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Editors Note: This post is a guest editorial written by a T-Mobile front-line employee regarding life on — the front-line. Tackling three separate, but equally important issues, this anonymous guest posts hopes to explain why the iPhone is important, why phone manufacturers need to step up their game and how there is actual “value”… Read more
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Here’s a new turn of events as a Financial Times report indicates Deutsche Telekom is reportedly talking with bankers hoping to keep their USA branch competitive in the United States. Besides selling T-Mobile USA towers, which could raise between $1 to $2 billion, T-Mobile could also raise additional funds by issuing bonds. Deutsche Telekom is expected to… Read more
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By David Ponce
Calling it a trailer is a bit of a misnomer, since the Ridekick actually pushes you. It’s a 40lbs attachment that ties to the back of any bicycle in 15 seconds, and houses a 500 Watt electric motor. That’s almost a horsepower and it’s enough to propel you forward at up to 19mph, for 8-12miles. Of course range is highly dependent on a number of factors, like rider weight, cargo weight and terrain topography. A simple throttle gives you speed control and there’s even extra storage in there for groceries or a briefcase, as long as these weigh less than 75lbs. At $700, it’s cheaper than most of the low end electric bikes.
Hit the jump for a short video and links.
[ Ridekick ] VIA [ Inhabitat ]
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Amazon this morning announced that it has set up a $6 million annual fund dedicated to independent authors and publishers. Dubbed KDP Select, the fund aims to let indie authors and publishers “make money in a whole new way”.
Here’s how it works: if a KDP author or publisher chooses to make any of their books exclusive to the Kindle Store for at least 90 days, those books are eligible to be included in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and can earn a share of the KDP Select fund.
The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is a collection of books that Amazon Prime members who own a kindle can borrow once a month, with no due dates.
Amazon says it expects the fund to be at least $6 million for all of 2012, but has also already allocated $500,000 for December 2011 (the new option is available starting today).
Under the terms of the program, independent authors and publishers can enroll anything from a single, self-published book or their entire catalog (if applicable).
From the press release:
The monthly royalty payment for each KDP Select book is based on that book’s share of the total number of borrows of all participating KDP books in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
For example, if total borrows of all participating KDP Select books are 100,000 in December and an author’s book was borrowed 1,500 times, they will earn $7,500 in additional royalties from KDP Select in December.
Enrolled titles will remain available for sale to any customer in the Kindle Store and authors will continue to earn their regular royalties on those sales, Amazon adds.
View full post on TechCrunch » Mobile
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In the few months I lived across the pond (where prepaid phone plans are more popular than contracts, go figure), I learned something important about adding credit to your plan, or “topping up” as the Brits would say: it’s a pain in the arse.
Some carriers let you add credit by sending a text, which is pretty awesome, but the more options customers have the better. That said, Boost Mobile is launching a new Facebook app called Re-Boost which will let customers add credit straight from the social network.
The ability to refill your account from Facebook is actually quite awesome, but then the app gets a little strange. Since it’s on Facebook and thus intertwined in your digital relationship playground, you can elicit the help of friends to fill up your mobile account. That’s more of a blast, shooting out a request for more credit to the entirety of your Facebook network.
If that sounds as embarrassing to you as it does to me (but you still happen to need a friend’s help topping up), the Re-Boost app also lets you send a request to specific friends to help you add credit. Of course, with all the various methods of taking from your friends, Boost found it necessary to add some form of giving functionality. That way you can pay back all the friends that have been supporting your mobile lifestyle.
All in all this sounds like a great idea, though all the networking throws me for a loop a bit. You can check out the app now by logging into Facebook, searching “Boost,” and choosing the Re-Boost application.
View full post on TechCrunch » Mobile