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"Royal Baby Fever" is gripping Britain.

So say the breathless TV pundits gathered from round the world to report the infant's arrival.

Is it true?

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Vive la France! Vive le Tour!

Three of the four major wireless companies are out with new plans for those who want the latest smartphone sooner. The plans, with names like Verizon Edge and AT&T Next, essentially let you rent a phone for six months or a year and then trade it in for a new one — but there's a catch.

"You're paying essentially twice," says Avi Greengart, who is research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis and does some consulting for the industry.

T-Mobile started this craze with its Jump plan that tacks on a monthly fee for the privilege of upgrading early. But T-Mobile, the underdog, charges less for service. That's not the case with Verizon and AT&T.

"You're also subscribing to a rate plan that historically had a subsidy built in," Greengart says.

A big-name smartphone like the Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy costs about $650. Most of us never pay that much upfront. Instead, we plop down $200 for the phone and sign a two-year contract. Baked into our monthly fees is about $20 a month that, over the life of the contract, recoups the full cost of the phone.

But in the new Verizon and AT&T plans, you're paying that $20, and you're paying the full cost of the phone in monthly installments. That's why in many cases, the carrier comes out ahead.

"It certainly looks like AT&T has developed its plan in such a way that it doesn't lose any money," Greengart says.

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Evan Mallett is hovering over some plants in a Victorian-era greenhouse in Portsmouth, N.H.

Mallett, a chef at the Black Trumpet Bistro, is collecting medicinal herbs, which he infuses in alcohol to make his own bitters, a bittersweet alcoholic concentrate used to flavor cocktails.

Mallett says he often forages in the woods for ingredients like wild chamomile, dock and burdock root for his bitters, too.

The "homemade bitters" trend is relatively new.

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