Archive for the ‘Other News’ Category

Recently, Verizon Wireless announced that they will now be offering an on-the-go prepaid wireless broadband Internet service. The package will include the new Verizon Wireless USB760 to allow customers to access their Internet whenever and wherever. Users will be able to use this service on any laptop with a Windows, Mac, or Linux operating system.

There will be three different plans that Verizon will allow customers to choose from. They offer a daily, weekly, and monthly plan. The daily plan will cost $15 and will allow users to utilize 75 megabytes of data. This allows the user to send or receive 25,600 e-mails, download 500 Web pages, and send or receive 150 digital pictures. With the monthly plan, which Verizon will offer for $30, customers will be able to transfer 250 megabytes of data. This accounts for the sending or receipt of 85,300 e-mails, the viewing of 1,700 Web pages, and sending or receipt of 500 pictures. Finally with the monthly plan, users will be able use 500 megabytes of data usage for only $50. This will allow them to send or receive 170,000 emails, view 3,400 Web pages, and send or receive 1,000 digital pictures.

Before releasing this new prepaid plan, Verizon offered a contract wireless broadband service that is still available. Customers could choose between the $60 plan that allows users to utilize up to 5 gigabytes of data or a $40 plan that allows up to 250 megabytes of usage.

The new prepaid wireless modem will be available for purchase on November 16th at many Verizon Wireless Communications stores and Best Buy locations. If you’re looking for a reliable on-the-go wireless Internet service, I don’t know where better to look than Verizon Wireless.

Troy Davis, a former officer with the Transportation Security Administration, has admitted to authorities that he stole laptops and video game systems from passengers’ checked luggage. Davis used to work as an airport screener at Philadelphia International Airport.

A baggage handler spotted Davis taking a laptop from a suitcase and hiding it behind an explosive-detection machine earlier this year. The witness notified supervisors who later discovered four laptops and a game console in the same area.

The 36-year-old Davis pleaded guilty yesterday to the charges and will be sentenced by a federal court in January.

It seems as though nothing is safe these days, especially when you are traveling. Once your luggage leaves your hands, you can never be exactly sure where it’ll end up or whose hands it will fall into. Could a devious airport employee like Troy Davis be waiting for the bag, containing your laptop, to pass through security? Could your entire suitcase get lost and end up in a city 2,000 miles away from where you are going?

These are certainly things to consider when packing, whether it be for a business or personal trip, but these incidents are avoidable. Whether you’re traveling to a business meeting or just taking your laptop along on the family vacation, so you can keep up with your business, you should always consider a quality Laptop Rental, instead.

There are so many different ways to save your data and most of them are compatible with almost any computer. Worried about the cost? A rental fee is a small price to pay compared to the potential thousands of dollars, not to mention the sentiment from personal files, you could lose when traveling. Instead of risking theft, loss, or damage to your personal computer, consider having a rental meet you at your destination.

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued some new rules regarding what border officials can and can’t do with your laptops and any other electronic media storage device. Despite a lawsuit from the ACLU, the rules are very similar to those put in place by the Bush administration with a few slight changes. According to the DHS website, the rules will “enhance transparency, accountability and oversight of electronic media searches at U.S. ports of entry and includes new administrative procedures designed to reflect broad considerations of civil liberties and privacy protections.”

Either way, border officials can still seize and search your laptop, MP3 player, or flash drives without warning and can look at any file on it without reason. The new rules require those performing the search to keep the item for no longer than a 30 day period and keep laptop owners informed of the search’s progress. The Association for Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) has said they believe border officials make images of the laptops’ hard drive and return the laptops to their owners by mail, with copied files being stored for an indefinite amount of time.

In any event, if you are traveling beyond the border, there are a few ways to be prepared, just in case your laptop is seized. Chances are, if you’re traveling for business or even for pleasure, there are files on your computer that will need while on your trip. Here are some ways to avoid being stuck without important information:

• This is a no-brainer, but store your files in multiple locations. Take advantage of external drives and discs, or even an internet-based storage system such as Google Docs that will allow you to access information anytime, anywhere.
• If the information stored on your laptop is pertinent to your job, make sure you inform border agents verbally and if possible, in writing. According tot he ACTE, this will help you retain more legal rights.
• Consider a Laptop Rental. By renting a laptop and having it delivered to your destination, you’ll avoid the hassle of dealing with the issue all together, have one less piece of equipment to carry on your trip, and you won’t risk unexpected loss or damage that might occur during any type of search and seizure.

According to PCWorld, only 46 laptops have been subject to seizure in the last ten months, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry!

I was obviously intrigued and skeptical when I heard that a netbook was being sold for under a dollar, so I felt the urge to investigate further. Here’s what I was able to uncover. Sprint Nextel has teamed up with Best Buy to offer the Compaq Mini 110c-1040DX Netbook for 99 cents. As incomprehensible as that seems, its true, but the required two-year service contract is where the money is being made.

The Compaq Mini offers a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and 160GB hard drive. It also features a 10.1-inch anti-glare widescreen display, 5-in-1integrated digital media reader, 92 percent keyboard, built-in-webcam, and a variety of eye-catching features.

The 3G wireless service that you are required to purchase through Sprint will cost you $60 a month for 5GB of data per month. This adds up to costing you around $1,440 once you have purchased the wireless service over the two years.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T plan to also sell the Compaq Mini with a two-year service plan for $199.99 through Best Buy. Verizon currently offers two different wireless service packages. You can select the $40 a month plan which offers 250MB of data monthly or the $60 a month plan that allows for up to 5GB of data per month.

AT&T offers very similar pricing. For up to 5GB of data it will cost you $60 a month, and for 200MB of data it will cost $40 a month. The advantage to AT&T’s deal through Best Buy is that it doesn’t just offer the Compaq Mini but gives you the option to choose between it, the Acer Aspire One, Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Mini 12, or the LG Xenia all for a base price ranging from $50 to $250.

Although this is an offer that could easily draw in a crowd, if customers do the math they will realize that with the two-year service plan these netbooks will end up costing them way over $1,000 in the end. Hopefully people will realize that this isn’t such a hot offer and will search for a better, cheaper mini-laptop deal.