Verizon Wireless has announced plans to double the early termination fee for users of smartphones, from $175 to $350 USD for those that cancel their contracts early.
Verizon spokesman Jim Gerace says the move should begin on November 15th and will be eligible for anyone using BlackBerrys, the DROID, and other smartphones.
Gerace also adds that the termination fee will decline by $10 for every month the user stays with the contract.
“The cost of smart phones is considerably higher than feature phones for which the early termination fees were created years ago at $175,” Gerace notes.
Analysts believe the move will help protect Verizon’s bottom line, which takes a hit everytime a user cancels their service and pockets the difference that Verizon subsidized in the first place to sell the contract.
Result for: feature phones
RIM has announced that BlackBerry phones will soon be video broadcasting machines thanks to new support from Qik.
The service will allow owners to broadcast live video from the phone’s camera directly to the Internet using a Wi-FI or 3G connection. The feature is currently available on jailbroken iPhones, Windows Mobile and Symbian smartphones as well as Java 2 Micro Edition feature phones, but BlackBerry phones were notably missing it.
Initially the Qik service will only work on BlackBerry Bold, Pearl 8120, and Pearl 8130 smartphones. Curve and Flip support is coming soon.
“We are excited to bring our lifestyle technology to the millions of BlackBerry users worldwide,” added Ramu Sunkara, CEO of Qik. “In our quest to bring mobile live video sharing to the masses, we now support the broadest range of platforms, including Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Java-enabled mass-market phones.”
The public beta will be available in a few weeks and BlackBerry owners can get it at the Qik official site.
