Digital Trends
Cox Cable has introduced a new traffic management system on its broadband network that will "momentarily" throttle data transfers on content it deems less time-sensitive—like file uploads, P2P applications, and Usenet—during periods of network congestion. The new system will be tested in Kansas and Arkansas, and expended to other Cox markets if the trials go well.
Computer maker Dell has agreed to pay some $3.35 million to settle 34 states’ allegations that the company’s warranty, financing, and rebate offers were deceptive and misled consumers. The agreement has Dell paying $1.5 million into a restitution account; impacted consumers will be able to submit claims for compensation. The other $1.85 million will go towards the states’ legal costs.
“More than the money, this agreement provides profoundly important business practice reforms,” said Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal, in a statement. “No more bait-and-switch financing—offers touting zero-interest that become surprise high-interest charges or astounding late penalties. Our strong coalition of states will closely monitor and enforce this agreement, which has been reached with Dell’s cooperation.”
Telecommunications operator AT&T has announced it will begin selling its U-verse broadband Internet and digital video service through retailers Circuit City and Walmart beginning this month. The offerings will be available in more than 600 retail locations in and near neighborhoods where U-verse services are available: right now, that includes regions of Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin, although AT&T plans to expand the offering to other locations in the future.
Motorola might have rolled out the MOTOKRZR way back in mid-2006 when it was trying to capitalize on the starting-to-wane popularity of its RAZR phones. But Boost Mobile thinks now is the “perfect time” to add the flip phone to its lineup—specifically, its Unlimited by Boost offering available at wireless retailers as well as locations like Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, and Sprint retail stores (Boost is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sprint.)
“Now is the perfect time for us to introduce the popular MOTOKRZR to our Unlimited by Boost handset lineup,” said Boost’s VP of product development Neil Lindsay, in a statement. “We doubled our base from 224,000 to 500,000 Unlimited by Boost customers in Q4 alone, and introducing this feature-rich handset will help us keep the momentum going.”
The preponderance of cell phones in U.S. society may be creating all sorts of businesses opportunities that didn’t exist two decades ago, but it’s bad news for at least one former stalwart of the American landscape: pay phones. Over the last few years, public coin-operated phones have gone from being something one could see on many street corners and in most businesses to quaint rarities…nowadays, if you need one, you can expect to spend a lot of time trying to find one, and, if you can find one, you’ll be astonished at the cost of a single local call. There used to be almost 3 million public pay phones in the U.S.; now, there are an estimated 1 million in service.
The theory goes that a butterfly flapping its wings in China can cause a tornado in Arkansas – and apparently the results of a minor power outage are just as far-reaching. When a spark in a transformer caused a blackout at six of Samsung’s flash memory plants in South Korea on Friday, it may have also raised flash memory prices the world over, due to the sudden drop in supply.
Following immediately on its settlements with Texas and California, music label Sony BMG has agreed to pay some $4.25 million as part of settlement agreements with 39 U.S. states and the District of Columbia regarding copy protection software included on some of the labels music CDs which caused computers to malfunction and exposed users to security threats.
Seems like Google’s online advertising juggernaut might be a spoke or two short of a wagon-load: a circuit court judge in Texarkana, Arkansas, has approved a $90 million settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against Google by Lane’s Gifts.
Under the terms of the settlement (PDF), Google will give advertising credits equivalent to $3.80 on oever $1,000 spent on its online advertising systems during the last four and half years. Google isn’t giving any cash to anybody, except the lawyers: they’ll collect $30 million straight out of Google’s corporate checkbook.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday tuned up its online music store, undercutting competitors’ prices as the world’s largest retailer officially launched a venture designed to boost its Web businesses.
The store, which sells digital downloads for 11 percent less than major competitors, expanded its catalog of artists by 50 percent, including exclusive songs from Jessica Simpson, 3 Doors Down, Shania Twain and others, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said.
Read more at Reuters
Also today, T-Mobile USA and Cingular Wireless agreed to expand the roaming arrangement reached by the companies last year, and to extend it until 2006.
For T-Mobile’s customers, the roaming agreement with Western Wireless expands advanced GSM/GPRS 1900 voice and data service along more than 5,500 highway miles and across much of the Western UnitedStates including Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas; New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Iowa. With these and T-Mobile’s otherexisting agreements, T-Mobile’s GSM/GPRS 1900 network will reach approximately 253 million people.
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