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(BigStock Photo) In November 2015, Kisha Loomis signed on to Amazon and ordered her son a hoverboard, a two-wheeled vehicle popular with kids and balanced with gyroscopic gears. Just more than four weeks later, on New Year’s Eve, its lithium ion battery exploded and the hoverboard burst into flames, setting Loomis’ bed on fire. Loomis, who lives near Sacramento, suffered burns fighting the blaze and sued, accusing Amazon of selling her a faulty and dangerous product. Amazon countered that the hoverboard was sold on its platform by a third-party company based in China and the Seattle retail giant therefore shouldn’t be held liable for a product it didn’t manufacture, sell or ship. Last month, California’s Second Appellate District Court disagreed, saying Amazon was an integral part of the hoverboard’s supply chain and can be held liable for Loomis’ injuries and other damages. The ruling is among a pair of cases that could have a big impact on Amazon’s operations and the broader e-commer

The news: Melinda Gates has been working with divorce lawyers since 2019, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal . Bill and Melinda Gates last week announced a decision to end their marriage after 27 years. The details:  It’s still unclear what caused the split, but WSJ and The Daily Beast reported on how Melinda Gates was concerned with her husband’s connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein . The Daily Beast reported last week that Melinda Gates, a prominent supporter of women and girls’ rights, was “furious” after she and Bill met with Epstein in 2013. When details emerged of the reported connections between Bill Gates and Epstein, a Gates representative previously said in 2019 that “any account of a business partnership or personal relationship” between Gates and Epstein “is simply not true.” Other tidbits:  The Gateses worked out their divorce throughout the pandemic, WSJ noted. Melinda Gates’ lawyers include Robert Stephan Cohen, who has represente

Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 2, 2021. Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter . Most popular stories on GeekWire Bill and Melinda Gates announce decision to end marriage after 27 years Bill and Melinda Gates announced Monday that they are ending their marriage after 27 years, sending shockwaves through their hometown and around the world where their philanthropic work has touched tens of millions. … Read More Former Amazon exec Jeff Wilke on why he left, what it was like to work for Jeff Bezos, and more In March, Jeff Wilke quietly stepped away from Amazon, the company he was instrumental in building from an online book retailer to one of the most valuable and influential corporations in the world. … Read More The Gates split: While the money is outrageous, here’s why the divorce likely won’t be Just

An Amazon fulfillment center in Spokane, Wash. (GeekWire Photo) The news: An Amazon fulfillment center worker died Thursday after being found in the bathroom of a warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. Bloomberg first reported the news and said the worker collapsed at the facility, citing unnamed sources. Amazon said it was a personal medical incident and there were no known pre-existing conditions. The company is offering grief counseling and support for employees at the site. Statement from Amazon: “We’re deeply saddened by the passing of a member of our team, and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his loved ones during this difficult time.” — Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti Bessemer warehouse:  The fulfillment center was the site of closely watched unionization effort last month. Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse workers eventually declined union representation by a large margin , with 1,798 employees against union representation and 738 in favor. The defeat ended what was the most s

Photo via Redfin Redfin first quarter results : The Seattle real estate company saw a 40% surge in revenue in the first quarter, reporting $268 million in sales. Its gross profit soared 229% to $42 million, and its net loss was cut nearly in half to $36 million compared to the first quarter of 2020. Its net loss came out to 37 cents per share. The consensus analyst revenue estimate for the quarter was $253 million, while the earnings per share estimate was -34 cents per share. Full results here . What the execs are saying : “After scrambling in the second half of 2020 to hire enough agents and lenders to handle a pandemic-driven surge in demand, Redfin is just about hitting on all cylinders,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. Key numbers : RedfinNow, the company’s direct home buying and selling service, sold 171 homes in the first quarter. That was the same number as the first quarter of 2020, and was up from 83 in the fourth quarter of 2020. Redfin’s market share in the U.S. residential m

With more than a handful of companies dipping their hands into the business of making True Wireless Earbuds, it is quite rare to see wireless earbuds with a neckband. So, I was quite taken aback when I saw the box of the new Sudio Elva! Is this innovative or outdated? Read on to find out in this review.  Sudio Elva & Sudio Flyg Unpacking the product was definitely a strange experience as there were 2 parts to the product. One being the headphone themselves, and the other the Bluetooth receiver called the Sudio Flyg, which serves as an in-flight Bluetooth adapter.  Accessories Also packed in the box were the USB-A male to female adapter for the Sudio Elva, the USB-C to USB-A for the Sudio Flyg, the usual 5 additional pairs of ear tips, and the manuals for both the Sudio Elva and Sudio Flyg. Another thing that came as a surprise was that unlike its predecessors (the  Sudio Tolv ,  Sudio Fem , and  Sudio Ett ), these particular earbuds did not come with a case. The white version of bo

LG’s latest release for home audio is the SK9Y. The key features of this soundbar includes Dolby Atmos, High Resolution Audio, Sound Up-converting and 4K Pass-through. In addition to that, it also has Chromecast built-in! Brace yourselves audiophiles, is the LG SK9Y Soundbar a game changer for your home theater experience? Watch the video to find out! If you enjoyed this video and want to watch more videos like these, subscribe to our YouTube Channel ! LG’s latest release for home audio is the SK9Y. The key features of this soundbar includes Dolby Atmos, High Resolution Audio, Sound Up-converting and 4K Pass-through. In addition to that, it also has Chromecast built-in! Brace yourselves audiophiles, is the LG SK9Y Soundbar a game changer for your home theater experience? Watch the video to find out!Reviews, Technology

The Beats X is one of the newest (as of posting) wireless earbuds from the Beats lineup. Since Apple has taken over Beats, the company has only been going up. It took a pretty long for me to get my hands on this but I finally managed to. (YAY me!) I got the Beats X in blue as it’s a pretty unique colour. This is my 2nd Beats product and really, the unboxing experience was awesome!!! Straight away you are greeted by the earpiece itself and underneath it was the manuals, the extra eartips of various size, as well as earhooks of various sizes if you require a more secure fit. Behind all the eartips and earhooks was the case and a charging cable. Unlike the previous wireless products made by Beats, this charger has a lightning adapter, so all those Apple users should be glad. My only slight complain is that the case is a dust magnet and it gets dirty super easily. Now moving on to the earpiece… Syncing the Beats X to my iPhone was a breeze. The moment I turned on the Bluetooth on my phone

I recently got a Dell XPS 15 9500 for work and have come to really enjoy it. I have been a MacBook Pro guy for years but I needed a windows machine and felt that this was the right fit for me. I have read a lot of great reviews on this laptop and I am happy with the purchase let me explain why.   Design   I love the design coming from a MacBook Pro user every day to a Dell XPS 15 I can see how people can make the transition the touchpad is just like the MacBook Pro with the same gestures and  large style of the MacBook Pro. The keyboard is designed as well  to be similar to a MacBook Pro with the short reach allowing you to type faster I love using it. The keyboard sports the power button and fingerprint combo sensor.   Screen   I love the 15 .6 inches 4K display with very minimal bezels I think the screen looks amazing  with clear color and contrast. The touch screen part I am still getting used to I do not really use it that much but I am sure I will get used to it or find a reaso

Many of us watched the Apple event yesterday and we all noticed Apple make the announcement about Apple Podcast Subscriptions. Many people have talked about how this might be a big game-changer for the podcast world but really it’s about Apple playing catchup or at least taking podcast subscriptions mainstream. I would like to point out that Spotify is in a different market. Spotify offers exclusives that are only available on their platform. The difference is Spotify exclusives are free to all who download the app you do not need to pay for Spotify Premium to listen to podcasts. For example, Joe Rogan’s show is still free you just have to go to Spotify to get it and have to use their app to listen to his show. The same goes for many others that Spotify owns. Many companies have premium podcasts Relay.fm, Twit.TV and PodcastOne just to name a few. They offer a way to pay on their websites then offering a premium feed. Many podcast companies already offer the tools to make this happen

We recently invested in Nest Protect alarms for our home. The Nest Protect is a fire and carbon dioxide detector all in one. My wife and I have a vintage home and we have always been a fan of the smoke alarm systems that are wired together so if one alarm goes off, they all go off to help alert the entire household. If you have just one or two detectors in a home and they are not wired together you may not hear the one downstairs the Nest Protect solves this issue. Just like Sono’s speakers the Nest Protect creates its own little network so if one goes off, they all go off and if for some reason your internet goes down, they can still trigger all the devices. Since they are wireless there is no need to run wiring. Nest Protect does have a wired version and if we were remodeling or building a new home from scratch, I would do those so this way I do not have to worry about replacing the batteries on the Nest Protect every few years. The hardwire ones still do have a battery backup in th

Android notifications can be annoying at times, but they don’t have to be. Enabling “Do Not Disturb” mode is one way to mute pesky notifications at times when you don’t need them. Here’s how to set it up on your Google Pixel. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

Instagram has three account types: Personal, Creator, and Business. Personal accounts work for most people, while the two Professional account options are ideal for those who have a business and plan to run ads, promote posts, sell products, and gather analytics. Here’s how to switch between them. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

By default, Adobe Photoshop displays large animated tooltips (called “rich tooltips”) when you hover over tools. They’re handy at first, but can quickly become annoying. Here’s how to turn them off. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

The HomePod is best used in conjunction with other Apple devices. One such device is the Apple TV 4K, which allows you to use your HomePod as its default speaker. We’ll show you how to set that up. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

After buying a new Mac and launching the App Store, you might see a message that asks you to adopt a handful of apps. We’ll explain what that means and how to do it. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that doesn’t track you. This alternative to Google, Bing, and Yahoo is growing fast. Here’s an introduction to DuckDuckGo and a look at how it protects your privacy. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

1Password is among our favorite password managers, and if you also use it, you should enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security to your account. Here’s how to enable two-factor authentication in 1Password. Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

AirTags let you track nearby or missing items with Apple’s Find My network, which is powered by hundreds of millions of iPhones around the world. So how will Apple prevent someone from slipping an AirTag into your bag and tracking your movements? Read This Article on How-To Geek ›

Microsoft is previewing Azure Web PubSub, an Azure cloud service for building real-time web applications using the WebSocket protocol for two-way communication. Unveiled April 29, Azure Web PubSub enables developers to use WebSockets and a publish-subscribe pattern to build real-time web applications such as live monitoring dashboards, real-time location on maps, and cross-platform live chats. [ Also on InfoWorld: Why Microsoft Azure wins with enterprise customers ] Microsoft said Azure Web PubSub is meant to spare developers from significant infrastructure investment, setup, and maintenance tasks, allowing them to focus on user experiences. Implementing a WebSocket-based real-time experience would otherwise require a developer to set up infrastructure to handle client connections, establish mechanisms for on-demand scaling, and ensure business SLA requirements are met. To read this article in full, please click here