Geldpress

A Geldpress reader - let’s call him “Mr. B.” - provided the information for this piece.  Mr. B. has been a loyal Sprint customer for over 10 years, and currently has a family plan with five handsets and an average bill of over $200 per month.  Approximately 6 months ago, he upgraded one phone to the LG Rumor, otherwise known as the LG Rubbish.  Sprint’s currently advertises a buy one get one free special on the LG Rubbish, and based on the accounts from Mr B and countless others, you will certainly need a second one after the imminent failure of the first.  But if your second free Rumor Rubbish goes bad, neither Sprint nor LG will honor the warranties they provided.

The warranty is near the end of the user’s manual for the LG Rumor Rubbish.  It clearly states that:

The limited warranty for the unit and enclosed accessories shall be a period of one (1) year from the date of original purchase.

But just like any other warranty, it lists specific limitations, such as “Defects or damage resulting from use of the product in other than its normal and customary manner”.  Mr. B. was never concerned about these limitations because he took good care of his phone, and had faith that either Sprint or LG would take care of any problems, especially within the one year stated warranty period.

The exact problem Mr. B. had with his problem is very similar to the problem reported by countless other Rumor buyers.  The phone simply lost its ability to charge.  He first tried a second charger, and when that didn’t work, he took it back to the Sprint store.  Mr. B. did not have the Sprint equipment protection plan on his account, but he was assured by Sprint that it was no problem.  The equipment protection plan would have allowed Sprint to give him a new phone on the spot, with no questions asked.  But nonetheless, the phone was still under warranty, and LG was responsible for either fixing it or replacing it.

Mr. B. requested a return authorization number from the LG service center (Wireless Operations), and shipped the phone to their service center for repair.  Approximately 2 weeks later, the same phone was returned to him, unrepaired and unreplaced, and with virtually no explanation.  A short note on the repair invoice simply stated “This phone is being returned as is:  Un-repairable“.  Mr. B.’s natural instinct was shock and dismay, and he called the service center for an explanation.  They stated that the charging pins on the main circuit board had fallen off, and it would have cost them more to repair it then to replace it.  Mr. B. stated that he did not care how much it cost them because he had a warranty, and they needed to honor it.  The LG service representative just kept insisting that they could not help him, and that they would not honor the warranty.

Mr. B. was truly perplexed, dismayed, and shocked, but there was nothing he could do about it.  Both Sprint and LG Electronics are enduring severe financial struggles.  Warranty service is undoubtedly very costly, but the solution of not honoring warranties that Sprint and LG are pursuing is bound to end in tragedy for both.

Do you have a broken LG Rumor?  Complaint about LG warranty service?  State your gripes in the comments below.  And if you have been denied warranty service from LG, you can submit your Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint here:

Also from Geldpress:

• AT&T will lose money with the iphone data plan
• The United States has not had a balanced budget since 1957!
• The Big Mac purchasing power parity economic indicator
• What comes after the bailout?

Apple held it’s Let’s Rock event today to unveil its new iPod line and iTunes offerings.  The iPod nano offers a taller and more colorful look.   It is the thinnest iPod to date, includes a few enhancements (accelerometer, shake to shuffle), better battery life, and a lower price.  The 8GB version now goes for $149, and a new 16GB model sells for $199.  The iPod classic also gets a minor upgrade, with the 120GB version selling for the old 80GB price of $249.  The iPod shuffle got a few new colors, but no improvement in pricing.

The long awaited iPod touch disappointed the crowds.  Apple missed its opportunity to challenge Garmin in the GPS navigation wars and released the new touch with minimal changes, and without GPS.   The new touch, however, does include new 2.1 firmware, support for Nike+iPod, built in speakers, and a new genius playlist feature.

Itunes 8.0 was also announced at the event.  Apples’s description of “Genius”:

Play a song, click the Genius button, and iTunes creates a playlist of other songs from your library that go great together. Genius playlists help you discover songs in your library you never knew you had — and rediscover forgotten favorites.

With itunes 8.0 also comes the availability of HD television shows, and a few other fluff changes, such as Grid View (shows your library using cover art), and a Visualizer app that lights up your desktop to the beat of the music you are playing.

Are you tired of the new Microsoft operating systems slowing your system down and constantly crashing?  How about all those nonsense applications that come pre-installed on your Dell, Compaq or other computer?  Or do you just need a light, fast and inexpensive laptop for the road?

If you answered yes to any of those, then you should check out one of the new ultra light and small Linux based laptops.  See Forget Microsoft and Adobe - use free software instead for more info.  The Linux computers are compatible with your existing windows based applications.

ASUS Eee PC 900 20G - For less than $500 after rebate, you can pick up this laptop direct from Amazon.com.  The screen size is only 8.9 inches, so it may not be suitable for home use.  But it is the perfect companion for those needing a useful and light laptop for the road, or as a spare.  It is 900 MHz Intel Mobile CPU and pre-installed Linux operating system.  It has a 20 GB solid state flash memory drive, 1 GB of RAM, 10/100 Fast Ethernet, 54g Wi-Fi, an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, and a battery capable of lasting 3.5 hours.  It also comes equipped with 3 USB 2.0 ports, a VGA output, an SD memory card slot, and headphone and microphone jacks.   And It still comes in under 2 pounds.

Sylvania GNET28001SN Meso - It also comes in at less than $500, and can be pre-ordered direct from Amazon.com.  It comes equipped with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, an 80 GB hard drive, and 1 GB of RAM.  Like the ASUS 900, it also has an integrated webcam, an 8.9 inch screen, 3 USB ports, a VGA output and built in wireless.  It comes preloaded with Ubuntu Netbook and OpenOffice.  It’s slightly heavier then the Asus PC 900, coming in at about 2.2 pounds.

Either of these laptops can be the perfect travel companion or even serve as your main or backup computer.

Top rated Geldpress Articles:

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• The United States national debt limit has become a joke
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• The volatility clue to the market
• McCain wants to spend millions for a few Amazon books
• A primer on credit default swaps and counterparty risk

From Marketwatch:

EBay Inc. said Wednesday that it would cut some listing fees “dramatically” as the online auction giant responds to increasing competitive pressure from such rivals as Amazon.com.  Shares of eBay fell more than 1% to $25.06 by midday trading Wednesday. The stock has shed more than 20% of its value over the last three months.

Ebay is missing the point.  Yes, lower fees are always welcome. But they are meaningless in the eyes of Ebay customers who also want better service.  Ebay customers want want tighter monitoring of fraud, which is reportedly rampant on Ebay, and which Ebay apparently disregards.  Ebay customers defect to Amazon because they trust they will receive exactly what they pay for.  Pricing is secondary.

MSNBC investigated Ebay and reported the following:

…the company doesn’t routinely inform customers when they have been ripped off or regularly notify law enforcement about apparently illegal activity on its site.

…Fraud complaints filed with eBay rarely trigger any disciplinary action against sellers, even when accompanied by extensive documentation of wrongdoing.

…EBay acknowledges that it doesn’t automatically suspend the cheating sellers it catches.

…In a case in which postage stamps were allegedly being altered to increase their value and then resold “as is,” eBay took no action to halt the auctions despite receiving a litany of complaints from a group of stamp experts who assembled detailed evidence on the purported scam.

There are also grass root petitions generated by Ebay customers who were victimized by fraudulent sellers, but apparently with no disciplinary action against the sellers from Ebay.  One such petition, with thousands of signatures, claims the following:

Every day 1000’s of FAKE MP3\MP4 players are being sold to unsuspecting buyers worldwide. These players are being listed as having 2GB\4GB and 8GB (Gigabyte) of storage capacity but in reality they have much smaller memory modules that have been manipulated (Hacked) so that they read as larger than their true capacity. These memory modules can be as small as 128MB. Unfortunately most buyers do not realize they have been scammed until it is too late.

Is eBay aware of that these fraudsters are using their service to scam millions of dollars on a global scale? The answer is yes, every day they receive complaints from buyers through the eBay system. Every day their sister company PayPal receives dispute claims from buyers of these players seeking a refund. Despite the 1000’s of complaints eBay chooses to turn a blind eye to the whole scandal, even blocking buyers from trying to warn other members of the scam.

If Ebay is going to retain their existing customers, and have any hopes of recovering lost customers, then they need to concentrate on customer service.  Lower fees alone just won’t cut it.

From the Los Angeles Times in June 2008, “Music sales decline 8% on piracy, industry group says”:

Music sales fell to the lowest level in at least 10 years as a surge in digital content failed to make up for declines in compact discs and the effects of piracy, an industry group said today. Global music sales dropped 8% to $19.4 billion in 2007, according to a report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry…

But the “industry group” has failed to recognize the real answer to slowing sales, and that is the result of media hyperinflation. Hyperinflation occurs when there is so much of something available that the value of that something goes down. It is most often used to describe the money supply, such as with Zimbabwe’s currency. But the explosive growth in the information age of the last decade has also caused hyperinflation in digital content. Just count the number of albums or DVD’s for sale at Amazon or iTunes and you will see; the numbers are staggering, and increasing rapidly every year. There are also dozens of new ways to obtain free or nearly free and legal music, that will not hit the sales books of the recording industry:

• Direct consumer to consumer sales on Amazon.com, half price books or similar
• 25 cent older generation music CD’s at garage sales
• Legal downloads of free albums from up and coming bands that the labels never picked up
• Internet streaming and legal radio
• Satellite radio

Instead of recognizing the obvious, and adapting to the current operating environment, the music industry continues to blame piracy and charge the same 1990 prices ($15 for 10 cent piece of plastic) for a rapidly declining commodity with infinite supply. Perhaps the music industry would be interested in purchasing my 1990 era computer for $1500. I’ll even make a fair trade - my 1990 computer for 100 music CD’s of my choice.

From Marketwatch:

Best Buy Co. said Wednesday that it will begin selling the 3G iPhone from Apple Inc. next month - making it the first retailer to carry the popular wireless device…

…In a statement before the opening bell, Best Buy said it will begin to carry the 3G iPhone in its stores on Sept. 7. This will be the first time since last month’s launch of the device that it will be available outside of Apple and AT&T stores.

From my part of the country in the great northwest, the Apple stores are currently the only ones who have inventory of the 3G iPhone, and the lines are still HUGE. You can pay for one with no lines at any AT&T store, but AT&T carries no inventory. They just take your credit card, and call you in 2-3 weeks when it is available. If you want one today, they are already sold out at the Apple stores. You may be able to get one tomorrow, by checking the tomorrows expected iPhone inventory at your local Apple store.

It’s not clear from the story, but somehow I doubt that Best Buy will use the AT&T sales model of just taking credit cards for the iPhone and calling customers 3 weeks later. If that thesis holds true, and 3G inventory levels remain scarce, then the 3G iPhones will be mainly sold at Apple and Best Buy stores. Very few consumers will wait 3 weeks for an iPhone from AT&T when they can get it today from Apple or Best Buy. It makes me wonder what Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T, is thinking. He is now subsidizing Apple’s profits on the front end (device subsidy), and most likely selling the iPhone data plan at a loss. And he is doing this all on a device that Apple does not provide enough inventory for AT&T to sell. By my calculations, Steve Jobs is the man in charge and dictating the rules for this “partnership”.

Got SPAM? I know I do, and I despite my efforts to steer clear, I get an annoying daily dose with strange subject lines such as:

• Contact Global Trust Courier Company
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Goodness for you, kindly reply immediately
• Now contact my secretary for your compensation
• Re: WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
• Unsecured/secure offer***Apply Now***

The body of the messages are even stranger. Here is one example:

ATTN: BANGKOK BANK BERHARD,KUALA LUMPUIR,MALAYSIA

HELLO,

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE MANAGAMENT OF BANGKOK
BANK BERHARD(MALAYSIA)IS GIVEN CHEAP AFFORDABLE LOAN AT A VERY LOW
RATE AS THEIR YEARLY BONANZA LOANS OFFER WITH NO COLLATERAL FOR
APPROVAL.CONTACT THE BANK SERVICES VIA THEIR PUBLIC EMAIL ADDRESS NOW
AT <e-mail address removed> FOR MORE DETAILS.

Then there is usually a request to reply with additional contact information: Full name and address, telephone number. The bolder idiot spammers even request bank account and social security numbers.

We need to find the SPAMMER from above, just to remind him to TURN HIS CAPS LOCK OFF.

So how do you STOP SPAM? Unfortunately, there is no way to stop it completely. Many email programs have SPAM filters, but often the filters are burdened with false readings on SPAM. Although you can’t stop it completely, here are a few tips for reducing SPAM:

1. Protect your e-mail addresses. Everybody wants them for their rewards type program. Tell them NO!
2. Use multiple e-mail addresses, such as john.smith@yahoo.com and jsmith-spam@yahoo.com. Give the spam account address to the public, and save john.smith for trusted friends and family.
3. Don’t reply to SPAM. Answering SPAM just confirms to the SPAMMER that your e-mail address is valid. It is OK, however, to reply to trusted SPAMMERS, such as e-commerce sites that you regularly do business with. You may have accidentally opted in to newsletters you did not want, and it is OK to request to be removed.
4. Never contribute to charity as a result of an e-mail message. If you want to donate, go directly to the charity websites and submit your donation.
5. Don’t forward chain e-mail messages.
6. Turn off automatic READ and DELIVERY receipts. It will only confirm the legitimate e-mail address to the SPAMMER.
7. NEVER submit personal information through e-mail, regardless of the request. If you get an e-mail from your own bank asking you to confirm your personal information through e-mail, it is most likely a SCAM. Legitimate Banks (are there any left?!?!?!) will almost never request personal information through e-mail.
8. Check out the FTC SPAM web site. As instructed on that site, you can even forward SPAM e-mails directly to spam@uce.gov.
9. For extreme SPAM fighting techniques, you can pay for special software or services to help you FIGHT SPAM.

From the Silverlight website:

Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.

But to Olympic fans who crave much more coverage then was delivered during the 2004 games, Silverlight is a necessary browser plugin that just may satisfy your cravings. NBC and Microsoft are partnering up to bring worldwide audiences 3,000 hours of on demand video and 2,200 hours of live coverage from China. You could watch NBC nightly coverage of the Olympics when the games begin this Friday, 08-08-08. But the best Olympic coverage just may be on the web at NBCOlympics.

The access to NBCOlympics is free, and advertising supported. The pre-olympic training videos are already available for viewing, well ahead of this Friday’s opening ceremonies. And every sport will have detailed video coverage, not just the ones that made it to prime time in 2004. You’ll also be able to watch slow motion replays of your favorite races, and won’t need to rely on Tivo to accomplish it. But you will need to install yet another plugin to your internet explorer or firefox application. The install is easy and near automatic. Just click on one of the pre-Olympic videos that interests you, and you will be prompted to install the plugin. Then prepare yourself for the best and most complete Olympic coverage the world has ever seen. But do it quickly, and prior to the 08-08-08 rush of installs.

When the iPhone was released in the middle of 2007, it set a new bar in mobile Internet browsing that has yet to be matched. If you don’t believe me, go try browsing the Internet on one of those Verizon or Sprint touchscreen phones. Even if you are not an Apple product fan, you will be instantly converted after trying the competing touchscreen products from LG or Samsung.

The new 3G iPhone with GPS was released last month for half the price of the original, but it left everyone wondering what will happen to the iPod touch. Well the rumor mills are running full speed, and here is a glimpse of the rumors I’m reading regarding the new iPod Touch:

• available in new 64GB size
• lower prices
• GPS capable, and possible map application to compete with Garmin
• possibly available in August or September

I haven’t bought my new 3G iPhone yet, but if the GPS rumors turn out to be true for the iPod touch, then I’ll stick with my clunky pre-paid wireless phone and just opt for the new iPod touch instead.

I’m waiting patiently for confirmation on the new iPod touch features, but if you can’t wait, just click below and buy the existing ipod touch now:

Microsoft sells their new operating system, Windows Vista Ultimate for roughly $250. They also sell their Office Ultimate package for over $500. And if you need a good graphics program, then you can pick up Adobe Photoshop CS3 for $650. But if you really intend to run the latest versions of those software packages, then you better be prepared to also buy a new and faster computer for those applications from Microsoft or Adobe.

But there is another way, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the cost. All three of those useful programs are available for free as near equivalent freeware programs. Freeware is similar to shareware, but completely free, without any limited trial restrictions. Freeware is written by volunteer programmers, and some large and sophisticated applications are written by teams of volunteer programmers collaborating together. There are literally thousands of freeware programs, but the most valuable programs needed on every machine are the operating system, an office suite, and a graphic editing program.

Operating System - Use Linux instead of windows. There are several versions available of the free Linux operating system, but my new favorite is Ubuntu. It is freely available for download in either the desktop version or the server version direct from the Ubuntu website. There is even free online documentation and user forum support available. From the Ubuntu website:

Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing. Everything you need comes on one CD, providing a complete working environment. Additional software is available online. The graphical installer enables you to get up and running quickly and easily. A standard installation should take less than 25 minutes. Once installed your system is immediately ready-to-use. On the desktop you have a full set of productivity, internet, drawing and graphics applications, and games.

Office Suite - Open Office is a free multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. It is compatible with all other major office suites, is free to download and free to use. It is also remarkably similar to the Microsoft applications (prior to the new version with those annoying ribbons!), so learning it will be a breeze. You can download it free at the open office website.

Graphic editing - GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. The list of features is very extensive, and even photoshop power users will be pleasantly surprised with the performance from Gimp. It can be downloaded free of charge from the Gimp website.