Items tagged with trade
It should come as no real surprise that Apple is finally joining the trade-in game, but what's interesting is that it's doing so in its heralded retail stores. Stores that are known for precision, and stores that produce satisfaction ratings that Apple executives watch with keen interest. While secondhand markets such as Craigslist, eBay, Nextworth, Gazelle and others have provided avenues for users of older iPhones to sell or trade their devices, Apple has officially kicked off its own program: the Reuse and Recycling program. The name isn't quite exact; in fact, it buries the lede. Yes, this is a way to ensure your iPhone doesn't just end up in a trash can, but let's be honest -- that was never...
Read more...
The trade-in industry is exploding, spearheaded by annual renewals of hot products (iPhone, Galaxy S, etc.) that folks just aren't interested in waiting for. So, in order to get the hottest, latest, and greatest right away, many have turned to trading in older gadgets in order to cut into the price of a new one. This isn't a new concept in the video game industry; GameStop and other retailers have accepted trades on older games for years, and even re-sell those older games to those who are looking for a cheaper fix. But now, Walmart is looking to boost interest in its electronics department. After a weaker-than-average Q2, where Walmart blamed a lot of that on the lack of new and buzzworthy gadgets,...
Read more...
Trading in iPhones certainly isn't a new trend. In fact, many online portals exist almost entirely to handle the inflow and outflow of used iPhones, iPods and iPads. The exchange of older Apple products is certainly big business, and now it's one that Apple itself seems keen to tap in on. A third-party trade-in program for iOS products has existed within Apple before, but it hasn't been heavily marketed. Now, according to reports, Apple may be seeking to make this a more notable option in order to spur sales of newer products. Reportedly, Apple is going to start marketing an official in-store trade-in program for older iPhones as early as this month, right around the time of its WWDC keynote...
Read more...
In the strangest trademark application we've seen since Fark tried to trademark NSFW, Futuremark is attempting to trademark PWNAGE.If it is approved, Futuremark's request will cover an extremely wide slice of the digital entertainment market, including (but not limited to) the following:"Computer game software for communication devices; computer game software and computer game programs enabling users to play games with mobile phones and personal digital assistants; computer software and programs enabling users to communication devices to simultaneously access databases and global computer networks; software enabling transfer of data between mobile communication apparatus..."If Futuremark can...
Read more...
Don't get too excited yet, but Nintendo and Sony might want to start looking over their shoulders. On Feb. 5th, Apple applied to extend its trademark protection to gaming devices. Now what might that mean, eh?The trademark filing seeks to extend the "APPLE" (text) trademark to cover a wide swath of the gaming world, to wit:"Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games."While it would seem this...
Read more...
The recent news that Ameritrade had been leaking sensitive customer data was enough to drive some investors away from Ameritrade for the time being, and possibly forever. If you're an investor who is on the fence deciding when you might put your faith and financial security into Ameritrade's hands again, then you might want to know that Ameritrade was aware of some of their security breaches for over a year.The breach was so serious that Ameritrade found 'unauthorized code' in their systems, and have yet to be able to fully account for how it got there. The breaches allowed for about 6 million customer records to be compromised, but the limits of what data was stolen hasn't been completely...
Read more...
SpiralFrog, a free online music download service, launches today. The service hopes to make a go of it with the holy grail of RIAA haters -- ad-supported free music downloads. Founder Joe Mohen predicts they'll need 10 million users per month to make enough money to pay the licensing fees on the music. Is it really that hard to give away free stuff? "Registration is fairly quick, requiring a name, age, gender and ZIP code. Mac users can't use the service at all; Firefox users will probably need to install a Windows Media Player plug-in that requires all other browser windows to be closed (ugh). The site also requires Flash 9 and SpiralFrog's download manager, which allows a Download...
Read more...
How much is an unlocked iPhone worth? Apparently the value is about equal to that of a new Nissan 350z and a few unlocked 8GB iPhones. That’s $30,000 or more.The purchaser of the unlocked iPhone is CertiCell, a mobile phone repair company in Louisville, Ky. In the wake of recent AT&T threats to litigate against people and/or organizations assisting in unlocking phones en masse, CertiCell has elected not to take commercial advantage of their new unlocking technique at this time.The owner of the iPhone, and leader of a ring of hackers who put in more than 500 hours to crack it, is high school student George Hotz from Glen Rock, N.J. When he returns to school in September, he’ll probably...
Read more...
Well this did not take long at all. Right on the heals of Tuesday's big Apple announcement for their version of the iPhone, the BBC is now reporting that Cisco will be filling suit soon for trademark infringement. Cisco has in fact owned the iPhone name since 2000 when it acquired the name from Infogear who had originally trademarked it in 1996. Cisco, which has owned the trademark since 2000, said it thought Apple would agree to a final document and public statement regarding the trademark. "Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," said Mark...
Read more...
Magma(R) Design Automation Inc. announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) will reexamine U.S. Patent No. 6,725,438 (the'438 patent), one of three patents at issue in a lawsuit between Magma and Synopsys Inc. pending in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. With this decision, the PTO is now in the process of reexamining two of the three patents in the lawsuit, and the PTO will soon decide whether it will reexamine the third. The PTO is reexamining U.S. Patent Number 6,378,114 (the '114 patent), and in August rejected all 15 claims in that patent. The PTO was asked to reexamine the third patent, U.S. Patent Number 6,453,446 (the '446...
Read more...
CDV Software Entertainment has decided to dump Starforce as their anti-piracy method for TAGES. The act was done "In response to consumer demand". "We believe that TAGES will provide a sensible balance between protecting CDV's intellectual property rights against piracy, while at the same time minimizing the restrictions experienced by legitimate owners of our products," explained CDV's Chief Technology Officer, Teut Weidemann. ...
Read more...
Hong Kong's Largest New Trade Shows Opened Today at AsiaWorld-Expo HONG KONG, April 15 -- Global Sources opened two China Sourcing Fairs at AsiaWorld-Expo -- the largest trade shows ever to be held at the new, state-of-the-art venue. The April 15-18 China Sourcing Fairs are: -- Electronics & Components: Hong Kong's most comprehensive electronics and components show featuring over 1,700 booths with over 1,300 new exhibitors from Greater China. Representatives from Circuit City, one of U.S. leading consumer electronics providers; Samsung, the world's third-largest cell phone maker; Staples, the world's largest office product retailer; plus 3M, Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard,...
Read more...
