So far T-Mobile was letting some customers use the phone as a wireless hotspot free of charge. While T-Mobile was officially claiming to charge users for the hotspot facility, in reality many subscribers were able to use it for free.

Earlier, T-Mobile was unable to automatically block subscribers who had not signed up for the hotspot plan from using the Wi-Fi feature. This will change when consumers upgrade their HTC Sensation 4G to the Android 4.0 software.

The consumer’s loss is T-Mobile’s gain as the company will be able to increase revenues as more subscribers pay the additional fee now that it has been made mandatory. T-Mobile has made it clear that it is the hotspot facility that will be charged. Subscribers can upgrade their HTC Sensation software to the Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich for free.

Facebook with its current evaluation and IPO has been able to reward the early investors far more than the riches due to them. What the success of the Facebook means for Accel Partners, Greylock Partner and Meritech Capital is a steady potential of opportunity. It is not only through their very legitimate rightful judgement, but also having excellent relationship with a very successful venture. Greylock funding of Instagram and Facebook’s instant acquisition of it for a billion comes from getting into a cycle of virtuosity. What these companies are able to achieve is a great reputation and benchmarking which inspires other venture capitalist funds as well.

The successful entrepreneurs offer that kind of legitimacy to the venture fund that supports them. Josh James of Omniture has that reputation, as he sold his company to Adobe for alittle less than 2 billion USD. So now, if Josh looks for funding for his new company Domo,he would go to someone with close ties to Facebook (read Cohler) It is that ecosystem you want to connect with.

Similarly, other investors of Facebook such as Greylock gain confidence through their association with Facebook. Bobby Johnson, director of Engineering at Facebook may not have been an advisor board member at Couchbase if it wasn’t for Accel’s Kevin Efrusy, an early investor with Couchbase.

So, what do these early investors get monetarily from Facebook IPO. While Meritich andGreylock become worth a billion each, Accel Partners hit a jackpot at over 6.3 Billion. While the Facebook deal was a career defining one for Efrusy, some others of Greylock suchas David Sze and Paul Madera of Meritich Capital have been seasoned investors. Sze backed LinkedIn earlier and Madera backed Salesforce.com. However, to think that the Facebook deal would reward early investors only would be wrong. Some of the late entrants are going to make it big, though not as big as the early investors.

However, irrespective of who the investor is, they are not planning to sit on their one or two massive success stories. The race is on to know the next big one. The cycle of Amazon, Google and Facebook rings a rhythm of four years, which is keeping everyone ontheir toes to know which is going to be the next success.

Qualtrics provides SaaS to over 4,000 enterprise customers so that they can simplifycomplex research. This Utah-based 10-year-old’s success can be gauged from the factthat it lists half of the Fortune 100 companies as its clients. Prominent clients includeMicrosoft, Thomson Reuters, and Southwest Airlines.

Accel and Sequoia have certainly made a good investment decision as Qualtrics is usedby most business schools as well, ensuring future business leaders will be comfortableusing its products. In fact Bryan Schreier of Sequoia called Qualtrics “the biggestsoftware company you haven’t heard of yet.’’

So far, Qualtrics was able to raise funds by more traditional methods, its expansionplans have made it opt for outside funds this time around. The funds will be used to add 250 employees. Most of the new employees will be based in Utah, though some international expansion is planned as well.

Qualtrics gains more than funding from this move as Ryan Sweeney from Accel and Schreier will be added to their board.

“The Lightbox team has incredible experience developing innovative mobile products that people love,’’ a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. We look forward to welcoming this world-class team of engineers to Facebook.’’

Detroit got off to a hot start in the first inning, hitting two home-runs on two consecutive pitches putting New York in a hole early.

The hero’s of the game have to be the Tigers pitching staff. Holding the Yankee’s to two runs considering the situation they were in all game was breath-taking. New York ended up leaving 11 men on base.

Detroit is off to play Texas on Saturday. New York is going to face some difficult questions, particularly some of their stars (ahem A-Rod) who left a lot of runs on base.

LA City Transportation Officials began warning Angelenos about the disaster being called “Carmageddon” a month and a half ago through signs, notices and even celebrities announcements. However, they still anticipate traffic to be backed up as far as 60 miles!

To try and help alleviate some of the pain, charter helicopter’s are offering taxi services to those who need have no choice but to leave the house this weekend. For $400, one company is offering “romantic” helicopter rides complete with champagne for couples who want to fly over disastrous traffic jam that is sure to ensue. Seriously though, why would you do that?

Think that things are getting blown way out of proportion? Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa reinforces the warning by saying,  “If you think the 405 is gridlocked during the week, you haven’t seen anything yet. My message is to stay home. Or go on vacation. Walk. Go on a bike. But do not get in your car and go anywhere near the West Side. It’s going to be a mess.”

Awesome.

Victoria and David Beckham welcomed baby girl, Harper Seven at Cedar Sinai Hosptial in Los Angeles on Sunday. This is the couple’s fourth child but first girl! David took to his Facebook to confirm the news stating,

“I am so proud and excited to announce the birth of our daughter Harper Seven Beckham. She weighed a healthy 7lbs 10oz and arrived at 7.55 this morning, here in LA. Victoria is doing really well and her brothers are delighted to have a baby sister xx.”

Also in Los Angeles, actress Kate Hudson and her fiancee Matt Bellamy welcomed “a healthy baby boy” into the world according to Hudson’s rep.  Kate had a “hunch” that she was carrying a girl, but didn’t want to find out the sex of the baby until it was born. Turns out she was wrong. This is Hudson’s second child and Bellamy’s first.

Sergeant James Hackemer, 29, was riding in the the front row of the  Ride of Steel roller coaster at the Darien Lake Theme Park in Buffalo, New York when the accident happened. The roller coaster climbs up to 200 ft, and reaches speed of 70mph.

Hackemer lost both of his legs in 2008 after being hit by a roadside bomb while deployed in Iraq.

The veteran’s mother spoke to reporters saying, “It’s going to help a little bit that he was happy. We shouldn’t have had him for these last three years and four months.” She told Buffalo news that Hackemer had to be assisted onto the ride but that “he was doing what he wanted to do.”

The theme park’s website released a statement saying that they are “deeply saddened” by the incident. Ride of Steel is closed while undergoing investigation, while the rest of the theme park remains open.

Betty Ford was the widow of the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford, who died in 2006. She was known for her outspoken nature and work with women’s advocacy. In 1982, Ford opened the Betty Ford center for addiction after struggling with alcoholism and prescription drug abuse herself several years prior. The Betty Ford center remains one of the nation’s most well-known centers for rehabilitation.

The director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum confirms the sad news and a family member adds that Ford died at her bedside with family close by.

However, since Casey Anthony has been in jail since October 2008, she will be receiving credit for her time already served, therefore the “innocent” Anthony will be released from prison July 13, next week.

Protesters (and several Anthony supporters) gathered outside the courthouse yelling and holding signs, one with a picture of Casey and duct tape over her mouth.