Posted 11/02/09 at 07:18:30 PM by Ryan Whitwam

We all rubbed our eyes in disbelief when Verizon announced they would be releasing a fully open handset, the Motorola Droid. Not only did it have WiFi, it had free GPS! This was not the Verizon we all knew. Some of the more pessimistic among us were waiting for the other shoe to drop, and now it has. A Verizon rep has confirmed that using the integrated Microsoft Exchange support in the Droid will mean an extra $15 fee each month.

This boosts the monthly cost of data to $45 instead of the standard $30. Verizon also plans to offer a $50 per month data-only plan for the Droid. Verizon indicated this fee just brings the cost in line with smartphone plans for corporate email seen on Blackberrys. "The Droid is primarily a consumer phone," said Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney.

All things considered, it may be a fairly minor point. Nevertheless, it seems like a very Verizon thing to do. If you were planning on getting the Droid, does this give you second thoughts? How many of you use Exchange accounts daily?

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Posted 10/12/09 at 08:01:57 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Amazon has finally obliged globetrotting fans of its Kindle ebook reader by releasing an international GSM version. The new international edition is tied to AT&T 3G service in the US and will cost you $280, that’s $20 more than the standard Sprint Whispernet equipped Kindle. One thing that Amazon didn’t mention though, is that when used overseas, some wireless features will be blocked.

While Europe, for example, has solid GSM coverage, the international Kindle won’t allow access to blogs or the experimental web browser. This is almost certainly being done to protect Amazon from huge roaming data charges. No word yet on if Amazon will attempt to work out arrangements with foreign cell carriers in the future.

While using the e-ink display for actual web browsing may be rare, checking blogs on the device is more common. Users should still be able to access the ebook store, which is, admittedly, the main reason for having the device. So, is this a deal breaker for anyone? Do you really need full web access on the Kindle while overseas?

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Posted 08/11/09 at 02:25:47 PM by Paul Lilly

As if Paypal critics needed any more ammunition, the online payment service has been assessing new fees to personal accounts since June, and you probably didn't even know about it. That's because the fees -- 2.9 percent on purchases marked "goods" or "services" -- were only announced in an email that said they had changed their Terms of Service (ToS), but you had to actually go read re-read the ToS page to be made aware of the fee change.

Sounds rather sneaky, doesn't it? But according to Paypal, there was nothing underhanded going on.

"We didn't want to make a huge formal communication out of this pricing change, because we weren't really adding any fees, and we were hoping it would be a more useful experience for people,"  said Charlotte Hill, Paypal's PR manager.

Take from that what you will, but we've heard slicker sales pitches on used car lots, and you probably have too.

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Posted 07/14/08 at 03:05:14 PM by Chris Moody

eBay is continuing to provoke it’s user base with big changes to it’s business model it seems. If the recent fee hikes were not enough to get sellers on eBay mad, they are furious over the deal eBay struck with Buy.com that allows the company to sell millions of books, DVDs, electronics and other items on eBay without paying the full eBay fees. This is making it hard for small sellers to compete. Since the beginning of the year over five million fixed-price listings from Buy.com have been added.

The reason behind this shift seems to be that eBay’s growth has slowed recently and new CEO John Donahoe, has decided that the future lies with a model more along Amazon’s design and larger sellers as opposed to the small mom and pop sellers that have made eBay such a success. You can read the tale in full over at nytimes.com

Like Obi-Wan said about Mos Eisley, “you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious”. eBay has certainly had it’s shares of trouble makers on the site. Scam artists, Phishers, and con men have run roughshod over good sellers and customers alike. It’s been a good year since I bought anything on eBay because of the hassle of having to look at a seller from every angle to figure out if they are legit. Even worse than that is buyers that would run up the price on an item to retail. You can still get a good deal, but you have to be patient and ready to spend lots of time shopping. I’m just not into that. Given the number of sites complaining about eBay it looks like a number of others are not happy with them either.

Are you still a big user of eBay? Tell me what you like and dislike about the eBay of today.

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