ARGOS
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Learning to fly with NASA's spacewalk simulator
What you're looking at is not a production set photo from Gravity, but rather a training simulation for Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. He's suspended over a mockup of the International Space Station (ISS), while attached to the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. For this particular session, engineers ran tests in both light and darkness to simulate the 90 minute day/night cycles experienced by orbiting astronauts.
Australian police posed as child abusers for a dark web sting
Where do you draw the line when trying to catch child abusers? That's what authorities have to decide when they run sting operations on the dark web. When Norwegian newspaper VG investigated one of the biggest child exploitation sites on the dark web, Child's Play, they found that it had been run by Australian police for three months. The special unit out of Brisbane, dubbed Argos, had undercover detectives posting and sharing abuse materials on the site. The newspaper held off on reporting until now, a year later, to allow the police to finish its investigation.
Sainsbury's to triple the number of in-house Argos pickup stores
Sainsbury's certainly isn't dilly-dallying after completing its acquisition of Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Habitat, last week. The supermarket already has plans for its new purchase, namely tripling the number of Argos "digital stores" housed within Sainsbury's locations. These miniature stores are primarily click-and-collect points, though they also stock thousands of items (but not the full catalogue) for instant purchase, later pickup or home delivery.
UK's first cloud DVR lets you watch recordings anywhere
To be blunt, Bush isn't a brand known for particularly innovative products. But, come the end of the month, it's the name you'll see on the first cloud DVR to launch in the UK. Bush's Digital TV Recorder is an affordable set-top box -- arriving exclusively at Argos on August 30th for £100 -- that lets you watch and record Freeview channels. What's special about it, though, is the integration of ShowDrive, a service that takes those recordings and uploads them to the cloud so you can watch them wherever you want, and on basically any device.
Pebble's Time Steel smartwatch gets a £60 price cut in the UK
When were first introduced to the Pebble Time Steel, we loved the way it looked but weren't sure whether it justified its £200 price tag. The company has stuck to its guns and kept with its pricing strategy for more than 8 months, bit now it's joining its wearable-making rivals in slashing the cost of its premium smartwatch, reducing it by £60 to £140.
Sainsbury's is prepared to pay £1.3 billion for Argos
Sainsbury's mission to expand its non-food empire has been given a big boost after it agreed terms on a £1.3 billion bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group. With its latest proposal, the supermarket, which had an earlier offer believed to be around the £1 billion mark turned down, now has until February 23rd to decide whether it wants to make everything official.
Sainsbury's puts Argos on its shopping list
For big-name supermarkets and high-street stores, business has been tough as of late. Sainsbury's has seen its UK market share decline following the rise of discount grocery chains like Aldi and Lidl, while Argos has been squeezed by online competitors like Amazon. With profits falling, Sainsbury's has been seeking ways to reverse its fortunes, with Home Retail Group potentially offering one avenue of opportunity. The supermarket giant confirmed today that it tabled a £1 billion bid for the group -- which owns Argos, Homebase and Habitat -- back in November, but was subsequently turned down.
Amazon UK begins offering loans for pricier purchases
In a bid to put an even bigger squeeze on its brick-and-mortar competition, Amazon is now offering its customers instalment plans to help them buy the more expensive items on its website. According to The Guardian, Brits can now select Amazon's Pay Monthly option at the checkout, letting them pay for orders totalling more than £400 over a series of instalments. These loans, which are only provided once a customer passes an online credit check, can be spread over two, three or four years depending on the order amount and are charged at a current interest rate of 16.9 percent.
Amazon tells customers to throw out unsafe 'hoverboards'
As a popular destination for self-balancing "hoverboards," Amazon needs to take its safety responsibilities seriously. The retailer has already pulled some models from its store until it can be proved their batteries and chargers are reliable, but now it's taking the unusual step of telling a small number of owners to throw them out. In an email, Amazon has warned US and UK customers that their hoverboard has been deemed "unsafe" and that they should "dispose" of it immediately.
Amazon UK Prime members get free same-day deliveries
In its bid to get more products to customers quicker, Amazon UK has today added another delivery option for customers. Prime Same Day offers (you guessed it) same-day delivery on one million products, as long as you're already signed up to the company's £79 annual membership. Unlike Prime Now, which costs £6.99 and gets your items to you within an hour, Amazon's new shipping option is free.
Currys PC World trials collections from Carphone Warehouse stores
Following their £3.8 billion merger, Dixons and Carphone Warehouse have set about expanding their collective retail presence by incorporating phone shops inside bigger Currys and PC World stores. It's a tactic that has worked well, so well in fact that the two companies are now set to make better use of Carphone's independent outlets. In a bid to compete with rivals like Argos, Currys and PC World have begun trialling collection points at the phone seller's stores. Right now, the trial is limited to smaller appliances and is available in 22 Carphone Warehouse locations across London, Hertfordshire and Canterbury.
Argos now lets you trade-in old phones and tablets
What do you do with old gadgets that you no longer use? Give them away to relatives, or throw them in the bin? Argos is the latest UK company to jump into the trade-in business, offering cash for your unwanted phones and tablets. Plenty of smartphone trade-in companies operate on the web, such as Envirofone and Mazuma Mobile, but few have a high street presence like Argos. The company hopes that customers will prefer the convenience of walking into a store, getting a quote and then immediately receiving a gift card that can be used to buy something new. As the Guardian reports, Argos wants to expand the scheme to include cameras, laptops and other electrical devices in the future. Just like Game and CeX, however, its success will inevitably hinge on the prices being offered to consumers. If Argos is too stingy, the convenience will be irrelevant -- people will simply hold onto their devices or offload them through other avenues such as eBay.
Google's Nexus 9 tablet slashed to £200 in the UK
If you'd had your eye on a new Nexus device but missed out on the recent round of smartphone sales, today's new Google tablet deal might be of interest. Just days after the Nexus 6 price was slashed to £304 (normally £479), the WiFi Nexus 9 is enjoying similar treatment, with the 16GB model now setting you back £200 instead of the usual £319. Amazon and Argos are both hosting the deal, which also includes a £100 discount on the 32GB model, but Google has not reflected the price change on its own store.
Ikea to trial smaller UK stores for picking up online orders
Most Ikea stores are massive, bustling places located far from the high street and built-up urban areas. Visiting one isn't a problem if you have a large car and a few hours to spare -- but for many people, at least one of those can be difficult to come by. To help out, the king of flat pack furniture is opening a new, smaller store in Norwich. Here customers will be able to speak with home furnishing experts, see a selection of furniture and, most importantly, pick up orders they've made online or in-store. The new "Order and Collection Point" concept is similar to Amazon's pickup lockers and Argos' click-and-collect stores. The hope is that these smaller, local establishments will be more convenient than trekking to an out-of-town warehouse or waiting for home delivery. Of course, if you're buying a bed or anything else that's a substantial size, you'll still need to find a way to take it home...
Argos opens its first 'digital stores' inside Sainsbury's supermarkets
What better way to maximise footfall to your store than to set-up shop inside places people visit daily for tomorrow's bread and milk? Undoubtedly that's the thinking behind Argos' new batch of "digital stores," where tablets replace order slips and pocketable pens to replicate an online shopping experience, now popping up within various Sainsbury's locations. The surprising tie-up was announced in January, but today sees the first Argos digital stores opening at Sainsbury's supermarkets in North Cheam, Surrey and Nantwich, Chesire. These smaller-than-normal outlets will offer up to 20,000 items for instant purchase or later collection, with everything else in the catalogue available for home delivery. A further eight locations (check the source link) will also open their doors at some point this summer. It's yet another one of Argos' modernisation schemes that include its partnership with eBay, click-and-collect stores and online 3D-printed jewelry service. And as far as this particular alliance with Sainsbury's is concerned, Argos might well be getting the sweeter end of the deal.
Argos now lets customers order 3D-printed jewellery online
Argos is under relentless pressure from Amazon in the UK, so it's looking to personalised services as a way to stand apart from its online-only competition. Today, the company is launching a new site for 3D-printed jewellery, which includes rings, bracelets and cufflinks. Customers can tweak the designs with their own names, words and phrases, and Argos promises to deliver the final product in 21 days. 3D printing is often associated with low-quality trinkets, but here Argos is clearly targeting a more luxurious market. All of the products are available in silver and 18 carat gold plating, with prices ranging between £50 and £220. It's a small trial for now, and Argos is enlisting 3D printing specialists Digital Forming and Innovate UK to help out with some of the technical aspects. If customers embrace the service though, the company says it'll consider expanding it to other areas of its business, such as lighting and homeware. 3D printing isn't a silver bullet for dethroning Amazon, but it represents the level of risk Argos needs to take to stay competitive.
Argos to open digital shops inside Sainsbury's stores
One of the main advantages retailers like Argos have over Amazon is that they operate huge stores all over the country. It encourages passing trade and it often means that customers can leave with their order just minutes after they arrive. The internet retailer is trying to combat this with the rollout of free same-day deliveries, forcing Argos to find new ways to get products into people's hands. Today, the company has confirmed it's done just that, announcing it will open 10 new digital stores inside selected Sainsbury's stores from this summer.
Argos opens its first click-and-collect store on the Tube
For a long time, Argos embodied the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That is until a couple of years ago, when it set out plans to become more digitally minded. Part of this strategy has been to improve the in-store experience by swapping laminated catalogues for tablets, but Argos is also trying to make itself more attractive to online shoppers. And to that end, the company today opened its first collection-only store, conveniently located -- for nearby Londoners, at least -- in Cannon Street Tube station. With long opening hours and same-day collection available if you buy or reserve online before 1PM, it's bound to be the saviour of many a last-minute Christmas shopper. In the grand scheme of things, however, it also shows Argos is aware that simply having a click-and-collect option isn't convenient enough anymore. These days, it's all about location.
EE snaps up what's left of Phones4u for less than £5 million
How long does it take for a successful phone retailer to enter administration and then be completely sold off? For Phones4u, it's taken exactly a month. The Financial Times reports that EE, the UK's biggest operator (which has been accused of contributing to Phones4u's downfall for not renewing its deal), has reached a agreement with administrators to snap up the remaining chunk of its former partner's business: its Life Mobile MVNO. The carrier reportedly beat Argos and Talk Talk to the deal, paying around £5 million to add 85,000 mobile subscribers to the 58 Phones4u stores it grabbed last month. EE already provides connectivity for Life Mobile, so merging the networks should be a lot easier than getting money back from a Phones4u iPhone 6 preorder.
eBay will soon let you pick up purchases from 650 Argos stores
If you love to eBay but are constantly making trips to the Post Office to collect a missed delivery, your nearest Argos store could soon come to your rescue. The two companies have extended their click-and-collect partnership, which began with 50 eBay sellers and 150 stores in September, to encompass 650 stores and over 65,000 eBay sellers by the end of this year. That means where the click and collect delivery option is available at the eBay checkout, you select your nearest store and pick up your purchase(s) whenever it's convenient. With Amazon installing more click-and-collect lockers across the UK, eBay also wants to fit around people's busy schedules. Argos gets more people in through its doors too, allowing it to do something that Amazon isn't able to (yet): get face-to-face with customers.
