Blog Archives for August 2013

Are you tired of reading rumors about the latest technology? Sick of hearing insane hearsay about Xbox One, Apple, Star Wars, and more? Well, neither are we! Hooray! That's why we put all the latest buzz from the Internet into one place, the Rumor Roundup!

The latest iteration of Gmail automatically groups emails into three tabs: "Primary," "Social," and "Promotions." But while consumers may herald these new default organizational tools, some retailers and marketing gurus are becoming worried, and as a result, attentive shoppers stand to profit.

The Huffington Post has announced that as of next month they will no longer allow anonymous comments on their site. The hope is that this will limit trolling. In this brief — yet lively — video discussion, our experts ask: Are non-anonymous comments the key to a brighter Internet future?

Last week TiVo, the company responsible for revolutionizing the DVR market at the turn of the century, unveiled its highly anticipated new Roamio line — its first product upgrade in three years. With the company touting its new offering as the "best DVR ever," we've took to the reviews to see if the experts agree and if, in this age of countless streaming services, they think consumers even need a TiVo anymore.

While you may think that buying an unlocked smartphone means paying an absurd amount of money upfront, the truth is, there are plenty of unlocked smartphone deals around. So how long do you need to wait to find a deal on a new phone release?

The online shopping industry is exploding, and with e-commerce slated to generate $262 billion this year, brick-and-mortar stores are scrambling for a piece of the pie. From virtual dressing rooms to pimped out electronics stores, we've rounded up a few of our favorite (and not so favorite) gimmicky ways that retailers attract shoppers to stores.

From Augusta, Maine to San Diego, California, delicious American fare is everywhere. Unfortunately, we don't have bottomless stomachs — or wallets — so our travel plans to eat our way across America are progressing slowly. But, that's not to say we haven't dined on some of the most popular cheap eats in some of our favorite great American food towns.

Are you tired of reading rumors about the latest technology? Sick of hearing insane hearsay about Apple, Nintendo, Downton Abbey, and more? Well, neither are we! Hooray! That's why we put all the latest biz-buzz from the internet into one place, the Rumor Roundup!

Tired of being bombarded with a constant flow of unimportant information day in and day out? We're here to help sort through all the noise; like a real life cheat sheet, this handy roundup of consumer news from the past week highlights what's important for savvy shoppers to know. While some of these stories are just outright amusing, in many ways they can also help keep your wallet happy, too

Several high-end restaurants have implemented "no tip" policies. Instead of patrons leaving a tip at the end of the meal, these restaurants have increased their food prices by 15% to then pay their wait staff a higher salary. In this brief — yet lively — video discussion, our experts ask: Could a tip-less system work everywhere?

A superhero can expect to incur a few work-related expenses, and as the only founding member of the Justice League to not have superpowers, Batman understands that a real hero needs gadgets. As such, it costs Bruce Wayne approximately $134,735,100 to do all that crusading. While he can certainly afford it, we wondered if we couldn't help Batman cut back on his overhead costs.

Yesterday afternoon, Amazon experienced an outage that lasted about 40 minutes, forcing people to actually work while sitting at their desk. By some estimates, the mega-retailer might have lost out on as much as $4.6 million in sales.

Summer's last hurrah is almost upon us, but before you fire up the grill for one last cookout, you may want to jump online: September typically begins with a wave of discounts thanks to the culmination of back-to-school, end-of-summer, and Labor Day sales. We analyzed last year's trends along with current summer sales to find out what kind of bargains should you look for during Labor Day weekend.

So long as American highways have speed limits, there's no doubt that State Troopers will hide behind billboards with radar guns poised. For this reason, radar detectors remain popular with even modest drivers — but it can be hard to determine the differences between the variously-priced options.

Search for any name on Amazon and you will, not unexpectedly, get a page of results. But do these results tell you anything about your friend's personality? To test this theory that we just made up, we searched for a bunch of our employees' names and asked them to rate how accurate the results are.

Are you tired of reading rumors about the latest technology? Sick of hearing insane hearsay about Apple, Kidneys, Star Wars, and more? Well, neither are we! Hooray! That's why we put all the latest biz-buzz from the internet into one place, the Rumor Roundup!

Questions the reach of Big Brother are reaching an all time highs, as the government monitors phone calls, social networks and phone service providers sell their customers' data, and retailers track customer movement using WiFi. And now, retailers are tracking customer returns. But is a "return profile" an effort to prevent return fraud or just an invasion of privacy?

Locket, the Android app that launched with the promise of paying users a penny for every time they unlock their phone, has recently changed the terms of its service. And unfortunately for us, it means making less money.

For years, it has seemed like BlackBerry has been teetering on the edge of extinction. But, if Blackberry does go away, what does it mean to the cell phone marketplace? In this brief — yet lively — video discussion, our experts examine the effects that BackBerry's demise would have on the current mobile phone landscape.

Ever rush out your door to pick up the newest, shiniest gadget ... only to realize that the thing itself feels like it was rushed out the door? Take a stroll down Frustration Lane with us as we reminisce about a technologies that were less-than-fully-baked when released.

Some brands and companies have been especially effective at getting consumers to hand over their money. From ads for products that overcame major obstacles (like a Nazi-fueled background) to achieve popularity, to innovative campaigns that resulted in massive sales, these advertisements have earned their place on our list of the top 10 most effective ads.

Both Apple and Amazon are reportedly releasing new tablets this fall, and while that's great news for early adopters, it's even better news for bargain hunters. Based on our deal data from the last two years, we can expect to see new price cuts on today's current generation of tablets once the new models are announced. So how can you get your hands on a cheap iPad or Kindle Fire HD?

A few years ago the notion of being able to design (or download the blueprints of) a product and then manufacture it in your own home was mostly a pipe dream. But now the reality of 3D printing at home can actually save you up to $2,000 a year.

The recently-announced Motorola Moto X is being marketed as a new breed of Android smartphone that focuses on thoughtful design and usability features, rather than high-end specs. In many ways, it succeeds — and yet, it's still priced in line with other top-shelf phones like the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4.

Are you tired of reading rumors about the latest technology? Sick of hearing insane hearsay about Apple, Ryan Batman, video games, and more? Well, neither are we! Hooray! That's why we put all the latest biz-buzz from the Internet into one place, the Rumor Roundup!

A wise cell phone repair guy once told us, "Plan for the day you're going to sell your phone the day you buy it." Why? Because everything you do to take care of it will effect how much you can sell it for after two years. If you play your cards right, you will likely fetch enough to pay for that next upgrade.

If you're like most HDTV owners, chances are you haven't touched your TV's video settings since the day you pulled it out of the box. But calibrating your HDTV and making some adjustments to the brightness, contrast, sharpness, and color can make a world of difference in your viewing experience.

Since many of us are inundated with information day in and day out, it can be hard to keep up with the news that will actually be important in our daily lives. So, like a real life cheat sheet, we've put together this handy roundup of consumer news from the past week. While some of these stories are just outright amusing, in many ways, they can also help keep your wallet happy, too.

One of the bargaining chips that cable channels have when negotiating new contracts with cable providers is the "blackout" — pulling their content from the provider until a better settlement is reached. In this brief — yet lively — video discussion, our experts examine the effects of a cable blackout on consumers.

Are you a chic but savvy shopper who loves quality goods and brand names, but refuses to spend an entire paycheck at high-end stores like Michael Kors and Coach? Luckily for you, outlet stores for luxury brands are rich in designer goods at deep discounts — and they're growing in numbers.

During a recent heat wave, we had a dream that we were in a glow-in-the-dark bed using cufflink cigarette lighters to set fire to the tail of a 12-foot inflatable spider. A moment of whimsy led us to Google the dream, and guess what! It was not so far-fetched after all! Subsequently we put together this list of weird and wonderful stuff you can buy that has made us gasp and giggle and shake our heads no less than 10 times.

iOS 7 is on its way and with it may come the promise of new iPhone hardware. But while the rest of the tech world speculates on the next-gen iPhone, we're excited about the iPhone 5; if Apple sticks to tradition, then a $99 iPhone 5 may be in the future.

In our latest, hard-hitting video, we blow the lid off the Chromecast and review some of the flaws that Google failed to mention during its official announcement. Is it bad enough to make you pass on the device? No, probably not. We just want you to have all the facts, before you make your decision.

Are you tired of reading rumors about the latest technology? Sick of hearing insane hearsay about Apple, Transformers, Zelda, and more? Well, neither are we! Hooray! That's why we put all the latest biz-buzz from the internet into one place, the Rumor Roundup!