uFitbit Charge Users Report Worse Battery Life After Firmware Upgrader

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• Usually, a firmware update makes a gadget better, not worse. That’s not what users of the Fitbit Charge HR are experiencing after the device’s most recent firmware update, though. They report that their devices will only stay charged for anywhere between three days and a few hours, when the battery lasted longer before the update.

  Reader Alex, who alerted us to this problem, happens to live in a household with multiple Charge HR owners, and noticed the difference. “Three members of my household are only seeing 2 days battery life after the firmware update,” he wrote to Consumerist. Alex and his pals aren’t alone: users on Reddit and on Fitbit’s support forums report the same problem after the very same firmware update.

  “Your tracker’s battery should last up to 5 days,” Fitbit says in the company’s help document for users having battery problems. The key words there are “up to,” since battery life can vary according to what you actually do with the tracker while using it. However, a wristband that’s meant to track movement and sleep probably isn’t meant to need charging every few hours, and battery life suddenly plummeting is a bad sign.

  We contacted Fitbit about users’ experiences and whether they’re connected to the firmware upgrade: we’ll update this post if we hear anything back. If you have a Charge HR or other Fitbit device that has suddenly lost battery life after an upgrade, let us know!

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uNew Google Glass Reportedly Comes With Foldable Arms, Larger Content Viewerr

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• Nearly a year after Google stopped selling its Google Glass product, and five months after a patent hinted that the tech company wasn’t quite done with the device, a new version of the hi-tech glasses is apparently on the way. 

  A new filing on the Federal Communications Commission website hints that the next iteration of Google Glass comes equipped with a slew of new features, including foldable arms and a larger screen for viewing content.

  The new filing, which comes five months after the last FCC filing for the device, shows the first images of the new Google Glass and a users’ manual.

  In all, the main different — physically — between the new version and the defunct “Explorer Edition” is the foldable arms, a feature that was said to be the most-requested by previous Glass users.

  9to5Google reports that the device contains an Intel Atom processor, improved battery life, and improved “wireless connectivity.”

  The new version of Glass is intended for the working environments, and had been dubbed the “Enterprise Edition.”

  The device is planned to be only distributed through the Glass for Work startups, and likely won’t be available to consumers in any capacity, at least for now, 9to5 reports.

  This is Google Glass: Enterprise Edition in the flesh [9to5Google]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uJudge Tosses Drunk-Driving Charge Against Woman Whose Body Acts As A Breweryr

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  We learned a few years ago that there is a real medical condition where a person’s body basically turns into a brewery through no actions of their own. Though it can result in a drunken-like state that some might chalk up to simple inebriation, auto-brewery syndrome is involuntary, and as such, helped one woman who has it beat a drunk driving charge.

  A New York judge dismissed the charge against a woman who was able to prove that her body is its own little brewery, using excess intestinal yeast to turn her food into alcohol, reported The Buffalo News recently. That process can cause breathalyzer readouts that would normally mean someone is dangerously intoxicated.

  The woman was arrested last year after a 9-1-1 call that reported her weaving while driving. She reportedly was found driving on a flat tire with “glassy-bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.” Though she said she’d had three drinks, a breathalyzer registered her blood alcohol content at .33%

  “Her tire was flat, and she felt she was close enough to home that she could drive the rest of the way,” the woman’s attorney told The News. “She can register a blood alcohol content that would have you or I falling down drunk, but she can function.”

  She spent $7,000 working with a specialist to show how her body can make it seem like she’s the legal definition of drunk, without her guzzling even a drop herself.

  “I would say it is not safe to drive a car if you are in an auto brewery syndrome flare,” a doctor and auto-brewery syndrome expert who monitored and tested the woman, told the News. “But it’s a brand new disease and we’re still trying to understand it.”

  The doctor said he thinks between 50 and 100 people have been diagnosed with the disorder, though probably 95% of them have no idea. He advised the woman to change her eating habits, as flare-ups of ABS can be triggered in part by diets high in carbohydrates.

  Woman’s body acts as ‘brewery,’ so judge dismisses DWI [The Buffalo News]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uSamsung Pay Expected To Roll Out To U.S. Online Shoppers Next Yearr

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  Now that Samsung has tried its best to woo some more customers into signing up for its mobile payment app, the company is giving people the chance to actually buy stuff with Samsung Pay by allowing shoppers in the U.S. to use it next year for online purchases.

  The company is planning to expand the service in the U.S. next year by opening up Samsung Pay to online purchases as well as offering the electronic wallet on more of its phones, reports Reuters.

  Previously, only a few pricier Samsung phones — the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6, and S6 Edge Plus — offered Samsung Pay. Lower-priced models will include the mobile wallet “within the next year,” Thomas Ko, global co-general manager of Samsung Pay, told Reuters.

  Wider “handset availability of Samsung Pay as well as online payment support is coming soon,” he said, without commenting on which other countries the service would expand to.

  Currently, Samsung Pay users can purchase items using technology that’s already widely used at most stores. On the other hand, stores that enable Apple Pay and Android Pay purchases have to install new equipment.

  Samsung Pay plans to enable U.S. online shopping in 2016 [Reuters]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uMacy’s Recalls 121,000 Martha Stewart-Brand Frying Pans For Shooting Metal Discs At Cooksr

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• When cooking a meal on the stove, there’s always the possibility that a little bit of grease or oil will splatter on you. Something you probably aren’t prepared for, though, is the chance that a piece of the pan will shoot off, burning your arm, face, or other body part. 

  But that’s exactly what can happen with about 121,000 pans from the Martha Stewart Collection cookware set now being recalled by Macy’s, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reports.

  According to the CPSC recall notice, the eight-inch and 10-inch stainless steel frying pans, which come standard in the Martha Stewart Collection 10-piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set, include metal discs that can pop off and hit the cook.

  The pans contain two rivets that attach the frying pan to the handle. The rivets are covered by stainless steel discs. It’s these discs that have been found to pose an injury hazard.

  Macy’s says it is aware of seven reports of the discs popping off, resulting in three minor injuries, including burns, bruises, and welts.

  The CPSC recommends owners of the cookware set, which was sold from January 2011 to September 2015 for about $170, immediately stop using the eight- and 10-inch pans.

  Other items included in the set – 1-quart covered saucepan, 2-quart covered sauce pan, 3-quart covered saucepan and 6-quart covered stockpot – are not affected by the recall.

  Consumers who purchased the cookware sets from Macy’s or macys.com should return the frying pans to Macy’s or macys.com for a store credit for the full value of the two frying pans. Consumers who purchased the cookware sets from a Military Exchange should return the frying pans to the Military Exchange for a full refund.

  The recalled pans can be identified by the following date codes:

  

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uTSA Stepping Up Random Security Screenings For Airport Workersr

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  There’s a good chance you’ve been waiting (patiently) in the airport security line, preparing to take off your shoes, your belt, remove your laptop, and place everything on the belt, only to see an airport employee breezily walk through the side gate with a quick flick of their badge. That scenario will likely be less and less frequent around the country as the Transportation Security Administration plans to increase random checks of airport and airline employees. 

  The Associated Press reports that TSA plans to increase random checks of personnel holding badges that typically enable them to bypass security checkpoints starting next year.

  Currently, U.S. airport and airline employees are allowed to skip security lines after undergoing a background check and obtaining a Security Identification Display Area (SIDA) badge. The system is designed to free up staff at passenger checkpoints and to clear individuals who are considered a minimal security risk, the AP reports.

  A spokesperson for the agency didn’t elaborate on how often the random checks would be used, but cited a Dept. of Homeland Security memo from earlier this year that it would enhance such random screenings in secure areas and encourage airports to reduce employee access points.

  “The TSA Administrator and I have recently concluded that we need to double-down on these airport security efforts and will be consulting with airports and airlines to do so,” Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh C. Johnson said in the statement from April.

  The random screening changes come after airlines and airports have been dealing with security breaches of sorts in recent years.

  In December 2014, a Delta Air Lines employee was arrested after allegedly helping to smuggle guns on a flight.

  The AP reports that airlines have already begun warning their employees that they may be subject to more scrutiny at checkpoints.

  American Airlines issued a memo to employees telling them that “we anticipate the random screening process to increase throughout December and during the 2016 calendar year.”

  TSA increases screening of airport and airline employees [The Associated Press]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uEverlane Presents Customers With Moral Dilemma By Letting Them Choose The Price On Certain Itemsr

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• While we’re used to naming our own price for, say, a flight or a hotel using aservice like Priceline or Hotwire, it’s not every day that a clothing retailer gives customers the chance to choose what they’ll pay for apparel. Online-only retailer Everlane is giving shoppers the opportunity to pick from a few price tags for certain items in order to move overstock, but there is one small catch.

  Shoppers will need to either have a login or sign up to be an Everlane member, at which point they can navigate to the “Choose Your Own Price” area under either the Men’s or Women’s sections. Once there, customers face three different prices, with varying differences between them.

  But if you choose the cheapest price, be prepared for some information about exactly what your money will cover that might change your mind: select the lowest option and a pop-up will tell you that only the cost of production and shipping will be covered without any money going toward overhead for Everlane’s 70-person staff; the middle price and you’ll pay for a small amount of that; and the priciest tag will mean you’ve covered all those costs and your money allows the company to “invest in growth.” You also get a “thanks!”

  It’s ultimately up to you whether you’re feeling generous, or if you can handle a guilt trip and would rather save some money. If you’re up for facing a moral dilemma while shopping, the sale goes through Wednesday, Dec. 30.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist