We Americans can’t live without our credit cards — but there are a few varieties of plastic that should be kept out of consumers’ wallets, according to CardRatings.com, which bills itself as the nation’s leading free consumer source for comparing credit card offers. Here’s CardRatings take on the Five Worst Credit Cards of 2011 (plus one [...]
Want a free Nook? It’ll cost you. Barnes & Noble (BKS) is offering its entry-level e-reader — the Nook Simple Touch that normally retails for $99 — for free to newspaper buffs willing to pay $19.99 a month for a year’s subscription to the digital version of the New York Times’ (NYT) namesake daily paper. [...]
At this week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, entertainment products such as ultra-thin TVs, 3-D cameras and super-fast tablets are catching the most buzz. Yet there are also products for more practical tasks: recycling and saving energy. They include an ecoATM that gives consumers cash for used electronics, a solar-powered netbook, an iPhone [...]
To keep your personal information and your finances safe, here are five things you need to know about online security. 1. You are now under attack by machines After a hacking scare at Gawker Media last year, security firm Duo Security showed that it could crack 200,000 user passwords in under an hour using a [...]
Ford announced a recall Wednesday of 450,000 older model minivans and SUVs for risks from fire and loss of power. The affected vehicles are the 2001 and 2002 Ford Escape compact SUV, and the 2004 and 2005 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans. The Escape, of which there are an estimated 245,000 on the road, [...]
The Internet is a great deflator, squeezing out the middlemen and lowering prices. The shifting fortunes of Wall Street brokers and travel agents are good examples. However, the Internet’s deflationary impact is on full display in the international long-distance market, where Skype has started to take away any and all growth from the phone companies. [...]
Even in this fast-paced, high-tech electronic age, some of us prefer letters to e-mails, phone calls to texts, and one-on-one conversations — ideally, over a cup of tea — to Skype. Likewise, some people would rather not venture into the shadowy world of direct deposit and other types of electronic transactions. Alarmed by tales of [...]
Toyota’s luxury division has made a big deal about how its emotional new design better connect with customers. Now Toyota itself is getting into the act with with its new design in a plug-in hybrid concept being unveiled today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The concept, called the NS4, is being [...]
Suze Orman is trying to succeed where the Kardashians failed. The host of the popular TV money show is offering a new prepaid card that works much the same way as a debit card. Dubbed the Approved Card, Orman’s offering seeks to do what similar cards haven’t been able to do: offer a credit card [...]
Kim Kardashian isn’t being thrown a bone from Skechers on Super Bowl Sunday — but a dog is. Kardashian, the reality TV mega-star who was featured in the sneaker maker’s racy Super Bowl commercial last year, has been dropped and will be replaced by a French bulldog. The move comes about two months after Kardashian filed for a [...]
