CenturyTel and EMBARQ Merger Approved By FCC

CenturyTel and Embarq Corporation announced last week that CenturyTel's pending acquisition of EMBARQ has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The merger now has received all necessary approvals, and the companies expect the merger to be effective on July 1, 2009.

“The FCC’s approval is a significant and exciting milestone toward completing the merger,” said Glen F. Post III, CenturyTel's chairman and chief executive officer. “It has been a rigorous review process and we are pleased to have the FCC’s approval and recognition that the combination of CenturyTel and EMBARQ offers many benefits to our customers and the communities we serve.”

“We have committed to the FCC that we will remain focused on infrastructure development and broadband deployment after completion of the merger,” said Tom Gerke, EMBARQ's chief executive officer. “Our combined company is committed to investing in our communities and providing our customers high-quality, reliable communications and expanded broadband services.”

We will keep an eye out for how this will affect current customers and ordering service from the combined company moving forward.

DIRECTV and DISH Network Agree On One Thing: No Taxes in Kentucky!

Satellite television service rivals DIRECTV and DISH Network rarely agree on who has the most HD channels or the lowest prices. However, the two entertainment giants recently found one thing to agree on. In a recent joint statement, DIRECTV and DISH Network applauded the Kentucky Supreme Court's unanimous decision to strike down a Kentucky law allowing local governments to tax satellite TV.

"The decision is a resounding affirmation of federal law that was designed to promote competition by preventing local governments from imposing unfair taxes on satellite TV service. In addition to promoting competition, Congress imposed the prohibition because it believed it was inappropriate to impose burdensome taxes on national TV services that beam their signals directly to homes from satellites and, unlike cable TV services, do not use or impact public property. The Kentucky Supreme Court faithfully obeyed Congress's will and we believe this ruling is a great win for DIRECTV and DISH Network, and for consumers."

The decision may help the satellite companies bring stiffer competition to local cable service companies that are still subject to local taxes.

Comcast and Time Warner Partner to Put Cable TV Content Online

Time Warner recently announced that it is partnering with Comcast to distribute its television content online. The agreement between the companies will make it possible for Comcast customers to access programming from Turner Broadcasting’s entertainment networks free online and on demand.  In addition, Comcast announced it will begin a national technical trial of its “On Demand Online” service in July carrying programming from Time Warner’s Turner networks TNT and TBS.

"We have been working for a year to bring more TV and movie content to our customers online and we are thrilled that Time Warner is joining us in our national technical trial," said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast. "Ultimately, our goal is to make TV content available to our customers on all platforms.”

The On Demand Online technical trial will deliver more TNT and TBS programming online, free of charge to Comcast video customers, than what had previously been made available. Comcast customers in the trial will be able to access TNT programming like The Closer and Saving Grace, as well as the TBS line-up including Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns and My Boys. The shows will be initially accessible on Comcast.net, Fancast.com and will soon be available on TNT.tv and TBS.com.

The only catch is that customers must first prove they have cable or satellite service before accessing the content and a high-speed Internet connection is recommend for the best viewing experience.

For more, check out Time Warner, Comcast test approach to more TV on Web.

Tech Packaging Starting to Go Green

If there's one thing that bothers me more than ridiculously hot summer days in Texas, it's tech packaging. I don't know about any of you, but trying to open electronic packages with the clam shell plastic wraps might as well be like breaking into Fort Knox. In addition to being tedious, all of that extra packaging is wasteful and unnecessary.

However, it seems like some top tech companies are finally taking notice and changing the way they present their products. CNET reports that Microsoft in particular is reducing the weight of their Windows 7 package by 37 percent, and improving the econometrics score by as much as 50 percent. Hopefully this becomes a trend, seeing as how almost a third of all consumer waste comes from packaging.

To read more about Microsoft's new tech packaging, check out CNET for more information.

Blu-ray Slow to Gain Mass Popularity

Even though Blu-ray was declared the winner in the HD format battle, it seems that not many of us are jumping on board with the new technology. Be it the price of entry or some other barrier, one in ten Americans (11%) own a HD DVD player while only 7% own a Blu-ray player, according to a report from Harris Interactive. However, those numbers don't include people like me that use their Playstation 3 for watching Blu-rays - looking at just those numbers, 9% own a Sony Playstation®3 (which plays Blu-ray ). 3% have the external HD DVD drive for the Xbox® 360 (which plays HD DVDs).

It seems that there are a variety of reasons that have kept the general public from taking the Blu-ray plunge. According to the poll, some people want to wait for prices on the technology to come down. Others like having standard definition discs bundled in the same set as the high definition discs, and some just like having a digital copy included as well.

So who out there has jumped in with Blu-ray?

How's the Digital Transition Treating You?

Ok, it's a little over a week since the digital transition occurred, so how are you feeling about it? I figure some of you are fine and other are having a bit of trouble.

For those of you that didn't miss a beat, I'm guessing you have TV service like cable or satellite. Now for the rest, I assume your dealing with installing the converter box and arranging the rabbit ear antennas to view your programs.

I just have to say that in January I bought a converter box, and frankly I don't know what happened because I was never able to get the thing to work correctly. Each channel came through with some sort of problem. I felt like I had to adjust the antenna every time I changed channels, and lets face it, that totally negates the comfort of having a remote. 

So after I learned the DTV transition would be delayed until June, I started thinking about getting cable or satellite TV. I certainly didn't want to be left in the dark but I also didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for TV service. I was convinced it would be too much, but I was wrong. I found a great deal and now I wonder what took me so long to get TV service. I now have great reception and tons of movie channels.

I suggest you visit ConnectMyCable and shop around to see if you find a great deal that fits your budget!

See Gas Prices in Your Area

Paying too much at the pump? As is so often the case around this time of year, gas prices are starting to rise as we get ready to take vacations or extra trips out of town on the weekend. While gas prices aren't nearly hitting the levels that we saw a year or two ago, they are beginning to move upward as the heat kicks in.

Well, if you've ever wondered how bad you've got it at the pump, GasBuddy has released a national gas temperature map which charts gas prices by area, all around the country. It's actually pretty interesting to scan it and see where gas is the cheapest in your state, as well as where it's the most expensive. Unless you live in California, where the entire map is a deep red that stands for "high prices".

To see the map and find out more about gas pump prices, check out GasBuddy. How do your prices compare?

Google can Help You Save Money on Your Electric Bill

Would you like to lower your electric bill? I mean who wouldn't, and it looks like Google has just the tool we could all use.It's their PowerMeter and they've begun their initial roll out partnering with electricity companies nationwide.

The Google PowerMeter is a tool that consumers can use to gauge how much energy they are using at any given day. The PowerMeter can let you know how much electricity each of your appliances use. How great is this? What if your fridge was sucking money right out of your pocket and you didn't realize it. You could then make an educated decision to buy a new more energy efficient fridge that would save you money in the long run. 

Some of the electric companies partnering with Google are TXU Energy in Texas, JEA in Florida and Glasgow EPB in Kentucky.

To read more about the Google PowerMeter and how it can help you, hop on over to the PowerMeter article on Google.

American Women Choose Apple as Top Tech Brand

According to the results of Women & Digital Life, a study by Solutions Research Group Consultants Inc., Apple is the top technology brand among American women, followed by Sony, Microsoft, Dell and HP. The study asked the open-ended question "which technology brand or company do you admire the most?" Twenty percent of women who responded mentioned Apple. Sony came in second with 14%, Microsoft was third with just over 10%, followed by Dell at 10% and HP at 6%.

Other brands mentioned in the top 20 included Verizon, Google, LG, Nintendo, Samsung, Gateway, AT&T, Panasonic, GE, IBM, BlackBerry and Comcast.

Women are an increasingly important market for technology brands – in fact, an estimated 45 million women in the U.S. bought a digital product in the last six months.

“As women close the gender-gap in technology use, being top-of-mind is more important than before” said Donna Hall, co-director of the Women & Digital Life study. “Teens and young women influence their parents’ choices while moms make choices for themselves and their children, suggesting strong potential for additional Apple products in the home.”

This is the second in a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media.

For more information on the study, check out SRG's Digital Life in America.

Comcast Plans More Access to NHL Network Content

Good news for hockey fans! Comcast and NHL Network recently announced that they have signed a long-term agreement to add the network to Comcast's Digital Classic level of service by the start of the 2009-10 NHL season. With this new agreement, the NHL Network will be available to nearly two-thirds of the Comcast digital cable customer base.

"We're excited to extend our relationship with Comcast and its customers by providing more NHL programming to more fans, as this is another important step in NHL Network's ongoing pursuit of broader distribution," said John Collins, NHL COO.  "We are pleased that Comcast has seen value in the NHL Network to expand its commitment and are confident that there will be more expansion deals for the Network to come."

In addition to live NHL games aired on NHL Network, Comcast's Digital Classic customers get access to special event programming, including on-location at NHL Winter Classic™, NHL All-Star, NHL Entry Draft and Stanley Cup™ Final, post-game press conferences, IIHF World Junior hockey, documentaries and profiles, plus NHL on the Fly™, which airs nightly throughout the hockey season. Fans will also have access to more NHL On Demand programming including condensed games, player profiles, historic games and more.

For more programming information, check out NHLNetwork.com. If you are not currently a customer, find Comcast digital cable plans and pricing available in your area.