In 2009 Xerox acquired Affiliated Computer Services, which tilted the business model away from printing and more toward add-on services.
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But some people say the new devices create confusion because add-on services make their wireless phone bills bigger and more complex.
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Those incorrectly charged for the add-on services between December 2007 and August 2011 are to be repaid for at least 90 days worth of fees.
Coursera intends to become a financially viable, profit-making university project - but raising income from internet traffic and add-on services, rather than directly charging users.
Rather than charge users to buy software, publishers opted for a "freemium" model, in which the basic product was given away but premium add-on services or features involved payment.
Dow Chemical, operating in the dull but brutal commodity-plastics market, now splits out and prices separately the add-on services that it once provided in a lump along with its products.
Borrowing a strategy familiar to razormakers and electronics firms alike, Oshima figures he'll lure customers with good, cheap equipment, and earn his keep from add-on goods and services.
While the announcement sounds the start of competition in this market, it raises a serious question for users: If ISPs offer domain name registration as an add-on to Web services, then who owns the domain?
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Those revenues are particularly important to cellular carriers, who are relying more on data services and add-on charges to buoy their bottom lines.
The company that wins the biggest share of the streaming media players also wins the various add-on devices and support services and a presence on next-generation cell phones and PalmPilots.
Instead of paying for operating systems and other proprietary software, users will spend their money on services or add-ons to free programs.
And the new value-add services like App Store and so on and so forth.
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In broadband, demands on tuners are increasing as cable TV operators expand their services and as set-top boxes add more complex features.
Still, as streaming services from Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and others began to proliferate across lots of different add-on boxes, it made sense to add them onto Xbox Live (even if the programming wasn't) as well as the PlayStation Network.
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