price posts

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

UK Windows 7 price to be 50% of US price

by Brad Linder Aug 19th 2009

Windows 7 UK pricing at the Microsoft Store

Now here's something you don't see every day. A piece of technology that's going to be cheaper for UK customers than those in the US. Typically UK shoppers end up paying more for computers, gaming consoles and software than their US counterparts.

But CNET has discovered that Microsoft is charging just £65 for a full version of Windows 7 Home Premium. That's about $107 US, while Americans will have to pay about $200 to get a full version. Heck, even the upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium will run $120 in the US.

The Microsoft UK store lists the price a bit higher at £79.99 or about $131 US, but you can find the operating system for £65 at Amazon.

Tags: price, uk, windows-7

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Dell rep indicates that Windows 7 could cost more than Vista, XP

by Brad Linder May 19th 2009

Microsoft has yet to announce the pricing for Windows 7, which is on track to launch before the holiday season. But according to a Dell official, the new operating system could be more expensive than earlier versions of Windows including Vista and XP.

In an interview with CNet, the Dell marketing executive said the average selling price of Windows 7 will be higher, which could affect adoption rates of the new operating system. But I'm not putting too much stock in that statement for two reasons.

First, the average selling price includes the higher end versions of Windows 7 including Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions, while most consumers will likely be interested in Windows 7 Home Premium. And second, there are always a ton of rumors floating around before the launch of new operating systems. Some turn out to be true. Other don't. It's possible that what this particular Dell executive got his information wrong, or that it's based on one possible scenario and that Microsoft hasn't actually set the pricing for the operating system yet.

There's one thing that is clear though. Installing Windows 7 on a machine that's already running Windows Vista or XP will cost more money than leaving your existing operating system in place. So there's pretty much zero chance that you'll be able to pick up Windows 7 without incurring some costs. Whether that's going to slow adoption in any way remains to be seen.

[via Laptop Magazine]

Tags: price, rumors, windows-7

Filed under: Audio, Business, Apple

Apple to raise prices on hot iTunes tracks, remove DRM

by Jay Hathaway Mar 27th 2009

Starting April 7, Apple's long-standing policy of selling every song in the iTunes Store for 99 cents is reportedly going to be shaken up. Hot tracks will go up to $1.29, and some less-than-hot selections will drop to 69 cents.

The LA Times is reporting that most songs will probably stay at the current 99 cent price, and that the lower price could be used to promote new artists. Meanwhile, some classic artists with consistent high sales might end up at the higher $1.29 price.

If you're a fan of obscure bands, this could work for you by lowering prices at the end of the long tail, saving you money on your hidden gems. On the other hand, popular songs wouldn't be popular if they didn't have a lot of fans -- fans who could get angry at having the price jacked up suddenly after years of paying one price for a track, regardless of popularity.

Good news for everyone, though: tracks at all price points are reportedly going to be DRM free and playable on any mp3-playing gadget.

Tags: apple, itunes, music, price, prices, songs

Filed under: Internet, Security

iForem: pay once, get online storage solution forever

by Brad Linder Sep 24th 2007

Monthly fees can add up. While you probably realize the monthly fees you pay for your car or mortage add up to tens or hundrds of thousands of dollars, how often do you stop to think of the other fees in your life? How much money have you spent over the years on cable or cellphone bills? What online storage space?

iForem has come up with a way to eliminate the monthly fees for its online backup storage site. It just charges a really high price up front. We're talking $20 for 20MB of storage, or $1024 for 1GB. Sure, you can get storage from services like Mozy and Carbonite for a fairly low monthly fee, but if you stop paying, you lose your storage.

What makes iForem's model unique (beside the high price) is a guarantee that your data will always be available. The idea is that iForem will take your ridiculously high up-front payment and invest it in a trust. As your money makes money for the company, some of that revenue will be pumped back into server space, security, and all the other things you'd want from an online storage site. Over time, as your friends continue to pay monthly fees to their online backup companies, you'll (theoretically) realize that they've paid more money over the years than you have.

But the way we see it, there's at least three problems:

You can already get 5GB for free from services like Xdrive.
1GB in 20 years will probably seem pretty tiny.
If the company goes under in less than 15 years, you're not going to get your money's worth.

[via Mashable]

Tags: backup, iForem, price, storage

Filed under: Business, OS Updates, News, Windows, Microsoft

Microsoft cuts Windows Vista price to $66 in China

by Brad Linder Aug 3rd 2007

Although Microsoft claims that Windows Vista sales in China are better than previously reported, the company has reduced the price of its latest operating system in order to spur sales.

On Wednseday, the company has cut the price of Windows Vista Home Baisc to just under $66 US dollars, which is about 1/3rd the price it had been selling for. The price of Windows Vista Home Premium has also received a 50% price cut. It now retails for about $120 US.

Any way you look at it, the new prices make it a lot cheaper to buy legal copies of Windows Vista in China than in the US. But it's still hard to compete with free, or next to it. China has long been a hotbed of software piracy, and word on the street is that you can pick up a copy of Windows Vista for about a buck.

Tags: china, piracy, price, vista, windows vista, WindowsVista

Filed under: Internet, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm

Get online price comparisons from your cellphone with Frucall

by Brad Linder Apr 23rd 2007

Bummed out that Google changed its product pricing and comparison from Froogle to the infinitely duller "Google Product Search?" Well, lucky for you, there's a similarly priced product out there that kinda, sorta provides the same service.

Frucall is a mobile price comparison service just making its way out of beta. You can search products by entering the UPC numbers on their barcodes, or by searching via SMS. If you're out shopping and happen to see a must-have doodad in the store, you can send a quick message to Frucall and it will either send you back a message with price comparisons or you can listen to a digitized voice reading you the best prices it can find online for the product.

[via Ubergizmo]

Tags: frucall, online shopping, OnlineShopping, price, product comparison, ProductComparison, sms

Filed under: Internet, Blogging, Web services, Google

Google offers new referrals pricing for AdSense and AdWords

by David Chartier Feb 19th 2007

While some may debate how useful AdSense can be as a revenue generating tool for a blog, a recent update to Google's referral structures of both AdSense and AdWords might help matters.

AdSense received enhancements both large and small:

When a publisher who signed up for Google AdSense through your referral earns their first $5 within 180 days of sign-up, you will be credited with $5.
When that same publisher earns $100 within 180 days of sign-up and is eligible for payment, you will be credited with an additional $250.
If, in any 180-day period, you refer 25 publishers who each earn more than $100 within 180 days of their respective sign-ups and are all eligible for payout, you will be awarded a $2,000 bonus (bonus payouts are limited to 1 per year).

About that last bonus, however, I agree with Ivan Raszi at creativebits:

Tags: adsense, adwords, bonus, google, price, pricing, referral, referrals

Filed under: Audio, Video, Hardware, News, Windows, Microsoft

Zune will be just under $250

by Ryan Carter Oct 4th 2006

As you might have heard, Microsoft has set Zune's price at $249.99 for it's official launch on November 14th. Sure, it is technically more expensive than Apple's iPod with the same storage, but only by $0.99. With extra features that you can't get on an iPod, like wireless sync and sharing, why wouldn't you at least check out a Zune? The kicker is that Microsoft's Zune store will have to be incredible. If it is, Microsoft may be able to steal some of the market away from Apple. I doubt that Real's Rhapsody service and Sansa's hardware together will do any harm to Apple, but Microsoft has potential for some digital carnage. Let the games, um, continue.

[Via CNN]

Tags: Audio, Microsoft, price, Video, Zune

Filed under: Windows, Microsoft

Windows Vista Ultimate to cost $450?

by Jordan Running May 30th 2006

Interested in getting that "Ultimate" version of Windows Vista? Be prepared to pay a bit for it. iTWire is reporting that Windows Vista Ultimate will come with a price tag around $450. As Ryan over at Engadget points out, that's about as much as a budget Dell system will cost you. Ultimate combines the features of Vista Business and Vista Home. For comparison purposes, Windows XP Professional currently goes for $300 at retail.

Tags: price, ultimate, vista, vistaultimate, windows

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