giveaways

It's hard to believe that anyone would want to unsubscribe from The 404 Podcast, but we're here to say that the unspeakable act comes with a $250 termination fee, which actually ain't that bad considering Verizon recently doubled its early termination fees from $175 to $350. Verizon attempts to justify it by reducing the fee by $10 as each month of your contract passes, but we're not entirely convinced you're saving money. Case in point: if you buy a Droid with a two-year contract on Verizon but want to jump ship after a year, the penalty is still a rip-off at $230, which is already $80 more than what I paid to terminate my fee when I switched to AT&T for the iPhone three years ago. With a Verizon iPhone around the corner, we're hoping to finally have a way to escape AT&T's frustratingly spotty 3G service. Sing it with me..."We want prenup, we want prenup, YEAHHH."

If you just couldn't wait for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to come out and modded your Xbox 360 to play a pirated version of the game, you might want to check the status of your Gamertag because you might be one of the 1 million players that Microsoft banned earlier this week. This week's release of the popular Call of Duty sequel caused a spike in players altering their consoles to play a bootleg version of the game, but many are unaware that Xbox 360s all contain "digital right management technologies designed to detect pirated software," says a report in InformationWeek. Unfortunately, once a Gamertag is banned, the person responsible is banished for life and must purchase a brand new console in order to reregister and play again. There's no doubt that Modern Warfare 2 is an amazing game, but it's worth it to keep your Xbox 360 clean and shell out the dough for the legit game. Piracy doesn't pay!

Finally, all our New York listeners should pay special attention to our next segment, because this new iPhone app could literally shave minutes off your commute time. I joke you not, any time saved on the subway is a blessing, so we're all very excited about Exit Strategy NYC, a mapping application that downloads an entire map of the city to your iPhone, so it works underground. It displays zoomable, scrollable, and interactive maps of the subway system as well, and even shows you which specific car to board so you'll exit exactly at the street level stairs.

The app is available on the iPhone App Store for $4.99, and it's well worth the purchase if you live in New York or plan to travel in the area. You can also download it for the BlackBerry, Android, and Amazon Kindle. The good folks at Exit Strategy were generous enough to give our listeners a handful of codes to download the app for free! All you have to do is comment on this blog with the words "EXIT STRATEGY" and you'll be automatically entered into the random lottery. We'll choose five winners over the weekend and send out the codes on Tuesday, so leave a comment now!

Also, don't forget that Tony Hawk will be on the show Monday to chat with us and do an in-studio demo of his latest video game, Tony Hawk Ride, so be sure to send in any questions to the404[at]cnet{dot}com and pick a few to ask. Have a great weekend, everyone!

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we're offering a high-tech health accessory, Withings' Wi-Fi Body Scale.

This thing not only automatically tracks and charts your weight (and the weights of up to seven other people in your household), but it records your lean and fat mass, and calculates body mass index (BMI). Plus, you can access your data (it's secure, of course) from any Web browser or Withings' iPhone app, WiScale. Better yet, you can even have the scale Tweet your weight loss (or gain) to all your Twitter followers. How awesome is that? … Read more

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we're offering another iPod/iPhone speaker system--and it's one of our favorites: The Altec Lansing Mix iMT800.

I happen to have reviewed this guy myself and here's the bottom line on it: "While the retrolicious design of Altec Lansing's Mix iMT800 may not appeal to everyone, its winning combination of good performance, lots of oomph, and portability makes it one of the best iPod speaker options out there." (Read the full review).

Normally, Altec Lansing's Mix iMT800 would cost about $300, but you … Read more

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we have one of our best freebies yet: Sony's LBT-LCD7Di Muteki shelf system.

What's sweet about this iPod audio system is that it also does video, as well as plays back DVDs and CDs (there's a radio, too). Equipped with a 7-inch LCD screen and three-disc DVD/CD player, you can watch movies and iPod videos right on the system, no extra display required. As for power, you get 360 watts (180W x 2), and Sony throws in a karaoke feature that lets you sing along to … Read more

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we've got something for all you folks who would like to upgrade your wireless routers but haven't yet: the Belkin N+ wireless router, which features 802.11n 2.0 technology and earned a CNET Editors' Choice award last year.

In his review, Dong Ngo said the Belkin N+ is "a great performer with excellent range and throughput speed" and that it's "worth every penny of its $100-or-so price tag." As a bonus, it also has a USB port on back that delivers limited … Read more

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we've got a little something for all you folks who like to game a lot--or have to sit all day in front of a computer screen: the new stylin' Gunnar Optiks MLG Legend digital performance glasses, which are designed to reduce eye fatigue and increase visual performance.

CNETTV's Mark Licea, who spends a lot of time editing video here at CNET when he's not doing The Green Show, has a different pair of Gunnar glasses, and swears by them. So does pro gamer Mason Neighbor Cobb, who … Read more

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we have an assortment of Duracell Smart Power accessories that are just about to hit stores. Included in the package is an Instant USB charger, a sweet Daylite LED flashlight, a Go Mobile charger with two AA and two AAA rechargeable batteries (plus a car adapter), and last but not least, the myGrid cable-free conductive charger (you lay your phone on a mat and the battery juices up). Out of the box, the myGrid only works with the Blackberry, Motorola, and Nokia models pictured, but additional charging adapters are available … Read more

Prominent users of Twitter and Facebook won't be exempt from controversial new Federal Trade Commission guidelines that keep tabs on blogger freebies and giveaways, according to Richard Cleland, associate director for the FTC's advertising division. The agency absolutely plans to keep tabs on social networks as well as blogs in accordance with revised regulations that could see violators fined up to $11,000, he said.

Here's a sample scenario: a celebrity or other prominent figure with loads of friends on Facebook receives free hotel says from Hotel Chain X in exchange for running Hotel Chain X ads … Read more

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we're going green with not just one, but three Ecogear bags made with "planet-friendly organic cotton, PVC-free materials, recycled plastics, and toxic-free dyes and components." That's great, but we also like the design of the bags, which are tech-friendly as well. (We particularly like the roomy Black Rhino, which also features a removable laptop sleeve that comes in handy when you're dealing with airport security).

Normally, this collection of Ecogear products would cost you about $125, but you have the chance to get it gratis. … Read more