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Smartphones , Tablets , Computers , laptop and news on every other gadget

As if upgrading your device didn’t already cost enough, AT&T is upping its ‘upgrade fee’ from the current $18 to a whopping $36. This was confirmed multiple times from various sources over at BGR and appear to be legit and not a hoax. The image below is one of the change announcements sent to retailers across the nation. As it were, customers are also reporting getting courtesy emails from AT&T to alert them of the new fee. Why are they doubling this fee??

Because the overall costs associated with upgrading to a new device have increased, effective Sunday, February 12, 2012, AT&T will change its upgrade fee from $18 to $36

How quaint. I can remember back when T-Mobile first initiated their ‘Upgrade fee,’ it wasn’t met with open arms by customers. I do believe we were the last or the top 4 to implement one though. Expect what ever price you see for a new phone to cast you another $36 to actually own it. Kinda takes the FREE aspect out of the equation doesn’t it. It would have been pretty amazing if this was for iPhone upgrades only though wouldn’t it?

I have yet to ever get a straight answer as to why this fee ever popped up on carriers in the first place. If anyone could give me a real answer other than the tradition corporate answers, that would be appreciated.

Via BGR

The new iPhone 4S has a lot of new hardware in it that is multiple times more powerful than the iPhone 4.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “How much money does Apple make on these things”? That’s a good question. With a contract, an up-to-date iPhone costs as little as $199. The unlocked, off-contract iPhone costs as little as $649. The models go up in price depending on the memory that you select: $299/32GB, $399/64GB – $749/32GB unlocked, $849/64GB unlocked.

Many of you will be thinking, “What a rip off, I can buy a computer for that price.”

Don’t you just hate it when you purchase 1 thing and then you’re accidentally charged 122 times for it?

Hard to believe, but this is the type of complaint that has turned up in the forums of Apple Support Communities. In fact, one recent Mac OS X Lion buyer reports having initiated his download on July 23rd, for a sum total of $31.79. But low and behold, the unfortunate Mac fan went on to see his PayPal account subsequently charged the same amount another 121 times.

If you do the math, that comes out to almost $4,000. Isolated incident, you say? To this degree,