Beginning Nov. 15, Verizon’s early-termination fees jump to $350 for higher-end devices like smartphones, netbooks and other advanced devices. The current rate is half that, at $175. The higher rate kicks in only on customers who sign a new contract.

Verizon still will prorate the contract, subtracting $10 a month (all other phones are prorated $5/month). So, by the end of 23 months, affected users will still need to cough up $120. But by then, you might as well wait a month to leave without paying a penny.

Why is Verizon changing its early termination fee? To make subsidizing these expensive devices worth it to the company.

Interestingly, the new Motorola Droid is $199.99 with a 2-year contract. But without a contract, it sells for $559.99. That means you could save $10 by buying the phone, and then canceling the 2-year contract ($200 + $350 = $550). And since the new fee doesn’t kick in until Nov. 15, that means people who buy a Droid before that date and then cancel service will get it for $375 without a contract! No wonder Verizon upped the fee.

As I’ve mentioned before, anyone can test a Verizon phone for 30 days and then cancel without having to pay any early termination fee. Read my earlier story covering testing policies, I mean, return policies by the major mobile providers: “How any consumer can ‘test’ a cell phone.”

Verizon also adds that if you bring a compatible phone to its network and sign up for service, you don’t have to commit to any long-term contract.

Earlier on cell phone policies:

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The facts about Verizon doubling early termination fees

After a week with the Droid, I’m seriously digging its Google Android 2.0 operating system, which will pop up in more phones from Verizon Wireless and other carriers. While I wouldn’t call the Droid a game changer for the industry, it’s a game changer for Verizon Wireless because for the first time the company let outsiders help develop the phone. Even tinkerers who want to develop Android apps can  influence the Verizon phone in a way that was prohibited before.

The phone itself is an improvement over the original Google phone, the G1 (my current phone), with a sleeker shape and better internal technology. A 3.7-inch screen makes it the largest smartphone screen out there. The slide-out keyboard is a bonus. But, as with any gadget, I have an opinion. There are features I love, like and hate. Let me start with what I don’t like.

5 things I don’t like about the Droid:

1. Screen sensitivity: Nice big screen, but not as responsive and smooth as the iPhone. Not sure if it’s a glitch, but sometimes shortcuts I placed on the main screen did nothing when pressed. Other times, one touch popped up the application. Also, when scrolling on the Web, it can be jerky as images load. Reminds me of pre-broadband everywhere days.

2. Battery life: Like everyone, I want a GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth-enabled smartphone with a battery that lasts for a week. Turn all those wireless tools on, and the Droid’s battery is dead after a few hours. Motorola didn’t make any advances in this department. The big positive though: It charges up fast! Plugged into the wall, the battery was fully charged in under an hour. One other big plus over the iPhone: You can replace the battery.

3. The camera: The 5-megapixel camera is probably better than your camera phone but it’s on the slow side for me — for a camera. It won’t replace my Canon point-and-shoot camera. Yes, I have high expectations for a camera in a phone but only because the companies continue to improve the optics (this one has flash, scene modes and white balance, autofocus and image stabilization). They lead me to believe that one day, I will get a phone with a camera decent enough to haul to gadget shows to get pretty pictures for my readers. Yes, I know. It’s like comparing home broadband speeds to wireless mobile Internet. There’s no comparison.

4. Web zoom: Because the screen is so large, the Internet browser opens a Web page at full width. Touch the screen twice to zoom in. Touch it twice again to zoom out. This I like. What was annoying was zooming in, selecting a link within the same site, and pulling up a page that zoomed out, thus defaulting to full width. I wish it would remember that I was zoomed in, at least if I’m on the same site.

5. No Bluetooth file transfer: One of the great things about Google phones is you don’t have to sync contacts, calendar or e-mail. This is done automatically when you first sign into the phone with your Google account. However, all the photos or other files you create on the phone don’t automatically transfer to a PC via the Web or vice versa. Or via Bluetooth, as I found out. Verizon and other mobile providers are notorious for blocking Bluetooth file transfer. In this case, Verizon says it’s Android’s fault. Android doesn’t support Bluetooth tethering for transferring files. Bluetooth is only good for headsets, stereo headphones and phonebook access. One other auto-syncing disappointment: Droid didn’t pull over any of my apps from my G1.

5 things I love about the Droid

1. Speakerphone & voice quality: You’d think this feature would be a given. But my current phone is just OK, verging on poor some days. The Droid kicks the G1’s butt when it comes to hands-free chatting over a speaker. First, the Droid’s speakerphone is far superior. With the phone in speaker mode and sitting on my lap while I drove, no one on the other end noticed that I wasn’t holding the phone to my mouth. When connected to my car’s Bluetooth speaker (an expensive after-market addition from the dealer that is terrible), there was some static but I could hear people clearer than on my own phone. Motorola really toned down background noise — an excellent feature for all of us hands-free drivers.

2. Google Navigation: The audible street-by-street directions can replace your in-car GPS but Google Navigation is definitely not ready for prime time. It’s the potential that I love. Verizon does offer a window mount for the Droid so it even looks like a portable car GPS. While the navigation did get me to the street I wanted to go to, it left me hanging by not saying what side of the street was my final destination. More stuff that needs work: Sending a Google Map from PC to phone, which is available for certain cars and some portable GPS brands; ability to add traffic alerts so you can avoid bad roads; more warning when an exit is nearby (seemed to tell me only when it was a quarter-mile away. And wouldn’t it be cool if Google navigation synced with your Google calendar so when heading to a meeting, navigation to the meeting immediately shows up on screen?

3. Multiple apps: Droid’s got a big one over the iPhone here. I can’t imagine living without access to multiple apps at the same time. Android allows you to switch between six at the same time.

4. Multiple sources for contacts. I loved the Palm Pre’s mashup of various social networks to create the ultimate address book, which Android didn’t offer previously. With Android 2.0, the phone pulls phone numbers from your Gmail contacts, Facebook friends and your corporate Exchange account. No updating or syncing necessary.

5. Voice search. Hands down, this is my favorite feature. I am trying to figure out how to get out of my two-year contract with T-Mobile because of this feature. Hit the “Voice Search” and just say exactly what you want. Navigate to a restaurant? Map of a store? Look up a phone number? This is like having your own personal concierge. (Added 11:56 p.m.: The G1 has Voice search too but it isn’t as robust.) On the down side, Droid doesn’t always understand your command. You have to say it clearly into the phone. However, I would guestimate that it was correct four out of five times, which was totally unexpected based on my experience with any sort of voice-activated technology. Google has a good video example of how this works.

More on Droid
On sale: Nov. 6, 2009 Price: $199.99 with 2-year contract Screen: 3.7-inch Processor: Cortex A8 Storage: 16 GB installed, slot for up to 32 GB card Wireless: 3G, Wi-Fi, EV-DO Rev.A More info: Verizon’s Droid page Motorola’s Droid page

There are other features of the phone that I don’t feel too strongly about. As mentioned, it has the largest smartphone screen out there, at 3.7 inches. But the size wasn’t noticeably different from my G1’s 3.2-inch screen (maybe because I wear glasses, so everything looks small compared to my 24-inch monitor).

The Android apps market has grown to 12,000 paid and free apps. While that pales in comparison to Apple’s iPhone apps, which is now over 100,000, 12,000 is still a lot of apps and there are new ones out every day. So, Androids apps — or small supply of them — isn’t a negative for me. At least there are 12,000 Android apps!

My conclusion: I love Android 2.0 more than I love the Droid. Yes, it’s a nice phone, but what I love is what its software can do. More Android 2.0 phones are surely on their way. However, the big benefit to Droid? It uses Verizon Wireless’ network, the company I hear the fewest complaints about. As for the iPhone vs. Droid debate? You can’t compare them. One is with AT&T, the other is Verizon. It’s not like we have a choice anyway between an iPhone and Droid. That’s the real issue.

Earlier on Droid:

• Do I have the only Motorola Droid in Orange County?
• We’ve got Verizon’s new Droid! Watch the video

Recent Gadgetress headlines:

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10 things I loved, hated about the Motorola Droid

The El Segundo satellite TV service added 136,000 net new subscribers during the quarter, bringing its total to 18.4 million customers. While the subscriber growth is lower than the same time last year, DirecTV is growing.

Comparably, both the number one and two cable companies saw their subscriber count drop during the same period. Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, lost 656,000 video customers during the quarter, while second-place Time Warner Cable lost 84,000 customers.

DirecTV’s interim chief executive Larry Hunter attributed the subscriber growth to marketing its service with AT&T. Sales growth — revenues were up 10 percent from a year ago to $5.47 billion — came from more people subscribing to its HD and DVR services, plus growth in Latin America.

But consumers should keep in mind that DirecTV’s sales growth also meant higher prices. The company said the average customer’s bill increased 2.1 percent to $85.32. Customers are paying more for programs, HD channels and DVR service fees. Then again, DirecTV is the only company that offers programming like NFL Sunday Ticket, a $200 package.

Meanwhile, DirecTV’s payment to TV networks in order to offer channels increased 1.2 percent per subscriber. DirecTV spent nearly $2 billion on programming costs.

Read DirecTV’s third-quarter 2009 earnings report HERE.

Earlier on DirecTV:

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DirecTV gets bigger, charges more

This is a special Windows 7 edition of Stump the PC Club, the OCRegister’s  weekly free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club. Since Windows 7 has arrived and there have been many questions about it, these articles are devoted to answering some of those questions.

Earlier in the series:

How to upgrade to Windows 7

Once you decide to take the plunge, users must choose how to upgrade to Windows 7.

The majority of Windows users out there can opt for the Windows 7 upgrade, rather than paying the full-version price. But there’s more work for Windows XP users than Windows Vista users. XP users must use the Custom Install rather than the easier In-Place Upgrade. As long as you have a licensed copy of XP or Vista installed, you can purchase the upgrade version of Windows 7 and avoid the more expensive full version.

There are two ways to move to Windows 7:

• In-Place Upgrade
• Custom Install

1. In-Place Upgrade

This is performed by booting up your computer, inserting the Windows 7 disc into your DVD drive and following the prompts. Unfortunately, only Windows Vista users can do this. Windows XP users need to skip to the alternative below.

The in-place upgrade method preserves all of your data, settings and already installed programs such as Microsoft Office. When you run the Upgrade Advisor, it will warn you of any incompatible programs such as Norton Anti Virus 2009, see http://bit.ly/E7aDD.

You can uninstall this program before upgrading. Of course you will have to install a new antivirus program when you are finished such as the free Microsoft Security Essentials (at http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials). Before you install any antivirus make sure it is compatible with Windows 7 and also consider whether it is a 32-bit or 64-bit versions.

Don’t forget to backup data! Don’t depend on this installation to back up your data, do it yourself beforehand to be safe. This type of upgrade can take several hours or more depending on how many documents, videos, music and other data is stored on your PC. Microsoft says it has seen it take up to 21 hours. The chart below tells you if your current version of Vista is eligible for this type of upgrade. Note that Vista must be Service Pack 1 or later.

Supported Paths for In-Place Upgrades from Windows Vista

If Your Current Operating System Is	You Can Upgrade To
Windows Vista Home Basic	Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate
Windows Vista Home Premium	Windows 7 Home Premium, Ultimate
Windows Vista Business	Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate
Windows Vista Ultimate	Windows 7 Ultimate

If you wish to upgrade to a version not covered by this chart you can still do it but you will have to perform a custom install, as described next.

2. Custom Install

This is initiated by booting your PC from the Windows 7 disc. If you can’t upgrade your computer from Windows Vista to Windows 7 per the above chart, you’ll need to use this method and select the Custom option during the Windows 7 installation. A custom installation doesn’t preserve your programs, files, data, or settings. It’s sometimes called a “clean” installation for that reason.  Microsoft has more information at “Upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7” (link: bit.ly/3WYJGP).  This type of installation requires a little savvy but results in a cleaner PC when completed.

When you purchase Windows 7 it comes with a 32-bit and 64-bit disc. To determine if your PC can run the 64-bit version you can download and run the free SecurAble program from Gibson Research Corp. (www.grc.com), a Laguna Hills computer security firm.  With a 64-bit installation your PC will be able to take advantage of additional memory. The 32-bit systems can only utilize approximately 3.5 gigabytes of RAM whereby 64-bit systems can utilize 16 gigabytes for Windows 7 Home Premium and 192 gigabytes for higher versions.

When the installation begins there will be two choices, Upgrade and Custom (advanced). Select the Custom (advanced) to perform a Custom Install. Note that this choice allows you to completely format your hard drive and provides you with a PC with only Windows 7 installed. However, you will have to perform the following tasks after installation:

• Install a compatible Anti-virus program such as the free Microsoft Security Essentials
• Run Microsoft Windows Update
• Reinstall all of your programs
• Restore all of your data from your previous configuration. You did save it didn’t you
• Find all of the drivers for your hardware that Windows 7 did not find possibly including your video card, network,  printers, etc. Actually, you should locate all of your drivers beforehand and save them to an external drive.
• Possibly import your e-mail address into your e-mail program so be sure to back them up

Remember, upgrading to Windows 7 will end any support from your manufacturer unless you received a free upgrade with the purchase of your new PC directly from them. Even then I’d check with them first.

Here are some of the things that can go wrong:

• For notebook users, some of the functions including special buttons, web cameras, etc. may not work unless the manufacturer publishes Windows 7 drivers.
• Some older hardware may not work. But if the hardware works with Vista, it’s more likely to work with Windows 7.
• Some of your existing programs may not run any longer.
• It’s been known to happen that the in-place upgrade fails and leaves you in quite a mess. For this reason alone I’d make a backup image of my entire PC first using a program such as Acronis True Image, available for $74 at www.acronis.com or Shadow Protect, available for $79.95 at www.storagecraft.com. There is also a free program called Macruim Reflect for this purpose which is available at www.macrium.com.

Summary:

• Whenever you choose to upgrade from a 32-bit to a 64-bit version or vice versa, you will have to perform a Custom Install.
• You can purchase the upgrade media of any version of Windows 7 and perform a custom install on any PC that has a fully licensed XP or Vista operating system. If you look at the chart at bit.ly/11K7ws , anywhere it indicates that an “In-Place Install” is available, you can still perform a Custom Install but not vice versa.
• Upgrade Installs have to be performed according to the chart above and Vista must have Service Pack 1 or higher installed
• Before performing any of the above options, download and run the Windows Upgrade Advisor to determine if you have any conflicting hardware or software.
• Run the Easy Transfer Wizard from your previous version of Windows and backup everything to an external hard drive. You can use your own backup method also. I recommend this whether you are performing an upgrade or custom install.
• Free upgrades for Windows for new PCs must be installed as an In-Place Upgrade
• Remember, to perform a Custom Install, you need to boot from the Windows 7 DVD and to perform an In-place upgrade you must run the Windows 7 installation from your current Vista operating system
• For best results, prepare a Windows 7 upgrader’s toolbox. It should include:
  • All of your hardware drivers
  • An external hard drive
  • A copy of the Easy Transfer Wizard (Vista already has it)
  • Your new Windows 7 DVD
  • A disk imaging program if you want to backup your PC before doing anything else. For more information on drivers look at a previous article bit.ly/2OzduW.

My final advice is to avoid In-Place Upgrades if possible and perform a Custom Install. It’s more work but it results in a cleaner machine.

For more articles and sample Upgrade Advisor Reports on Windows 7, visit my personal site at www.edwardns.com/windows7.html. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

Visit the PC Club page at ocregister.com/link/pcclub. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE. Recent PC Club answers:

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Windows 7 part II: How to upgrade

But in almost all other areas, the cable TV provider grew: It added more Internet and phone customers, more digital cable customers and more multi-package customers. That helped offset the exodus of video subscribers to a loss of 25,000 customers. Overall sales were up 4 percent, to $4.5 billion, compared with $4.3 billion last year.

The company has been losing video customers as new TV services like Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse enter the market and customers head for the Web to view TV shows on their own time.

	2Q 2008	3Q 2008	4Q 2008	1Q 2009	2Q 2009	3Q 2009
TW video subscribers	13,297k	13,266k	13,069k	13,105k	13,048k	12,964k
Change		-31,000	-197,000	36,000	-57,000	-84,000

While the number of customers fell less than 1 percent, to 14.652 million subscribers, Time Warner got a bit more money from each one. Subscription revenues grew 5 percent, to $4.3 billion, thanks to more digital video, Internet and phone customers. Separating out video alone, Time Warner made 2 percent more off TV subscribers, coming in at $2.698 billion in the third quarter, compared with $2.639 billion a year earlier.

Still, Time Warner made less money than it did a year ago. Net income fell 11 percent, to $258 million, compared with $301 million a year earlier. Part of that was because it had to pay more for the TV channels it offers customers. The cost of video programming grew 6 percent, to $1 billion. Meanwhile, more customers dropped basic video and premium channel subscriptions.

In the chart below, Time Warner notes that about 13 million pay for plain-ol’ cable TV service. About two-thirds also pay for digital cable and high-speed Internet.

The company was hit hard in other profit-making areas. Advertising revenues declined to $182 million, a 19 percent drop, attributed to fewer auto, media and political commercials.

Glenn Britt, the cable provider’s chief executive officer, remained upbeat and said in a statement: “Our business model is resilient even in a tough economy and in the face of intense competition. We’ve built great assets in our plant and customer relationships that provide a strong foundation for continuing growth.”

Recent Time Warner news:

For more on Time Warner, check The Gadgetress special page: gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/twc

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Time Warner loses 84,000 customers, makes less money

The Rancho Santa Margarita cable company, which serves much of South Orange County, airs a game of the week every Friday night at 11:30 p.m. Usually, the game is picked by Cox. But this week, Cox is leaving it up to viewers.

There are six possible games in the running and right now, it’s a close race between the Dana Hills vs. Mission Viejo and the Irvine vs. University games. The latest numbers are below:

Orange Lutheran vs. Santa Margarita		1.66%
Dana Hills vs. Mission Viejo		39.05%
Tesoro vs. Aliso Niguel		0.41%
Irvine vs. University		38.55%
San Juan Hills vs. Laguna Hills		3.51%
Northwood vs. Trabuco Hills		16.83%

Interested parties, or uninterested parties, can vote HERE.

Voting ends Thursday (Nov. 5)  at noon, so you better get your vote in! Around 15,000 votes have been received. Only one vote per IP address per day. While this sounds like it’s popular with the audience, Cox spokeswoman Lana Ong tells me the contest is just for this week’s game.  Stay tuned if Cox is moving coverage of high school games this way in the future.

The winning game will air Friday, Nov. 13.

Recent Gadgetress headlines:

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Cox wants you to vote which O.C. high school should be on TV

The Poway-based Apricorn says that two terabytes can boost a DVR’s capacity by 250 hours of high-definition recordings or 1,124 hours of standard definition video. (Just did the math — you can record TV 24/7 for nearly seven weeks!)

The DVR Expander is available in capacities of 1 TB for $129; 1.5 TB for $199; and 2 TB for $259.  It plugs into the DirecTV DVR’s eSATA port. But when you power it up, you won’t be able to access recordings on the actual DVR. To do so, users must disconnect the DVR Expander and restart the DVR.

Apricorn tells me that the new device is not compatible with TiVo. It was released specifically for these DirecTV DVR receivers: HR20, HR21, HR22 and HR23. More details at Apricorn’s site HERE.

The company does offer DVR expanders for other DVRs that have eSATA or USB ports. But those devices only go up to 1.5 TBs. Here’s a link to other models.

Other companies that offer DVR expanders include Lake Forest’s Western Digital, which has expanders for DVRs with enabled eSATA or USB ports. That pretty much excludes cable TV company DVRs but does include TiVos. Seagate Technology also has a 1-TB DVR expander that works with Dish Network receivers.

More on gadgets:

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Add 2-terabytes of capacity to a DVR (that’s 250 hours of HD!)

The new Living Green home, which is being unveiled today in Huntington Beach, managed to get the highly sought-after TV and fast Internet service.

Our Huntington Beach housing reporter (yes, we have a reporter who covers real estate just in HB!) wrote all about the home Tuesday at “Grand opening for 1st Surf City green home.”

Built by Living Green Homes Construction & Development, the 3-story home at 319 21st St. has a few other notable perks. It was built on guidelines from Build it Green, uses 40 percent less water and 65 percent less energy and saves the owner $700 a month (What? That’s one huge monthly bill!) Plus, it’s just a few blocks from the beach. The kick-off party is today at 1:30 p.m. The home will be open for public tours before it’s sold.

But any techie in their right mind will gloss over these greenish facts and hone in on the 100 percent fiber-optic FiOS service. FiOS is an alternative to cable TVand offers Internet speeds of up to 50 mbps downstream, 20 Mbps upstream, plus it has the most high-definition channels available in O.C. In addition, FiOS service includes on-screen widgets to check your Twitter messages and Facebook status and other geeky things like that.

The “green-ness” of FiOS? It “increases a homeowner’s ability to reduce their carbon footprint through telecommuting, video-conferencing and on-demand entertainment,” says the company.

Good enough for me!

Of course, I should note that this near downtown Huntington Beach neighborhood was one of the first to even get Verizon FiOS services. Verizon didn’t have to go much out of its way to offer it.

You’ll have to check out the Register’s Green OC blog to get full coverage of Orange County’s green building scene. Added 12:50 p.m. - Here’s the story: “State’s green building program easier than national system.”

Recent Green OC news:

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Special Huntington Beach home gets Verizon FiOS

UDPATE: 7:19 a.m.: I’m still hearing that service is spotty in south Orange County. Anyone out there feeling that too? Please leave a comment and I’ll check it out.

——————-

It was a rough night for many T-Mobile customers Tuesday as the mobile-service provider acknowledged that there was a widespread outage of its data and voice services affecting at least 5 percent of its 33.5 million customers. That’s approximately 1.7 million customers.

Around 10:30 last night, the company said everything was fixed. In a statement, T-Mobile said that service was fully restored and the company is now investigating what happened. Here’s the statement:

“T-Mobile confirms it has fully restored voice and text/picture messaging services for customers affected by intermittent service disruptions on Tuesday. About five percent of our customers across various geographies were affected for much of Tuesday evening, and by late Tuesday PST their service was restored. Our sole focus has been restoring full services for all customers; we are now investigating the root cause of the incident. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers.”

The five-hour outage affected not just Orange County, but the whole nation. Readers from Arizona, Minnesota, Dallas, Chicago and other cities left comments saying that their T-Mobile service was out, too.

Other news sites reported that the outage happened just as T-Mobile was trying to fix a data outage that some SideKick users have experienced for nearly one month. T-Mobile said it had restored all services by Halloween.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “Microsoft Corp. accidentally lost personal SideKick data stored in its servers. The company and its SideKick unit, Danger, later restored some of the data, but took a lot of public criticism for the slip-up.”

Are you still experiencing an outage or spotty data/voice service? Comment below and I’ll look into it.

Earlier: T-Mobile says phone service not working

Recent Gadgetress stories:

Post from: Alt+Save with the Gadgetress

T-Mobile says all services restored

T-Mobile confirms it has fully restored voice and text/picture messaging services for customers affected by intermittent service disruptions on Tuesday. About five percent of our customers across various geographies were affected for much of Tuesday evening, and by late Tuesday PST their service was restored. Our sole focus has been restoring full services for all customers; we are now investigating the root cause of the incident. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers.

Sorry about the blog mess. It’s back now. At 7:23 p.m., no new updates from T-Mobile.

UPDATE 6:20 p.m.: T-Mobile offers a status report, saying only 5% of its customers have been affected by the outage.

“We’re making good progress restoring voice and messaging service to affected customers. At this time, approximately 5% of T-Mobile customers are experiencing service disruptions. Issues began at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time. … We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers.”

Update 5:59 p.m.: T-Mobile obviously out nationwide with blog comments coming from Minnesota, Dallas and elsewhere. Check out the comments below.

Updated 5:38 p.m.: When asked how will T-Mobile update customers get updates on the service problem, the company couldn’t offer a good reply. But it looks like T-Mobile’s Twitter account will be one place. Last update: Around 4:30 p.m.

Updated 5:29 p.m.: Added reports from other news sites.

—————————-

T-Mobile has just confirmed to me that there is a major outage.

“T-Mobile customers may be experiencing service disruptions impacting voice and data. Our rapid response teams have been mobilized to restore service as quickly as possible. We will provide updates as more information is available,” according to a statement by the company.

Reached by phone, David Henderson, a T-Mobile spokesman, said he could not discuss the outage any further or say whether it extends beyond Orange County. But it sounded like news of the outage was just hitting and he had to leave to get on a conference call to get more details.

When I asked him about this outage Monday after hearing that the service was out in South County, Henderson said no outages had been reported for the Orange County area.

I have heard of a very small number of T-Mobile customers experiencing outages in the past two to three weeks. Typically, their phones cannot find service.

I’m a T-Mobile customer as well and have not had any problems until the past 10 minutes. I’ll report more here as I learn more.

Are you having issues? Please comment below. Thanks!

Update: 5:41 p.m.: AP writes its outage story. Short and few new developments.

Update: 5:29 p.m.: C/Net is also reporting T-Mobile’s outage is widespread. The story says that this was part of a T-Mobile effort to update its SideKick users who have been without service for a whole month (!) The CNet reporter also notes that she’s heard about outages from customers in eastern Tennessee, Honolulu, Long Island, N.Y. and Westchester County, N.Y.

Update 5:16 p.m.: Phone service isn’t completely out. I’m still getting calls and can make calls.

Recent Gadgetress stories:

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T-Mobile says phone service not working

Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

This is Part 1 of a multi-part article about the new Windows 7 operating system. Since Windows 7 has arrived and there have been many questions about it, this article is devoted to answering some of those questions.

Let’s start with this: What is Windows 7?

Windows 7 is the new operating system Microsoft released on Oct. 22, 2009. It’s the successor to Windows Vista. You can buy the software in stores on a DVD and upgrade older PCs or buy a new computer with Windows 7 pre-installed.

This is the third version of Windows since Windows XP launched on Oct. 25, 2001. Windows Vista arrived on Jan. 30, 2007 but software issues led many users to switch back to XP. Microsoft put development on the next operating system in fast forward. Enter Windows 7.

So, should you buy Windows 7?

If you purchased your PC within the last year or two you may be able to upgrade to Windows 7 to take advantage of its new features without too many headaches. You can read about the new features on Microsoft’s site, at “Windows 7 features” (shortcut: http://bit.ly/223L1j).

Current Windows XP users will continue to receive Windows updates such as security patches and critical fixes through April 8, 2014 for now. Vista users will be supported for quite some time also. Whether you are running XP or Vista you can continue doing so without losing your e-mail programs such as Outlook Express or Windows Mail. In fact, if you are happy with your current setup you can ignore the new Windows 7.

• Download and run the Microsoft Windows Upgrade advisor at http://bit.ly/vhEhR. This will inform you of any potential conflicts between your existing hardware and software and Windows 7.
• Run the Windows Easy Transfer Wizard to backup all of you data, user settings, etc. The program is built into Windows Vista and XP users can download it at http://bit.ly/3pYA1a . This web site will tell you what can be backed up. I strongly recommend purchasing an external hard drive for this purpose. Easy Transfer Wizard can be run from the Windows 7 DVD by inserting the Windows 7 DVD, cancelling any auto-run windows that opens, opening My Computer, right-clicking the DVD drive icon, selecting open, navigating to the Support folder, opening the MIGWIZ folder and running migsetup.exe. By the way, MIGWIZ is the migration wizard, another name for the Easy Transfer Wizard. Leave it to Microsoft. Microsoft has more information on this upgrade process at http://bit.ly/3EXK7x.

• Visit the Microsoft compatibility site at http://bit.ly/1gW6Ns to look for potential conflicts.
• Go to your manufacturer’s web site and download all of the drivers for your PC. Look for Windows 7 drivers first and if not available, download the Vista drivers. Make sure to download the correct ones for your PC whether they’re 32-bit or 64-bit.

There are basically three versions of Windows 7 available: Home Premium, $119.99; Professional, $199.99; and Ultimate, $19.99. (More on pricing at http://bit.ly/s2nrr.) These prices are for the upgrade versions. Full versions, which most people don’t need, are about $100 more, see image below. Upgrade versions are for users that currently own a PC containing a licensed version of XP or Vista. There is also available a Home Family Pack with three user licenses for $149.99. There is absolutely no reason to purchase the full version if you currently have XP or Vista.

Wikipedia has a great comparison chart explaining the features of the various versions at http://bit.ly/EOEPE .  Microsoft’s chart is at http://bit.ly/12NY6J.

For those of you that purchased a new PC on or after June 26, 2009, you may be entitled to a free Windows 7 upgrade from your manufacturer. See http://bit.ly/rjAz4 for details. This offer expires on Jan. 31, 2010.

The free upgrade offered by Dell, for example, consists of two DVDs. The first DVD is the Dell Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant DVD and the second one is the actual Windows 7 installation DVD. The Windows 7 DVD contains the version corresponding to the version of Vista that you currently have, either 32-bit or 64-bit. If you want to upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit you will have to purchase the software. Some manufactures are supplying both versions. You may want to check with your manufacturer.

Next up: How to upgrade to Windows 7

Ed’s note: Two excellent books on Windows 7 are: “Windows 7 Inside Out” by Ed Bott and “Windows 7 Secrets” by Paul Thurrott. Some of the material in this article was researched in these books. Other material was obtained from my personal experience in installing Windows 7 and from the nice folks at the new Microsoft Store at the Mission Viejo Mall in Orange County California.

In a recent article I mistakenly assumed that the store employees in red shirts were the experts. Boy was I wrong. Employees wearing any color shirt are extremely knowledgeable. Many thanks are due to the Microsoft employees Jason, Bryan, Dukes, J.D. and to the store Manager Walter, for putting up with me.

For more articles and sample Upgrade Advisor Reports on Windows 7, visit my personal site at www.edwardns.com/windows7.html. ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

Visit the PC Club page at ocregister.com/link/pcclub. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE. More in the Windows 7 series:

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All your Windows 7 questions answered, part I

Best Buy will use streaming service CinemaNow, which Sonic acquired last year, to let customers rent or buy movies at their whim on certain consumer electronics devices sold at Best Buy. The retailer plans to add the on-demand feature to TVs, portable media players, computers, Blu-ray Disc players, set-top boxes and mobile phones. It also plans to toss in a marketing budget to educate consumers on digital delivery.

The new service joins a growing number of companies using the Internet to get movies to the home TV. Netflix, which has been popping up on game consoles and other devices, offers an all-you-can stream service for a minimum of $8.99 per month. Amazon’s Video on Demand lets customers rent or buy individual movies and stream them on a TV. Blockbuster also now offers movie rentals on demand, starting at $2.99 (thanks Ride On).

CinemaNow currently charges $1.99 for TV shows and $9.99 to $19.99 to download movies. This includes the ability to watch an unlimited number of viewings on up to 3 devices. The rental fees are $2.99 to $3.99 and offer movies for a 24-hour period.

Best Buy plans to offer movies on the same day they are available on DVD. Also, it plans to use the actual DVD to help sell digital copies of the same movie.

The New York Times story on the deal (see “Best Buy Prepares for the Post-DVD Era“) says the idea of mixing the two “is to let consumers pay once for a DVD and then eventually be able to play it on any device: television, Blu-ray disc player, personal computer, handheld media player or smartphone,” Chris Homeister, senior vice president for entertainment at Best Buy, told the paper’s Bits Blog.

The service will start early next year.

Earlier on Internet and TV:

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Best Buy to offer movie rentals online

As for Orange County? Just one lucky locale (October results have not yet been released):

San Juan Capistrano - Along Ortega Highway at the Orange/Riverside County line, east to Fire Street to Upper San Juan Campground to the southwest.

A Verizon coverage map is also available here. Here is the list of the latest cell sites for the Southern California region. 

City	New Verizon Wireless Coverage Area, Aug. & Sept. 2009
	Los Angeles County
Alhambra	City of Alhambra
Azusa	Along Sierra Madre Boulevard, North San Gabriel Canyon Road and surrounding area, including, Azusa Greens Country Club and Pioneer and Northside parks
Los Angeles	Dodger Stadium
Tarzana	Residential area in city of Tarzana
Cudahy	City of Cudahy
Beverly Hills	Along Sunset Boulevard between North Beverly Drive and North Doheny Drive
Lancaster	Downtown Lancaster and area to the northeast
Santa Clarita	Along Bouquet Canyon Road and surrounding area
	Orange County
San Juan Capistrano	Along Ortega Highway at the Orange/Riverside County line, east to Fire Street to Upper San Juan Campground to the southwest
	Imperial County
Bonds Corner	North to Interstate 8, south to the US/Mexico Border, east to Evan Hewes Highway and west to Bonds Corner Road.
Calipatria	Southeast area of Salton Sea and surrounding area
El Centro	North to CR S28, south to Heber Road, east to SR 111 and west to 4th Street
Holtville	North to CR S28, south to McCabe Road, east to Fust Road and west to ST 115
Riverside County
Cathedral Canyon	Along Ramona Boulevard and surrounding residential area
Indian Wells	Along Highway 111 and surrounding area
Idyllwild	Along Highway 243 and surrounding area
	San Bernardino County
San Bernardino	Along 210 Freeway at Milliken Avenue
Forest Falls	Along Highway 38 from the Forest Falls cutoff to Mountain Home Village
Fontana	Along Sierra Avenue between the 10 and 210 Freeways
Johnson Valley	Along Highway 247 and surrounding area
Trona	City of Trona
	San Diego County
Chula Vista	Chula Vista Hospital and surrounding residential area
Descanso	Along Highway 79 north of Interstate 9
Encinitas	Along Quail Gardens Drive and surrounding neighborhood, including the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course
Imperial Beach	Along Seacoast Drive and western portion of Imperial Beach
San Diego	Along Interstate 15, Aero Drive and the Stonecrest Mall

More on cell, mobile services:

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Where Verizon improved So. Calif. cell coverage in August, Sept.

“So, how does DIRECTV hide this fact in its marketing campaigns? And, how does it still claim to be the nation’s HD leader?
Lie, of course.”

Ouch! He writes that DirecTV’s claim to have 130 HD channels includes 18 pay-per-view channels and “other sleight-of-hand tricks.” If you care about the controversy or to see how your TV provider stacks up, see his report at “DIRECTV: Still Lying About HDTV.”

More on HD channels:

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DirecTV accused of lying about number of HD channels

FiOS service does tend to be more expensive than cable, but you do get more HD channels, faster Internet and nifty TV widgets.

But  the most discouraging aspect for all who hope FiOS succeeds is that Verizon spent the quarter targeting homes already in FiOS territory. In Orange County and other parts of Southern California, the company slowed down on expanding in new neighborhoods. Rather, it focused on signing up more customers in existing FiOS locations.

One theory: People who want it, sign up immediately. Everyone else? You’ve got to have more enticing offers (read: cheaper than cable with no strings attached).

Still, FiOS continues to grow, just slower than many had hoped. Same is true in Orange County, which wasn’t completely shut out of expansion.

In fact, construction has just wrapped up in Seal Beach and Los Alamitos, Verizon’s Jon Davies confirmed.

The single family houses and apartment buildings were mostly in following areas in Los Alamitos:

• The area bordered by Los Alamitos Blvd on the west, Katella on the north, Farquhar on the south and Lexington on the east.
• The area north and south of Ball and west of Bloomfield.
• The area around Cerritos and Humbolt.
• The area north of Katella between Bloomfield and Florista.

WHERE IS FIOS IN ORANGE COUNTY?

In addition, Verizon completed work in Seal Beach last month focusing in on the area north of Marina between 1st and Pacific Coast Highway.

Verizon is also focusing on apartments, condos and other multi-family dwellings in Orange County.

“As you know, we’ve been working to reach agreements with landlords and as [we] complete that step we can install the fiber so residents can order FiOS,” Davies added. He mentioned two complexes with around 300 units that are in the process of getting FiOS:

1. A 62-unit complex at 16412 Harbour Lane in HB
2. A new 149-unit complex at 15100 Moran Avenue in Westminster.

Unfortunately, no new O.C. cities have been added to the FiOS expansion list but in existing neighborhoods where the service is available, penetration rates mimic national rates with 25 percent penetration for FiOS TV and 28 percent for Internet.

In Orange County, Verizon offers TV or Internet service in Brea, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Stanton, Westminster and certain unincorporated areas. (Get more information about FiOS in Orange County HERE.)

More FiOS TV stories:

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Verizon FiOS TV update: More in Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, O.C.

He’s a good friend, so I agreed. He’s such a good friend, I let him take the Droid while he went to get food. That brought even more attention. Someone in line stopped him and asked, “Is that the.. the.. Droid? I’ve been reading about it on Engadget!”

Wrong answer! My friend didn’t reveal his sources but said he would have let the dude check it out if he had mentioned The Gadgetress!

I may not be the only one in Orange County with the new Droid, which goes on sale next Friday. But I’m willing to share what I know. What else do you want to know? Comment below!

So, day three with the Droid. Three observations:

The camera. It’s a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash. The flash is super bright. I actually just took a picture of myself and am still seeing spots. But it’s so slooooow (watch video on right).

Unless the area is brightly lit, you won’t be getting very clear action shots with this phone — or even clear still shots in lower light. I also had little success using on of my favorite apps, “ShopSavvy,” which uses the camera to scan in product barcodes to compare prices online. Even in brightly lit Target, the camera couldn’t get a good scan, unlike my T-Mobile G1, the original Android phone. Maybe retailers are wising up and doing something sly with their lighting? Here are some photos taken with the Droid:

Bluetooth data transfer: Verizon is famous for blocking the ability of its cell phones from sharing files with PCs over Bluetooth. Looks like this is still true with the Droid. I could be wrong – Bluetooth photo sharing is an option on Droid. But I have been unable to transfer photos and other files to a PC using Bluetooth. However, there are multiple ways to share photos built into the sharing, as mentioned above.

Screen scrolling: The iPhone is still much smoother when it comes to zooming, scrolling and gliding between screens or apps.

More Droid observations coming soon. See what I’ve written so far, and my first-look video:

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Do I have the only Motorola Droid in Orange County?

The free access to channels 560 to 572 ends Tuesday, Nov. 3. The NBA League pass broadcasts up to 40 out-of-market games a week that aren’t typically available from local networks.

Recent TV service news:

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Free NBA preview for Dish subscribers this week

CATCHING UP:

This is because the company specializes in selling TVs, not developing the next technology. It’s gotten them into legal disputes with companies that own the TV patents. At one point, there was talk of cutting off Vizio’s TV supply because Vizio wasn’t paying licensing fees.

And then late Wednesday, the company announced it was licensing its patents to Sony Corp. What? Vizio owns patents?

“No comment,” the company replied to my question on how many patents Vizio owns [added 9:50 a.m.].

A quick search under “Vizio” at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reveals that indeed, the company owns some patents. At least two: Some sort of memory card design, which was invented by 3 Orange County residents; and one for a TV with detachable speakers, developed by Vizio founder William Wang.

No idea if this new patent portfolio licensed to Sony includes these two patents. More likely, Vizio has done its own hunting down of TV patents and purchased them to compete with rival Funai Electric Co., which acquired digital TV patents from Thompson and RCA and then went on a quest to get licensing fees from TV manufacturers.

In the latest press release, Vizio says it “owns a substantial worldwide patent portfolio directed to digital television technology.”

Vizio goes on to say that it has resolved its dispute over color TV patents owned by Sony.

“Having successfully resolved the disputes, we shall continue to aggressively protect our rights and actively expand VIZIO’s licensing program.  As an owner of patent rights and as a licensee of legitimate patent right held by others, VIZIO respects intellectual property and we expect our competitors to do the same,” said Rob Brinkman, Vizio’s vice president of operations and administration in a statement.

Since some of Vizio’s patents will be used in a new line of Vizio TVs, I’m betting Vizio also has some pending patents on its upcoming Internet TV, which fans, geek sites and myself are excited about. The TV will include Wi-Fi and an Ethernet port, plus access to several on-screen widgets like Netflix, Facebook and Twitter.

Recent stories about Vizio:

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In a twist, Vizio licenses patents to Sony

Hi, I'm Ed

Gadgetress’ weekly Stump the PC Club answer guy Ed Schwartz ventured into the crowded new Microsoft store that opened in Mission Viejo today. We already know what Apple fanatics think about the store and we saw that many of the folks in line overnight were just waiting for the free rock concert (watch the opening video).

Now, Schwartz, he’s a loyal PC guy. I was curious to know what he thought about the store. He’s not anti-Apple, by the way. He admits to venturing inside the Apple store occasionally to see what’s new

Schwartz stopped by the large, bright store around 11:30 a.m. today because, “Oh, curiosity. That’s my thing. I just want to know what’s going on,” he said.

Plus, he said, any store’s first day is likely to be full staffed. He immediately went to find help to get some readers’ Windows 7 questions answered. This is where he learned the difference between the blue shirts and the red shirts. If you have a tech question, ask someone wearing a red shirt.

“It took me three employees before I found one who could confirm some Windows 7 questions. They all had blue shirts until I got to the guy with the red shirt,” he said.

Apparently, the red shirts work in the back and help out when tech questions get too hard.

Schwartz couldn’t help but compare the Microsoft store with the Apple store, starting with the shirts. There’s also Microsoft’s Answer Desk, which is very similar to Apple’s Genius Bar. Anyone can bring in their Zune or other Microsoft-related device and get help. There are also free lessons and there are special one-on-one sessions where for $99, you can get one hour of face time with a Microsoft expert every week for one year (that’s the same price as Apple’s One To One sessions).

He spotted laptops from HP, Dell and Lenovo, but that’s it. There were netbooks from Asus, Samsung and others, and all-in-one PCs from Sony. But what about Fujitsu, the brand he uses?

“I asked why not Fujitsu and all the smaller Asian PC makers? They told me that these are the ones people like the most,” he said.

A bummer of sorts. I had been hoping the Microsoft store would showcase every PC out there so potential users could touch, feel and see what else is out there beyond the big-name brands.

Overall, Schwartz enjoyed the Microsoft experience. He felt he was among fans who were actually buying stuff and not just waiting for freebies or free concert tickets to teeny-bop pop singer Justin Bieber. (By the way, the freebies were meh. Someone showed him a Microsoft water bottle and he snagged a Bing T-shirt.

The store is offering free PC tuneups for a limited time, regularly $49.) But the best thing: Computers were made to sell especially at the Microsoft store so they weren’t loaded down with unnecessary freeware.

“I can tell you what you can’t find at Best Buy that you can find here. You can buy a PC that has no trialware or crapware. They brag that our PCs are set up to go to work. You don’t have to download anything or add stuff. You won’t find 12 versions of McAfee on it. That’s a big deal. The average user may not even know all of that. A lot of people get a PC and don’t worry about all the extra stuff until it starts annoying them,” he said.

And he knows it well. Besides answering questions for our weekly “Stump the PC Club” column, Schwartz teaches computer classes and helps consumers fix their PCs. He said he often gets call from people saying, “What happened to Office on my computer?” The answer? They only had a 60-day trial version.

One nice feature all PCs purchased at the store include: Windows Security Essentials so there’s no need to install antivirus software.

Read reporter Niyaz Pirani’s earlier coverage of the new Microsoft store:

• 1,000-plus people crowd new Microsoft Store
• Photos from Day 1
• Who is in line at the Microsoft Store?
• Microsoft Store to debut Thursday

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What does a PC guy think about the new Microsoft store?

The upgrade is part of AT&T’s goal to add 200 cell sites and upgrade 320 others to 3G this year just in California.

The new locations are near these intersections:

1. Aliso Viejo: Near the intersection of Aliso Creek Road and Pacific Park Drive
2. San Juan Capistrano: Near the intersection of Stonehill Drive and Camino Capistrano
3. Santa Ana: Near the intersection of S. Main Street and E. Edinger Ave.
4. Buena Park: Near the intersection of Western Ave. and La Palma Ave.
5. Garden Grove: Near the intersection of Brookhurst St. and W. Chapman Ave.

More on cellular reception:

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AT&T improves wireless service in 5 O.C. cities

Another ouch – Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse considered the quarter the company’s “best net retail subscriber results in more than two years,” according to the press release. Sprint now has 48.3 million customers, down from 48.8 million in the second quarter and down from 49.1 million in the first quarter.

Boost is obviously a bright spot. Boost Mobile said it grew 14.4 percent this year over last year. It credits the $50 monthly unlimited plan, which Boost introduced in January. It also got another boost from adding new retailers like Sam’s Club and Car Toys.

Also from today’s earnings release, which categorizes all of Sprint’s prepaid services under one line item:

• Sprint now has 5.7 million prepaid subscribers (5.2 million on iDEN and 500,000 on CDMA)
• Churn rate, or the percent of customers coming and going, was down to 6.65 percent during the quarter for prepaid customers, compared to 8.16 percent a year ago and 6.38 percent in the second quarter of 2009. The improvement was attributed to the new unlimited plan.
• Sprint is making more money off each prepaid customer than before. Prepaid average customer revenues during the quarter was $35 compared to $31 in the year-ago period and $34 in the second quarter of 2009.

Rival MetroPCS plans to release its results next Thursday.

More on cell, mobile services:

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Boost Mobile boosts Sprint’s quarter with new subscribers

For the couple hundred people camped out in the parking lot at the Shops at Mission Viejo for the opening of California’s first Microsoft Store, the question isn’t Apple or Microsoft. The real question is: Microsoft or Justin Bieber?

As early as 3:45 p.m. Wednesday people began lining up for the grand opening of the store, only the second one in the nation, which opens at 10 a.m. Thursday.  Lines are expected to swell to over 1,500 people.

Lured by tickets to a parking lot gig by Bieber, a Canadian tween pop sensation, kids and their parents are huddled in lawn chairs and blankets, trying their best to stay warm.

“I have a 15-year-old daughter who is a die-hard fan of Justin Bieber,” said Stefanie Tran, an Aliso Viejo mom who is camping out for daughter Nicolette. “We’re here for her … but I’ve heard about Windows 7 so I’m kind of excited about that. I want to see how it is.”

Not everyone is here for the show. Navid Zamani, of Laguna Niguel, will wait through the night with the hope that the Microsoft Store will stand toe-to-toe with the Apple Store.

“I’m just happy that they’re finally standing up against Mac. I’m surprised it took them so long to figure out that the Apple Store is the key to their success, to a degree,” he said.

There are advantages to coming early. Patrons including Kevin Pamittan, of Lake Forest, were already rewarded by Microsoft for their efforts.

Pamittan, pictured at top, recieved a Microsoft Zune HD for answering a simple Microsoft-related question. Employees also came to the line with a wheelbarrow full of free copies of Windows 7.

“It makes it worth while, coming out here. Not only just to see the store, but getting all this free stuff will make me a Microsoft fan even longer,” he said. ”I appreciate that they gave out Windows 7 because it shows their appreciation for people who are dedicated and spent the night.”

For information about opening day giveaways and the story behind the store, read the Register’s story about the Microsoft Store in Mission Viejo.

Follow the link to view a slide show showing who is in line a the Microsoft Store and what they had to say about the wait.

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Who is in line at the Microsoft Store?