If you thought Coinstar was through making industry rattling announcements today, you were wrong. After taking the wraps off its joint venture with Verizon, now the company has announced it’ll be taking over NCR’s entertainment division for 0 million. That includes DVD kiosks, retailer contracts and an inventory of discs for stocking the machines. That’s big news not only cause it expands Redbox’s already sizable self-serve rental empire, but because it may be doing so at the expense of the floundering Blockbuster since NCR has been responsible for distributing and running the blue and yellow rental kiosks. How exactly this will impact existing Blockbuster Express installations is unclear, but we can’t imagine the news is good. For a few more details about the deal check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Redbox snatches up NCR’s entertainment division, future of Blockbuster kiosks unclear

Redbox snatches up NCR’s entertainment division, future of Blockbuster kiosks unclear originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cellphone contracts suck, but pretty much everyone in the U.S. still has one. For the vast majority of people, signing a contract is the only way to get the phone they want for a price they can afford. But contracts present problems: They’re 24 months long, but phones typically have issues after the first 12 months (when manufacturer’s warranties have expired); if a phone is lost, the contract still stands, yet the consumer has no phone; and newer phones that are far more desirable are released yearly or more frequently, yet consumers are stuck with the same old phone. But carriers need contracts about as much as consumers disdain them. It’s the only way to ensure that consumers will be there month after month, allowing carriers to recoup the investment they make in phone purchases. (Your typical iPhone is sold at retail for 0 but actually cost carriers 0-0, and this price is increasing.)

But what if all of this changed? What if consumers actually enjoyed signing contracts? What if carriers just gave away phones — all of them —  for free?

What do consumers get?

Carriers need to rethink the current model of phone ownership. It’s not working for them or consumers. So let’s propose a new one: phone leasing. It would work like this. A consumer can get a free phone, any model they would like, and can keep it for 12 months. No charge aside from their monthly bill. If there are any issues with the phone, they would most likely still be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. And any reasonable issues not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty would be covered by the carrier for free.

What’s the catch?

The carrier owns the phone, and it must be returned after the 12 months is up. Moreover, instead of signing a two-year contract, consumers would have to sign a four- to five-year one. But, and this is a big but, when a consumer gives that 12-month-old phone back to the carrier, they’ll get a brand-new one of their choice — every single year of the contract.

What do carriers get out of this model?

Three things: More phone “sales” — lowering the cost of phone acquisition will lead to more contracts; longer contract means more customer loyalty; and leasing instead of selling phones means the phones can be resold once the 12 months is up (a typical iPhone goes for 0-400 on Craigslist). So instead of a carrier purchasing a phone for, say, 0 from a manufacturer and only getting 0 at retail from a consumer, losing 0 in the process, they’ll be able to resell that phone after 12 months for 0-400. This process will be repeated until the contract ends.

But why would a carrier go this route when the churn rate (the percentage of consumers leaving) is so low? More profit. Smartphone adoption is growing, but it would be growing much faster if smartphones were free. Moreover, carriers are basically competing with the same phones (barring T-Mobile, which still doesn’t have the iPhone) and very similar monthly plans. Adding such a plan would be a game-changer that would provide a worthy competitive advantage. Lastly, churn may be low — Verizon, for instance, reported 1.1 percent among 88 million contract subscribers. That equates to 88,000 people, or nearly half the population of Richmond, Va., leaving every quarter. With each subscriber worth .89 of revenue, .8 million worth of churn walks away each quarter.

Why not prepaid instead?

Of course the prepaid phone market is an option, but for most consumers it is not a tantalizing one. Part of the reason could be due to the lack of cachet; the perception remains that prepaid users don’t have good enough credit to get a contract. But an even greater reason is the lack of cutting-edge phones the prepaid market offers. For instance, the iPhone (as well as many popular phones) isn’t available as a prepaid option. And for carriers, on average, prepaid has a higher churn rate and creates less revenue.

Carriers have little choice but to shake up the cellphone market. It’s ripe for a revolution.

John S. Wilson is a freelance writer who focuses on technology, politics and health policy. He writes for NewsOne, The Loop 21, and Mediaite, and can be reached on Twitter: @johnwilson

Image courtesy of Flickr user jason.lengstorf.

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Republic Wireless, the division of Bandwidth.com that offers customers an Android phone with unlimited voice, data and text for a month, launches Tuesday. It’s a revolutionary price point in the industry but it’s also an attempt to make Wi-Fi calling easier and more user-friendly. If it works it could change the wireless game in ways that other mobile broadband upstarts have tried and failed to do.

Republic Wireless’ love affair with Wi-Fi.

Republic Wireless has made Wi-Fi the linchpin of its mobile service with a cellular network provided by Sprint as its backup. Customers will join the service by paying 9 to get a phone and then a month after that with no contracts. There’s a 30-day window for someone to return the phone and get their money back. So how does this work?

By default all calls, data and texts are sent via Wi-Fi networks when possible, and switch only to cellular if no Wi-Fi access is available. That’s one reason for the low price on the service, as most people can access an existing Wi-Fi network in their home or office for free. Brian Dally, the general manager of Republic says he expects at least 60 percent of the traffic to go over Wi-Fi networks. But he assures me that when he says unlimited data that it does extend to the 3G portion of the service as well.

Om said this sounds a lot like UMA, the technology that T-Mobile used for its Home Zone products and that many people loved. But Dally said Republic is not using the Kineto technology that UMA is based on, and that the user experience won’t be quite seamless when it comes to switching from one network to the other. At the moment users will hear a tone in the middle of a call signaling the change in networks, but the call will continue. That’s better than it cutting off entirely, but Dally says he’s still looking for feedback on the user experience and invited me to check back in a few weeks on the forums to see what users think.

Cheap matters but hardware does too.

To ensure the primacy of Wi-Fi, Republic had to build software that puts Wi-Fi first. It chose to do this using the Android OS not only because the platform is hot but it also allows developers to access the hardware. The first phone for the system will be the LG Optimus. If that’s not optimal, Dally promises that more phones are coming but he was mum about the timeline and particular devices.

The  LG Optimus Android smartphone runs the Gingerbread version of Android and will come preloaded with the Republic software. A first-time user will be asked to put in his Wi-Fi network and then for information on other Wi-Fi access points. The phone will remember that information. Users will also be able to download apps to help manage authentication and payment for Wi-fi networks if they want, but Republic won’t preload any of that onto the handset.

The use of Sprint as the network partner means the phone uses Sprint’s CDMA network, so it won’t roam internationally. And, if Sprint coverage doesn’t work well in your area, think carefully about taking it up. We expect Kevin Tofel to take the handset through its paces later this week.

Is it too good to be true?

The idea of disrupting the cellular world is not a new one, and while VoIP calling over Wi-Fi has come a long way, the quality of experience can be sub par. Dally agrees that delivering better quality of service on Wi-Fi is something he hopes will happen, but he’s also confident that today’s Wi-Fi networks and the ubiquity of access is enough to make this service viable.

And beyond providing cheap mobile service, Dally espouses some of the same ethos that his parent company Bandwidth.com shares– The idea is to take telecommunications from the realm of a few large carriers and make it more egalitarian and IP-based. “The phone prefers WiFi because its ubiquitous and cheap and it’s not controlled by a few large companies,” Dally said. Bandwidth.com owns an IP network (which Republic will use to connect calls) that currently provides VoIP services to Skype, Google Voice and other IP voice providers.

Between Bandwidth.com’s network, Sprint and your home Wi-Fi points, Dally believes he has a service. And given the emphasis on public in all of the company’s branding, I’m wondering if there’s a Fon element to be found here, where members can sign up to share their hot spots. And while today Republic isn’t signing partnerships with existing hot spot and access providers such as the AT&T-owned Wayport, Boingo or even iPass, Dally doesn’t rule them out in the future. Such partnerships which would give it even more flexibility to default to Wi-Fi coverage.

So it’s possible that Republic could flip the mobile phone model so cellular connections and pricing goes the way of satellite phone pricing — expensive and suitable only for a select few who roam the uninhabited wilds. I’ll be eager to see how this experiment plays out. The beta starts Tuesday with Republic offering to ship a cluster of handsets every Friday based on a first come first served basis.

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If there is one thing that every workplace requires, it is a great printer. Even though you will work from your home or perhaps if you are still a university student, owning your own personal printer offers a number of advantages. But if your work requires a great deal of journeying or perhaps working out of the office, perhaps you would want to look at purchasing a portable printer. Those who will work in sales, advertising and marketing, or perhaps in media are in a lot of need of portable printers as their occupation requires journeying from one particular location to yet another.

The best thing concerning having a portable printer is the fact that, you can take your work practically anywhere you want to. You will not need an office to get your documents, contracts, reports, and also evaluation sheets printed. All you need is a laptop and electricity, whilst your printer is good to go. It is possible to take your work to a coffee shop if you want. Or even if you are traveling in another country, you’ll not have a trouble finding an available printer within the place you will be staying if you have to have hard copies of your files.

When purchasing a portable printer, among the list of items that you need to check into could be the ease in terms of moving the printer without compromising its functionality.

Because of technological innovation, there exists already many choices on the subject of portable printers. These kind of printers are already lightweight and are absolutely functional, offering identical output as those printers accessible in large offices. On the other hand, if you are looking for printers which will scan, copy, and also fax, portable printers may not be a choice as they do not have these types of added attributes.

The majority of portable printers these days are enormously inexpensive and bring decent printing level of quality. You will really come across at least one distinct model that could fit both your requirements along with your finances. Just make sure you consider the speed plus the quality of the portable printer that you are about to get. Battery life is likewise an important factor, especially if you normally travel and stay away from your house or perhaps company for very long periods of time.

Visit at http://best-cheap-printer.com where you’ll find numerous suggestions and opinions to get the best cheap printer for your needs.

Okay, so it may not look quite as impressive as some other mechanical cheetahs we’ve seen in the past, but this new one from Boston Dynamics certainly has a lot of potential. That robot, plus a new humanoid called Atlas, have won DARPA contracts and so will be put into at least limited production, much like the company’s earlier BigDog. Cheetah is said to run “faster than any existing legged robot and faster than the fastest human runners,” while Atlas can “move through difficult terrain using human-like behavior,” meaning neither running nor hiding will work. That leaves only fighting, so get ready to buck up.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Boston Dynamics Cheetah and Atlas robots get DARPA funding, getting ready to find you originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 03:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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