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Archive for the 'coupons' Tag

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Verizon adds paperless coupons for phone, FiOS TV users

February 3rd, 2010, 5:04 pm by

Cellfire coupons on a mobile phoneNoted: Coupons are a pain to remember to use but they do tend to save some money. Today, Verizon teamed up with Cellfire to make using coupons easier for customers with wireless or FiOS TV service. Those customers can sign up at vzspendsmart.com.

Of course, anyone can sign up for the same deals at Cellfire.com. There are two options for redeeming coupons: Pick out deals online and add them to your grocery store loyalty/club card. Or keep the whole process digital and just show the clerk the image on your phone. Unfortunately, the latter isn’t available for most offers here in Orange County. Participants seem to be only grocery stores and Sears.

Verizon doesn’t say whether its customers will get any extra special deals. And it looks like the answer is no. More on the FiOS TV widget HERE.

Fry's coupons from CellfireScanning the site, I noticed Fry’s had coupons! I haven’t been to the electronics store in a long time and didn’t realize it even offered coupons.

The only deal? Just $0.50 off Progresso Soup. Soup? Then I realized, this isn’t Fry’s Electronics. Rather, it was some grocery store named Fry’s Food with a very, very similar logo:

frysvfrys

>>This just in from reader Mike in Yorba Linda (updated 5:41 p.m.): Fry’s Electronics was started by the sons of the Fry’s Grocery store founder, using some of daddy’s money. Hence the similarity. I often go to Arizona, where Fry’s Grocery Stores are common. The signage is nearly identical. As a tech geek, I was somewhat disappointed the first time I went in one. See the link for more info. (Thanks Mike for doing the reporting I didn’t feel like doing.)

Want some real deals? Check out the Register’s Deals blog at ocregister.com/ocdeals. Recent finds:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Movie coupons, caller ID, ESPN are latest U-verse TV apps

November 17th, 2009, 12:58 pm by

AT&T U-verse adds coupons on demandThere are three more things AT&T U-verse customers can do on their TV: See who’s calling on the phone, watch four ESPN channels at the same time (for ESPN Full Court customers only) and get instant discounts on movies on demand.

None of these “apps” are that new for the industry. But all are useful. This brings the U-verse TV apps count to 20.

To get an instant $2 discount, U-verse customers just turn to channel 200, get the code, and redeem the coupon instantly on channel 199. Customers can also go to U-verse’s customer Web site and get the discount code. The first coupon will be available on Monday, Nov. 23. If you’re also an AT&T Wireless customer, you can get coupon alerts send to your phone by texting “On Demand” to 9696.

The discount movie coupon is something I hope cable providers will soon add. Time Warner, for example, does offer local coupons on demand (they’re actually sent by snail mail), but to get discounts on its on-demand movie library, customers have to snail-mail back a paper coupon with their monthly bill.

AT&T U-verse adds caller ID for TV users.The onscreen Caller ID feature is, of course, only for customers who get home phone and TV service from AT&T. The feature also notifies TV viewers of new voicemails. The messages pop up in a small box on the TV screen for six seconds. This feature is coming soon and right now, only available in Austin, Tex. (AT&T, after all, is based in Texas.)

Lastly, ESPN Full Court package subscribers can watch four basketball games on the same screen on channels 4500 and 621. The package is priced at $105 through Nov. 28.

Here’s AT&T’s official video about how the new apps work: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • | 6 Comments »

T-Mobile adds printless coupons via cell phone

June 29th, 2009, 4:31 pm by

T-Mobile adds phone-based coupons. Pictured: Quiksilver discounts.Cell phone companies have been talking about offering coupons on mobile phones for years but have mostly left it up to third-party providers like Cellfire to offer the service. Today, T-Mobile jumped in, launching its own digital coupon service. 

Called “Green Perks,” T-Mobile’s coupon program is intended to promote the company’s “green” efforts by offering discounts on environmentally conscious products from Method, Jamba Juice, Volcom, Roxy and Quiksilver, according to the press release.

The point of a cell phone coupon is to pull it up on your phone’s screen, show it to the store’s cashier and leave with a discount on your purchase. No printing, no paper necessary — very green, get it?

As a T-Mobile subscriber, I downloaded this myself. Oddly, T-Mobile didn’t create an app for Google Android phones, so G1 users like myself need to go to the phone’s settings and allow “unknown sources” to install non-Android Market applications (scary!).  Full instructions are HERE.

T-Mobile adds phone-based coupons. T-Mobile adds phone-based coupons. Pictured: Free samples from Dogswell. T-Mobile adds coupon feature -- no paper, print-out required. Pictured: 20% off Method products.

Only six coupons showed up for me, including 20 percent off a Volcom V-Co. Logical item at Volcom Brand Stores. That was the only in-store discount. Deals for Roxy, Quiksilver, CatSwell, DogSwell and Method cleaning products were only available through official company Web sites, which defeats the purpose of getting the discount on the phone. No Jamba Juice coupon to be found, by the way. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

Digital TV box coupons available but may miss June 12 deadline

June 2nd, 2009, 9:41 am by

Digital TV transition on June 12, 2009.Ten more days until our favorite TV shows go completely digital and the government wants to send another reminder that if you haven’t converted to digital, there may still be some financial assistance available.

The converter box coupon program still has $40-discount coupons but consumers who apply after today are no longer guaranteed to get the coupons before the June 12 switchover. That’s because it takes about nine business days to process and mail the coupons.

A converter box is the cheapest way to convert an old, analog TV to digital. If you need help, Best Buy’s Geek Squad is offering free in-home installation to the first 10,700 people who request it (see earlier, “FREE digital TV converter box installation to first 10,700 people“).

There’s also other phone and at home support available. Just plug in your zip code at dtv.gov/dtv_resources.htm. 

According to the Federal Communications Commission, we’re down to 2.7% of U.S. households, or 3.1 million homes, who aren’t ready for the digital transition.

If you need any more questions answered, the FCC has set up a hotline at 1-888-CALL-FCC.

More digital TV transition news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to the Digital TV transition 

Posted in: Video & TV • • | 6 Comments »

TV ads on demand? Only from Time Warner

April 21st, 2009, 3:39 am by

Time Warner CableWith the ability to fast-forward  TV commercials, it seems like a tough sell to entice viewers to choose to watch TV commercials.

Time Warner Cable is rolling out such a service. Called “Promotions On Demand,” the new service will be available nationwide by the end of September. It’s available here in O.C., hidden as an on-demand channel  – the Get it on Demand on channel 1308 on my TV. Most videos are just standard TV commercials (for restaurants, stores and services) and there are video tours of homes for sale. Plus, it’s collected segments of some local shows (Huell Howser rides the Metrolink train) into longer infomercials. 

Time Warner Cable offers ads on demand

Coupons on your TV?

But the more potentially controversial feature is the coupons. Coupons on a TV, you ask? Yes. Sort of.

Watch the TV commercial and coupons will be mailed to your home whether you want them or not. It took me a few viewings of “Big O Tires” ad before I realized this. I thought the commercial was going to offer a phone number or Web site for me to ask for the 50 percent off oil change coupon but the commercial ends with something like “Just watch for these in your mailbox in the next few days.” I guess I’ll be getting a half dozen. 

Of course, I also didn’t read the ad’s description before I hit play:  ”Your personal information WILL NOT be shared with the advertiser” (Time Warner adds the all-caps).  

What good can come of this? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

The $40-plus digital TV converter box conspiracy

March 30th, 2009, 7:16 am by

Ever wonder why digital TV converter boxes start at $40? That, of course, is the same amount the government is giving away to anyone who needs one or two of these converter boxes to watch TV after June 12.

From the names (or no-names) of some of the converter-box brands — AccessHD, Artec, Coship and Goodmind, to name a few — I figured the digital boxes were cheaply made in Asia. And I’ve wondered if some savvy entrepreneur is making millions inflating the price of cheaply made electronics to cash in on the government subsidy.

Cynical me. 

While, in fact, the only converter-box brand made in-house by a familiar name is Zenith, a brand owned by LG Electronics, other companies aren’t making a whole lot of money on digital converters, says Myra Moore, president of Digital Tech Consulting, a research-consulting firm that has tracked this very topic.

LG didn’t respond to calls for a comment. Other brands like RCA and Magnavox outsource their converter boxes to some Asian manufacturer you’ve probably never heard of, she said. 

Moore did her own sleuthing and came up with the breakdown of how much it costs to make a digital converter box — between $28 to $32, she concluded in an article she wrote for EE Times.

I asked Moore to drill it down. Of that cost, between $16 to $22 pays for the cost of the demodulator, decoder chip, power supply, casing, remote control and input/output panel. 

Another $11 to $12 goes to royalty fees to pay the patent holders of the digital tuner technology inside? That’s a whopping 39 percent of the manufacturer’s cost! Knowing the TV makers are fighting this royalty battle, there may be little that converter box makers can do at least in the near future. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 6 Comments »

Digital TV coupons available again if yours expired

March 24th, 2009, 8:55 am by

For everyone who inadvertently let their $40 digital TV converter coupon expire before buying a converter box, you’re in luck. The government will let you reapply for up to two more coupons beginning today.

The coupons offer a discount off a converter box, which is one way to get an analog TV ready for the nation’s switch to digital broadcasts on June 12, 2009. But millions of people  let their coupons expire after the 90-day deadline. And then in early January, the government ran out of money.

However, thanks to intervention from politicians, the digital TV transition was delayed four months to June and $650 million more was set aside by Congress for the coupon program. Up to $90 million of that will be used for administration and outreach and promotion.

But for the past month, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is managing the coupon program, has focused on sending out coupons to the 4 million people on the waiting list. That list was cleared on Saturday, using up $190 million, or 39 percent of the $490 million reserved for coupons. 

“We’re particularly focused on the 4-plus million completely unprepared households and we’re going to monitor the coupon requests and the coupon redemptions to make sure that we don’t obligate all the funding before we ensure that the totally unprepared households get their coupons. If need be, we’ll establish another waiting list for the unprepared, over the air households,” said Anna Gomez, the NTIA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information.

Before today, consumers who tried to get another coupon were rejected.  Now, when those users apply, the system will check to see if they have already cashed in a coupon. Up to two coupons total are allowed per household. If a household cashed in one coupon before but not the second, that household can apply for one more.

Gomez said that the coupon process should be faster than before. Besides upgrades in the operation, the coupons are also being delivered by first-class mail and should take nine days to arrive instead of the previous 21 days.

For those who still need a coupon, here is how to get one:

  • Apply online
  • Call the Coupon Program toll-free 24-hour automated system 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).
  • Mail a coupon application to: PO BOX 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000. Download a Coupon Application here.
  • Fax a coupon application to 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632)
  • Deaf or hard of hearing callers may dial 1-877-530-2634 (English/TTY) or 1-866-495-1161 (Spanish/TTY). TTY Service is available from 9 AM – 9 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday.

More digital TV transition news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to the Digital TV transition. Latest headlines:

Posted in: news • Video & TV • • • • | Comments Off

New guy: No more digital TV delays, expired coupons to get 2nd chance

March 18th, 2009, 10:32 am by

America will move to digital TV on June 12 and that’s final, said Gary Locke, President Obama’s nominee for head of the Department of Commerce. 

During his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, the Washington state governor said he has no plans to seek more funding or an extension to the digital TV transition, initially set for Feb. 17 but delayed till June after politicians felt America wasn’t ready.

Consumers who rely on antennas and analog TVs will have no TV service when networks begin broadcasting in digital only. But consumers don’t need to buy a new digital TV or subscribe to cable or satellite TV. They can buy a digital converter box, which costs between $40 to $100. (For tips, see the  ”Gadgetress Guide to the 2009 Digital TV Transition.”)

One reason the DTV transition was delayed was the government-funded program offering $40 coupons on converter boxes ran out of money in January. About 33 million coupons had been redeemed and new requests were put on a waiting list. Thanks to the president’s economic stimulus plan, the coupon program got another $650 million.

That money was received earlier this month and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which runs the program, begin mailing out coupons to the 4.1 million on the waiting list.

Of the $650 million in new funding, approximately $160 million was set aside for administration and operational expenses. Those include contracting the service to IBM to process the coupon requests and mail them out. The $490 million dedicated to coupons can fulfill 12.25 million requests. 

“It takes us a few days to sort through the (waiting) list and make sure they are valid requests,” said Bart Forbes, the NTIA’s public affairs specialist. “We’ve been mailing out 400,000 coupons per workday.”

The law that delayed the digital transition in June also allows for people who let their $40 coupon expire to apply for one more. Details on when and how the reapplication process will work will be released as soon as next week, which Locke also mentioned during his confirmation hearing, Forbes said.

“We’ve been changing our process” to accommodate requests from expired coupon holders, Forbes said. “We had to rework the whole system.”

For those who still need a coupon, here is how to get one: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

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