incentive
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New York spurs EV sales with fast chargers and lower power rates
Federal electric car tax credits might disappear (if just due to strong sales), but that isn't preventing individual states from stepping up. New York has unveiled a string of programs that it hopes will incentivize EV purchases in the state. In addition to an existing Drive Clean Rebate knocking as much as $2,000 off EV purchases, the state is deploying as many as 200 150kW fast chargers in "more than two dozen" locations around major traffic corridors, JFK International Airport and five large cities outside of NYC (Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers). In theory, you can buy an EV knowing you'll always have enough battery life for an upstate jaunt.
Samsung offers Note 7 owners $100 off another Galaxy phone
In an attempt to keep users, Samsung is issuing a $100 credit to exchange the defective Galaxy Note 7 for a Galaxy S7 Edge or other Samsung device. By comparison, it'll give you just $25 if you switch to Apple, HTC or any other brand. It has also expanded the recall to include all Galaxy Note 7 devices, including those issued as replacements for the original defective phones. That move was expected, since both have proved to have defective batteries that can cause fires and explosions.
FCC to vote September 28th on proposal auctioning UHF spectrum, Weird Al might still approve
The FCC has been more than a little eager to repurpose spectrum as wireless internet access takes off: white spaces and iDEN frequencies have already switched roles, and that's not including the myriad of spectrum swaps. Add one more wireless variety to the list, as FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has confirmed his agency will vote on a proposal for incentive-based auctions of UHF spectrum. When the Commission meets next on September 28th, it will decide on whether or not to lure broadcasters into giving up the usually TV-focused space for the sake of data lovers everywhere. The freed-up airwaves in the proposal would mostly be unlicensed spectrum with "WiFi-like uses," but at a much lower frequency than the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands that WiFi needs today: as the first consistent, unlicensed spectrum at that range in the US, it could create opportunities for longer-ranged, free wireless that aren't even on the table in 2012. Not that we have much of a choice in taking action today. Any accepted rules won't be completely finalized until mid-2013, and the auction itself won't take place until 2014. Still, the UHF plans foster dreams of more wireless for everyone -- and we suspect that even one Mr. Yankovic wouldn't mind giving up Channel 62 for a long-distance home network.
T-Mobile to incentivize select 2G subscribers with upgrade offers during five-city US pilot
Growing tired of that EDGE-only device on T-Mobile? The carrier wants you to upgrade just as badly as you do, and may be willing to kick some extra incentives your way to help motivate the switch. In an attempt to clear devices from its 2G network, T-Mobile reportedly launched a pilot this month, targeting 5,000 select customers each in Boston, DC, Los Angeles, Miami and New York City with discount offers that vary slightly by market, and may include a waived upgrade fee, up to $100 (Boston) or $50 (NYC, DC) off any phone, or, exclusively for folks in Miami, the option to swap their device for a Samsung t259, t359 Smile or Gravity TXT for free with no new contract to sign. According to TmoNews, customers may receive a targeted offer if they're Classic or Legacy subscribers with 1,000 or more monthly minutes on a 2G device (the iPhone is not included). If the pilot is successful, T-Mobile may roll out the offer to customers in additional cities, as part of the carrier's refarming effort to grow HSPA+ network capacity. A full offer breakdown is available at the source link below.
RIM offers developers $10,000 incentive for certified apps
At BlackBerry World 2012, RIM is bumping up the stakes for its developers by putting more money where its mouth is, announcing a $10,000 guarantee to get potential coders excited to hop onto Team BlackBerry. If you get your app certified on App World and don't earn ten grand in the first year, RIM will cut you a check for the difference. Of course, incentive programs are nothing new in today's increasingly competitive development world -- Research in Motion has offered free phones and PlayBooks in the past, and Microsoft is known for throwing cash at big-name developers to beckon them to Windows Phone, for instance. The guarantee, however, is certainly a unique approach to entice new devs to BlackBerry 10. As these programs often do, there is one catch: to qualify, you'll need to not only earn quality certification, you'll also have to generate $1,000 on your own accord. All of this is part of a $100 million investment in its new ecosystem, and should help spark some developer interest in the lead-up to Waterloo's upcoming platform refresh. If you think you've got what it takes, start thinking up those million-dollar ideas right now. Joseph Volpe contributed to this report.
IBM wins diet monitoring and reward patent, celebrates with sip of Spirulina
Does your employer offer a "wellness rebate program?" No? Then you can't be working for IBM, which has been bribing its staff to eat healthier since 2004. It's a Watson-worthy idea, because what the company pays out in incentives it recoups in lower healthcare costs. Now, after a decade of toing and froing with the USPTO, IBM has finally patented a web-based system that makes the whole process automatic. For it to work, a person must use a micro-payment network to buy food, which allows their purchases to be monitored and compared against their health records. If they've made the right choices, the system then communicates with their employer's payroll server to issue a reward. Completing the Orwellian circle, the proposed system also interacts with servers in the FDA and health insurance companies to gain information about specific food products or policy changes. You can duck the radar, of course, and buy a Double Whopper with cash, but it'll bring you no reward except swollen ankles. This is IBM we're talking about; they've thought of everything. [Photo via Shutterstock]
Verizon wants you to upgrade to a smartphone, offering $100 gift card in exchange?
How much is Verizon willing to pay you to switch from a basic phone to a smartphone? A cool $100, according to rumors. The provider is reportedly gearing up to launch a new offer aimed at encouraging more customers to get with the times, as part of its trade-in program. Under the incentive, basic phone users eligible for a two-year upgrade (or those who qualify for an early upgrade) would be able to re-sign a two-year contract, tack on a data plan and purchase a new smartphone at a reduced price. Once that's done, they'll receive a PIN code for Verizon's trade-in site, where they'll find instructions on how to send in their old phones to receive a $100 gift card. A tipster told Phone Arena that the offer will run from August 18th to September 30th, though it remains unclear whether it will be regional or nationwide. For more details, check out the source link, below.
Wings Over Atreia: Bribing for Balance
Nope, this isn't a new game show on a cable network but rather the idea behind the latest program from NCsoft to help increase and balance the populations of the servers in Aion. In a game heralded for its PvPvE, keeping enough enemies around to ensure PvP is more than just a passing fancy -- it's vital to the welfare of the game. And of late, on some servers it almost seems as if Asmodians are just mythical creatures that Elyos tell stories about. Although I won't speculate (here at least) on the decline, Asmodian populations have dwindled across many servers as has their participation in PvP. Besides the universal events that celebrated the release of patch 2.5, Aion has aimed some new (or revamped) events specifically at reversing this population trend. The basic premise is this: If you bribe them, they will come. The plan, unveiled in May, would encourage players to return to their furry-backed roots or even try some claws on for the first time by offering special faction incentives. Couple this with the free trial and the hope was that servers would see an influx of Asmodians and a return to the days of faction warfare glory. Just what exactly are the incentives and -- more importantly -- how well are they working? Glide past the cut for details and to join in a discussion on the matter.
Microsoft incentivizing chipmakers and tablet manufacturers to form 'sole alliances'? (updated)
A trio of sources speaking to Bloomberg have seemingly shed light on Acer's concerns with Microsoft's new tablet strategy. Seems that the boys beneath Ballmer hope to speed delivery of the company's new tablet OS by limiting variations. To accomplish this, Microsoft is offering incentives to chip and computer makers that agree to form sole alliances (i.e., one chipmaker works exclusively with one computer manufacturer) including enhanced feature sets and lower prices on Microsoft software. Under the plan, chip suppliers will be able to select a second company to produce a clamshell-style laptop using Microsoft's next wares. The plan is not mandatory and does not apply to desktop use of Microsoft next operating system, according to Bloomberg's sources. However, if true, then it represents a dramatic departure from Microsoft's traditional war-of-attrition approach to the laptop and tablet market that has resulted in a near limitless choice of brands and configurations so synonymous with Wintel. It all sounds incredible until you consider Microsoft's approach to Windows Phone that already marries its mobile OS to a highly restrictive specification sheet. With Windows Next (or Windows 8, if you prefer) set to support both Intel architectures and ARM (and all its licensees), we can understand Microsoft's desire for tighter control over its partners in hopes of accelerating development and testing. After all, Microsoft is conspicuously absent from the tablet discussion these days. We guess Steve wasn't kidding when he called this OS Microsoft's "riskiest product bet" yet. Update: And now DigiTimes has jumped in with support for Acer CEO, J.T. Wang, claiming that Taiwan's PC makers have been excluded from Microsoft's Integrated Development Program (IDP) for Windows 8 tablet PCs. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, long time Microsoft partners Acer, ASUS, and even HTC have been shut out of the proceedings. Instead, DigiTimes claims that chipmakers Intel, AMD, TI, Qualcomm and NVIDIA have been invited by Microsoft to choose manufacturers from a first-round list of participants limited to Dell, HP, and Samsung. Hopefully Microsoft will add some clarity to all this later today when we get our first look at its next generation OS. [Thanks, Pradeep]
FCC proposing data roaming rules, not interested in commonizing carriers
FCC chairman Julius Genachowski briefly mentioned data roaming at CTIA last week, but now he's telling Congress that action is inbound, to ensure rural carriers don't get left behind the rest of the cellular industry. You see, in 2007 the Commission mandated cheap roaming agreements for voice and messaging services to let regional carriers compete, but cellular data is what's important now and those existing agreements won't protect the Tiny Tims of telecom in a world of VoLTE anyhow. So, as he explains in a letter sent to members of the Senate and House, the chairman has come up with a set of rules, which will "incent potential roaming partners to come to the bargaining table to negotiate private commercial deals." "The draft order under consideration eschews a common carriage approach and leaves mobile service providers free to negotiate and determine, on a customer-by-customer basis, the commercially reasonable terms of data roaming agreements," reads another letter. Needless to say, we're looking forward to hearing how the FCC will encourage competition while still letting the big boys negotiate from their multi-billion-dollar spectrum holding positions.
OpenFeint and The9 will stimulate devs to port their games to Android with cold hard cash
Are you a developer seeking the widest and most profitable distribution for your mobile software? The traditional platform for achieving such goals over the past couple of years has been Apple's iOS, but Android's rabid ascendancy has recently turned that into a legitimate question. A question that OpenFeint is looking to sway even further in Google's favor by announcing it will fund the porting of games from "other app stores" to Android with the help of Chinese online game operator The9. The specially selected games will of course get saddled with OpenFeint integration and the whole effort does have the waft of a publicity grab to us, but hey, it's another few pennies thrown into the bottomless well known as "Android gaming." Surely something worthy will eventually come out of it, no? [Thanks, Calvin]
Wings Over Atreia: Anticipaaaaaaaaaaaation
You know the feeling -- you learn about some upcoming goodness and you want it. Or do you crave it? You can fall anywhere along the spectrum of anticipation, provoked by things you just look forward to all the way to things that make you squeal in schoolgirl giddiness at the mere thought! It's a game in and of itself. Such is the way of Aion updates, which tantalize and tease players for quite some time before going live (and even longer if you can translate the original Korean patch notes yourself!). Not yet having a release date for updates is not dampening the anticipation of many Daevas but rather is fueling it instead. So what brought about my musings on this topic? I squealed! More specifically, an announcement this week that put me right into the giddy mode: Winter is coming! George R.R. Martin's fifth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series will release in July. Now, while my fangirliness in its supreme is reserved for this outstanding literature, I also have things that I am looking forward to in game. However, there are those who have a virtual heart attack when new goodies for Aion are announced; I have one legionmate who will only re-sub when update 2.5 rolls around and brings with it all the little bells and whistles he is pining for. It is quite interesting to listen as he randomly pops into Ventrilo to trumpet the greatness of this upcoming gaming salvation, then disappears again into the night. So what about 2.5 has my legionmate so excitable... and excited? Skip-to-my-lou past the cut to take a look at some of the upcoming features.
AT&T trying to cling on to iPhone customers by offering them unlimited data (again)
Were you riding one of AT&T's unlimited data deals until recently? If so, this whole new Verizon iPhone thing is about to work in your favor, as the Associated Press is reporting AT&T iPhone users are being offered a sort of unlimited data amnesty: if they had it before, but switched to a limited data plan since, they can now have it back. This is clearly in response to Verizon's promised $30 uncapped deal, though it remains entirely unofficial and unannounced -- no reason why AT&T would want to advertise its desperation, after all. When asked for comment, a company spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny the news, saying only that AT&T handles "customers and their situations individually." Still, we'd pick up the blower and threaten to start wearing red to see what the incumbent iPhone carrier might offer up as an incentive to stay blue.
City of Heroes to celebrate 7th year with special anniversary bonus
City of Heroes is approaching its seventh year of operation, and in keeping with tradition, that means it's time to start the celebration early. This year, though, the team is offering players a little extra incentive to stay subscribed during the lead-up to the date itself. Players who maintain an active subscription from February 1st until April 18th will receive a new badge, a new emote, and a brand-new booster pack to help celebrate their service to (or against) the populace of Earth Prime and Praetoria. Becoming available on April 28th to all players with a steady subscription, the most eye-catching reward is the new Vanguard Booster Pack, which unlocks several of the Vanguard costume pieces and features for all characters on a given account. There's also a new badge and concurrent title "The Constant," and a special chest emblem signifying the long road the game has walked. City of Heroes players can take a gander at the official announcement and start looking forward to the full anniversary celebration, which seems to be ramping up early this year.
Telus to bundle free Xbox 360 with every WP7 activation or renewal for a limited time, says leak
Buy this phone, won't you please buy this phone? We've no idea why Telus has to try so hard to convince Canadian buyers to grab themselves a Windows Phone 7 handset, but the carrier's expected to sweeten the deal dramatically over the next few days by bundling a freebie Xbox 360 with every WP7 device activation or renewal. The offer starts today, according to this leaked memo, and will last through to the end of the week, December 19th. Telus carries the HTC 7 Surround and LG Optimus 7, neither of which would seem to have caught fire quite the way Microsoft would have wanted. Ah well, if you're going to sell your wireless soul for a whole three years, you might as well do it for a phone-plus-console combo. [Thanks, Sean]
Factional warfare to be "cleaned up" by EVE developers
Factional warfare, while a great idea when it came out, is in need of some trimming as of late. Some have even gone so far to say that the developers at CCP have abandoned the project but a recent EVE dev post says otherwise. CCP Ytterbium has gone on the record to say that there are changes coming to the factional warfare system. While the entire system can't be completely cleaned up in one go, Ytterbium has laid out a series of modifications to make the system more lucrative and playable.
Keen talks more on Darkfall, highlights good and bad issues
One of the best looks we get at Darkfall is from the varied community that plays it, and one of the most outspoken proponents of the game's ups and downs has been Keen from the Keen and Graev Gaming Blog.In his most recent post, Keen has gone into the specifics of what he finds off with Darkfall the most -- the pacing issues. While the game presents enjoyable concepts, those concepts are overshadowed by globs of downtime paired with grinding. The fast-paced action of the game is drowned out by the slow pace that the game itself moves at. Certainly the city building and politics of the game work as intended and are fun sections, but the sieges themselves move slowly as they usually feature 10 guilds attacking one guild.Another one of Keen's issues is the lack of incentive. He gives the example that he could walk across the world and spend hours doing it, but why should he when everything he has can be found in a small area? Players aren't encouraged to get together and tackle with trust issues, they're encouraged to stay apart in their own borders.For Keen's full thoughts on the many facets of Darkfall, check out his posts over on his blog.
Making fun be worth it
Zen of Design has a great post up about how MMO game mechanics should "incentivize fun" in the gameplay. The main example Damion uses is the "daily quests" recently introduced to World of Warcraft-- Blizzard originally gave all players a goal of 5000g for their epic mounts, but then realized that they hadn't given players enough ways to earn that money-- most people were left grinding random spots to make the cash. So they then created "daily quests"-- daily timer quests that were repetitive and easy that gave lots of money. Play the game for x number of minutes every day, get all the cash you need.But as Damion says, the daily quests serve a purpose, but they aren't actually fun. Lots of players see them as a job, and the fact that they are repetitive (in a bad way-- he says a game like Civilization actually makes repeating gameplay interesting) makes them a necessity rather than an incentive to play the game.Now, the good news is that in the latest patch, Blizzard is working to fix this-- they've introduced daily quests that ask players to play fundamental parts of the game, and so there are now crafting daily quests, as well as battleground and instance quests. But these are fixes after the fact-- the way to really incentivize fun is to watch what players themselves want to do during development, and then reward that. Halo isn't an MMO, technically, but Bungie noticed that players were dying strange deaths in game, and then actually changed the game to reward players for their activities. Same deal with MMOs-- find out what players want to do in your game, and then give them rewards for doing just that.
Microsoft to introduce Zune song sharing incentive program?
You may have heard a rumor floating about the internet that the Zune would adopt an incentive-based distribution system. The idea, supposedly, is that each song sent to your Zune-toting buddy that he/she decided to buy at your recommendation would earn you a small reward (think Zune Marketplace Points) for promoting and sharing legal digital music. Good Morning Silicon Valley revived the discussion on Wednesday, and points out that J Allard recently discussed the system at the Music Tech Summit in Seattle, but Microsoft has made no official remarks on the topic. Well we went digging through the US Patent and Trade Office site and came across a 2003 filing from Redmond that describes a very similar system that says "The first license also specifies the conditions upon which the content may be redistributed and licensed for use on a second device" and that "these conditions may specify a price for the second license, and/or a requirement that a portion of the purchase price be paid back to the owner of the first license, and/or a requirement that the first license be revoked upon creation of the second license." GMSV also says that there seems to be some confusion about the role of Shared Media Licensing, the parent company of Weedshare.com, which apparently has a very similar patent. Still, the question remains, if this really exists, when's Redmond going to let it see the light of day?[Via Good Morning Silicon Valley, thanks Gern B.]
