The New York Times urged right-to-repair standards for cellphones and other consumer electronic devices. An editorial Sunday said companies use warranties to push customers to authorized dealers and refuse to share schematics on the basis that they're “seeking to ensure the quality of repairs, protecting both their customers and their own reputations." An open marketplace for repairs “benefits consumers, independent retailers and the environment,” the paper said, noting national legislation may not be necessary and pointing out that after Massachusetts passed an auto repair law in 2012, major carmakers agreed to nationalize those standards. “A single state law could prove a dam buster for other kinds of products, too,” it said. At least 20 states have introduced right-to-repair legislation this year (see 1903190031).
Sprint is selling the 10.5-inch iPad Air 3 and 7.9-inch iPad mini 5 on its website for $10 per month over 24 months in a flash promotion running through Thursday. New and existing customers who add a line of service get more than half off suggested retail prices, it said Friday. Unlimited data plans start at $25/month, with a 10 GB hot spot, for customers with an active handset and enrolled in AutoPay. Video streams max out at 480p, music tops out at 500 kbps and gaming at 2 Mbps, said the company. Sprint customers can now use Apple Pay to pay their wireless bill from the MySprint app on their phone or tablet, it said.
Voice-controlled connected home products are part of Sears’ image makeover, which it will test beginning Memorial Day weekend in three downsized Home & Life stores in Anchorage; Lafayette, Louisiana; and Overland Park, Kansas, the company said Thursday. The new store format is based on insights from 10,000-15,000-square-foot Sears Appliances & Mattresses stores that opened two years ago in Fort Collins, Colorado; Pharr, Texas; Honolulu; and Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, said the retailer. The Home & Life stores’ “power categories” -- appliances, mattresses and home services -- are those where Sears has “a real strength,” said Peter Boutros, chief brand officer for Sears and Kmart and president of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands, in a statement. The connected home products include a “curated” assortment of smart products deemed “relevant” to customers, who will be able to learn how to set up a smart home with “reliable appliances” compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, said the company. The new stores will include a service desk where shoppers can meet with store experts to discuss how appliances will look in a full-scale kitchen. The stores, geared to the communities they serve, will have local artwork and photos, it said. In the news release, Sears juggled its long history with its plans, touting its 125-year retail record, while promoting retail trends including in-vehicle pickup, free store pickup and returns, buy-online-pickup-in-store and its social media pages. It noted in fine print that mattresses and in-vehicle pickup won’t be available in the Alaska store. Sears didn’t respond to questions Friday.
Fitbit and Snap partnered to launch the first Bitmoji smartwatch clock face, they said Thursday. The Bitmoji character updates throughout the day based on personal health and fitness data, activity, time of day and weather. The face, free to Fitbit Ionic and Versa owners, is powered by Snap’s developer platform, Snap Kit. Examples of different clock variations users see are a hello wave to start the day, confetti after meeting a step goal for the day, a meditation pose when a user feels relaxed and an umbrella indicating a chance of rain. They called Bitmoji a “virtual friend” that can help motivate, cheer, challenge and celebrate watch owners.
Video streaming services’ growing popularity will put a dent in the worldwide set-top box video SoC market this year, with revenue forecast to decline 5 percent to $2.4 billion, said a Thursday ABI research report. “Cord-cutters have a wide variety of streaming services and video streaming boxes that don’t require a set-top box from a pay-TV service provider, which is contributing to the decline in set-top box chipset shipments over the past few years,” said analyst Khin Sandi Lynn. The drop in average selling price, along with unit shipments, is challenging STBx IC makers, including Broadcom, MediaTek, MaxLinear and ALi, she said. Future sales will be driven by the transition to Ultra HD set-top boxes and artificial intelligence integration to improve the user experience, but declines will continue through 2023 when revenue is forecast to drop to $2 billion, said the analyst.
Roku added HBO to its premium subscription offering, and Cinemax will follow soon, it said Thursday. Users of The Roku Channel can trial HBO for free for seven days; after the trial, subscriptions are $14.99 a month. It promoted its “one-click” signup process in the My Account section on the Roku website. Premium subscriptions are only viewable within the Roku channel, it said.
As the automotive industry moves toward electrification, automation and connectivity, embedded navigation with HD maps becomes increasingly important, Navigant Research reported Wednesday. Street-level road maps are insufficient for the upcoming mobility paradigm, it said: highly automated vehicles require detailed HD maps to enable “precise localization” so vehicles can navigate. Next-generation maps will be targeted more to electronic control systems running vehicles than to drivers, said analyst Sam Abuelsamid. Several manufacturers have begun using topographical information as an input to powertrain control, and others are using road contour information to manage speed in partially automated driving systems, he said.
Samsung Electronics joined the Alliance for Open Media as a top-tier board member, said the nonprofit Wednesday. The alliance's aim is to "define and develop open standards for media compression" and content online, it said: "Streaming media consumption continues to grow, enticing new users to the internet and providing everyone with more ways to engage with online media services and content." Alliance members include Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Netflix. Samsung is the first TV brand to join.
Consumer familiarity with video doorbells grew 57 percent in 2018, and the devices have the fourth highest adoption rate among smart home products in the U.S. market, blogged Parks Associates Tuesday. A quarter of broadband households plan to buy a smart video doorbell in the next 12 months, said analyst Patrice Samuels. A competitive market -- energized by new products from Ring, SimpliSafe and Netatmo late last year and new products from Kasa, Ezviz, Tuya and Maximum at CES -- will drive sales of 4 million units this year; Parks predicts a 5 million-unit market by 2023. Manufacturers will look to differentiate offerings with unique features or by targeting new consumer segments, said Samuels, noting Ring designed its Door Cam for multi-dwelling unit occupants. Many smart doorbells are bought as stand-alone devices, but almost all are part of a product ecosystem including smart cameras, thermostats or other sensors, Samuels said: “The current popularity of smart doorbells helps raise the adoption prospects for a host of smart home devices.”
HiberSense began selling its smart climate solution through custom integrators and HVAC contractors, said the company Tuesday. Based on a smart hub, sensors and automated vents, HiberSense is designed to balance climate throughout a home or commercial location, it said. Sensors report temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, light and motion data from each room to the hub.