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Fab continues push for customers with free shipping

The quirky e-commerce site Fab is giving its customers free shipping just as the holidays approach.

A fast-growing startup -- the 17-month-old company counted its 9 millionth user earlier this month -- Fab launched the new promotion today. The company will pay for shipping for orders that total $75 or more, but only on certain products.

The free shipping counts toward 98 percent of all of Fab's products, all of which are identified by a truck icon, Fab CEO Jason Goldberg wrote in a note to users.

After transforming from a gay social network into flash sales retail site … Read more

iPhone 5 ship times shorten for first time

The wait for iPhone 5 purchases to ship has shortened by a full week today, nearly two months after the product's initial release.

New buyers from Apple's online store now face a two- to three-week wait before their phones ship, down from the three to four weeks that began stacking up in the days after pre-orders for the device began in mid-September, MacRumors notes.

The iPhone 5 launched in nine countries, including the U.S. and Europe, on September 21, and a week later in an additional 22 countries. During Apple's quarterly earnings call last month, the … Read more

FedEx Facebook app lets you send packages to your friends

Facebook members who use FedEx might want to check out a new app that makes it easier to send items to your friends.

Dubbed "Ship to Friends," the new Facebook app lets you handle the entire shipping process without leaving Facebook. You can ship a package to anyone. But the process is a bit quicker if you're sending something to a Facebook friend since you can select the person from your friends list.

Here's how it works:

Launch the app's Facebook page. Click on the Start shipping button. Like all Facebook apps, this one will … Read more

EnergySail promises wind-solar combo for cleaner shipping

Many shipping companies are experimenting with adding sails to cargo vessels. Here's a design in which the sails are also solar panels.

EnergySail is a concept by Japan's Eco Marine Power that harnesses and stores wind and solar power to reduce fuel costs and pollution. It would work as an additional source of power to a ship's main engines.

The devices would be fitted on anything from large bulk ore carriers to cable-laying ships, ferries, and coast guard patrol vessels, according to the company. An automatic control system would orient the sails and panels to catch the … Read more

UPS to iPhone 5 buyers: You're not getting it early

If you're in the group of shoppers expecting Apple's new iPhone to be delivered to your door this Friday, UPS would prefer it if you don't call them to finagle an early delivery date.

A note on the shipper's Web site, which went up yesterday, kindly asks customers not to bother service representatives about changing the delivery date of their iPhone, saying the time is set in stone.

"Apple has required that UPS deliver iPhone shipments to customers on and not before Friday, September 21, 2012," the message reads.

Another part of the message … Read more

How Apple's courtroom win affects you

Monday's tech news roundup translates the Apple v. Samsung legalese:

Apple won the patent case against Samsung late Friday, but the battle between the two biggest smartphone makers is not over yet. The jury in San Jose, Cali. found Samsung products infringed on Apple's patents, such as rounded edges and pinch-to-zoom. The jury decided that Samsung should pay $1.05 billion to Apple in damages.

Next up: the judge has to decide if she wants to change the amount for damages, Samsung is expected to appeal, and Apple will ask for an injunction to ban selling Samsung products … Read more

In Mojave, the world's most exciting planes take flight

MOJAVE DESERT, Calif.--It's hard to imagine a more complete -- and impressive -- collection of aviation facilities and aircraft anywhere on the planet than the one in this vast, arid, wide-open wasteland northeast of Los Angeles.

Thanks to its endless amounts of dry, flat terrain, useless to most people, and the fact that there are only a few ways in -- vital for security -- the Mojave is, and has long been, the beating heart of the aviation world. It's here that Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier. And where Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne ushered in … Read more

Navy's new ship sails the seas on half the gas

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. Navy spends a fortune every year on energy, so for a ship to complete a deployment having burned through just half the cash it had available for fuel is a very good sign of things to come.

For some time, the Navy has been saying many of the right things about its plans to go green, starting with a major biofuels initiative. And though a recent Wired report claims that the servicewide efforts have lost steam, the performance of the USS Makin Island could well be a bright spot.

As part of Road Trip 2012, … Read more

Apple's Retina MacBooks now slightly easier to get

Those who ordered one of Apple's new MacBooks with the Retina Display immediately after it was announced at WWDC last month have no doubt had theirs delivered by now. But those who might have held back a week or two were quickly faced with wait times of up to a month.

That seemingly improved overnight, with Apple today reporting ship times of two to three weeks for new orders, MacRumors notes.

The change is significant for one of Apple's notebooks, which are typically in ready supply following a product launch. The high-end machine was a different story though. … Read more