NBC Streaming Full Episodes of 30 Rock and the Office to iPhones (for Free, No Ads!)

Even though there's no love lost between NBC and iTunes, that doesn't mean NBC doesn't love you! At least if you've got an iPhone or iPod touch. They're streaming full episodes of 30 Rock and The Office to iPhones (and touches) in QuickTime, for free, with NO ads. They work, nicely, but the major catch is that if you exit Safari, you've gotta re-DL all over again, and the files are huge, so is this Wi-Fi only, really. This looks weird for NBC, but it's really not.

They're putting their shows out online in a million different ways (you can even download 30 Rock, The Office, Conan and Leno direct to your desktop now) and more than happy to pipe 'em to you, as long as it's in a controlled sandbox of some sort. NBC Direct requires a walled-garden player install with loads of DRM, and they wanted copyright controls from Apple and Microsoft to give just two examples, not to mention Hulu. It's sorta surprising that the QuickTime feed for iPhone is unprotected, but theoretically it's restricted to two devices. You know, if they'd just relax a bit, overall, they'd be in a good place online. [Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks Peter!]

How To Haggle

The pricetag is no longer the final word, stores are playing "let's make a deal," and haggling is in. Consumer Reports Todd Marks tells The Today Show the secrets to haggling success:

• Be open and friendly in your discussion with the salesperson, ask for them to "work with you" on the price
• Be discreet, don't broadcast to other shoppers that you're getting a deal
• Escalate to a manager if the salesperson isn't empowered to make a decision
• Do your research so you know the fair price to ask for
• Be creative, ask for free shipping
• Offer to pay cash so they don't have to pay a credit card transaction fee

Still sound hard to do? When Consumer Reports surveyed its readers, even if they were embarrassed by the process, they reported being successful more than half the time.

Check out some of our other posts on haggling for more tips on the art of the deal.

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