virginity

Virgin Mobile USA is launching a new pay-as-you-go mobile broadband service called Broadband2Go.

The service uses Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A network. It will not require a monthly subscription nor will it require an activation fee. To use the service, people need to buy a Novatel USB broadband modem that costs about $149 from Best Buy.

The device and service will be available in late June, the company said. The service is sold in megabyte and gigabyte packages. For $10 a month, users can get 100MB of data usage for 10 days. For $20 they can get 250MB of data, … Read more

Should you do a prepaid broadband card? What if it costs you more for the convenience? What if your payments expire after 10 days if you don't use them? You know what, we think the coffee shop is probably a better bet at that point. We also discuss why Microsoft has stopped making Money and what effect Craigslist has really had on the newspaper industry.

KCBS celebrates 100 years http://www.rbr.com/radio/15066.html

DTV transition is nearly here. … Read more

Microsoft just got a patent for disabling your operating system until you pay an "agreed-on sum of money." Also we find out that the Palm Pre is going to sell out, which means Sprint can save a load on advertising. And Moblin is out for beta testing, even if you think the name is dumb.

Palm Pre to run $549 off-contract http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/19/palm-pre-to-run-549-off-contract/

Sprint's CEO thinks there will be a Pre shortage, decides … Read more

Last November, when Virgin America debuted Gogo's Wi-Fi service on a single flight, it stated that by the second quarter of 2009, the service would be available fleet-wide. On Wednesday, it announced that it had reached its goal.

Virgin America has done that with GoGo Inflight Internet, enabling all Virgin America customers to experience Internet service at 37,000 feet.

The company demonstrated its Wi-Fi tech by hosting a Skype video chat conference with Oprah Winfrey during a live taping of her show. The segment is set to air Thursday, May 21. Unless you're a billionaire media personality, … Read more

Correction: Virgin Mobile began selling its $50 unlimited plan in April after the first quarter had ended.

Competition in the prepaid cell phone market is heating up, making it more difficult for companies, like Virgin Mobile USA, to hold onto subscribers in an increasingly crowded market.

Virgin Mobile USA, a longtime player in the prepaid cell phone market, reported Monday it had lost a total of 133,292 net customers during the quarter to end the period with 5.2 million subscribers. Even though subscribers were up 2.8 percent compared with last year, the company's losses during the … Read more

Episode 31 of the Digital City, where we discuss the Virgin Megastore liquidation sale (or lack thereof), Amazon's new big-screen Kindle, and how the video game DLC trend is jumping to handhelds. Later, NBA vet Kevin Willis drops by to talk about his love affair with the iPhone.

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The Virgin Megastore is following Circuit City into the abyss, with the chain's US retail stores in the process of closing down. Similar to Circuit City's infamous liquidation sales, Virgin is currently offering its wares at "up to 30-percent off," according to the copious signage spotting outside Virgin's Union Square location in New York.

Ironically, that Virgin Megastore sits on exactly the same block as the Circuit City store we visited in January, and the two liquidation sales are also very similar, judging from what we found this week.

The actual signs and policies are … Read more

Virgin Media plans to move all its home broadband customers onto the Google Mail platform, the company said on Wednesday.

Google's Web-based e-mail service is known as Google Mail in the UK and Germany, and Gmail in the rest of the world.

According to the Internet service provider, the Web-mail rollout will extend to all of its 4 million home broadband customers, but there will be a delay before it reaches everybody. While the customers will be moved off Virgin Media's existing e-mail platform, they will be able to retain their existing e-mail addresses.

The company said the rollout will be one of the largest deployments to date of Google Partner Edition Apps, which lets businesses and individual customers use Google's communication and collaboration applications under their own domain names.

"New customers signing up will get it now and we will start to roll it out to all our customers but it will take time for everyone to get it," a spokesperson for Virgin Media told ZDNet UK.

The service, which will provide each user with 7GB of e-mail storage, will be piloted by the first 20,000 new customers, Virgin Media said in a statement. The full launch to all new customers will follow "shortly," the company said, after which existing customers will be migrated across to the new service. They will be able to keep their existing @blueyonder.co.uk, @ntlworld.com, or @virgin.net e-mail addresses, or sign up for new @virginmedia.com e-mail addresses. … Read more

Virgin Mobile USA is offering laidoff consumers a little relief in this tough economy.

The cell phone operator is offering a "Pink Slip Protection" program that essentially picks up the tab for three months of service for customers who have lost their jobs. To qualify for the three free months of service, users must subscribe to one of the company's monthly service plans, which cost $29.99, $39.99, and $49.99. New subscribers will be automatically enrolled in the program and existing customers can also enroll for the program.

Virgin said it will pay bills up … Read more