFILE WILL BE
USED ANY TIME YOU USE A FRIEND CONNECT SITE. THIS WILL HELP YOU KEEP TRACK OF
THE SITES THAT YOU ARE VISITING ALONGSIDE OTHER USERS WITH REGULARITY.
[*]
IN OTHER GOOGLE NEWS, THE COMPANY IS LAUNCHING GOOGLE DASHBOARD, WHICH WILL
TELL YOU ABOUT ALL OF YOUR GOOGLE SERVICES IN ONE PAGE. YOU CAN SEE WHAT IS
GOING ON IN YOUR GMAIL, YOUTUBE, AND BLOGGER ACCOUNTS, AS WELL AS DELETE DATA,
AND CHANGE PRIVACY SETTINGS. THE SITE IS RUMORED TO GO LIVE TODAY.
[*]
APPLE STILL DOES NOT SELL THE BEATLES MUSIC BUT THE BEATLES MUSIC DOES NOW
COME VIA APPLE. AN APPLE THAT IS. YOU WILL SOON BE ABLE TO BUY THE NEW BEATLES
REMASTERED CATALOG ON AN APPLE-SHAPED USB DEVICE. IT WILL COST $280 AND COME
OUT ON DECEMBER 8. THAT IS NOT CHEAP BUT YOU GET MP3 AND FLAC VERSIONS OF 14
STEREO TITLES AND ALL OF THE REMASTERED CD'S VISUAL EMEMENTS INCLUDING
DOCUMENTARY FILMS, ALBUM ART, PHOTOS, AND MORE.
[*]
TWITTER'S LANGUAGE TRANSLATION IS WORKING FAST. JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO, THE
COMPANY ASKED FOR HELP TRANSLATING THE SITE INTO OTHER LANGUAGES. THIS WEEK,
THE SITE LAUNCHED IN SPANISH. YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE LANGUAGE CONFIGURATION
IN YOUR ACCOUNT SETTINGS. IT APPEARS THAT YOU CAN ALSO CHANGE THE LANGUAGE TO
JAPANESE, WHICH I WAS NOT AWARE OF. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, IT WON'T
TRANSLATE ALL OF THE TWEETS IN YOUR FEED. IT WILL JUST CHANGE THE SITE
NAVIGATION. AND IT WILL ASK YOU: QUE ESTAS HACIENDO? INSTEAD OF WHAT ARE YOU
DOING?
[*]
EBAY LAUNCHED AN ONLINE FASHION MAGAZINE CALLED "THE INSIDE SOURCE." IT IS A
PLACE TO FIND OUT WHAT IS HOT IN COUTURE AND IT IS WRITTEN BY FASHIONISTAS WHO
WOULD APPEAR TO KNOW. OF COURSE THE SITE POINTS YOU TO BUYING THESE THINGS ON
EBAY. THE SITE CAN HIGHLIGHT WHAT IS FASHIONABLE BASED ON THE SEARCH AND
BUYING PATTERNS OF ITS 88 MILLION USERS SO THAT IS SLIGHTLY COMFORTING. I'D
RATHER WATCH THE TRENDS OF THE COMMUNITY THAN FOLLOW THE FASHION ADVICE OF
SOME PRETENTIOUS FASHION MAGAZINE EDITOR. BUT IN FASHION, THE PRETENTIOUSNESS
IS OFTEN INEVITABLE, NO MATTER WHOSE ADVICE YOU'RE FOLLOWING.
[*]
THERE IS YET ANOTHER E-BOOK READER ON THE MARKET. THIS ONE IS CALLED THE ALEX.
IT WILL RUN ANDROID, HAVE A SMALL TOUCHSCREEN ALONG THE BOTTOM, AND HAVE A
FRAME RATE OF 3 FRAMES PER SECOND, WHICH IS A LOT FASTER THAN ANY OTHER READER
ON THE MARKET. UNFORTUNATELY THE TOUCHSCREEN ALONG THE BOTTOM IS A POINT OF
CONTENTION. THE MANUFACTURER IS CLAIMING THAT THE NOOK STOLE THIS IDEA FROM
THE ALEX AND A LAWSUIT IS PENDING.
[*]
TRENDING TOPICS IS A BIG DEAL LATELY. DIGG IS GETTING IN ON THIS GAME. THE
NEWS SITE LAUNCHED DIGG TRENDS, A HOME PAGE THAT WILL SHOW THE MOST ACTIVE
TRENDING STORIES ON DIGG AT ANY GIVEN TIME. IN TRUE DIGG FORM, YOU CAN VOTE ON
WHETHER OR NOT A STORY BELONGS THERE. DIGG WILL IDENTIFY THE STORIES WITH HIGH
VOLUME TRAFFIC AND USERS WILL VOTE ON THE VALIDITY OF THAT.
[*]
WORLD OF WARCRAFT MAY SOON BE BANNED IN CHINA. THE GENERAL ADMINISTRATION OF
PRESS AND PUBLICATION IN CHINA HAS ORDERED THAT THE GAME BE SHUT DOWN
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY BUT CHINA'S CULTURE MINISTRY HAS NOT SIGNED OFF ON THIS
DECREE JUST YET. THE COUNTRY'S COMMUNIST PARTY HAS ALREADY DEMANDED CENSORSHIP
OF THE GAME DUE TO QUESTIONABLE WORDS AND IMAGES. EXPERTS ESTIMATE THAT A BAN
ON WORLD OF WARCRAFT COULD EFFECT AS MUCH AS 20 PERCENT OF THE WOW-PLAYING
POPULATION.
[*]
IF YOU FALL DOWN AND CAN'T GET UP, YOU COULD USE YOUR JITTERBUG TO CALL FOR
HELP. JITTERBUG ACQUIRED MOBIWATCH FOR ITS PHONES. JITTERBUG PHONES ARE MADE
FOR THE ELDERLY POPULATION AND THEY WILL NOW HAVE MOBIWATCH'S MOBILE PERSONAL
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY. THIS MEANS THAT YOU CAN SUMMON A TRAINED
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM IF YOU NEED ONE. VERY HANDY BUT, I HOPE YOU NEVER DO.
[*]
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY AND THAT WRAPS UP YOUR WEEK OF GETTING
LOADED. I WILL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK BACK IN NEW YORK. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL
CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
