Geekly Update May 18

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Sprint and Walmart have come up with a new budget plan for consumers, Common Cents Mobile. Their "Round Down Minutes" feature lets you talk for a minute and 45 seconds and you get billed for only one minute. The rate of 7 cents/minutes applies day or night, and no contracts are required.

TomTom has announced that it is offering Star Wars voices for its GPS units, along with sound effects and startup screens. Darth Vader is already available, while C-3PO, Yoda and Hans Solo will appear later this summer. I just hope Darth gives better directions than the British-sounding woman on my TomTom.

Sony happily proclaims that it has sold its 10 millionth eBook as of May 5. In honor of the event, the company is giving out a $10 credit to those who purchased a book on that date.

BP is utilizing social networking to keep those who are affected by the oil spill updated. The company has set up both a Facebook and Twitter account where news items are posted. A pretty slick move...

Asus has finally released its Eee Keyboard PC with 5-inch QVGA multitouch display, designed as a companion for HDMI-ready TVs. There is Internet access with Windows XP, 1 GB RAM, an Intel Atom N270 processor, a 4 hour battery and a price of $599.

Sprint is starting a new service that is aimed towards younger users that prefer texting to talking. Available on Nextel Corp's Virgin unit, Beyond Talk offers unlimited text messaging but only 300 minutes of talk time for $25 per month.

Mozilla plans on releasing Firefox 4 by the end of the year. The new browser will focus on speed, and giving users more control of their browser and data.

The FCC has released a public notice that looks into the area of "bill shock." After receiving hundreds of complaints, the Commission is considering requiring phone companies to warn consumers before they reach data usage or roaming limits, much as is done by the European Union now.

Microsoft has introduced its Office Mobile 2010 software. The mobile version is reportedly about the same as its bloated PC counterpart.

AT&T has announced that the Palm Pre Plus is now available. The smartphone will carry a $150 price with contract and buyers get a bonus of a free Touchstone charging dock.