uApple Delays Today’s Planned Software Upgrade For Its Watch, Citing Bugr

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  (Blake Patterson)

  Though Apple is still expected to release iOS 9 for its iPhones and iPads later today, if you’ve got an Apple Watch, you’ll have to wait a bit longer for a software upgrade that was slated for this morning: the company says it’s delaying watchOS 2 due to a bug.

  Apple hasn’t explained what the exact issue is or when Watch users can expect the updated software to be released, saying only in a statement (via TechCrunch): “We have discovered a bug in development of watchOS 2 that is taking a bit longer to fix than we expected. We will not release watchOS 2 today but will shortly.”

  The software upgrade is supposed to make the Watch perform faster and provide a new slate of face options for users. Previously, you couldn’t use your own photos as a watch face, something the software upgrade will now allow.

  Apple also claims there will be more native apps — read: apps that come with the Watch that can’t be removed — that don’t require users to use their phones.

  Apple Delays Release Of watchOS 2 Due To Bug [TechCrunch]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uTarget’s Health Kick: Replacing Candy Bars With Granola Bars At The Register, Giving Employees Fitbitsr

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  (Ron Dauphin)

  With more than a dozen Target stores gearing up to test a healthier cafe concept – switching out hotdogs and nachos for salads and green juices – the retailer appears to be trying to keep the wellness momentum going by making several other changes: giving employees fitness trackers and swapping the candy bars lining the register with more wholesome snacks.

  The Associated Press reports that Target’s latest healthy changes focus on both customers and employees alike.

  For customers, the retailer plans to exchange the high-calorie chocolate and other candy bars that typically serve as impulse purchases while waiting at the register with healthier grab-and-go options like granola bars.

  The company is currently testing the swap in 30 stores, where they’re working to get the right balance between pushing healthy snacks and allowing a customer to indulge their sweet tooth.

  “They don’t want us to be too preachy,” Christina Hennington, Target’s senior vice president of merchandising, tells the AP of the switch.

  As for employees, the retailer is promoting an all-around healthier lifestyle.

  The AP reports that Target partnered with Fitbit to provide more than 300,000 employees with basic fitness trackers called the Fitbit Zip.

  Under the Fitbit program, employees will be grouped into teams for a month-long challenge. The winning team will get to choose a charity for which the retailer will make a $1 million donation.

  To jumpstart employee’s healthier lifestyles, Target will also provide workers extra discounts on vegetables and fruits, Jodee Kozlak, Target’s chief human resources officer, tells the AP.

  The health-focused moves are just the latest for Target, which has set to make wellness one of its key areas under new CEO Brian Cornell.

  Last month, the company announced that 14 Target stores will serve as the testing grounds for a new cafe concept that ditches hot dogs and cheese-drenched nachos in favor of pressed juices, green salads and “artisan” pizza.

  Target, Developing Healthier Habits, Hands Workers Fitbits [The Associated Press]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uAfter 50 Years With McDonald’s, Franchisee Declares “I Wanted To Get The Hell Out”r

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  (Ken Fager)

  Imagine you start with a company at the age of 16 and remain with it for half a century in a position that provides you with a not-insubstantial living. How does that relationship sour to the point where you pull the plug on it and publicly declare your frustration?

  A Michigan man who spent his entire adult life working for McDonald’s — and who, until recently, had been a McD’s franchisee since 1980 — says the company he’d grown up with had lost sight of its core business.

  “The people were different, the company was different,” he says. “It became very frustrating.”

  He tells Bloomberg that, rather than focusing on making good food quickly, McDonald’s has made a habit of introducing new menu items that cost franchisees money and take more time to prepare.

  Regarding his former corporate overseers, he admits, “I don’t think they know what they want to do… They’re saying, ‘Let’s go back to basics,’ then they’re doing these customized burgers, and they’re talking about all-day breakfast.”

  The McDonald’s standard window for getting food to customers is 90 seconds, but for complicated items like the McWrap, “I was happy with three minutes,” says the former franchisee.

  “The service times went up because of the expansion of the menu,” he tells Bloomberg. “I think they went a little overboard. It was difficult in the kitchen.”

  Another new item that bogged things down was the introduction of McCafé beverages in 2009. The franchisee says he didn’t have room for two of the new machines needed to make these more upscale drinks, so his operation slowed down as employees tried to fill orders.

  “The drinks are all very good, but you have one machine, and it only makes the drinks so fast,” the general manager of these franchises explains. “It has really slowed things down.”

  The former franchisee recalls getting knots in his stomach when he’d see the drive-thru line backed up because these new menu items took so long to prepare.

  Even after investing $100,000 to build a second drive-thru lane, the wait times were still bad because employees simply couldn’t keep up with making everything from a menu of around 100 items.

  So as he neared his 50th anniversary with McDonald’s, and his 35th year as a franchisee, he realized, “I wanted to get the hell out,” and sold his two franchises earlier in 2015.

  That said, he acknowledges that “McDonald’s was awful good to me,” and that he believes in the brand.

  But as for the imminent launch of all-day breakfast and the extra work and equipment it will entail, he says, “I’m not going to miss that at all.”

  McRevolt: The Frustrating Life of the McDonald’s Franchisee [Bloomberg]

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uMacy’s Customers Will Now Be Able To Use PayPal At The Registerr

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  (Liz Wise)

  At one time, PayPal was the method of payment preferred by people sending money to their friends or making a quick purchase online. Now, the payment company has upped its game – and its presence in physical stores – by inking a deal that will allow Macy’s customers to use Paypal at the register.

  PayPal announced Tuesday that Macy’s agreed to enable it as a payment options, not only online, but in stores, as well.

  Customers shopping at Macy’s – or Bloomingdale’s – can check out using the Payment Code on the PayPal app, or on the Macy’s app. This works by simply opening the app, selecting the store you’re in and scanning the app’s QR code.

  The integration also includes Paypal’s One Touch system that allow customers who opt-in to check out online and on mobile devices without the need to input payment credentials, user names and passwords.

  PayPal’s deal with Macy’s is just the latest in its attempt to branch out from its traditional online payment presence and compete with emerging mobile payment apps like Apple Pay and Android Pay.

  Back in July, the company announced a partnership with Subway, allowing users to use the payment option in stores.

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uMicrosoft To Kill Off Zune Streaming Music Service You Probably Didn’t Realize Still Existedr

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  (Christine Zenino)

  While Microsoft stopped making Zune devices in 2011 and ditched its Zune music store in favor of Xbox Music in 2012 , its Zune streaming music service was still hanging in there… until now: the company says it’ll kill off that service on November 15.

  Users won’t be able to stream or download content from Zune after that, Microsoft says (h/t to The Next Web), and if you’ve bought content that comes with DRM, it might not play. Any MP3s already on your Zune device will still play, of course.

  Zune Music Pass subscribers will be moved to Microsoft’s Groove service, which is compatible with Xbox One, Windows 10, Android and iOS.

  Those on the Zune monthly or three-month plan will be switched to a $9.99 per month plan on Groove, while yearly subscriptions convert into annual Groove Music Passes for $99.90 a year.

  The Zune was Microsoft’s failed attempt at taking on the Apple iPod in 2006, and immediately received negative feedback. One review at the time called it “a complete, humiliating failure.”

  That being said, we’ve got to give the brand credit for limping along as long as it has. Fare the well, old, unpopular friend.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uRare Manuscript At Yale Is A 367-Year Old Bond Still Paying Interestr

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• You might think of yourself as a long-term investor with your cute little retirement fund, but that’s nothing compared to an investment that recently paid out to Yale University. Twelve years ago, the university’s rare books and manuscripts library purchased a bond issued by a Dutch water authority to fund the construction of a pier. The thing is, the bond pays out in perpetuity, and that water authority still exists, so Yale checked to find out whether it was still earning interest. It is.

  The college didn’t have an investment in mind when they bought the bond: it was for their rare books and manuscripts collection, and a water bond from 1648 is a pretty neat old manuscript to have. It’s been earning interest all the time, though, which means that the goatskin parchment that they paid $20,000 for in 2003 has earned a sweet, sweet €136.20, or $153, in interest. They didn’t say whether the pier still exists, though.

  The bond is actually older than Yale itself, which wasn’t founded until the 18th century.

  Yale to Be Paid Interest on Dutch Water Authority Bond From 1648 [Bloomberg]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uAT&T Unlimited Data Plan Now Tops Out At 22GB/Month Before Throttlingr

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  (Steve)

  AT&T, which is currently fighting the Federal Communications Commission over a possible $100 million penalty for its practice of throttling data speeds for customers with so-called “unlimited” data plans if they used up more than 5 gigabytes of LTE data in a month, has decided to increase that monthly usage threshold all the way up to 22GB.

  The company explains that while its “network management practices” — industry code for data throttling — are “used for the benefit of all our mobile broadband customers especially during periods when network demand exceeds available network resources,” these practices have evolved to reflect current data speeds and customer usage habits.

  “As a result of this evolution, we recently revised our practices such that Unlimited Data Plan smartphone customers can now use 22GB of high-speed data during a billing period before becoming subject to network management practices,” explains AT&T, who reiterates that the “essential promise” of an unlimited plan isn’t really unlimited data — as common sense and the plan’s own name might imply — but having to only pay a single monthly flat rate.

  Critics of AT&T’s throttling practice claim that speeds can be slowed to the point where there is little point trying to go online on your phone.

  AT&T now says that even after a customer reaches the 22GB level, “speed reductions will occur only when the customer is using his or her device at times and in areas where there is network congestion.”

  Unlimited subscribers who gobble up a lot of data will first receive a heads-up when the reach 16.5GB in a billing cycle, meaning they’ve used 75% of the 22GB.

  Verizon, which never enacted its plan to throttle LTE data usage for its few remaining unlimited customers, recently put an end to its years-long policy of slowing 3G data speeds. The company explained that there was no point throttling service for “such a small subset of customers who were affected.”

  [via 9to5mac.com]

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist