deliveries

The 404 1,239: Where we swear we're not cops (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- In Jeff's words, April Fool's is a day for unfunny people to tell jokes. With that, I'm pretty sure this prank was posted two weeks early.

- The OPMOD/ThinkGeek Battle Mug: an elegant drink receptacle for a more civilized age.

- Boston police go undercover online to stop DIY punk shows.

- Latest Japanese schoolgirl trend: Fake Dragon Ball attacks.

- Walmart may get customers to deliver packages to online buyers.

- Sales of twin-size beds drop as Tweens demand bigger beds...for their tablets.… Read more

Talk to the ad with mobile Voice Ads

CNET Update is no fool:

April Fools' Day prank announcements and fake gadgets consumed the tech world Monday. But once piece of real news could be mistaken as a joke: Nuance is designing mobile advertisments that can understand language and talk back to consumers.

The streaming TV service Aereo is making headlines. The Wall Street Journal reports Aereo is talking with AT&T and Dish about a partnership to expand offerings. Aereo also won a victory in its legal fight against TV networks, as a federal appeals court in New York upheld the ruling that Aereo does not violate … Read more

The strange resurrection of Net neutrality

WASHINGTON, D.C.--At this week's State of the Net conference, an annual event of the bipartisan Congressional Internet Caucus, members of Congress, staffers, and technology policy junkies gathered once again to explore the government's Internet-related priorities for the new year.

A few themes emerged, including possible legislation over cybersecurity, a rewrite of the 1996 Communications Act, reforming federal electronic-surveillance laws, and the continuing threat of both national governments and the United Nations trying to wrest control of Internet governance from engineering-driven groups.

The general consensus, however, was that for at least the next several months, the fiscal … Read more

eBay same-day delivery makes a stop in New York City

eBay's same-day delivery service is making a stop in New York, with the e-commerce giant expanding its new program to parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Richelle Parham, chief marketing officer of eBay Marketplaces, noted in a post that the eBay Now mobile app now allows shoppers to receive items from hundreds of retailers in New York, typically within an hour. The service will be available in Manhattan as far north as 125th Street and at the western edge of Brooklyn.

And to attract new users, the company plans to take $15 off shoppers' first order and make the first … Read more

Rumor Has It: Google to send you a couple cold beers?

On this week's show, we investigate the logic behind the rumor of Google's delivery ambitions. We know Google had ventured far afield from its core search functionality in the past (cough, Android, cough, Google Wave, cough driverless cars) but it's hard to see how Google could invade the shopping/delivery sphere. It doesn't have any warehouses, delivery trucks, or even, to be perfectly frank, any products to sell. But those concerns may be missing the point.

We also go over the reports that Apple's now-former iOS chief Scott Forstall lost his job because his mama … Read more

eBay copies Pinterest in redesign

Wednesday's CNET Update is bent out of shape:

eBay is changing with the times, and these are Pinteresting times. In today's tech news roundup, we look at the the new eBay. The online auctioneer has a redesigned homepage features large images of products in a "feed." Much like Pinterest, there's plenty to scroll through that can catch your eye and suck you into a black hole of browsing. The new look is rolling out over the next 100 days, but you can activate it now by going to ebay.com/feed. Search results and profiles … Read more

Wal-Mart aims to one-up Amazon with same-day delivery

Wal-Mart is testing a same-day delivery service in a bid to outmaneuver Amazon in the increasingly cutthroat retail world.

The Bentonville, Ark., retail giant has been tested the service in Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis. It will next expand to San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.

The service, called Wal-Mart To Go, is a trial run for the holidays that lets customers order specific items and gifts, which can then be sent to their homes or offices that same day. Orders have to be made by noon, and there is a charge of $10 with no minimum order requirement.

"… 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

iPhone 5 preorder delivery pushed back 3 to 4 weeks

Demand for the iPhone 5 has been so great in the past week that Apple is apparently having trouble keeping up, as shipping estimates for preorders have now been increased to three to four weeks.

Apple was apparently caught off-guard last week by the crush of initial preorders, with the first batch of iPhone 5 models selling out within an hour. The company even reportedly stopped taking orders for a brief time on Saturday. Now Apple's online store indicates that phones purchased today might not be delivered for four weeks.

The new shipping estimates come after Apple announced yesterday … Read more