Verizon’s Maryland residential customers now face a $1.99-a-call charge for directory assistance after the first two free requests to 411 each month, the state Office of People’s Counsel warned ...

Boomers grew up in a time when certain services came free of charge because they were seen as basic utilities. Over time, those conveniences started to cost money due to changing policies, corporate ...

Calling 411 for directory assistance can be maddeningly expensive. Carriers like Sprint and Verizon charge more than $1 and sometimes as much as $2 a call from a cell phone. And much of that is profit ...

I somehow missed the announcement on this one (they told me this rock came with free wireless, but that turned out to be false), and just now discovered a service by the name of Free411. Free411 ...

Google has introduced the latest in its line of services designed to make it easier for us to find information we need—when not in front of a computer. The project, officially called Google Voice ...

SBC Pacific Bell wants the freedom to make 411 service more expensive. The company has asked the state Public Utilities Commission to remove most price controls on directory assistance, arguing that ...

Before we start, this is not an April Fools' joke. When I was younger in the UK, directory assistance calls were free (they were considered to be “part of the service”). Thus, I must admit to being a ...

Arguing that it now faces stiff competition from a raft of rivals, Pacific Bell has quietly asked state regulators for free rein to charge whatever it wants for directory assistance. In a ...

I started my career with CNET all the way back in 2005, when the (original) Motorola Razrs were all the rage. Since then, I've written about everything from consumer electronics to internet culture ...