The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK financial regulator, fines Carphone Warehouse to the tune of £29 million following an investigation into the "Geek Squad" mobile phone insurance and technical support offering.
According to the FCA, the retailer sales consultants were not adequately trained to give suitable advice to customers buying Geek Squad. Instead, salespeople were trained in "spin selling," or simply recommending Geek Squad to customers even if they had already had cover, such as through home insurance or bank accounts. The sales lead to a high early cancellation rates, something the FCA says is an indicator of a risk of mis-selling Carphone Warehouse failed to consider.
The iPad Air gets an increase in size to 10.5-inch, as well as the A12 Bionic chip promising a 70% performance boost and twice the graphics capability compared to the previous model. Connectivity comes through a Lightning connector (as opposed to a USB-C port), while Touch ID remains the security system of choice. The update also brings support for the (first generation) Pencil and the Smart Keyboard, allowing one to use the tablet for light productivity purposes.
The K83 Wireless features ultra-low-profile scissor key switches, making it slim and light. Of course, the joystick is the most unusual addition, but should be useful for game control, especially when combined with the two shoulder buttons. Customers can also use the joystick as a mouse replacement, and the WASD keys are specially painted.
The mid-year will also see the TVs receive a firmware upgrade adding Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support, allowing easy connectivity with iDevices, as well as an update adding Alexa support to complement the currently included Google Assistant. As such, the company claims it is only TV maker to offer support for both leading AI platforms without need for additional hardware.
