ELBLOGDEFORMACION

Redbox Instant Streaming Service Is Dead

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Redbox Instant seemed like a great idea when it launched at the beginning of 2013. A partnership between Redbox and Verizon, the service planned to compete with Netflix while offering one thing that Netflix couldn’t: bonus instant DVD rentals from Redbox’s in-person kiosks. It seemed like the two services could coexist happily. They couldn’t. Redbox Instant will shut down tomorrow night, at 11:59 PM Pacific time.

Even before the venture announced that it was shutting down, GigaOm speculated that this could happen because of criminal activity. Criminal activity? Baddies weren’t hurting the service by ripping it off, exactly, but credit card thieves apparently found that the service was great for testing to find whether their ill-gotten card numbers were genuine. Redbox Instant responded by first preventing current users from changing their payment info, then by cutting off new signups.

For a new service struggling to build up its subscription numbers in the first place, cutting off new members is a disastrous idea. Continuing to keep the virtual doors open wasn’t that important to Redbox Instant, though, apparently. They never reopened to new subscriptions.

Current subscribers should receive an e-mail soon or already have, and the company promises that refunds for the unused portion of their subscriptions will appear in customers’ accounts by October 24.

It is refreshing to see this level of honesty in the site’s “Frequently Asked Questions” about the shutdown:

Why is this happening?

The service is shutting down because it was not as successful as we hoped it would be.

What more does anyone need to say than that?

IMPORTANT SERVICE SHUTDOWN NOTICE [Redbox Instant]

Verizon’s Netflix competitor dies from lack of customers, criminal activity [Ars Technica]

Why the writing may be on the wall for Redbox Instant [GigaOm]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Beats Headphones Join iPads On List Of Products Banned From NFL Sidelines

While NFL stars like Colin Kaepernick might love the Beats by Dre headphones they get paid to wear, they won’t be allowed to sport the fashionable headgear on the sidelines of their games, or even around their necks during post-game interviews, thanks to an exclusivity deal reached between the league and Bose.

Because Bose is now the official headphone of the NFL, players are not allowed to be seen wearing any other brand any time the game cameras are on. So no Beats — or any other non-Bose headphones — during pre-game warmup. The ban extends through 90 minutes after the end of the game, so it’s a no-no to have them around your neck when reporters are hassling you at your locker.

“The NFL has longstanding policies that prohibit branded exposure on-field or during interviews unless authorized by the league. These policies date back to the early 1990s and continue today,” an NFL rep explains to Re/code, adding that Bose and other official sponsors are “not involved in the enforcement of our policies.”

Yes, we’re sure that Bose, Papa John’s and other companies that paid a bundle to become official NFL sponsors don’t have several employees watching games every weekend to make sure that their product are being properly showcased and that others are not.

Beats, which is now owned by Apple, joins its corporate kin in the sideline ban. Since Microsoft paid to have its Surface tablets advertised by the NFL, you are no longer supposed to see coaches or players checking out game footage on iPads.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Why Does Negative Info Linger On Your Credit Report For Up To 7 Years?

(Roger Shaw)

Credit-related mistakes can follow you link a stink you can’t wash off. Have an account go into collections, miss payments on your student loans, credit cards, mortgage, car loan, and that info can linger on your credit report for up to seven years, even if it’s just a fluke. This is particularly a problem with medical debt, where even someone with otherwise pristine credit is unable to pay a huge hospital bill. So why is seven years?

That was the question that Credit.com’s Gerri Detweiler looked into, only to find that most people in the consumer credit business have no idea why the Fair Credit Reporting Act [PDF] specifies a maximum of seven years. After all, why not five years or ten years — or why there aren’t a range of dates for different transgressions?

One person from Experian, on of the three major credit bureaus, suggested that the source might even be Biblical, pointing out that Chapter 15 of Deuteronomy mandates forgiveness of debts every seven years.

But she eventually found a Congressional staffer who was able to dig up some info on how the seven-year figure worked its way into the federal legislation.

While lawmakers were negotiating the FCRA, the House and Senate had very different notions about how to specify the amount of time debt could remain on your report. The House wanted a fixed term — three, seven, and 14 years were options proposed — while the Senate proposed the more general “reasonable period of time.”

Consumer advocates argued that the Senate proposal was too ambiguous (Can you imagine the nightmare you’d have trying to convince Experian, Equifax or TransUnion that it’s been a “reasonable perdio of time”?) and suggested seven years, as it was an industry standard at the time.

There have been numerous legislative attempts to change or add nuance to the FCRA in recent years. Some lawmakers have proposed erasing medical debt from credit reports shortly after it’s paid off, while Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California recently introduced a bill that would limit the reporting window to four years for many types of consumer debt.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Police: Woman Scammed Victoria’s Secret Out Of $53K Using Stolen Underwear

(Mary T)

There’s absolutely no problem with making money from selling underwear. Unless, of course, those frilly, fancy underthings never belonged to you in the first place, in which case you’ll be in a whole lot of hot water. Police in Florida say one woman managed to bilk Victoria’s Secret out of $53,000 by basically selling the store’s own lingerie back to itself.

According police in Miami-Dade County, a 29-year-old woman targeted a slew of stores in Florida, as foar north as Orlando but mostly in the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, reports the Orlando Sun-Sentinel.

Her alleged scam? Shoplifting underthings and other items from stores, removing the security devices and then bringing the merchandise back to the cashier to exchange for something that costs a little bit more, police say.

She’d charge the difference between the two items to her debit card, and then take the new stuff to another Victoria’s Secret store and request a full refund. She’d then have that money credited to her debit card, and voila — free money in a scam dating back to 2013, according to law enforcement.

But only for so long — though she managed to rack up about $53,000 with the alleged scam, police arrested her last week, charging her with retail theft, grand theft, organized fraud and money laundering.

Victoria’s Secret scam lands woman in jail [Orlando Sun-Sentinel]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Hilton Selling NYC’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel For $1.95 Billion

(Pixelbuster)

How valuable is an old respected name in the world of business? While we’re used to tech companies selling for a few billion here and there, a single hotel building doesn’t seem like it should be worth much. But when you’re the Waldorf-Astoria, with roots in New York City dating back to the 19th century, you can command a pretty hefty price tag — $1.95 billion to be exact, which is what a Chinese insurance company is willing to pay to own a piece of hotel history.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings has owned the 1,232-room Waldorf Astoria Hotel since 1972 (the first hotel under that name opened in 1893 but moved in 1931), but announced that it has agreed to sell the hotel to a company from Beijing called Anbang Insurance Group Co., reports Bloomberg News.

There won’t be a mass exodus of heavy draperies and rich carpet from the building, however, as Hilton will stay on to manage the business after what it’s calling a “major renovation” for the art deco style building, which was the tallest hotel in the world when it was built. Hilton now has a 100-year management agreement to operate the hotel.

Selling it to Anbang “will ensure that the Waldorf Astoria New York represents the brand’s world-class standards for generations to come, Chief Executive Officer Christopher Nassetta said in a statement today. “This relationship represents a unique opportunity for our organizations to work together to finally maximize the full value of this iconic asset on a full city block in midtown Manhattan.”

Hilton to Sell NYC’s Waldorf Astoria or $1.95 Billion [Bloomberg News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Trump’s Name Coming Off Failed New Jersey Casino

The Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City closed on Sept. 16.

Because the Trump name can only be associated with quality real estate and crass, cash-in reality shows stocked with F-list celebrities vying for one last chance at fame, Donald Trump has apparently succeeded in having his name removed from at least one of two sinking Atlantic City casinos.

We told you in August how Trump was suing to have his name removed from both the Trump Taj Mahal and the Trump Plaza in the New Jersey seaside town, saying that both properties had lost the right to use his name.

The intriguingly coiffured mogul no longer owns the two casinos. They are owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts, a company that its namesake effectively exited (holding only a 9% stake) in 2009 following the company’s third go at bankruptcy.

Trump Entertainment was allowed the company to continue using the Trump name on the two casinos, but reportedly on the condition that they continue to meet certain quality standards. In the lawsuit, The Donald maintains that the properties failed quality-review inspections by third party evaluators and don’t meet industry standards regarding hotel services, food and beverage operations, and overall cleanliness.

The Trump Plaza recently shuttered, and the Taj Mahal may close within the next month. It’s possible that the actual Trump may swoop in to rescue this casino, which he once touted as a paradigm of luxury.

This morning, Donald’s daughter Ivanka Trump told the AP that her last name will soon be removed from the Plaza.

“This is a very important step for us,” said Ivanka. “It was pretty cut and dry: when we gave them a license to use our name, it was contingent on quality control and performance. They did not meet the high standards of luxury in every other asset in the Trump brand.”

Trump Entertainment is currently asking a Delaware bankruptcy court for permission to terminate the pension plans of the approximately 2,800 Taj Mahal staffers. The company says that if it can’t significantly cut costs and get an injection of cash, it will have to close in November.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Publix Has Had It With Your Extreme Couponing

(sdc2027)

Publix is a grocery chain that operates in six southern states, and couponers in those states got some terrible news yesterday along with their newspaper coupon inserts. The chain announced last week that they’re tightening their coupon policies in some sensible ways, so master couponers will reap some less extreme bonanzas.

What kinds of draconian policies are we talking about here? Publix shoppers will be limited to eight of the same coupon for the same item per household per shopping trip. No, not eight coupons total, eight of the same coupon that a shopper might obtain by using a clipping service, by taking unwanted coupon flyers from other shoppers, or even more nefarious methods.

Another important change is that they will now enforce the “household” thing, meaning that a couple and their two children couldn’t split up at the cash registers and use thirty-two coupons collectively. Nope. A “household” is one family, and you can only have eight free bottles of mouthwash. Or whatever the fabulous coupon is for this week.

Publix said that they’re making these changes based on “customer feedback and research,” which they won’t elaborate on but probably includes complaints from fellow shoppers after a practitioner of the extreme couponing arts cleaned out entire shelves of a store.

The chain will, however, continue to accept competitors’ coupons, and their other policies are pretty fair and industry-standard.

Publix restricts coupon use to discourage extreme couponing [WPTV/Tampa Bay Times]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Resultados del informe: Los padres ante la tecnología en el aula

Hemos conocido los resultados del estudio realizado por la Fundación Samsung titulado “Los padres ante la tecnología en los colegios”; el mismo recoge la opinión general de los padres y plantea cuestiones para la reflexión sobre la transición de un modelo docente basado en el manual y una realidad que demanda recursos digitales dinámicos y reutilizables para un aprendizaje más activo y autónomo. Este cambio no es sencillo ni para los padres emigrantes digitales que observan sorprendidos las nuevas formas de comunicación, aprendizaje… de sus hijos, ni para las editoriales que no acaban de ver despegar el modelo.