APPLE TO CHARGE $25 PER YEAR FOR iCLOUD

Apple will offer paying iTunes customers a free introductory offer that makes its new iCloud service free for a limited time, Los Angeles Times reports. Apple will then begin charging about $25 per year for the service, the report claims, and it will also serve advertisements to iCloud users.

Apple is said to have signed deals with each of the four major U.S. music labels as well as some larger music publishers, which will reportedly allow the company to store music on cloud servers and stream songs to customers who have purchased them previously.

Apple announced earlier this week that it will unveil iCloud alongside iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion next week during its WWDC keynote on Monday, June 6th.

eBAY SHAKES UP FEES AGAIN

eBay this morning announced that it is making it free to list up to 50 items per month in auctions at any start price, and free to add the “Buy it Now” option to those listings.

Effective April 19, 2011, the new pricing builds on free-listing promotions announced back in January 2010.

In related news, eBay is reducing Final Value Fee rates for Store and Fixed Price sellers (on July 6, 2011), and will apply the Final Value Fee to the total amount of a sale to encourage sellers to give buyers more options for low-cost or even free shipping.

That should be good news for buyers, but not so much for sellers as eBay will take a larger commission from merchants that charge for delivery.

VERIZON THROWS BONE TO CUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASED PHONE BEFORE iPHONE ANNOUNCEMENT

Any Verizon customer who regrets picking up a new phone between Thanksgiving and the day of the Verizon iPhone announcement won't have to kick themselves too hard; the carrier's granting $200 debit cards to people with iPhone 4-inspired buyer's remorse.

Take heed, though! You're only eligible if you buy a new iPhone 4 at full retail price, which is a whopping $650 for the 16GB model and $750 for the 32GB. In other words: still very expensive! From the Verizon iPhone FAQ page:

I just purchased a new smartphone during the holiday season, but if I knew that iPhone 4 was going to be available soon I would have waited. What are my options now?

Current Verizon customers who purchased and activated new smartphones, feature phones or certified pre-owned phones between 11/26/2010, and 01/10/2011, are eligible to receive up to a $200 Visa debit card when they purchase an iPhone 4 at full retail price by 02/28/2011 and return their existing phone. Note: This offer is only available on consumer accounts with five lines or less, who are purchasing iPhone 4 through Verizon Wireless retail stores, telesales, or through verizonwireless.com.

So between the returned phone and the discount, you're probably looking at a $250 purchase

MORE INFORMATION ON SPRINT'S NEW $10 FEE

According to a memo Sprint has sent to third-party sellers, the $10 "Premium Data Fee" will be applied on all lines that upgrade to or activate a new smartphone after January 30th. The $10 tariff will apply to all individual lines and all family plan lines. So if a family has 3 lines on their family plan they will be socked for an additional $30 per month. The memo states that the move will allow Sprint to “offer simple and affordable unlimited data plans” while “maintaining a wireless network able to meet the growing appetite for mobile data.” The only customers exempt from the new fee will be those customers tied to select corporate accounts.

The full memo is below.

Premium Data Add-on Charge for All Smartphones

Effective 1/30/11, all current and future 3G and 3G/4G smartphone activations will require the $10/month Premium Data Add-on charge. This allows Sprint to continue to offer simple and affordable unlimited data plans for our smartphone customers, while maintaining a wireless network able to meet the growing appetite for mobile data.

Complete details are included in the Premium Data Add-on Charge Launch Guide found on ISC > Quick Links > Premium Data Add-on Charge.

Details:

The Premium Data Add-on charge applies to:

All smartphones operating on the CDMA, iDEN and 4G networks.
A smartphone is defined as a device that supports a robust operating system including: Android, BlackBerry, Instinct, Palm and Windows Mobile.
All customers activating a new line or upgrading/swapping existing lines (consumer, IL, and most CL customers).
The Premium Data Add-on charge does NOT apply to:

S&R exchanges (warranty or insurance events)
30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee devices exchanges for handsets activated 1/1/11 to 1/29/11
Existing smartphone customers will remain on their current rate plan, until they upgrade, perform an ESN swap or activate a new smartphone
Existing Seasonal Standby customers prior to 1/30/11
Special priced CL customers tied to a Corp ID

SPRINT ADDING NEW ADD-ON DATA CHARGE TO ALL SMARTPHONES ACTIVATED AFTER JANUARY 30

In a vaguely worded press release, Sprint announced that it would “increase its postpaid rates by applying a $10 per month Premium Data add-on charge to activations of smartphones beginning Jan. 30.” The company notes that smartphone users, on average, use “10 times more data than users of traditional feature phones.” As the press release reads:

Sprint defines smartphones as devices with robust operating systems that deliver a rich wireless experience by bringing the full function of mobile applications and programs to life, including Blackberry, Android, Windows Mobile, Palm, and the Instinct family of devices. The Premium Data add-on charge previously applied to HTC EVO 4G, HTC EVO Shift 4G and Samsung Epic 4G devices.

Sprint,who until recently has been bleeding subscribers, will not be making many friends with this move.