Verizon to issue Tens of Millions in refunds for erroneous data charges.

As reported on CNN.com Verizon will be issuing tens of millions of dollars in refunds to customers that were erroneously charged for data usage that they did not initiate.

This has nothing to do with the VerizonMath data rate quoting issue that I was involved with, but is very interesting nonetheless.

I've often wondered about the implications of software glitches, and this one is a doozy. It's probably been hurting Verizon's bottom line for some time even just in customer complaints, customer service calls and customer dissatisfaction (assuming individuals were not able to get the charges reversed). It is tangentially related to my situation in that the CS feedback should really be a priority that is investigated and reacted to early, such that these types of problems are handled when the costs are low (nip in the bud) rather than the typical brush it under the rug and hope it will go away mentality. I can't help but think that if this problem had been caught when the refunds would have amounted to a few million that Verizon's net costs would have been significantly less. Administering millions of refunds has to be a costly process. I wonder if they will issue the refunds including interest.

PS: thanks to Chris for bringing this to my attention.

Nokia launches C6, C7, E7 at Nokia World

Nokia, the world's largest cellphone maker, has unveiled three new smartphone models, trying to claw back market share at the lucrative top end of the sector.

The new models -- E7, C7 and a new version of the C6 -- all come with large touchscreens and use the latest Symbian software. They were unveiled in London.

Nokia C6 comes with a new display technology known as ClearBlack Display (CBD). CBD is said to offer improved outdoor visibility. The display gives users another choice when choosing between Super-LCD, AMOLED and Apple's Retina Display. The smartphone has an 8 MP camera, supports WebTV and has free Ovi Maps.

Nokia C7 is a lighter, thinner version of the C6. The smartphone offers largely all the same features as C6. Both the smartphones have a 3.5-inch screen and 8GB of onboard storage. C7 is expected to be priced at approximately 335 euros. While Nokia C6 is expected to be available for 260 euros.

Nokia E7 is a business smartphone boasting of a 4 inch touchscreen CBD display and a slide-out four-row keyboard. E7 comes with an 8 megapixel camera and 16GB of on-board storage. The smartphone is able to shoot and edit 720p video and offers18 days of standby time and up to 9 hours of talktime.

Business features of E7 include support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Mail for Exchange, Microsoft Communicator Mobile and Microsoft Share Point Server.

Nokia E7 is likely to be priced at 495 euros.

Nokia still controls around 40 percent of the global smartphone market volume, but has lost out to Apple and Research in Motion's Blackberry in the fatter-margin market for the most expensive cellphone models.

"The products are a clear improvement from the N97 but we know they are not where Nokia needs to be yet, and any other promise around 'we are working on it' would have not convinced anyone," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "A new CEO and the old guard stepping down might give investors more confidence that things are really changing."

DROID by Motorola

The DROID by Motorola for Verizon Wireless is a touch screen, QWERTY slider smartphone that has gained early attention for its super fast speeds. Featuring Google’s Android 2.0 operating system, the DROID has a desktop-like web experience and is fully customizable with apps downloaded from the Android Market. The integrated GPS and eCompass can be used with Google Maps and other location-based apps, geo-location web search, and even geo-tagging photos. Beyond geo-tagging, the DROID’s DVD-quality 5.0 megapixel camera/ camcorder also has auto-stabilization, flash, zoom and editing tools. Share your videos and photos online or via multimedia messaging. The DROID by Motorola can do everything you want a smartphone to do, and some things you’d never expect

The Gregory Brothers

If you haven't yet heard/seen the magic of The Gregory Brothers, you should really check out their youtube channel and their more serious music "Meet the Gregory Brothers" available from online music retailers (google it for a free preview at amazon etc.).

Their auto-tune the news creations are absolutely brilliant, very catchy and hysterically funny. I have reserved a location on my featured "ads" area in the upper right to hopefully drive some traffic and enlighten people to their amazing creations.

New York Times Blog Covers VerizonMath

My brother sent me a link today to an article on The New York Times Blog that references my experiences with Verizon. It's an interesting article, if you are a math nerd like some of us clearly are :).

In other news, there is hope for nerds to find love, I got hitched last weekend! Good luck fellow nerds, there are women out there who appreciate us :).

Have Fun With the Latest Mobile Phones

The shapes and sizes of mobile phones have changed immensely in the last few years. At the same time, a number of advanced features have been added in the latest handsets in order to catch customer's attention. The camera quality, music functions, internet connectivity and looks of the latest phones have improved enormously. Many other lucrative features are being added in the upcoming devices.

Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, etc., are the leading mobile phone manufacturers and they are introducing great quality handsets these days. Some of the latest mobile phones produced by these companies are Nokia N95, N98i, Samsung U900, G600, Sony Ericsson W980i, K630i, etc. These handsets are equipped with the high-tech features so that users could enjoy owning such phones.




Some of the coming soon mobile phones are Samsung Armani, LG KF600, Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism, Motorola ROKR E8 and Sony Ericsson C902. Many amazing features have been added in these devices in order to make them successful in the markets. The mobile phone makers are focusing on looks, multimedia facilities, internet capabilities and several other features of these upcoming phones. Some of the handsets are said to be the slimmest phones produced so far. The cameras of up to 7.2 mega pixels resolution have been used in few of the devices.



The latest mobile phones have delighted the customers with their internal memory capacities. Nokia N95 has 8 GB memory space whereas the N96 is loaded with a massive 16 GB internal storage capacity. Such improvisations give a new dimension to the world of mobile devices. The latest handsets are available in many colours and designs which let users to select their preferred choice of phones. LG Viewty, Samsung Armani and Sony Ericsson Z750i Pink are some of the beautiful phones which are luring the customers.



The latest mobile phones do not disappoint users in terms of technological applications. These handsets are based on 3G network systems and provide mobile phone lovers the advanced facilities irrespective of the location and time. GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA technologies are being used in the devices to provide users speedy web connectivity. Overall, the mobile devices that are coming these days are capable of giving many entertainment and business facilities to the users.

Android Phone

The past year saw Android truly arrive in India with some excellent devices such as the HTC Hero and Tattoo. Google claims to be a "Non Evil" search engine company and though they are not exactly evil, they can hardly be called "just"a search engine company.

Aided by HTC's super-smooth "Sense"user interface, Android is a breeze to use. Log in with your Google username and your contacts from Gmail, Google Maps as well as the Google Calendar and other features just meld together. Combined with Facebook, Flickr and Twitter integration, devices such as the Hero and its smaller sibling, the Tattoo, work like clockwork.

The Tattoo, despite possessing a not-so-fast processor, gives the integrated Android experience for a very reasonable price Rs 16,900, or half the price of the Apple iPhone. The "search engine company" has now tied up with HTC to make the Google Nexus One a self-branded phone.

If launched in India, its estimated price would be around Rs 25,000, which will make it cheaper than the iPhone but capable of running multiple apps. While the iPhone still has the superior music player, Android blows away Nokia's tired Symbian operating system. Though the newer Maemo operating system is better, there may not be enough devices using it.

It isn't just the Nexus which intrigues us. The Motorola Droid with a slide-out keyboard has been getting rave reviews as well. And better still is SonyEricsson's Xperia X10 whose four-inch OLED screen is among the best we have ever seen on a mobile device. Both these devices will be top drawer they will wear price-tags of around Rs 35,000-40,000.

However, there are some issues with Android that Google should address. First, the PC-to-phone sync process is still a bit clunky. Second, and more crucial, not all applications available on the Android marketplace work on all devices supporting Android. There are right now three different Android versions 1.5, 1.6 and 2.1 and this makes life a bit complicated. Worse, many manufacturers add another layer of software on top of Android, and not all are very good.

That said, Google should hopefully iron out some of the kinks shortly. And with that Android should be on its way to becoming the smartphone platform of choice in India this year.

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