Flex
Latest
Amazon is being sued for allegedly 'stealing' driver tips in DC
The District of Columbia is suing Amazon for allegedly 'stealing' delivery tips to cover drivers' base pay.
Charter and Comcast team up to build 'next-generation' streaming hardware
Charter and Comcast are joining forces to create new streaming hardware based on Flex.
Amazon reportedly plans to expand its grocery delivery business
Amazon may soon more directly compete with Instacart.
Amazon is reportedly using algorithms to fire Flex delivery drivers
Amazon's contract Flex delivery driver fleet already has to deal with various indignities, and you can now add the fact that they can be hired — and fired — by algorithms.
Discovery+ is the latest streaming service to land on Comcast Xfinity set-top boxes
It's available on Flex now, and it's coming to X1 boxes soon.
Disney+ and ESPN+ are coming to Comcast Xfinity set-top boxes
Both services should be available to all X1 and Flex subscribers in the coming weeks.
7210072100Beats Flex review: The cost of $50 wireless earbuds
At $50, the Beats Flex covers the basics, including AirPods-quality quick pairing. Unfortunately, there’s one key element the Flex doesn’t do well.
Beats Flex earbuds offer 12 hours of listening for just $50
Apple is no longer shipping iPhones with a set of wired Lightning buds in the box, so as a consolation, Beats is offering a low-cost alternative.
Comcast has handed out one million cord-cutting Xfinity Flex boxes
When Comcast launched its Xfinity Flex streaming box for broadband-only subscribers last year, it seemed a bit silly to pay $5 per month when you could just use a Chromecast-type device instead. However, the company got rid of the monthly fee in September 2019, and just announced that it has now given out one million Xfinity Flex devices to date.
Amazon is reportedly using drivers' tips for their base pay
Amazon is pulling an Instacart and counting customers' tips towards Flex drivers' base pay, according to an investigation by LA Times. The Flex program, which you can think of as Uber for high-speed deliveries, promises contract drivers a base pay between $18 and $25 an hour. But based on the emails the Times reviewed and according to the drivers it interviewed, the e-commerce giant has been dipping into contractors' tips to be able to meet its minimum pay commitment.
Spotify's in-car music player may go on sale this year
Spotify's rumored in-car music device appears to be taking shape. Financial Times sources claim the service plans to launch the in-car player sometime later in 2019 for roughly $100. There are more details as to how it would work, too. While the earlier leak mentioned voice control, the add-on would also include preset buttons that take you directly to playlists. You could play the soundtrack for your morning commute with a quick press. The hardware would pair to your car's sound system through Bluetooth, so you wouldn't need an aux-in cable to start listening.
Samsung may unveil its foldable phone and Galaxy S10 on February 20th (update)
Samsung has traditionally launched its new Galaxy S phones at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress. This year, though, it appears it's breaking with tradition. Wall Street Journal reports that the company will be showing off its 10th anniversary flagship phone line up and its much-anticipated foldable phone at events in San Francisco and London on February 20th. Initial reports suggested we'd have to wait until March to see the foldable, rumored to be called the "Galaxy F".
LG hints at foldable plans by trademarking 'Flex,' 'Foldi' and 'Duplex'
Foldable smartphones have been on the agenda for a long time now, with a steady stream of headlines suggesting manufacturers have something in the works, or are planning on launching something at a vague point in the future. LG is certainly one of them, and now a new trademark application may reveal the model names the company has in mind for whatever it eventually conjures.
Fitbit faces ill-timed lawsuits over haptic feedback
Fitbit is facing hard times between slowing fitness tracker sales and a reportedly floundering smartwatch project. Unfortunately, there's more bad news to add to the pile. Immersion is suing Fitbit in China and the US for allegedly violating multiple patents (three in each country) for haptic feedback. Supposedly, devices ranging from the original Flex to the Blaze all borrow Immersion's approach to vibrating a device in response to commands and for alerts. Fitbit rebuffed "numerous attempts" to strike a licensing deal, Immersion claims, so this is considered a last resort.
Lenovo debuts back-to-school laptops before school's even out
As spring turns into summer, so must PC manufacturers begin thinking about harshing our collective buzz by talking about the fall. Lenovo, for instance, is announcing its new laptop lineup ahead of Back To School season, reminding us all that good weather and clear skies are only, ever, fleeting. Sic transit gloria mundi.
ICYMI: Robosurgeon, wigglebot and a very cute penguin
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A robot from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev produces a wave-like motion that can propel itself across a floor or through water, only with one motor. Also a robotic surgeon called Flex can snake its way down throats or other orifices and perform surgeries in a less-invasive way than traditional means. But you should probably take in Purps the penguin and her 3D-printed boot, and also the robotic massager we all wish we had. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Lenovo adds more mid- and low-end options to laptop range
Lenovo has a bunch of new Windows 10 machines to show off at MWC this year, and if you're familiar with the company's Yoga and Miix lines, they'll seem very familiar. First up is the ultraportable Yoga 710, which comes in 11- and 14-inch sizes. Both have 1080p IPS touch screens, up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB SSD storage. The smaller has a choice of Intel Core m processors (up to m5) and integrated Intel graphics, while the larger utilizes 6th-generation Intel Core i processors (up to i7), and up to Nvidia GeForce 940MX graphics. Like all Yogas, the 710's keyboard rotates a full 360 degrees, giving you a choice of laptop mode, stand mode, tent mode, or tablet mode. The 11-inch model starts at $499, while the 14-inch will cost $799. They'll both go on sale this May.
Amazon Flex is really an Uber for high-speed deliveries
When word got out about Amazon Flex, it wasn't clear exactly how it worked. Was it a pick-it-up-yourself service? Not really, as it turns out. The online retailer has finally taken the wraps off of Flex, and it's ultimately an Uber-like service that has on-demand contractors delivering your Prime Now orders. Like with ridesharing, couriers have to bring their own car and install an app on their phone that notifies them of gigs -- the difference, of course, is that they're transporting packages instead of people. Recruits make between $18 to $25 per hour, and they can work as much as they want.
Fitbit: skin irritations were allergies, new wristbands have a warning
Fitbit recalled its Force wearable back in February after owners reported skin irritation, but after an investigation, says it will not do the same for the Fitbit Flex. The New York Times reports that the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission decided a recall was not necessary, as long as the company makes a few changes. New wristbands will ship with a warning that it contains nickel, a common allergy, as well as a sizing guide to keep users from making it too tight. In a just-posted (at such a convenient time) letter to customers, CEO & co-founder James Park said "we are now confident that our users who experienced allergic contact dermatitis likely reacted either to very small levels of methacrylates...or, to a lesser degree, nickel in the stainless steel casing." He goes on to say that Fitbit is taking this experience into account in the design for its next-generation trackers, which should include the new Charge and ChargeHR devices that recently surfaced.
The incredible aging demographic
Let me put it on the line - LFR and Flexible raid sizes are the most important raiding experiences currently available in World of Warcraft, and the upcoming Mythic 20 person raid difficulty is an atavism, barely even an appendix, that only a vanishing few players will experience when it is current. It exists for a sense of achievement and prestige that only a few players really have the time for anymore, and every year, that group of players gets smaller. The reason for this is simple - as Tom Chilton put it, the demographic is getting older over time. People like me who played for the raid game back in classic are older. They have jobs, kids, schedules that don't permit the kind of time investment hard modes currently demand, the kind Mythic will demand. And it's not that you can't do cutting edge raiding in, say, six hours a week. I'm not arguing that you will have to put in 20 hours a week to do Mythic. I'm arguing that even scheduling one or two nights a week and being there reliably is actually really hard when you have other commitments that can often demand your time on a moment's notice - in essence. being able to go when you want/need to raid instead of when the group is scheduled to go is a huge boon to that aging demographic. For all the elitism, all the sneering, and all the slurs directed at the LFR player base, the feature allows people who love raiding but who can no longer commit to scheduled WoW play a place to do it. You can ask if this is healthy for the game as a whole - whether or not your answer is yes or no, though, there is no escaping this simple fact. WoW is a decade old. Many of us playing it have been here for years now. Even players who started in Wrath or Cataclysm have now been playing for years. This is an aging game with aging players, this is the reality of the situation. And this means that more adaptive raiding solutions are going to keep presenting themselves.
