uAmazon To Make Echo Available At Home Depot, Radio Shack, Other Retailersr

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• Three months after Amazon announced it would allow Staples to offer its high-tech, sort-of assistant speaker online, the company says it will allow retailers to sell the Echo at thousands of locations across the U.S. 

  Just in time for the holiday shopping rush, Amazon announced on Monday that it would make the Echo available at physical stores like Staples, Home Depot, HH Gregg, Radio Shack, Sears, Brookstone, RC Willey and others.

  The device, which will make its way to stores over the next several weeks will retail for $179.99, the same price it goes for through Amazon, VentureBeat reports.

  Amazon previously made Echo available to all customers back in June. Prior to that, only Prime members who placed their names on a waiting list received invitations from the company to buy the speaker.

  But even then, customers who received invites had a hard time actually acquiring Echo, as wait times for shipping spanned weeks to months.

  Echo, which was first unveiled in November 2014, functions much like other voice-activated devices: always on and always connected to the internet.

  The device, which has been continuously updated since its debut, allows users to ask the system’s personal assistant “Alexa” to update to-do lists, set alarms and timers, check the weather, get sports and news, get answers to questions from Wikipedia, stream music, or just talk without having to worry about a sarcastic reply (that is, until machines inevitably become self-aware and sassy).

  Back in August, Amazon announced it had entered a partnership with SmartThings to allow the device to essentially run consumers’ homes.

  Through the new partnership, Echo would have the ability to operate any SmartThings-compatible device – or devices plugged into a SmartThings Power Outlet – in a consumer’s home.

  Amazon Echo will soon go on sale at over 3,000 retail stores [VentureBeat]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uSurvey Says: Seat Kickers Are The Most Annoying Of All The Annoying Airline Passengersr

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• 

  As long as airlines continue to squeeze more seats on planes with less room per passenger, and as long as there are people out there who believe everyone in the cabin wants to smell their tuna fish sandwich, air travel is going to be annoying. Someone has to be the most annoying of all however, and according to a new survey, that person could be sitting behind you on your next flight.

  Seat kickers took the No. 1 spot in an annual etiquette survey from Expedia, using results from interviews with 1,019 randomly selected U.S. adult residents: 61% of Americans cited seat-kicking as the most annoying in-flight concern, with “inattentive parents” coming in for a close second at 59%.

  We are a country that doesn’t like strong smells in contained places, either: the “Aromatic Passenger” (someone who exhibits poor hygiene or is otherwise emitting a strong odor) was the third least-liked passenger, with 50% of respondents saying that’s annoying.

  “Planes continue to fly full, never more so than during this season, when millions of Americans will fly to be with their families for the holidays,” said John Morrey, vice president and general manager, Expedia.com in a press release. “Inside a packed plane at 30,000 feet, both good behavior and bad behavior are amplified. Respecting our fellow passengers is a small but important gift we can all give each other.”

  Again, just as a reminder: no one is allowed to eat a stinky tuna sandwich in an airplane unless that person is Sir Patrick Stewart.

  Here’s the full list of onboard annoyances:

  1. Rear Seat Kicker (cited by 61% of study respondents)
  2. Inattentive Parents (59%)
  3. The Aromatic Passenger (50%)
  4. The Audio Insensitive (talking or music) (50%)
  5. The Boozer (45%)
  6. Chatty Cathy (43%)
  7. Carry-On Baggage Offenders (38%)
  8. The Queue Jumper (rushes to deplane) (35%)
  9. Seat-Back Guy (the seat recliner) (32%)
  10. Overhead Bin Inconsiderate (stows bag in first available spot, rather than nearest to seat)(32%)
  11. Pungent Foodies (30%)
  12. Back Seat Grabber (27%)
  13. The Amorous (inappropriate affection levels) (26%)
  14. Undresser (removes shoes, socks or more) (26%)
  15. Mad Bladder (window seat passenger who makes repeat bathroom visits) (24%)
  16. The Single and Ready to Mingle (13%)
  17. The Seat Switcher (13%)

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uLyft, Uber To Offer Homeless Veterans Free Rides To And From Jobs, Interviewsr

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• 

  Ride-hailing companies have always shared a bit of a spirited rivalry: a hacker redirected Uber’s petition site to Lyft and Lyft accused Uber employees of requesting and then canceling 5,600 rides. But today the companies announced they would put their differences aside and team up to offer free rides for veterans in need of transportation to and from jobs and interviews. 

  Joining Forces, a nationwide initiative that works to support veterans and their families, announced today that the ride hailing companies have committed to donating free rides to veterans experiencing homelessness.

  According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development there are more than 49,000 veterans experiencing homelessness on any given day. The National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that about 68% of these veterans live in cities where there is no reliable transpiration, making it difficult to reach needed services and employment opportunities.

  To help these veterans, Uber and Lyft will donate tens of thousands of free rides throughout the coming year.

  In all, Uber says it will contribute at least 10,000 rides across five veteran organizations affiliated with the Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.

  The rides, which will be administered by employment counselors who work with veterans each week, are meant to provide on-demand transportation to jobs, interviews and other employment events.

  Lyft has yet to provide the exact number of ride it plans to provide, but a spokesperson tells TechCrunch it is “donating thousands of rides.”

  In addition to offering free rides to veterans, Uber announced today that it would allow other riders the ability to get in on the action.

  On Wednesday – Veterans Day – the company will allow riders and drivers in more than 150 cities to donate $5 toward a ride for a veteran.

  To donate, individuals using the service simply open the Uber app, slide the toggle to “VETS DAY,” and order an UberX. Once the ride is complete, they’ll receive a text about the $5 donation. To complete the donation, riders must reply to the message with a “Yes” response.

  [via TechCrunch]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uGoogle Maps Launches Offline Navigation And Search Optionsr

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  As it was foretold back in May, so it has come to pass: for all those times when you need to know where you’re going but don’t have great Internet service, Google Maps has introduced offline navigation and search.

  The feature will start off in Android, with support for iOS coming soon, Google product manager Amanda Bishop wrote in a blog post. Offline is handy because it’s not like we’re going to go back to trying to figure out actual paper maps anytime soon.

  “Ten percent of the time our users are getting slow or no results.” Bishop noted to Tech Crunch. “That’s not really conducive to being confident about where you’re headed next. I mean, in some spots in Los Angeles you might as well print out directions and drop them on the floor of your car like everyone used to before GPS.”

  Again, this won’t mean you can pull up a map of anywhere in the world on the fly when you’re stuck without an Internet connection: users will be able to download a map for a certain area onto their phone, which can be viewed, searched and used to get turn-by-turn driving directions while you’re offline.

  Once you’ve downloaded an offline map, Google Maps will switch into offline mode automatically when it detects spotty service. If you move into an area with better service, offline mode will turn off again, restoring access to the full version of Maps. The app will only download areas to your device over a Wi-Fi connection, Bishop notes, to prevent large data fees.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uSenators Question Takata’s Ability To Complete Recall Replacement Amid Fines, Lost Customersr

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• With Japanese auto parts maker Takata facing a $70 million fine from federal regulators, and car manufacturers ditching the company’s airbags, lawmakers urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure the company is able to complete the repairs to millions of vehicles in the event it files for bankruptcy. 

  Senators Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, and Edward Markey, of Massachusetts sought regulatory guidance on how to hold Takata accountable if its U.S. subsidiary goes bankrupt, Reuters reports.

  The senators, who have previously called for tougher action against the Japanese parts maker for its deadly, shrapnel-shooting airbags, asked NHTSA chief Mark Rosekind how the government can assure that replacement inflators are available to U.S. car owners and how costs of the recall and penalties would be handled if the company files for bankruptcy.

  “We have concerns about Takata’s financial solvency, which is now at risk … and that as a result, consumers could be left with defective airbags that no one will be forced to fix,” the senators said in a letter to NHTSA.

  In the past week, Takata was hit with a $70 million penalty from NHTSA related to its failure to properly alert regulators to airbag issues.

  The company has agreed to phase out the use of ammonium nitrate in its inflators by 2018 and faces an additional $130 million fine if it doesn’t comply with NHTSA orders or if new violations are found.

  In the days since the fine was announced, Honda – which made up about 10% of the part maker’s global sales – said it would discontinue using Takata’s airbag inflators in any new models under development and accused the supplier of manipulating test data.

  The carmaker said in a statement that it was “deeply troubled” by evidence that suggested Takata “misrepresented and manipulated test data for certain airbag inflators.”

  Following Honda’s move, other automakers, including Fuji and Mitsubishi, announced they were considering dropping the parts maker.

  On Friday, Toyota announced it would also stop using Takata’s ammonium nitrate airbags in its vehicles, noting that it was placing “top priority on ensuring the safety and confidence of our customers.”

  Then over the weekend, Nissan announced it would follow suit and stop using the potentially dangerous airbags.

  “These developments raise the concern that these liabilities could overwhelm the company and lead Takata Corporation to bankrupt its U.S. subsidiary,” the senators wrote in the letter Monday.

  U.S. senators seek to ensure Takata recall is completed [Reuters]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uBetamax Tapes Going Off The Market: This Post Was Not Written In 1988r

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• 
  You may remember the videotape format wars of the 1980s, where VHS eventually triumphed over Betamax, making that one family on your street who couldn’t borrow videos from everyone else feel very silly. After the format wars ended, Betamax didn’t vanish. Players were still manufactured until 2002, and Sony was still making tapes until very recently.

  You can’t wander down to your local Best Buy and pick some up, though sometimes I wonder whether some will ever turn up in our “Raiders of the Lost Walmart” recurring series. Betamax only survived as a niche format in Japan, the same country where VCRs were born.

  Sony has reportedly already stopped making the tapes, and they’ll remain on the market until March of next year.

  Even though Betamax machines are now collectible oddities in this country, the brand lives on in a 1984 Supreme Court case that keeps coming up in lawsuits over new recording and broadcast technology.

  People usually refer to Sony Corp. v. Universal Studios as “the Betamax case,” which was first filed in 1976 and addressed the issue of whether Sony was responsible for copyright infringement committed by Betamax VCR users. The decision saved the entire VCR business, if not the Betamax itself.

  ​40 years later, Sony finally kills Betamax [Engadget]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uH&M Says It Will Close U.S. Stores On Thanksgiving For The First Timer

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  While some stores are dedicated to giving people a way to escape their families after stuffing their faces on Thanksgiving (we’re talking to you, Target, Macy’s and Toys ‘R’ Us), others are changing the way they celebrate the holiday: for the first time, H&M says it will close its U.S. stores on Thanksgiving.

  The Stockholm-based company said it had decided to close up shop on turkey day after launching a new recruitment campaign, reports Bloomberg.

  “In the tradition of Thanksgiving, H&M will close our U.S. stores on Thanksgiving Day, allowing our store teams to enjoy this time with their families and friends,” Daniel Kulle, president of H&M’s North American operations, said in a statement.

  Other stores have taken a step back from the Thanksgiving shopping crush this year as well, after years of retailers pushing Black Friday’s shopping bonanza backward until it ran into Thanksgiving: Staples will be closed on Thanksgiving, as well as REI — which is also keeping out of the Black Friday fray and remaining closed that day.

  H&M to Close on Thanksgiving in Sign of Mellowing Holiday Season [Bloomberg]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist