A Look at America’s Billionaires

Stan Reybern
From http://www.billshrink.com/

America’s billionaires are an elite and diverse group of people who either through luck or hard work and strategy have managed to build fortunes that most of us will only ever dream of having. Have a look at how these individuals propelled themselves into the world of the ultra-wealthy and fantasize about what you’d do if you had billions to play with.

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Demystifying the Credt C.A.R.D. Act of 2009 (Infographic)

Jonathan Rivers
From: http://www.billshrink.com/

The nine-month lead-in time for the Credit C.A.R.D. Act of 2009 has now passed and the law officially goes into effect to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices by credit card companies starting today, February 22, 2010. Here is our breakdown of the new credit card rules, who the Credit C.A.R.D. Act protects, which companies complied in advance and what protections are now guaranteed to cardholders by law.

Find the best credit cards at BillShrink.com

The Ultimate Cell Phone Plans Comparison

Tony Adam

From: http://www.billshrink.com

On Friday, Verizon Wireless announced pricing plan restructuring that would reduce the cost of voice usage. AT&T Wireless quickly followed suit and unveiled their updated cell phone plans as well. Today is the day that those changes go into effect.
While both carriers announced these changes as efforts to simplify plans, the real truth behind the story is that the profits are in the data: Verizon’s revenue is now up 24% (they reported $15.8 billion in Q309), with 17% coming from data services.
I think that there is still a long way to go before it gets to a point where picking a cell phone plan is simple, even after these various many attempts by the carriers in 2009. There are still way too many plan combination.
This is our best attempt to simplify all of the plan combination and it was painful, but here it is, The Ultimate Cell Phone Plans Comparison:

Click Image to Enlarge

BillShrink can help you find cell phone plans that save you money and fit your needs, without sifting through the madness!

Current Crop of Smartphones: A Cost and Feature Comparison

Cost-comparison web site BillShrink hits it out of the park with a handy infographic comparing the cost and features of the current generation of smartphones: the Nexus One, the Palm Pre, the Motorola Droid, and the iPhone 3GS.
Looking at this you realize 1.) there's no clear winner in the bunch feature-wise and 2.) we all spend a ridiculous amount of money on mobile phones and service. My only nitpick with this chart is that the T-Mobile/Nexus One "Average Usage" plan should be listed at $79.99 a month, not $89.99 (unless they're counting taxes and fees). Click to enlarge the big picture to check it out.

Nexus One vs iPhone, Droid & Palm Pre - Total Cost of Ownership [BillShrink via Smarterware]

Smarterware is Lifehacker editor emeritus Gina Trapani's new home away from 'hacker. To get all of the latest from Smarterware, be sure to subscribe to the Smarterware RSS feed.

Contact information for this author is not available.

T-Mobile Lets Consumers Put Its Pricing To The Test, Courtesy Of BillShrink

by Robin Wauters on May 20, 2009

T-Mobile USA announced today a new campaign dedicated to helping people save money on their wireless service, and the carrier is not only using the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones as the face of the campaign again, they’re also giving a huge vote of confidence and a heap of exposure to Redwood City, CA-based startup BillShrink.

BillShrink launched in April 2008 as a way for people to compare the value they are getting with their current wireless provider against other national carriers. It has since raised an additional $8 million on top of a $1 million round it secured back in 2007 and expanded its technology to other products and services, like helping you find the cheapest gas in your neighborhood or the ideal credit card based on your profile.

People can now visit the T-Mobile website or one of its retail stores for a so-called “Mobile Makeover”: free, unbiased and personalized savings recommendations for wireless plans, powered by BillShrink. That’s a big boost for the fledgling company, especially considering the first television spot featuring Zeta-Jones will air tonight during the American Idol season finale on FOX (that’s a lot of eyeballs). It’s also a bit of a risk for T-Mobile, although they seem pretty confident of the outcome of the comparison engine:

“Providing great wireless coverage at a great price is at the heart of what T-Mobile offers,” said Denny Marie Post, chief marketing officer, T-Mobile USA, Inc. “We’re so confident that T-Mobile provides the best overall experience for a majority of Americans, we’re willing to put our value to the test by pointing people to an independent source. And while we may not come out on top each and every time, we believe a majority of people will see T-Mobile offers them the value they want, and the best experience in wireless.”

Billshrink is headed by CEO Peter Pham, a former Photobucket executive who joined the company in February last year.

(Via Trading Markets)

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CrunchBase Information

BillShrink

Website:	billshrink.com
Location:	Redwood City, California, United States
Funding:	$9M

BillShrink provides a free, online service to help consumers make better purchase decisions for complex product categories. It takes a scientific, highly-personalized approach which identifies the products that best fit users’ individual… Learn More

Information provided by CrunchBase

Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill and Credit Cards With BillShrink

Don’t know if you are getting the best deal with your current cell phone plan. Enter Billshrink, 100% free web service where you can instantly compare 100+ mobile plans and find the best plan for your cell phone. And it only takes about 3-4 minutes.

First you need to provide some information about your location and usage preferences/requirements (i.e. avgerage daily talk time, whether you need data plan, SMS usage, network coverage, average phone bill etc.). Then, BillShrink will list all available cell phone plans starting from the cheapest. Along with everything else it

also tells you how much you will be actually saving.

Features:

• Find the best mobile contract for your needs.
• Highly customizable: Considers factors such as which areas/networks you call often, daily talk time, data usage and so on.
• Enter your phone usage details manually or (Optionally) import them directly from the phone bill.
• Sort recommended results by monthly price, the amount it can save, overall rank, and signal strength.
• Map with a visual representation of each carrier’s coverage/signal strength.
• Set BillShrink to re-analyze your profile on a monthly basis and send you email alerts in case there are better deals.
• Note: The service is quite new so once in a while some small things may not works as expected.

Update: Credit Card Service just added

BillShrink, the startup that helps users cut costs on their phone bills, is expanding its automated advisor to an entirely new field: Credit Cards. The site’s recommendation engine will now include a database of over 200 major credit cards, helping users choose an ideal card after entering only a few basic criteria.

To begin using the system, users first decide if they’re interested in a card that will reward them for keeping their bills paid off, or one that will minimize the interest accrued on balances that are being paid off over time. Next, they’re asked to enter the amount of money the typically spend in a month, their current credit standing, and the places they spend the most money (for example, “groceries” or “airline tickets”).

Using this data BillShrink generates a listing of its highest matches, prominently displaying the overall monetary gains, along with a number of graphs that detail earning rates, fees, and limits. The site also includes an in-depth description of each card for further reference. Beyond basic numeric calculations, BillShrink also takes into account the previously entered spending preferences - for example, it will give preference to a card that accumulates “miles” quickly when someone is a frequent traveler.

BillShrink is headed by ex-Photobucket exec Peter Pham, and offers a similar comparison service for mobile phones which launched in beta last April. Using signal maps, plan rates, and usage habits, the site recommends what kind of service plan each user should be on, or if they should switch carriers entirely. While the service got off to a rocky start, it has made great strides and will be incorporating the revamped interface that launches today alongside the credit-card portion of the site.

Financial startup Mint also offers credit card recommendations, though these are not nearly as comprehensive as those seen on BillShrink.

Check out BillShrink @ www.billshrink.com