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Verizon begins offering free Wi-Fi to its mobile broadband users

December 15th, 2009, 12:30 pm by

Free Wi-FiIf you’re a Verizon Wireless customer who pays a chunk of change each month for mobile broadband, Verizon is now tossing in access to its 11,000 Wi-Fi hotspots for no extra charge.

Verizon already offers free Wi-Fi to its FiOS subscribers, plus its DSL customers who spend $30 a month on service. See the earlier story, “Verizon offers some customers a bonus: Free Wi-Fi.”

Verizon hotspots include some Starbucks stores, Barnes & Noble bookstores, several hotels and more. There are nearly 1,000 places within 50 miles of The Register’s headquarters that offer Verizon Wi-Fi service. Here’s a link to Verizon’s hotspot finder: verizonwireless.com/wi-fi

To qualify, you need either a monthly Mobile Broadband account or a GlobalAccess plan. You also need a Verizon-supported device, which is either a USB modem, PC Card, ExpressCard, the Verizon MiFi portable hotspot, or a netbook or notebook. Here is a list of qualified devices: www.vzam.net.

Verizon isn’t the only one offering free Wi-Fi to its customers.

AT&T has been a leader of free Wi-Fi for its customers. It offers free Wi-Fi access at its hotspots to iPhone customers and home broadband users. It recently added 25,000 more hotspots around the globe. See the earlier story, “25,000 more places for Wi-Fi (if you’re with AT&T).”

AT&T also offers free Wi-Fi to anyone at Barnes & Noble stores. See earlier story, “Free Wi-Fi at Barnes & Noble for everyone!”

T-Mobile also offers certain customers free access to its Wi-Fi network.

Recent stories on free Wi-Fi:

Posted in: Cell phones • Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • | 9 Comments »

Free Showtime for 4 days for Time Warner customers

December 14th, 2009, 11:17 am by

Free Showtime on Time WarnerFreebie alert: Time Warner Cable is offering customers free access to a few Showtime channels beginning Wednesday, Dec. 16.

The 4-day freebie ends Dec. 20. Here’s a link to see some of the shows coming up this week on the channel.

The Showtime channels that are part of the free preview are on 552 (Showtime), 553 (Showtime HD) and Showtime On Demand (via channel 1 or 1006). The preview is free to all customers.

Since some of the shows will include adult content, customers can opt to not get the free preview by activating parental controls (go to settings, then tab over to parental control) or call customer service at 1-888-TWCABLE.

This appears to be a free preview targeting only Time Warner customers. I’m checking with other TV providers. I’ll update if I hear any positives.

Time Warner Cable signMore stories about Time Warner Cable:

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

Vizio confirms Black Friday prices: $99 Blu-ray player, more

November 18th, 2009, 3:33 pm by

Black Friday 2009Most consumers will agree that Vizio Inc. makes a decent HDTV that usually cost less than the competition. While the quality is debatable (let me reword this) not everyone is gaga for the brand, Vizio’s big pricing extravaganza begins right … around… NOW!

Just got a list of Vizio’s Black Friday 2009 prices starting with a $99 BLU-RAY PLAYER! But we all knew Blu-ray was going to hit $99 this Christmas, right?

Noticeably absent: Vizio’s VIA TV, the Internet TV I’ve been waiting for. Ah well. I hate shopping on Black Friday anyway.

But for everyone else who needs a new TV, here is Vizio holiday price lineup: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 11 Comments »

Happy holidays! Have some free Wi-Fi on Google unless you’re in O.C.

November 10th, 2009, 7:01 am by

Google sponsors free Wi-Fi at 47 airports during holiday 2009.Update, 10:13 a.m.: Google responds to why Orange County was overlooked. See bold below.
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Google Inc. wants to give consumers an early Christmas present and said it will sponsor free Wi-Fi Internet at airports across the country through Jan. 15, 2010. The company has agreements with 47 airports plus the big Wi-Fi provider Boingo Wireless, which typically charges $7.95 a day.

Unfortunately, this freebie doesn’t include the two big ones here, John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana or Los Angeles International Airport. Boingo doesn’t provide service to John Wayne, but it does offer it at LAX. The Long Beach airport, of course, has free Wi-Fi all the time in the JetBlue section. UPDATE: Google says that it didn’t restrict the promotion to certain airports. All airports listed wanted to participate and wanted to make this happen. “If there are other airports who are interested in potentially participating in any future programs, they should contact us at freeholidaywifi@google.com,” said a Google spokesman.

However, if you’re traveling beaucoup this upcoming season, the “free gift” will be available at some local airports, including San Diego and Burbank. More likely, however, travelers will get to take advantage of free Wi-Fi if they’re in San Jose, Boston and Las Vegas.

Here’s a complete list of airports offering free Wi-Fi:

Airports offering free Wi-Fi ’till Jan. 15, 2010
Austin (AUS) Houston Bush (IAH) Orlando (MCO)
Baltimore (BWI) Indianapolis (IND) Panama City (PFN)
Billings (BIL) Jacksonville (JIA) Pittsburgh (PIT)
Boston (BOS) Kalamazoo (AZO) Portland (PWM)
Bozeman (BZN) Las Vegas (LAS) Sacramento (SMF)
Buffalo (BUF) Louisville (SDF) San Antonio (SAT)
Burbank (BUR) Madison (MSN) San Diego (SAN)
Central Wisconsin (CWA) Memphis (MEM) San Jose (SJC)
Charlotte (CLT) Miami (MIA) Seattle (SEA)
Des Moines (DSM) Milwaukee (MKE) South Bend (SBN)
El Paso (ELP) Monterey (MRY) Spokane (GEG)
Fort Lauderdale (FLL) Nashville (BNA) St. Louis (STL)
Fort Myers/SW (RSW) Newport News (PHF) State College (SCE)
Greensboro (GSO) Norfolk (ORF) Toledo (TOL)
Houston (HOU) Oklahoma City (OKC) Traverse City (TVC)
Omaha (OMA) West Palm Beach (PBI)

Google is working not only with the airports but Wi-Fi providers, such as Boingo Wireless, Advanced Wireless Group and Airport Marketing. Additionally, Google is working with Virgin America airlines to offer free Wi-Fi to passengers traveling in Boston, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego and Fort Lauderdale through the same period. More details at www.freeholidaywifi.com.

Coincidentally, Boingo announced this morning that teaming with hotel chains to offer “sponsored access” has increased revenue up to 35 percent at select airports, and generated click-through rates of up to 39 percent for sponsors. Typically, such campaigns have offered travelers 15 to 20 minutes of free Internet in exchange for watching a 30-second video.

Google did not say whether it will make users watch a commercial in exchange for free access.

Did you miss these earlier stories on Gadgetress?

Posted in: Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • | 11 Comments »

Sony HD TV owners can download movie — for $25 a day

November 9th, 2009, 4:26 pm by

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.Everyone from Best Buy to Netflix wants a direct line to our living-room TV so we customers don’t have to step outside. Today, Sony Electronics made an entrance — with a twist: If you buy one of its web-friendly TVs or Blu-ray Disc players, you can download the upcoming high-definition version of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” free for 24 hours.

The animated movie won’t be out until Jan. 5, 2010 so the Sony Pictures release is a good example of what a company can do when it controls the content and the mechanism to watch the movie on.

But it’s not a very good offer. First, you must buy one of 12 Sony Bravia HDTVs or the Sony networked Blu-ray Disc player between today and Jan. 4, 2010. Only then can you get the movie as a free 24-hour rental. The Blu-ray DVD will cost $35 when it is released. And no, this offer isn’t available to the millions of PlayStation 3 owners out there.

On Dec. 8, the rental fee goes to $24.95 for all Bravia TVs (including the W5100, Z5100, XBR9 and XBR10) and the new BDP-N460 Network Blu-ray Disc player.  The majority of Bravia TVs from 2007 to 2008 are compatible with Sony’s Internet Video Link module, currently a $200 add-on at Sony’s online store.

Sounds like a high price to pay for a movie rental, but a Sony spokesperson confirmed to me that the price is correct.

Bravia TVs and the networked Blu-ray players do have access to Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube other Web TV-based services. Netflix streaming was supposed to arrive this fall.

More on the Web TV movement:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Free NBA preview for Dish subscribers this week

October 30th, 2009, 2:29 pm by

DISH Network has started a week-long free preview of its NBA League Pass, which otherwise costs around $170 for the season.

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:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

AT&T’s new unlimited prepaid plan is 50% less than regular service

October 9th, 2009, 12:17 pm by

Go Phone, prepaid service from AT&TAT&T just announced a new prepaid plan offering unlimited talk and text for GoPhone users for $60 a month.

The same plan for regular postpaid subscribers? Around $120 a month for unlimited texting and talking. That is:

  • $99 = Unlimited calls
  • $20 = Unlimited texting
  • $36 = one-time activation fee

Competition forced AT&T to do something with its prepaid plan. Rivals like Irvine’s Boost Mobile began offering unlimited text and talk plans for $50 earlier this year. That was followed by T-Mobile, Verizon and others. MetroPCS only offers unlimited plans, starting at $30 a month.

Beginning Oct. 12, AT&T’s new Unlimited Talk and Text package will be available for $60 a month. This includes unlimited calling and texting nationwide with no annual contract. The texting portion includes picture and video messaging, texting to Mexico and 100 countries worldwide and no roaming charges while in the U.S.

Not a bad deal compared to everything else AT&T offers. But you might want to look at the competition’s offerings before making a decision.

Of course, the downside of AT&T’s prepaid plans is that they exclude iPhone users and have no 3G phones. But if you have one of those phones with a data plan, cost may be less important than features. There are also no discounted family plans.

Other reasons to stick with postpaid, adds AT&T, you get big discounts on the phones since the company subsidizes them. Plus there’s no unlimited data plan. Data plans for the GoPhone start at $4.99 for 1 MB to $19.99 for 100 MB. The unlimited data plan for the iPhone, for example, is $30 extra per month.

Previous stories on prepaid phone service:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • | 19 Comments »

Free games for Verizon Internet customers starts Friday

October 7th, 2009, 12:28 pm by

Verizon free game weekend

If you’re a Verizon Internet customer and have kids, or like to play games yourself, set an alert for Friday, Oct. 9, when Verizon offers free access to 1,500 games on demand. After the free weekend, ending Monday, Oct. 12, the price goes back to $4.99 to $14.99 per month.

That’s four full days of free games.

The offer is for Verizon’s FiOS Internet and DSL customers. Go to verizon.net/freegames to access the games.

This is a mostly casual collection of games, which include Boggle, The Secret of Margrave Manor 2, SpongeBob Teaches Typing, Zoo Tycoon, Bejeweled Twist. You can scan the list of  games available on Verizon’s main game page at gamesondemand.verizon.net.

The catch? You can play the games on a computer as much as you want all weekend but after that, you’ll be locked out. If you do decide to pay for the service, you’ll get two weeks free. Or just head to other Web sites that offer free casual games all the time, like AddictingGames.com or EA’s pogo.com.

Like deals? Check out the OC Register’s Deals blog.

Posted in: Internet • • • • • • | Comments Off

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