The typical household spends between $400 and $500 annually on a home phone. Yet new data shows that one in four households now have gone cell only, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. There's no question that number will only grow as we move through the decade.

Moreover, the NCHS study finds that of those households that still have a landline, one in every seven receive all calls on their cell phones.

"I argue with my wife often about why we still have a landline," the director of technology for a consumer group called Consumers' Checkbook told McClatchy-Tribune News Service. "She wants one. She isn't clear on the reasons for that, but for the sake of domestic tranquility, I give in."

You could easily substitute Clark's name into the above quote. The consumer champ and his wife have had a longstanding debate about getting rid of their landline. His wife wants to keep it, though she can't recall the last time she actually used the thing.

The Howard household is on the cheapest rotgut plan (called "plain old telephone service") that costs $360 annually. Think about it: That would buy Clark lunch 120 times each year at his favorite fast-food emporiums!

So how about you -- are you still clinging to that landline? One reason Clark often hears for maintaining the inertia is that cell phones won't give accurate info on your location in an emergency. That is simply no longer true. Triangulation between cell phone towers allows pinpointing of your location within a few hundred yards.

The second rationale most people have for keeping a landline is that in the event of natural disaster or terror attack, the cell network will be overloaded and hardwired phones offer a better communication option.

Clark has no good response to this yet. But he believes the chances of a natural disaster or terror attack are remote enough that having a landline is too expensive of an insurance policy.

For years, Clark has told you about "cramming," where crooks post bogus charges to your phone bill. The charges are often disguised as innocuous terms like "special services" or "Internet advertising" amid the hieroglyphics of your bill that nobody can understand so they'll hopefully go unnoticed by you.

A typical cram charge for a business can be $10-$15. For a consumer, it's more like $5-$10.

But here's the dirty secret: The monopoly phone company that does the "courtesy" third-party billing for these crooks takes a cut of the proceeds. It's to their benefit to cram these charges on your bill! Worse yet, if you call their bluff, they'll only give you back a month or two of the money you've lost -- no matter how long you've been getting ripped.

Verizon and AT&T are the two big monopoly local phone companies across much of the nation. Special thanks to Mitch Lipka of The Boston Globe for reporting that Verizon does offer a free Bill Block service where they effectively prevent themselves from putting third-party charges on your bill. If you're a Verizon customer, simply get in touch with them and request this free service.

AT&T, however, refuses to follow Verizon with the bill blocking. A statement we received from AT&T reads, in part, "Currently we do not have the ability to automatically block third party charges."

The ability or the desire? AT&T needs to wake up and realize it's not a good idea as a corporate citizen to be in business with criminals. How much could they possibly make from cram charges and it is it worth the price of their reputation?

AT&T went on to explain in a page of corporate doublespeak that you can work with customer service to have the cram charges removed from your bill. Just do the right thing in the first place, AT&T!

Remember, it's your job to go through your phone bill line-by-line each month and make sure you're not on the hook for cram charges, especially if you're a business customer.

It's a data-obsessed nation. No one seems to be able to keep their noses out of their portable devices anymore. (Not even behind the wheel!) Well, Clark has a deal for those who like to stay connected: "Peek" is having a sale.

You may recall Clark discussing the Peek, a handheld device that provides unlimited nationwide email access and texting. It's designed strictly for messaging -- it does NOT provide phone or internet service, though it does display email attachments and .PDFs. It provides an alternative to full-featured, full-price cell phone data plans.

You'll need to purchase the device upfront (the Peek Pronto costs $59), but once you have it, the monthly access fee is just $9.99 under the current promotion. There are no contracts to sign, so if you don't like the service, your only real risk is the $59 purchase fee. Clark says that since he first mentioned the Peek in 2008, he's heard no complaints whatsoever.

Visit GetPeek.com and use coupon code "SPRINGFVR" at checkout. Hurry, as this sale is slated to end on April 5, 2010.

Most companies that have an awful reputation with the public would want to fix their shortcomings, right? But apparently not if you have a government-granted monopoly!

Comcast -- the nation's largest cable monopoly -- has decided it will simply change its name in an attempt to wipe the slate clean with consumers. After all, the name "Comcast" has become nearly synonymous with poor service. The February 2010 issue of Consumer Reports gives Comcast the following poor marks:

• No. 14 out of 16 for television service
• No. 19 out of 23 for phone service
• No. 23 out of 27 for Internet service
• No. 11 out of 12 for bundled services

So instead of fixing what they're doing wrong, Comcast plans to change its identity to Xfinity later this year! Clark likens it to rearranging the deck chairs on a very profitable Titanic while customer service keeps sinking.

The real solution for our nation would be to destroy cable monopolies and open their service territories to competition like they did in the United Kingdom. The British created what's called a dumb pipe operator to provide the service backbone and any company can register as a marketer of telecom services.

But not all is lost here in the United States. We have a variety of almost direct competitors to Comcast with phone and satellite companies offering TV; Internet providers offering telephone service; and phone companies offering Internet service.

The February 2010 issue of Consumer Reports has taken an in-depth look at the best cable, phone and Internet providers and named a little-known provider as its top pick.

WOW! gets the best overall score for cable, phone and telecom. Unfortunately, this underdog company only serves a select number of states in the Midwest. Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse come in second and third, respectively, when it comes to bundled Internet packages.

On the other end of the scale, the three worst providers are Charter, Mediacom and Comcast in win, place and show.

If you're tired of a huge cable or satellite bill, consider getting your TV over the Internet for free. Hulu.com is one site that offers free content. Clicker.com compiles listings of what's available across the web.

Meanwhile, when it comes to phone service, WOW! is again tops with its VoIP offering. Skype, meanwhile, nabs the second spot on the Consumer Reports tally. That's a big threat to the traditional landline companies.

Vonage has reached a settlement in more than 30 states for allegedly billing customers after they fired the Internet phone company, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Vonage was a game-changer and established in people's mind that there was a better way to make landline calls than through a monopoly phone company. But they were eclipsed in the marketplace by a number of competitors like Ooma and MagicJack.

If you are a Vonage customer, you want to know whether you signed a one-year or two-year contract. If there's a dispute, ask to hear the tape of your agreeing to the terms in question.

And know that, as mentioned, there are alternatives out there. Ooma offers phone service for life -- the life of Ooma, that is -- for as little as $179. That includes 5,000 minutes/month.

For travelers, MagicJack might be a good alternative for anywhere from $20-$40 per year. Our listeners, however, have had mixed results with MagicJack.

Are you a former Vonage customer who continued being billed? Contact your state's attorney general to see if they've settled with the company.

Yesterday a caller named Chad was upset that MagicJack had begun blocking him from using a free third party conference calling service. He was instead being told to use MagicJack's own free service.

Clark did some digging with MagicJack and the FCC and has a somewhat esoteric explanation for what happened.

Certain states offer small phone companies known as competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) a special deal that's little known. If your free conference calling service of choice is routed through a CLEC, the CLEC actually charges huge fees (known as termination charges) to your phone company. That's how they make the free service available to you.

The original thinking here was these termination charges would effectively help rural customers because they would incentivize companies to run phone lines in the countryside.

MagicJack is blocking other free conference calling numbers at this time so they don't get hit with the hefty bill for termination charges. That's why they set up their own free conference calling service as an alternative.

No word yet from the FCC about whether or not MagicJack's actions are legal.

If you find yourself in a similar situation to Chad, you have several options: You can either use another phone -- like a cell -- to call in to the conference call line of your choice; or you can have a friend patch you in on a conference call via 3-way calling; or you can consider using the free MagicJack conference call service.

Google's latest free service, Google Voice, is being rolled out to the general public after beta-testing among an initial audience of former GrandCentral users.

Google Voice offers users a single number for their cell, home phone, office phone and more to ring on. Other features include free voicemail, call forwarding and conference calling.

It also offers free unlimited long distance calling in the United States and cheap calls overseas. This could be very beneficial for someone with a monopoly landline who has to pay for expensive long distance calls.

With the voicemail feature, you're able to listen in as voicemails are being left and pick up in the middle of the call -- just like you would with an answering machine. You can also have voicemails automatically converted into a text message!

This is a lot of functionality wrapped up into one package.

So how do you get it? Go to Google.com/Voice to watch an introductory video and Google.com/VoiceInvite to get in the queue as new users are added.

The dam has burst: suddenly millions of people are dumping their monopoly-company land lines, and going cell-phone only. This is especially true for those under age 45. It's due to the economy: As people look for ways to trim bills, the land line seems the most redundant, and it's becoming one of the first things people choose to cut.

Monopoly phone companies know this. There have been allegations that they've been making it hard for you to port your land line number over to a cell or internet phone service. But the Feds have recently addressed this with a new sanction that requires them to port (transfer) your number over in one business day. Now, this doesn't include weekends -- so here's a tip: don't port your phone number over on a Friday, as you may find yourself without any phone service at all until the following Monday! Port your number early in the week.

Executive Producer Christa dumped her land line this week, which was tied to her DSL modem. She and her family are now cell-only, and chose to get their internet through Clear, a wireless high speed service that's now in the Atlanta area. She said it was fast and easy to make the switch. And bonus? Her download speed is faster than before. Clear is a new 4G Wi-max service that's newer and faster than Clearwire's previous service, but is only offered in some markets right now. You can check Clear.com to see if it's available in your area.

So is dumping your land line right for you? There are some issues to take into consideration when making your decision. Christa was warned by the phone company that 911 service is not always 100% reliable from cell phones. And if you have a home security monitoring, you'd need to switch to a wireless system.

Finally, try to avoid getting into any long-term bundle contracts with your phone company, as there are a lot of options coming just around the corner.

Heads up, all you MagicJack.com haters!

One of the most polarizing websites on the show has finally gotten a formal slap on the wrist after a number of user complaints.

MagicJack has been prompting both laurels and darts from listeners ever since Clark first mentioned this controversial VoIP service on the show.

Many people love that MagicJack allows them to make unlimited long distance calls over the Internet for $19.99 for the first year of service. Others have griped endlessly about the call quality and lack of customer service.

Clark himself has used MagicJack on 4 continents and loved the money he's saved.

But now the attorney general of Florida has levied a $125,000 fine against the company for charging customers who enrolled in their supposedly "free" 30-day trial.

So here's a radical idea: MagicJack should try charging $5 or $10 more per year and then actually providing some real customer service!

It's the same deal with ZenniOptical.com -- another very polarizing site that Clark loves. Zenni offers complete prescription eyeglasses for as little as $8. Shipping costs are $4.95.

Again, some listeners love Zenni and others loathe it. So why not simply charge a few dollars more and offer real customer service? That way you're still offering a valuable product at a deep discount and not alienating any customers.

We know, we know...Clark talking about raising prices? Can you believe this is coming from the mouth of Mr. El Cheapo himself?!

Recently, Clark told you about an Internet-based phone service called Ooma.com. The Howard household has been really pleased with Ooma, which promises lifetime free home phone service for a onetime purchase fee of around $199. No monthly fees ever!

Both Clark and his wife Lane find the call quality with Ooma superior to that of their monopoly local phone company landline. In fact, they're so smitten with Ooma that Clark even bought a second unit for use in their vacation home.

Of course, the risk is that if Ooma goes broke, he's doubly burned for nearly $400!

The first step in activating a new Ooma unit is going online and entering the serial number. When the consumer champ did that for his vacation home unit, he got a message saying that his registration couldn't be processed and he had to call customer service.

It turned out he was trying to register a stolen Ooma device! Mind you, Clark bought it at a major electronics retailer and it was shrink-wrapped in a new box.

After much confusion, the retailer gave him a new unit, which he has yet to try out.

But here's the takeaway: In technology, the unit is only as good as the service you use it on. We are in an era where you have to pay for hardware that's dedicated to a specific purpose…and you'd better hope that purpose sticks around!

Google is beta-testing a new free service called Google Voice that builds on their existing GrandCentral technology.

Google Voice offers one number for all your calls. That means you have one number that rings from all your lines -- no need to give out a home number, an office number, a cell number etc.

In addition, Google Voice offers free calling, voicemail, conferencing and more. There are no monthly fees, no minimums and no sign-up fees. As always, this service is likely to be monetized with ads going forward.

With the voicemail feature, you're also able to listen in as voicemails are being left and pick up in the middle of the call -- just like you would with an answering machine. You can also have voicemails automatically converted into a text message.

But the real market disrupter here is the free conference calling. Companies pay big money for this, and here Google Voice has it for nada!

The service is currently only available to existing GrandCentral customers, but you can also sign up to be notified when Google Voice is fully launched.

Want free home phone service for life? Clark has a $200 device to tell you about that promises just that -- with no monthly fees ever!

Two years ago, the penny-pincher went on the air talking about a new VoIP product called Ooma. At that time, his staffers were speculating about how long it would take for Ooma to end up in Clark's graveyard.

Fast-forward two years and Ooma is still around -- with a new cheaper price! When Ooma first launched, it was priced around $400. Now that has dropped to a range of $200-$249 depending on where you get it. That's a price point at which Clark is willing to take the leap of faith.

The Ooma device looks like a house intercom. You plug a cable for your Internet into it; you plug your traditional landline phone into it; and suddenly you have phone service! Ooma also has a built-in processor that supposedly makes the sound quality comparable to monopoly phone service.

We'll keep you updated about Clark's adventures with Ooma.

Many people think of Verizon solely as a wireless provider. But in California and much of the Northeast, however, they are the local monopoly phone company for landlines.

So you could have knocked Clark over with a feather when he read a Bloomberg report suggesting Verizon wants to completely exit the traditional landline business and instead offer VoIP (Internet phone calling) as an alternative.

Such a move would leave AT&T as the lone big monopoly offering landlines. There's also a tertiary player called Qwest and a handful of smaller companies.

This is a sure sign of the times to come. When one of the two giant monopolies is getting ready to throw in the towel, why do you still have a monopoly phone line at your house?

As Clark jokes, is it because you like the company's stockholders that much and want them to profit at your expense? Or are you just a creature of habit who hasn't gotten around to firing your local monopoly phone company? Think about it.

Looking for an easy way to reduce your monthly budget in 2009? Consider dropping your landline and going cell phone only. About 1 in 5 Americans have disconnected their home phone, while an additional 13% say they have a home phone that they never use. That's about one-third of all Americans who are cell phone only or very near to it.

Whenever Clark discusses this issue, he hears from those people who say, "Well, what do I do after a natural disaster when my cell phone doesn't work?"

The consumer champion recalls doing medievac work down in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. There were no working cell phones. However, the cable operator was still working. Vonage saved the day for many people who would have been otherwise cut off. Today, many emergency personnel even have satellite phones in the event of an emergency.

Can you go cell phone only -- with a VoIP service like Skype as a backup -- and get rid of your home phone?

Another common objection to dropping the landline is that people say they need it for their burglar alarm system. But professional burglars will simply cut the phone line before going in. That's why security consultants routinely recommend wireless monitoring instead.

Remember, the typical local phone bill is between $30 and $50 each month. That could be $360 or $600 back in your pocket annually if you make the jump.

A listener recently told Clark about CallingAmerica.com, a new website that offers free calling to the United States from anywhere around the world.

In Clark's live on-air test, CallingAmerica.com seemed to falter for a few moments before directing a call exactly as he had placed it. So how does it work? It's ad supported, of course!

Meanwhile, in other news, Apple has introduced tiered pricing for iTunes. Back catalog material will typically be 69 cents per song, while the hottest songs of the day can be up to $1.29 a pop. In even bigger news, iTunes has negotiated with the major labels to remove the digital-rights management (DRM) restrictions that prevented you from taking the music you paid for across platform. Now you'll be able to do whatever you want with your music!

With cell phones becoming so commonplace, the cell carriers are wondering where to get their next million customers. Clark thinks they may tap the preschool market after they get done with the elementary school kids! In reality, they're focused on taking things that have become popular overseas and bringing them here.

Throughout Asia, you can go up to a restaurant that you don't know anything about; hold your phone up to the window; and photograph a barcode of sorts. That will bring up customer reviews and other information about the restaurant on your handset. The San Francisco Chronicle reports a similar service has now launched in the Golden Gate City. Look for it to become more widespread during the next 18 months to 2 years.

This business model won't just apply to restaurants. Let's say you're reading a magazine. There's an ad for a new release from your favorite musical artist. You'll soon be able to hold your phone up to a barcode on the page and cue up a sample of the artist's latest music. You'll also be able to click a button and purchase their new album. The cell carriers will, of course, get a cut of any e-commerce transactions.

Ultimately, you'll be surfing the web on your cell phone -- if you don't already do so. Clark recently got a Sprint PPC 6800 when his old cell broke. It turns out the PPC is the first cell phone to surf the web at high speeds like DSL or cable modem. When the Crackberry first came out, almost no one used it. Today 14 million Americans are Crackberry addicts. So the web will be huge on cell phones, and the barcode business model will be a part of the coming revolution.

Christa is excited about her new Samsung Instinct, which is basically an iPhone lookalike. It has high-speed web browsing, e-mail, GPS, TV, radio…oh, and it makes phone calls too!

Of course, these are all things that phones have done for awhile now. But the Samsung also has a sleek interface and a slim body. As Christa says, we'll have to get her final verdict on the phone in a few months. She's still in the "initial dating phase" with her Instinct.

The wireless industry would love for consumers to get in the "mobile device" mindset -- a term denoting that it's not just a phone, it does so much more.

Soon wireless networks will support unlimited international calls for free. Skype has been trying to get the government to force the cell carriers to let you use Skype on your handset. But there's been pushback because the carriers make too much money ripping you off on international calls. Expect this to change with the arrival of the next wave of cellular technology -- called 4G (fourth generation) in industry lingo.

Skype, meanwhile, has released its 4.0 beta version, and it's heavy on video calling.

When he attended the 1964 World's Fair, Clark recalls that AT&T demonstrated a picture phone. Back then, it seemed like that technology was just around the corner. But video calling never hit the mainstream. Maybe people don't want to be seen on a video phone call. But Clark thinks Skype may be the one to take it to the next level.

Clark's long term goal is to have the capability for show callers to be seen, not just heard, on ClarkHoward.com.

Being a cheap guy, Clark is often willing to take a chance on a wide variety of thrifty things -- including dubious tech services that soon fail and go into his company graveyard!

The latest service that Clark's been excited about for some time is MagicJack.com. A scant $40 buys you 1 year of unlimited local/long distance VoIP phone service. An Internet connection is required for the hardware -- a jack that you plug into your computer's USB port to start making calls. Subsequent years of service cost around $20 annually.

Clark is going to Scandinavia in late summer and will use MagicJack with the free Internet connection in his hotel rooms to call back to the United States -- all for nada.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that MagicJack is the fastest growing phone company in the United States. It's supposedly racking up 9,000 new customers everyday. That blows away the traditional cell phone carriers who are probably losing that many customers on a daily basis!

MagicJack's business model is a complete mystery to Clark. He long ago expected them to be in the graveyard, but he hopes they stay around.

One caveat: We do receive customer service complaints about MagicJack on the show. But Clark is enamored with this service that works out to be about $3/month! It's unbelievable.

Criminals after trying to reach your wallet through your phone bill again. 3rd party aggregators have been posting bogus collect call charges to phone bills issued by the monopolies AT&T, Verizon and Qwest. First, a little background: Let's say Clark's Collect Calling Phone Company decides to charge $5/min for a collect call made from a pay phone. His goal is to bill that charge to the recipient of the call. But first he has to find a billing company that -- for a cut of the action -- will take that charge and then go to a monopoly phone company and get it on the customer's phone bill. The monopoly, of course, also gets a cut for its role in the transaction. As bad as that sounds, at least it's a legitimate business model.

But the rotten thing is that some 3rd party aggregators have been issuing charges for calls that never took place. The FCC rightfully should have put a stop to this, but they've been sitting on their hands doing nothing about these fraudulent activities. So the FTC had to step in and fine the 3rd party aggregators. One company managed to steal $35 million from people with phony charges!

The real message here is that you've got to vet your phone bill page by page every month looking for bogus charges. Businesses are a major target because their phone bills can be pages and pages long. Shame on AT&T, Verizon and Qwest for aiding and abetting the criminals. The cop on the beat is asleep, so it's up to you. Call up your phone company and get a credit if you're stuck with a phony charge.

AT&T has finally made good on their promise to offer naked DSL. For those of you who are unfamiliar, naked DSL is a term originally coined by Qwest to describe having high-speed Internet without a landline. AT&T was required to offer naked DSL as part of their agreement to buy BellSouth. Naked DSL typically appeals to younger generations like his college-age daughter or his 23-year-old producer Joel. For years, the monopoly phone companies resisted giving people the chance to have high-speed Internet without a telephone line. But technology has a way of making things inconvenient for monopolies. Clark still has a landline at home that his wife refuses to give up. Even after finding the best deal, they still throw away $360/year -- even though they only use it about 2 minutes/month.

If you were expecting Google to announce the rumored Gphone today, you might have been disappointed. But Google did announce a new platform called Android that promises to shake up the traditional cell phone monopolies. Soon you'll be able to take any wireless device you want and access phone calling, e-mailing, web surfing, music and TV on your digital device. This is not a Star Wars thing that's 10 years away; this should start happening late next year! Google found support for Android among a lot of big-money players. They all see the financial advantages of busting up monopoly cell phone companies who want to control everything on their platform. What the future holds from here on out is almost limitless. But free cell phone calling will probably be one benefit!

Do you remember when it was free to call directory assistance? Some free services are making a comeback thanks to a new ad-based business model. Clark's teenager recently called old-fashioned directory assistance and was charged a $1.80 before he told her about 1-800-FREE-411. Google has also launched a free service (for business listings only) available at 1-800-GOOG-411. Meanwhile, AT&T has its own service through 1-800-YellowPages.

People sometimes gripe that the numbers they get from these free services aren't always correct. But there was a recent study that found the numbers you get from paid services are just as likely to be wrong. So why pay extra for the chance of a wrong number? Clark often turns to the Internet when he's looking for a number. He practically never looks in a phone book anymore. Remember the 1979 move The Jerk starring Steve Martin? There was a scene where the new phonebook arrives and Martin goes running for it, looks up his name and shouts, "I am somebody! I'm in the phonebook!" Pretty soon people won't know what the whole phonebook phenomenon is about. In the future there may not be any phonebooks, because the costs to print and distribute them are so high. The bottom line is that you shouldn't be paying for directory assistance when there are so many free options out there. On a related note, Clark was talking to someone who lost their cell phone just a few days ago. The person discovered that thousands of dollars in international calls had been made by the thief. Under the current law, that person is responsible for those costs. To avoid a scenario like this, call your cell phone provider and get an international calling block.

What's the price of web surfing nowadays when you travel abroad? Whatever it is, Clark doesn't like to pay it! That's why he was excited in 2003 when he first heard about some vaporware from FON. This Spanish company now offers a router that allows consumers to share their Internet connection with travelers passing through their area. In return for sharing upfront, they too get free Internet around the world from other members when they travel. This is a big deal in Europe where British Telecom is installing 2.7 million FON routers across England. If you become a phone member here in the United States, you will routinely have access to free Internet when you travel overseas. So what's the cost? FON sells their router for a one-time fee of $40 -- that's it! Some cable and phone companies in the United States are hostile to this sharing model, but Time Warner is among those who have embraced it. Clark plans to order a FON router for his condo building in Florida and make his Internet connection available to his fellow residents for free. FON's routers even come with security so others can't eyeball your financial info. On a related note, The Los Angeles Times recently reported that both AT&T and Verizon reserve the right to fire customers if they say anything bad about them. Why should they monitor free speech? Clark thinks it's shameful what these monopolies are doing.

Clark has two free deals to share that each comes with its own catch. The Internet has been through so much in its brief history. In the "dot.bomb era," as Clark calls it, practically anything you wanted could be found for free online. Back in the mid-'90s, Clark mentioned during an interview that free long distance would be coming soon. The interviewer scoffed and thought he was crazy. Today we have various compromises where you can get free long distance if you pay a monthly or annual fee. The latest development now comes in the form of ThePudding.com, a new website that offers free long distance with one slightly strange catch. There's no software to download and it's all completely free, but ThePudding.com has artificial intelligence that listens in to your call and uses keywords to feed ads to your computer while you're using the service. Joel of Clark's team has volunteered to be the guinea pig and taste some Pudding. We'll let you know how it goes!

The second deal comes from the world of online music. Clark previously predicted that SpiralFrog, a company promising free music downloads, would hit his Internet graveyard before it even had a chance to launch. But now SpiralFrog is up and running and it offers what it promised -- in return for watching ads while the music downloads. There's so much pent-up demand for a service like this. Clark couldn't even get on the SpiralFrog site for the first few days after launch. This is a great way to legally get music for free. On a related note, Amazon has begun selling music downloads for 89-99 cents/song and they have no digital-rights management (DRM) restrictions. That means the music will work on an iPod or any other music player of your choice.

The Apple nation is in an uproar because the computer giant has slashed iPhone prices by $200. When the iPhone first hit the market, it sold for $600; now it's selling for $400. All the Apple loyalists who stood in line and camped out to buy the iPhone on the first day feel the company owes them back their extra $200. Early adopters always get their wallet emptied out for them. They pay big money to deal with the bugs of something that's new so the rest of us can benefit from it down the road at cheaper prices. No word yet from Apple if they'll make any concessions to those who paid $600. Meanwhile, one big gripe from iPhone users has been that the whole system is built on AT&T's outdated Edge system. So now Apple is offering the iPod Touch. For the same price, the Touch features all the iPhone capabilities except for the phone service! It works on wifi networks, so savvy customers who use Skype and other VoIP providers will still be able to use it to make calls.

In other tech news, there's a new product out there being marketed under the Vudu brand. Vudu is essentially a $400 box that hooks up to your TV and allows you to watch movies on demand instantly. There are 5,000 titles at your fingertips ranging in price from 99 cents for older films to $3.99 for new releases. When you hit play, the movie starts with no download delay. This is possible because the first few minutes of all the movies are stored in the Vudu box. The remainder of the film you select is then downloaded while you watch the flick uninterrupted. Best of all you don't have to leave your home to rent a DVD or wait for it to come in your mailbox. This is very convenient, but you'll be a beta tester if you buy this now. Historically, whenever you shell out for new electronics you're always at a disadvantage. Clark recalls paying $499 for his first GPS unit and now he sees sleeker models that are easier to use for $149!

Do you need yet another reason to dump the three monopoly phone companies -- Verizon, AT&T and Qwest -- and their outdated landlines? Well, here it is: Verizon is playing dirty pool by getting into the AT&T game of charging customers a fee for long distance even if you don't use long distance. The Verizon fee is a couple of bucks a month, but AT&T had been charging people between three and five dollars to not use long distance! So unless you absolutely need a landline, why not liberate yourself? Here's the problem the phone companies are facing: They fought very hard to be able to sell long distance, but then people started using their cell phones, pre-paid cards, the Internet and/or cable phone companies to make their long distance calls. In fact, the cable companies usually offer unlimited long distance. So now the monopoly phone companies are fighting a losing battle.

Clark advises anyone who has older parents to go through their phone bill and see if you can save them money by enrolling them in Lifeline, which is a much more affordable tariff-rated service that seniors can get. Also be aware that if your parents have been in same residence since the early '80s, they may be paying a lease for telephones they had back then. Those fees could cumulatively amount to thousands of dollars, so be on the lookout on your folks' behalf. Finally, one last tip for saving money when it comes to your landline: If you pay for an unlisted number, why not just change it to a listed number and make up the name in the listing? Clark doesn't care if you call yourself Abraham Lincoln, the point is just to stop paying extra and unnecessary fees!

There are some new technological developments that Clark is very excited about. Say, for example, you want hi-speed internet. If you call your phone company to get it, you'll find out that you must purchase a landline as a prerequisite. The phone monopolies think they're smart pushing obsolete landline technology on consumers who want modern DSL. But the phone companies are just outsmarting themselves. When younger customers seek DSL, they don't even think about installing a phone line. They simply go through their cable companies and sidestep companies like AT&T and Verizon completely. So AT&T is now experimenting with offering what's called naked DSL that stands alone without having the requirement of a landline.

The Chicago Tribune reports AT&T will roll out a naked DSL trial service -- priced between $20 and $24 -- in Chicago; Austin, Texas; and Jacksonville, Florida. If it succeeds, look for it in other markets soon. Meanwhile, if you're a former Bell South (now AT&T) customer, you'll be eligible for naked DSL by December at the latest. That's as per a contractual agreement between the two companies. On another technological front, The New York Times reports that Time Warner is going to offer free DVRs in South Carolina that allow you to watch TV when you want -- only you can't skip the commercials like you would on TiVo. It's like renting your eyeballs, so to speak, to advertisers in return for free DVR service. Will this business model survive in the marketplace? Only time will tell.

Sprint manages to be at the front of the cell phone industry pack for the world’s worst customer service. Sprint has fired 1,000 customers because they asked for too much customer service! What kind of company fires customers because they want to talk to customer service too often for billing problems and technical problems? The real problem is that Sprint runs a lousy business—they are the only major cell phone company losing customers. If you call customer service too often for their taste, Sprint lets you out of your contract! So if you’re unhappy with Sprint and don’t want to pay the cancellation charge just call a lot for help and you’ll get dropped! This is your way to get rid of Sprint: by making them want to get rid of you.

One more trick of the trade: If the four major cell phone companies -- Verizon, AT&T (formerly Cingular), Sprint and T-Mobile – send you some legal mumbo-jumbo and try to change your contract, and you are unhappy with them, you can deny the new terms of service and get out of it without having to pay a penalty. On a related note, Clark says the new iPhone is absolutely neat. That’s mostly because Apple demanded to be in charge of the cell phone’s abilities. Apple went to the various carriers and demanded control over the phone. AT&T was the only one that took them up on the offer. However, Clark doesn’t like the iPhone contract AT&T insists that you sign.

As he's been traveling around on the Clark Smart Real Estate book tour, Clark keeps getting asked something that has nothing to with real estate, but has proven to be of real interest to everyone: free directory assistance. People pay ridiculous amounts, up to $2 per call, to get what *might* be the right number...maybe! The good news is there's a number, 1-800-FREE411, where you can call, listen to a short ad, and get the number you want for free. The phone companies hate this, because directory assistance. is such a revenue generator for them. Google has also started a free directory assistance, but for businesses only: 1-800-GOOG-411. As of now its still in beta testing, so you don't even have to listen to an ad. So why pay for something you can get for free so easily?

Long distance has come a long way in the past 10 years. Now people get it for free on most cell phones. Some recent court and administrative decisions has made prepaid phone cards more confusing. One of the changes that have taken place is that placing a call in state can cost 20 times what it costs to call overseas. States are now able to charge massive per minute charges and those get passed on to you. This is a huge problem in Florida currently with all the in state long distance charges. People that use the internet to make phone calls are not affected by this but watch out if you are still a traditional phone card user.

JaJah and Rebtel are two communications companies that are changing the international communications game. They are both offering cheap to free international calling. You can go to their websites at Jajah.com and Rebtel.com to see exactly how they work. They are easy to use and can save you tons so check them out.

A few years ago, Clark talked about an experiment going on with T-Mobile, whereby cell phones would automatically switch to an Internet phone when you’re in a wireless network. Basically, anytime you’re in a building or restaurant with Wi-Fi, your phone will automatically become an Internet phone. This also applies to incoming calls. If someone calls you and you’re in a place with a wireless connection – such as your home – no minutes are deducted. It will help you reduce the number of minutes you use because it’s not going against your plan. And, nothing happens with your number. It still shows up the same. T-Mobile has the smallest amount of customers, so it is trying to establish market share. So, what’s the cost? In the Pacific Northwest, where T-Mobile first tested it, the cost went up an extra $20 a month. We’ll keep you posted on the cost for the national roll out.

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In other cell phone news, Blackberry has come up with a new phone called “The Curve.” It’s attractive and plays music, in addition to all of its traditional functions. It first will be available to AT&T customers only and then it will be rolled out. We’ll keep you posted on that too.

A while back, Clark talked about a service that allowed people to make free international calls. It’s called “future phone” and it is based in Iowa. People simply call a number in Iowa and then are dialed into an Internet gateway allowing them to call overseas. When it was announced, people were clamoring to use the service. in fact, so many people were using it that Clark started getting calls about the service not working. Sure enough, a message was posted on the site about a temporary outage. The good news Futurephone says it will be up and working soon. The company has been involved in some legal wrangling with the local phone companies over where users calls actually terminate. But it should be working again soon. We’ll keep you posted.

The cell phone industry has figured out another way to eat up peoples’ minutes and take more of their money. The voicemail prompts you hear nowadays, for example, are longer than they’ve ever been. And when you go into your own voicemail to check messages, those prompts are slow and long. The good news is that creative people are always coming up with ways to work around the system. Several companies have come up with a way for you to have your voice mail message translated to text messages. The first is called Simulscribe.com, and there is a fee after the first week. But there is a free program coming to the States. You simply send an e-mail message to gamma@apinvox.com. And, when it is available in the States, you’ll get it free for one year. Clark does not recommend that Sprint customers use this service because the company charges a punitive fee to have your voicemail rerouted. Keep an eye out for these services.

Do you remember when it cost money to use your cell phone to call out of town? It’s been a while, but it happened. Today, the dilemma is calling overseas on cell phones or using a cell phone in a foreign country. It is possible, though, with what’s called a “World Phone.” The calls can end up being $6 a minute, not to mention the charge just to make or receive a call. There are ways around this, though, including acquiring a foreign number. And what if you’re traveling from country to country? You have to get a chip for each country. But there is a new service out there called “Range Roamer,” which allows people to use one number in multiple countries. Calling back to the States is about 69 cents a minute. That’s not as good as getting a chip for each country. But it’s much easier. It costs $49 to get set up and you get a batch of minutes with that. So, it’s worth a try.

You may have heard of, Skype, the Internet phone service that is growing across the globe. It’s now the largest phone company in the world, although it’s still fairly unknown in the States. To increase its presence here in America, Skype is offering free service if you sign up now. Under the offer, you can call any phone for free for the rest of the year. Usually, Skype allows people to call from computer to computer for free. But for the rest of the year, you can call landlines, cell phones or any other phone for nothing! Most of the people who use Skype have friends and family overseas because it’s free to talk via computer. But Skype wants to be your long distance provider. There are no catches! Also, a listener tipped Clark off to a Web site he wants you to know about. The site is called callingcards.com, and it tells people the cheapest calling cards for various countries. The problem has been that the cheapest calling card for one country is not the cheapest for another country. You can find the cheapest card for the country you want, but look for “connection fees.” If the card charges one of these, you don’t want it. And don’t buy $100 worth of calls because the company could go under. Just buy a little at a time.

Skype is taking the world by storm. People just don’t know it yet. Clark thinks this company, which originated in Astonia, has come up with a technology that is going to change the world. Evidently eBay thinks so too, since the company just spent $3 billion buying the company recently. Skype now has more than 100 million users, and Clark is one of them. In our Consumer Action Center, we use Skype to return long distance and international calls. The system uses what’s called a USB phone and the best part is that it’s free for the rest of the year! Christa was able to load Skype onto her cell phone and called Clark on it the other day. The call quality on Skype is not as good as some other services, but hopefully it will get better. But times are a changing in this industry for sure. Americans are slow to catch on, as usual. But eventually we will. Just remember that if you sign up for Skype and someone overseas signs up, you can both talk for free! You can’t beat that with a stick.

Have you heard of caller ID spoofing? People are able to make false numbers come up on your caller ID machine, fooling you into answering, according to Knight-Ridder. The equipment to do this costs very little money and it’s very easy to set up. Then, once you answer, they’ve got you on the phone and will try to sell you things. These spoof devices were available for law enforcement organizations only at first. But now the software is available on the Web for anyone. So, the number you see may not be the number calling. Beware!

You no longer have to pay Directory Assistance for phone numbers. There are tons of services out there offering free phone numbers. Hear all about them and how reliable they are. Disable your pop-up blocker first!

There will come a time when toll-free calling is a thing of the past. Internet phone calling is growing by leaps and bounds each year. The only problem is that some of these services do not reach 911. Several people have died because 911 could not be reached in the home. Apparently, it wasn’t a top priority of the Internet phone services when they started up and local phone companies have refused to connect people to 911 when they use one of these services. Now, Congress is pushing through a law that requires the four monopoly phone companies to connect people to the 911 centers when they call. Until that happens, use your cell phone to call 911 if you have an Internet phone.

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In other news, satellite phones are selling like hotcakes since Hurricane Katrina. According to the Wall Street Journal, satellite phones have increased by 1000 percent and have kept at that rate since the hurricane. They were the only phones working in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama when the hurricane hit. They are expensive, though, at about $500 for the phone and 35 cents a minute. In addition, Sprint is working on a deal that would allow your cell phone to work as a home phone when you’re at home and a cell phone when you’re not home. It basically links up to whatever service is available in your range, and that is where we’re headed down the road. You’ll have one phone that switches between home, cell and satellite.

Americans haves suffered for the past 20 years because of a terrible decision Congress made to grant monopolies on pay television. It’s stifled innovation and led to horrible customer service and increased prices. Monopolies in any industry are a bad thing and that goes for long distance telephone companies, too. So, now that alternative phone options are all the go, the traditional phone companies are trying to get into TV. The problem is that with monopolies, companies have to curry favor with local governments by offering money. The cable TV industry has been doing it for years and now cable folks want Verizon and SBC to help them with these corrupt government “contracts.” But the state of Texas is putting up a fight regarding these corrupt “contracts.” Texas wants to rule that phone companies don’t have to pay the corrupt government money and cable companies don’t have to pay if they lose more than 30 percent market share. That will allow the marketplace to decide.

The FCC has approved the takeover of AT&T by SBC, one of the major long distance companies in the country. AT&T, once the proudest name in corporate America, is no more. Now, AT&T wireless has disappeared, the cable provider dissolved and now the entire company itself is no more. But funny enough, people don’t know who SBC is. So, ironically, SBC is adopting AT&T’s name. The company knew AT&T had great name recognition, even if it’s negative. The good news is that because of this merge, people can now get high-speed Internet access without having to sign up for local phone service. Also, if you have an alternative phone service such as Vonage or Packet8, it will be illegal for these companies to block that access. Several other companies are doing that and playing dirty pool. But with SBC and Verizon, it will be illegal and, in turn, the rate will be much cheaper.

What if you had a phone line that cost you just $4.95 a month? For that $4.95, you got unlimited incoming calls and outgoing calls for 2 cents a minute no matter where you call. That includes international calls. If you were traveling around the world, a call back to the States would cost you 2 cents a minute. It’s unlike anything we’ve heard of in the traditional phone business. We’re used to a phone line hooking into our wall and we pay whatever the phone company tells us to. But now there is “Teleo,” which is introducing portable VOIP. Your phone service resides on your computer and calls are routed through your computer. They are metered calls and the $4.95 a month includes unlimited voicemail, call forwarding and caller ID. It’s amazing! Pretty soon people with pocket PCs will be able to make calls through their handheld computers. We’ll see how Teleo fares, but the ideas and innovations are awesome.

Fast food is going high tech these days. Phone services have become so cheap that there are now “call centers” taking your order at the drive through instead of an employee in a cute hat. So, you may be talking to someone across the globe who then relays your order to the particular store where you are. Pizza Hut, Chuck-E-Cheese and Hardees are all experimenting with it right now and many more will jump on the bandwagon. It’s a way for the restaurant to save money because they don’t have to staff so heavily for certain peak times of the day. We’ll see how well it works.

Clark has a regular phone line in his house, and he pays $14.95 a month for the service. But after junk fees are added on, he the total becomes $33. He also has an Internet phone line, for which he pays $24.95 a month. After junk fees, the total goes up to only $26. Why is there such a discrepancy between the junk fees? Traditional phone companies are adding on fees to help those in rural areas pay for service. It costs a lot of money to run lines and telephone polls to rural areas, and the phone companies want everybody to have a line. So, they're subsidizing by charging urban and suburban customers. The good news is that the system is breaking down because of modern technology. Many people are moving to cell phone only, wireless, or Internet, which have no subsidized fees. Of course, some legislators are trying to change that. Texas wants people in rural areas to pay market price for their telephones. Virginia has been looking at charging the same flat rate to all of the technologies. This would create a much lower subsidized fee. Clark thinks that if subsidizing is required, then it should only be for people whose incomes qualify. Thankfully, technology is creating more competition and causing major shift in the industry. Just remember that if you stop paying the fees, the telephone companies will have to figure out how to make them fees cheaper. Use the power you have!

Americans love to talk on their cell phones. We also love to gripe about our cell phone companies. According to Consumer Reports, people about as unsatisfied with their cell phone company as they are with their cable company. So, are there any redeemable companies out there? Verizon and T-Mobile are doing better than the others and they are growing faster than any other, according to the magazine. T-Mobile has very competitive prices and many people like that. Verizon is credited with being the best in service. But that means the best in a bad lot. Clark wants to remind you that the local only companies sometimes offer the best rates for unlimited calling. These companies – Cricket Communications and Metro PCS – are often forgotten in the game. But they are great deals, as long as you can keep your conversations to your “home service area.” Another option is pre-paid cell phones. If you don’t use your phone very much, but you pay $30 or $40 a month, a pay-as-you-go plan might work great for you.