Amazon is updating its return policy to make it easier for customers to file complaints over defective products from third party marketplace sellers. Starting September 1st, you'll be able to contact Amazon directly with a property damage or personal injury claim, and then Amazon will connect you with the seller. If it determines a complaint is valid, Amazon will directly pay out any claims under $1,000, the company wrote in a blog post. 

"Claims under $1,000 account for more than 80 percent of cases in our store, and Amazon will bear these costs and not seek reimbursement from sellers who abide by our policies and hold valid insurance," the company wrote. "Sellers will be kept informed at every step so they can continue to ensure their products are safe." 

Amazon noted that it may also step in for claim over $1,000 if the seller is unresponsive. It may also address customer concerns if a claim is rejected by the seller, though "sellers will continue to have the opportunity to defend their product against the claim," it said. The company will vet the claims using independent insurance fraud experts and its own fraud and abuse detection systems.

Currently, Amazon encourages customers to contact third-party sellers directly with complaints about products. That left users to fend mostly for themselves following accidents caused by faulty or dangerous products. A short list of those includes defective carbon monoxide detectors, hair dryers without required shock protection and flammable clothing for kids, according to a complaint from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The new policy comes after complaints from lawmakers and consumer organizations about the proliferation of counterfeit, faulty and even dangerous products sold on Amazon's sprawling third-party marketplace. Last month, the CPSC sued Amazon to force it to recall faulty items that posed safety risks. Regulators said they had warned Amazon about the hazardous items on its site, but deemed its response insufficient.

Samsung has unveiled the Exynos W920, a new processor designed specifically for smartphones and wearables. It has an integrated LTE modem and is the first chip designed for wearables to be built on a 5-nanometer EUV (extreme ultra-violet) process, according to Samsung. 

The new chip features dual Cortex-A55 cores, a Mali-G68 GPU and a Cortex-M55 processor dedicated to always-on displays that's designed to reduce power consumption. The company claims that it offers a 20 percent improvement in CPU performance and tenfold GPU boost over its last wearable chip. It's also the "smallest package currently available in the market for wearables," it said.

In its press release, Samsung explicitly wrote that "the Exynos W920 supports a new unified wearable platform Samsung built jointly with Google, and will be first applied to the upcoming Galaxy Watch model." That's no doubt going to be the Galaxy Watch 4 that leaked out last month and is expected to be announced tomorrow at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event. 

Samsung will likely also reveal its latest smartwatch software that marries Tizen and Wear OS, developed jointly with Google. We're expecting to see navigation changes, new Tiles for third-party apps, improved battery efficiency, improved health and fitness tracking and a more open interface. 

After jumping into comics earlier this year, Substack is entering in a bigger way by signing several major creators to its platform, the New York Times has reported. The new slate of writers includes Saladin Ahmed, Jonathan Hickman, Molly Ostertag, Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, with other writers and artists to be announced at a later date. 

As with other Substack writers, comics creators will send their work out in a newsletter format and charge subscribers directly for their work. During the first year, they'll be paid by Substack which will take most of the subscription revenue, and after that, the platform will take a 10 percent cut. Creators will retain ownership of all their materials.

Tynion IV, who recently won the Eisner award for his work on DC's Batman and other titles, said he'll work on Substack exclusively. "This wasn’t an easy decision," he told the NY Times. "In order to invest my time in new material, I needed to choose. I could not do both."

DC had presented me with a three-year renewal of my exclusive contract, with the intent of me working on Batman for the bulk of that time. I was grateful of the offer, but I couldn’t help but look at the success of my original, creator owned titles and wonder if it was the right choice.

Substack first got into comics back in June when it signed Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man writer Nick Spencer. Spencer reportedly spearheaded the idea and was the liaison between Substack and newly signed creators. On top of comic book stories, they'll publish, essays, how-to guides and other content on the platform.

Until recently, Substack has mostly focused on newsletters covering politics, technology and more. Comics, meanwhile, have been around forever on the web, but have largely been funded by ads and merchandise sales. By joining with Substack, creators will be able to engage directly with readers in a model that more closely resembles comic book sales. 

In his Substack launch post, Tynion said that he effectively turned down a three-year renewal of his DC Batman contract when Substack signed him "to create a new slate of original comic book properties directly on their platform, that my co-creators and I would own completely," he wrote. "I’m going to dedicate my whole brain to building a bunch of really cool stuff on my own terms, without having to get permission from any publisher to make it."

Charter Communications has been sued by a group of major record labels who claim it has failed to address "flagrant and serial" music copyright infringement, The Verge has reported. It's the second time over the last several years that the group has sued Charter over song piracy. 

The labels said that they sent around 150,00 notices of infringement to Spectrum, Charter's internet service, including the IP addresses of "tens of thousands" of alleged infringers. They claim that the company turned a "blind eye" to the downloading, which occurred from July 2018 until recently. 

"Charter insisted on doing nothing despite receiving thousands of notices that detailed the illegal activity of its subscribers, despite its clear legal obligation to address the widespread, illegal downloading of copyrighted works on its Internet services, and despite being sued previously by Plaintiffs for similar conduct," the claim states.

The same labels sued Charter in 2019, claiming subscribers were using torrent services for music pirating between March 2013 and May 2016. "Charter persisted in contributing to and profiting from its subscribers’ infringement... even after receiving Plaintiffs’ March and April 2016 notices of claims and, remarkably, even after Plaintiffs filed the 2019 lawsuit," according to the latest lawsuit. 

The music industry has attacked multiple internet providers over the last few years. In June, ISP Frontier was sued by record labels over similar piracy claims. Internet service provider Cox, meanwhile, lost a $1 billion judgement in December of 2019, and vowed to appeal the settlement at the time. 

After previously announcing it expected corporate employees to return to the office on September 7th this year, Amazon has announced a further delay until January 3rd, 2022, Reuters has reported. The change of plans comes amid a surge of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant across the US. "As we continue to closely watch local conditions related to COVID-19, we are adjusting our guidance for corporate employees," the company said in a statement. 

Shortly after the pandemic started, Amazon said it expected employees to return to the office in October of 2020. That date was pushed back to 2021 as multiple waves of the virus forced lockdowns and business closures across the US. 

Google and Microsoft also recently announced that they'd be pushing back office returns until October 2021, later than the September date that Microsoft originally planned. However, while both Google and Microsoft require that any employees returning to the office be vaccinated, Amazon has said that unvaccinated employees may return as long as they wear masks. 

Like other tech companies, Amazon has allowed for a hybrid office/home work structure due to the pandemic. However, in March this year, it seemed eager to get everyone back to the office. "Our plan is to return to an office-centric culture as our baseline. We believe it enables us to invent, collaborate, and learn together most effectively," the company said in its vaccination and testing blog. Now, that will be delayed for at least another five months. 

Last year, Boss Team and Saber Interactive announced that Evil Dead: The Game with Bruce Campbell reprising his original movie role would arrive sometime in 2021. Now, the developers have tweeted out an update with a specific and slightly later release date: February 2022. 

The reason for the delay is to "give the team some extra time for polish and to ensure this is the ultimate Evil Dead experience you're all waiting for," the team tweeted. "This additional time is also allowing us to implement a single-player option that will let you enjoy the game when you are without your co-op compadres." 

As we saw in the launch trailer in December, Campbell's Ash along with Kelly and crew have to work together to fight Deadites led by a powerful demon. You can think of it as a Dead by Daylight-style asymmetric title with a chainsaw hand and Bruce Campbell's clever catchphrases. It also comes with a big dollop of nostalgia with familiar characters, locales and plenty of gore in the form of blood-soaked zombies.

Evil Dead: The Game will offer "multiplayer co-op and PvP for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch," according to the developer's website. They advised that you stay tuned to their Twitter page "for more information about new character updates, pre-order availability, and the next gameplay video featuring Bruce Campbell."

After a spate of accidents on its Tread+ treadmill, Peloton temporarily moved the basic running mode of Tread+ behind a paywall so non-authorized users couldn't gain access. Now, all users will be able to use the "Just Run" feature without a subscription and still be able to lock it up with a pin code, the company told The Verge. 

Peloton recalled its Tread and Tread+ treadmills in the US and Canada after several reports of injuries and one death. The company subsequently released a software update that required a passcode to use the basic running mode, but the feature was only available to subscribers. To offset that cost, Peloton gave users the subscription for free for three months, with the promise that an update was coming. 

The Tread Lock feature locks the device if you haven't used the treadmill in 45 seconds and aren't in a class. You then need to input a four-digit code before it can be used again. The aim is to prevent it being accessed by inexperienced users — especially kids — following 29 reports of injuries to children, including second- and third-degree abrasions and broken bones.

While the update was inconvenient for non-subscribers who purchased the $4,000+ devices, Peloton did make it possible to do basic running without paying. As part of the recall, Tread+ owners can get a full refund if they decide to return their treadmills by November 6th, 2022, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

Sony already hinted that it's working on a new PlayStation VR headset, promising "dramatic leaps" in performance, higher resolution, a wider field of view, better tracking and a new controller. On Tuesday, Sony reportedly revealed more specifics about the headset at a developer's summit, according to the YouTube channel PSVR Without Parole (below) and UploadVR, The Verge has reported.

The device is reportedly codenamed next-gen VR (NGVR) and features controllers with capacitive touch sensors that can detect when you're holding the controller or touching the buttons, and even sense the distance to your fingers. Sony also reportedly told developer's that it's planning optional VR support for all AAA releases, so you could play them either in VR or on your TV — much like it did with Resident Evil 7 and No Man's Sky on the PS4 and PS5. 

PSVR Without Parole also noted that the next-gen PSVR will offer a 110-degree field of view that's 10 degrees wider than the PSVR. To make the most of those pixels, it will use flexible scaling resolution, along with foveated rendering that uses eye-tracking to improve resolution where you're looking. UploadVR, meanwhile, said that the the headset will feature high-resolution 2,000 x 2,040 OLED displays (4K in total). 

We've already heard that the PSVR will connect to PlayStation consoles with a single cable, with no passthrough box required. It will also use inside-out tracking and offer adaptive triggers and haptic feedback on the controllers.

All told, the PSVR 2 (or whatever it's called) should have features mostly on par with rival headsets like the Oculus Quest 2 and HTC Vive Pro 2. However, Sony itself said that the headset won't launch until at least next year, and a Bloomberg report from June indicated it might not come until late in 2022. For now, though, all of that is still grist for the rumor mill until Sony announces something official, possibly later this year. 

After going down briefly earlier today, Apple's website has returned with a new design that reintroduces a "Store" tab not unlike the one it removed nearly six years ago, MacRumors has reported. That leads to a dedicated buying section where customers can select from its product lineup, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. With the new tweaks, you'll no longer need to visit each product page and track down the "buy" button to see options or make a purchase. 

Along with a horizontal list of products, the Store page shows the latest products, promotions, accessories and more. It now more closely resembles the Apple Store app, as MacRumors pointed out. 

Clicking on a category like "iPhone" in the Store tab takes you to a carousel that shows all the current models available, like the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone SE and iPhone XR. Once you select a specific model like the iPhone 12 Pro, it takes you to the buy page for that item where you can start to select color, storage and other options. Previously, you would have needed to click on the iPhone product page, scroll down to find a specific model and click on the "buy" button. 

Apple's website had a Store tab before the 2015 redesign, but it essentially shunted you to a completely different domain. The new design works differently: You still remain on the Apple.com site, and the Store tab simply gives you a different way of navigating to the buying section. A subtle change, but significant considering the enormous worldwide traffic to Apple's website. 

Nissan has unveiled its 2022 Leaf with more standard features and a lower base price tag that makes it the cheapest EV in the US, the company announced. The most basic model, the Leaf S with a 40 kWh battery, now costs $27,400 or $28,375 including the destination charge — or $20,875 if you qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit. That means it's less than the $29,900 Mini SE and can go farther, too, with 149 miles of range versus 114. 

The 40 kWh Leaf SV drops from $34,935 to $28,800, while the longer-range 62 kWh Leaf SV Plus is now $32,400 compared to $38,245 (all prices exclude destination charges and federal incentives). The S and SV models deliver 147 horsepower, 236 pound feet of torque and up to 149 miles of EPA range, while the S Plus offers more powerful 160 kW motor that produces 214 horsepower, 250 pound feet of torque and 226 miles of range. 

Nissan

The $4,245 price drop for the basic S Leaf compared to the 2021 model, and even more dramatic $6,135 decrease for the SV model, sounds like a lot. However, the new prices essentially match what buyers were paying for Leafs last year if you count buyer incentives, as Motor Trend reported. And of course, the Leaf has essentially become passé as Nissan prepares to sell the Ariya early in 2022. 

Still, the new prices will help buyers compare prices without having to jump through hoops. And the new models do have some useful improvements. The main thing is that all Leaf models now include a CHAdeMo quick charge port, ProPilot assist and Nissan's "Intelligent Around View" monitor as standard.

The Leaf isn't as fun, nor as attractive, as a lot of other EVs out there. But $20,875 for the base model, (including federal incentives and destination charge) is the lowest number we've seen next to a brand new EV with decent range in the US, ever.