...from:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/
sep07/09-12ultimatesteal.mspx
Students can get an Office 2007 Ultimate license from MS Canada for
$64 for a perpetual one, or $22 for a year’s subscription.
Here are the details, it seems like a... well, steal.
Microsoft – The Ultimate Steal Promotion
Go back to www.theultimatesteal.ca
This promotion is subject to the following terms and conditions and
all participants acknowledge and agree to be bound by these terms and
conditions.
Program Description:
All eligible university and College students are entitled to make a
purchase from the promotion site as described further below.
Promotion Duration:
This offer commences at 12:00PM Eastern Standard Daylight Savings
Time on September 12, 2007 and all purchases must be made via the
Promotion web site by 11:59PM Eastern Standard Daylight Time on April
30, 2008 at which time the offer ends.
Promotion Eligibility:
This offer is good only to eligible students who possess a valid
email address at an educational institution geographically located in
the Canada. This offer is non-transferable. Limit one purchase per
eligible student.
The following conditions serve to define eligibility for the program:
1. Individual must possess a valid e-mail address at an
educational institution which is supported by the program through a
recognized email domain.
2. Individual must be a student enrolled at one of the qualified
universities listed here and must be actively enrolled in at least
0.5 course(s).
Microsoft or an appointed vendor may contact you to verify that you
are a current student. If documentation is not provided indicating
that you are a current student, you will be liable to reimburse
Microsoft for the full retail cost of the software (CA $899).
Program Description:
Eligible students may have free access to Microsoft® Office Ultimate
2007 Trial for a limited amount of time. Each trial provides (1) 25
application launches (each launch of an individual Office Ultimate
application is counted as one launch) before the software goes into
reduced functionality mode (at which time your software behaves
similarly to a viewer, you cannot save modifications to documents or
create any new documents, and additional functionality might be
reduced); and (2) the opportunity to purchase the following license
durations for the Microsoft® Office Ultimate 2007 software:
1. Microsoft® Office Ultimate 2007 (CAD $64.00): Perpetual
license, which includes the following applications:
o Access™ 2007
o Excel® 2007
o InfoPath® 2007
o Groove 2007
o OneNote® 2007
o Outlook® 2007 with Business Contact Manager*(see Obtaining
Software below
o PowerPoint® 2007
o Publisher 2007
o Word 2007
2. Microsoft® Office Ultimate 2007 Subscription-1 year (CAD
$22.00) 12 month license from date of activation, which includes the
following applications:
o Access™ 2007
o Excel® 2007
o InfoPath® 2007
o Groove 2007
o OneNote® 2007
o Outlook® 2007 with Business Contact Manager*(see Obtaining
Software below
o PowerPoint® 2007
o Publisher 2007
o Word 2007
Trial Conversion:
Eligible students can convert their Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007
Trial to the perpetual license by returning to Promotion website
prior to the Promotion deadline and purchasing the relevant product key.
Purchase Limitations:
Each eligible student is limited to one purchase per valid e-mail
address and billing address.
Obtaining Software:
Eligible students can obtain the Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007
software by downloading or ordering a disk from the official
Promotion web site. The cost of ordering a disk is $13 CDN.
*Business Contact Manager requires a separate download. If ordering a
disk Business Contact Manager is included on a separate disk.
Obtaining Product Keys:
Product keys will be provided on the purchase confirmation page and
sent to the student’s eligible educational institution email address
entered into the Promotion web site during the purchase process.
Promoter:
The promoter of this program is Microsoft Canada Co., 1950 Meadowvale
Blvd., Mississauga, Ontario L5N BL9.
Microsoft reserves the right to terminate this promotion at anytime.
Go back to www.theultimatesteal.ca
...from:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jeQB_4vxoBp-evv_7ghNwrkYpDWQ
Apple Sells 1 Millionth iPhone
By MAY WONG – 33 minutes ago
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Apple Inc. sold its millionth iPhone over the
weekend, days after it slashed the price by a third to spur sales.
The milestone was reached weeks earlier than expected and sent shares
of Apple up $4.94, or 3.8 percent, to $136.71. The stock regained
some of the ground it lost after the price cut spooked investors as a
sign of weak demand and slimmer margins.
It took just 74 days for the combination cell phone-iPod to hit the 1
million mark, which Apple had said it would achieve by the end of
September. By comparison, it took two years for the company to sell 1
million iPods, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted in a statement.
...from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/technology/10iphone.html?th&emc=th
[...]
Other iPhone users have felt the sting of high roaming charges with
their iPhone, too. Some, like Mr. Dingman, are unaware that they need
to disable the e-mail feature; others are billed erroneously; still
others misunderstand the explanation of charges they are given by
AT&T customer service representatives.
The iPhone is no different from any other phone, said Todd Smith, an
AT&T spokesman, with the exception of the BlackBerry, whose users can
opt for a flat monthly rate when traveling. Any AT&T customer
planning to travel outside the United States should contact AT&T to
inquire about roaming plans, he said.
Dave Stolte did that before taking his iPhone with him on a two-week
trip to Ireland and England in July. He signed up for a roaming plan,
but he said the customer service representative’s explanation of the
charges was unclear. His bill was $3,000.
[...]
In July, Aaron Oxley took his iPhone with him to London, Dubai and
Bangkok. Mr. Oxley said in an e-mail message that he was aware that
there would be international roaming data charges, so he always made
sure he was in an area with free Wi-Fi when he used his iPhone to
access the Internet. But when Mr. Oxley’s AT&T bill arrived, the data
charges [erroneously] totaled $300.
When Mr. Oxley called AT&T, he was told that even though he was using
Wi-Fi, there was still a data transfer charge.
According to Mr. Smith, the AT&T [spokesman], iPhone owners are not
charged for Wi-Fi connections. Mr. Oxley eventually received a full
refund for the $300 roaming data charge.
Mr. Dingman said it didn’t occur to him to disable the e-mail
feature. AT&T eventually reversed the charges, but only after Mr.
Dingman signed up for a $24.99-a-month global data plan.
AT&T is not automatically crediting customers for such charges. Mr.
Smith said that each complaint is being evaluated case by case.
This story has as its culprit an iPhone but the advice of "turn off
roaming when you travel" is probably sound for any "smart phone" on a
cell phone plan that supports roaming (and roaming charges).
By the way, unlike Mr. Herbert Kliegerman, if you have a question
regarding your cell phone billing, you should probably sue the cell
plan provider and not Apple since Apple is responsible for only the
iPhone hardware. ::-)
Wayne
...from:
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzappl0908,0,2929341.story
Hewlett Harbor man racks up $4,800 iPhone bill
Jay Levy and his family took their iPhones on a Mediterranean cruise.
Now the Hewlett Harbor entrepreneur feels as if he got taken for a
ride, receiving a 54-page monthly bill of nearly $4,800 from AT&T
Wireless.
While Levy, his wife and his daughter were enjoying the trip, and
even while they were sleeping, their three iPhones were racking up a
bill for data charges. The iPhone regularly updates e-mail, even
while it's off, so that all the messages will be available when the
user turns it on.
"They have periodic updates on their data files, and they translate
into megabucks," Levy said. "This is akin to your bank having
automatic access to your ATM machine and is siphoning money out
during all times of the day and night without your knowledge."
Levy and his daughter each have three e-mail accounts on their
iPhones, and they were each billed more than $1,900.
His wife's phone had one e-mail account, and her bill hit $890. One
connection alone ran $223. Levy said he has complained all the way to
office of AT&T's president.
Data transfers are not a problem domestically, where the AT&T
Wireless plan includes unlimited data transfers for the iPhone.
But the iPhone's international plan in 29 countries, mostly in
Europe, costs $24.99 for 20 megabytes. In countries outside the plan,
charges can run from $5 to $20 per megabyte, said Ben Wilson, editor
of iPhone Atlas, a Web site owned by the online news company CNet.
"It was a big surprise," Wilson said. "Consumers didn't expect that
the charges were going to be so high and that the phone was going to
be doing all this data transfer in the background that they weren't
aware of."
Herbert Kliegerman, 68, a real-estate agent from the Bronx, said he
incurred $2,000 while visiting Mexico. He filed a lawsuit seeking
class-action status in New York State Supreme Court last week,
alleging that Apple did not properly disclose the international
roaming charges.
AT&T Wireless offered to refund $1,500 to Kliegerman, but he said
that's not good enough. "I want a full refund," he said.
Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the company adequately
discloses the potential charges on the Web site and when the phone is
activated.
The 6,707-word terms and conditions document on the AT&T Web site
says: "Substantial charges may be incurred if phone is taken out of
the U.S. even if no services are intentionally used."
Kliegerman said said most people don't read the lengthy terms and
conditions. Furthermore, the rate plans listed on the site indicate
"unlimited data (Email/Web)," without an asterisk. He said that's
misleading.
Kliegerman's lawyer, Randall S. Newman of Manhattan, said about 15
people from around the country have called him complaining of
international roaming charges and the inability to unlock the phone
to use it with another carrier.
Apple hasn't yet released the iPhone abroad. Levy said he didn't
expect data transfer charges internationally because he believed the
data network in Europe wasn't compatible with the iPhone. The Levys
brought their phones with them for voice calls.
Other smartphones also automatically update e-mail and other data
such as weather and stock prices, but those phones offer a wider
variety of international pricing plans in more countries than is
available on the iPhone, AT&T Wireless spokeswoman Ellen Webner said.
