Your Credit Score Just Got Better

The three largest companies to collect and disseminate credit information for millions of Americans – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion – now must significantly change the way they treat disputed information on credit reports as part of a massive multi-state settlement. The credit reporting agencies (CRAs) entered into a settlement with 31 states attorneys general on Wednesday that requires them to pay $6 million to the states and revamp their business practices including fixing disputed information on credit reports more quickly, waiting longer to add potentially damaging information on medical debt and scrutinizing data furnished by outside entities. “Today is a good day for all consumers to go shopping,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who led the charge, said in a statement. The comprehensive multi-state settlement helps protect consumers from credit reports that are wrong, out of date, or even mixed up with someone else’s report, and it will reduce the chance that a consumer is wrongly denied a house loan, a car loan, or even a job, because of an inaccurate credit report. The settlement stems from an investigation initiated by DeWine back in 2012 -- which covered 31 states that focused on consumer disputes about credit report errors, monitoring and disciplining data furnishers, accuracy in consumer credit reports, and the marketing of credit monitoring products to consumers who call the credit reporting agencies to dispute information on their credit report. The settlement provides protections to consumers nationwide by ensuring that they will have greater control over their financial lives. In all, the agreement requires the three big CRAs to: • Maintain information about problems with entities that furnish them data and make that information available to states; • Use a better, more detailed system to share data with furnishers; • Create an extensive process for complicated disputes involving identity theft, fraud or cases in which two people’s identities have been confused; • Launch investigations when consumers report mistakes; • Refrain from peddling fee-based credit-monitoring services or other products until a consumer’s complaint is resolved; • Educate consumers about how they can further dispute the outcome of an investigation; • Provide the name of the original creditor when a debt collector seeks to add an unpaid bill to a credit report Additionally, the CRAs are prohibited from adding information about fines and tickets to a consumer’s report and bans the agencies from including medical debt until 180 days after it is reported, in order to give consumers time to work with hospitals and insurance companies. When it comes to disputes, the agencies are now required to provide consumers with an extra free credit report in a 12-month period if the information they challenged creates a change in their report. The changes are to be implemented in three phases to allow the agencies to update their IT systems and procedures. All changes must be made by three years and 90 days following the settlement’s effective date -- this means by August 2018. Ohio, Nevada, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin are the states included in the Settlement. The multi-state settlement comes nearly three months after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a similar agreement with the same CRAs. Experian, Equifax and Transunion must make nationwide policy changes regarding the ways they handle errors, resolve disputes and list unpaid medical bills [and] thee three CRAs will now be required to use trained employees to review documentation consumers submit when they believe there is an error in their credit files, even if a creditor says the information is correct. This is good news. Your Credit Score is already looking better! Sit back and relax and enjoy the valuable gift of credit because the 31 State Agreement has you covered and shop to you drop.

Tech Gadgets to make your Pet Happy & Healthy

Alternative to Cable TV

While set-top boxes aren’t going away anytime soon, streaming sticks (aka dongles) increasingly offer some of the best value — and performance — in streaming land. Case in point: Roku’s fabulous Streaming Stick+ (now just $60) is easily one of our favorite streamers available right now, packing 4K HDR, a speedy processor, and a handy, point-anywhere remote, all running on Roku’s intuitive, easy-peasy operating system.

 Amazon Streaming TV has released its own loaded streaming stick for 2018, the new Fire TV Stick 4K. While the name may not be inspired, the latest Fire TV product promises to do virtually everything the Streaming Stick+ can while adding Alexa voice integration and even Dolby Vision HDR, at a cheap price. While there were a few hiccups along the way, Amazon’s latest streaming stick offers impressive value — especially if Alexa is your jam.

Not to be outdone,
Out of the box

Right off the bat, you’ll notice the Fire TV Stick 4K is chunky – big enough that it blocked other HDMI ports when we plugged it into a TCL 6-series, a Sony X900F, and a Samsung Q7F. What’s more, a side-mounted micro-USB power port makes for yet another blocking obstacle.

Dan Baker/Digital Trends

You won’t have to worry about the fit if you use an HDMI extender, one of which is thankfully included in the package and even provides improved Wi-Fi reception, according to Amazon. Still, it makes us wonder why Amazon even designs its cheapest streamer as a stick at all if it’s destined to become a de facto dongle, hanging even more awkwardly than last year’s Fire TV.

Along with the extender, accessories include a USB power cable and wall adapter for versatile power connection, a new and improved Alexa voice remote, complete with a volume rocker and power key for basic TV control, and batteries for said remote.   Then there's ATV pro quad streaming stick ATV Pro Quad Streaming Stick.  Decisions. Decisions.

Setup

Setting up the Fire TV Stick 4K is a relatively simple affair, though we did run into a few hiccups on the software side. After plugging the stick in (with extender, of course), the system walks you speedily through system setup, including quickly connecting the remote to both the Fire TV device and our TV.

Support for multiple HDR formats should future proof it quite nicely.

The system immediately required a software update (not unexpected for a brand-new device sent to us for review ahead of formal launch) which took about five minutes, and — after quickly connecting our Amazon account — we had some issues getting apps to download or open. The Netflix app simply wouldn’t open at all. We chalked the issue up to our occasionally squirrelly office router, but it wasn’t the only place we ran into some network trouble (more on that below). After backing out of the Netflix app and re-engaging, we got it working and all other apps followed suit.

One major setting change you’ll want to make right away is the Fire TV Stick’s high dynamic range (HDR) setting. We love the fact that the device offers support for multiple HDR formats, including both HDR10 and Dolby Vision for enhanced contrast and color performance with supported content. However, an odd default setting created major picture problems within some HD content for us, specifically with Netflix videos. Colors were sapped and playback dim, as the system tried to initiate HDR contrast and color parameters over SDR video.

To fix the issue, you’ll need to dig into the video settings: Go into Settings>Display & Sounds>Display, then scroll down to Dynamic Range Settings and switch from Always HDR to Adaptive. This should allow all HDR content and SDR content to display correctly. Why Amazon chose Always HDR as the default is beyond us, but we were glad to find a fix. The device froze for us occasionally when changing settings, but you should only need to do this once.

Interface and remote

We’ve made no bones about the fact that we prefer Roku’s agnostic interface approach to those of Amazon and Apple, which tend to push their own content first. In the Fire TV Stick 4K’s case, the home screen will likely bombard you with ads for Amazon originals like The Romanoffs and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel each time you hit the home screen. Then again, the former looks intriguing and the latter is excellent.

Quickly controlling video via voice control is extremely handy.

Otherwise, it’s simple and speedy to load up just about all the streaming apps you want — excluding native YouTube thanks to Amazon and Google’s feud, but there’s an easy browser workaround included.

Like Roku’s mobile app, the available Fire TV Remote app for iOS and Android serves up helpful features, including digital remote keys and a digital keyboard so you don’t have to hunt and peck when signing into apps. One miss here is the lack of a headphone feature within the app for private listening from your phone, one of the Roku apps best features. That said, it could prove to be a pretty simple remedy via update if Amazon decides to add the feature later.

Dan Baker/Digital Trends

The navigation bar at the top makes it simple to choose your favorites or drop into the settings to manage apps, control audio and video parameters, and other preferences, with handy icons to help you find your query.

The new remote sports all the command keys you’d expect for basic navigation, including the Fire TV’s signature navigation dial and home keys. As mentioned above, you’ll also find a power key for your TV and a volume rocker for audio control over TVs as well as some audio systems like soundbars and A/V receivers. There’s even a little LED on the top next to the microphone key when engaging voice commands.

Alexa on command

Speaking of voice commands, alongside The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon (of course) serves up the fantastic Miss Alexa, who now packs new and improved controls for the Fire TV Stick, such as the ability to switch HDMI inputs on some TVs, and even control playback within multiple apps, including Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Showtime, and others — something Roku can’t do without the aid of a Google Assistant device. The stick is not on par with the Fire TV Cube, which can control your entire home theater, but it’s pretty impressive.

If you’re invested in the Alexa ecosystem, things get even more convenient

You can use Alexa for play/pause, but more useful commands include functions like “fast forward 3 minutes” or “rewind 30 seconds,” so you can easily control video within your favorite apps. If you’re invested in the Alexa ecosystem, things get even more convenient, as you can perform these functions hands-free with other Alexa devices like the Echo and Echo Dot.

Amazon Fire TV Streaming Stick 4K Compared To Voice search is quite speedy and, unlike earlier Amazon devices, it often serves up content from your signed-in subscriptions before offering it for sale. One thing voice search doesn’t do so well is performing broader content searches. For instance, a search for “Comedy Movies” brings up titles that may not be either, including Big Mouth (TV show), Shameless (TV show, Drama), Big Bang Theory (TV show), Big Bang Theory Holiday Collection (again?), and This is Us. Roku isn’t perfect, mind you, but it at least knows a drama from a comedy (mostly), and more importantly, a movie from a TV show.

That said, the ability to quickly navigate within a show or movie is extremely helpful, not to mention having access to Alexa’s other smart-home talents.

Performance

We’re not sure if our model was just suffering from first week jitters, but the Fire TV Stick 4K arrived with a few more bugs in the system than we expected from a major player like Amazon. Along with the Netflix SDR issue (which came with a fix, granted, but is still a bit of a pain), the device’s Hulu app arrived with a major audio sync issue which rendered it essentially unusable.

Dan Baker/Digital Trends

We reached out to our Amazon rep for a fix, who told us it was an issue on Hulu’s side, and after a few days we were able to reload the app and the issues were eliminated. The device also froze up on our home network while watching Thursday Night Football, telling us our network was too slow. Somewhat ironically, the Roku app worked just fine to finish the game, and a speed test told us we had 31 Mbps. Again, we found an easy fix, this time by unplugging the device and plugging it back in.

Other Media Streamers

Those initial hiccups aside, most of our time with the Fire TV Stick 4K was time well spent. We absolutely love the sheer level of control the device offers, pairing the point-anywhere remote with TV controls, Alexa, and Amazon-enabled speakers, along with more in-app control functions than any stick we’ve reviewed yet; it’s the easiest way we know of to command your system at its price point.

Amazon claims the stick’s new 1.7GHz processor is 80 percent faster than its predecessor, and it does offer impressively speedy navigation, though load times will, of course, vary by network speed and connection.

Once we got everything working properly, we were equally impressed with the picture and sound quality. The device’s support for Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HDR10+ should future proof it quite nicely, and on the audio side, Dolby Atmos support essentially adds up to the best available sound and picture you can get in a stick. Not bad for 50 bones.

Our Take is that Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick is loaded to the gills with features, and apart from a few initial hiccups in operation, it offers some of the best value for your money — especially if you’re partial to Amazon’s handy Alexa ecosystem.Is there a better alternative?

After just over a week with the Fire TV Stick 4K, we still prefer the Roku $60 Streaming Stick+, as well as the comparably priced Premiere+, which both offer a more intuitive interface and smoother operation.

That said, if you’re dead set on Dolby Vision (meaning you’ve got a Dolby Vision-capable TV), and/or Alexa voice control, the Fire TV Stick 4K could be a better fit. If you’ve got a ton of devices to control, the pricier Fire TV Cube is another fantastic option, offering all the control and features of the Fire TV Stick, and more.

How long will it last? We'd say, With regular updates, multiple HDR formats, and Dolby Atmos support, the Fire TV Stick 4K is poised to last long into the future.So Should you buy it?  Yes, especially if you’re down with Alexa. Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K is loaded with features, and apart from a few bugs to work out, it stands as one of the best streaming devices you can get for your money.

Apple’s Partnership with Amazon Will Impact Small Businesses

The partnership between Apple and Amazon will quickly make new Apple products simpler to find on Amazon, but, at the cost of small businesses that earlier relied on Amazon to attain customers.
Starting Jan. 4, 2019, most effective Apple products listed via the business itself and authorized resellers will be allowed on Amazon. Here is nominally supposed to expand the products accessible and enrich client satisfaction, but CNET stated on Monday that a sound marketplace for used and refurbished contraptions on the verge of collapse.
Retailers are particularly crucial to Amazon and our shoppers, and we're notifying them now, so they can prepare for this exchange," an Amazon spokesperson pointed out. One vendor complained to CNET youngsters that Amazon is providing no other help, apart from promising to ship again unsold stock at its cost. Many businesses at the moment has about $50,000 or more valued in Apple products saved at Amazon warehouses, and plan to use eBay to liquidate anything that doesn't sell earlier than the January cut-off date.
Some groups may be in a position to slip under the wire through Amazon's Renewed certified refurbished software, but best if they're already promoting thousands and thousands of dollars in Apple products. It's notion that a lot and even lots of businesses may not qualify, and may be pressured to head to eBay or other websites to stream stock. Amazon's renewed licensed refurbished choices are not impacted with Apple. The Apple-Amazon deal applies to the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, and Spain, and should bring products like the iPhone XR, the 2018 iPad professional, and the Apple Watch collection 4 in coming weeks. One terrific exception is the HomePod, on the grounds it might compete with Amazon's Echo audio system. Apple says that it is "working with Amazon to increase the adventure for Apple purchasers on their web page."  All this is happening the same week that Apple launched it all new licensing agreement with online business to sale licensed refurbished products which are featuring a lot of sweet deals.  To see this deals, check out http://affordablennice.com/collections/apple.
Here, you'll find, like new manufacturer Apple products that comes with a typical one-12-month restricted guarantee which may also be prolonged for up to three years by procuring an AppleCare+ coverage plan for it. “Each Apple licensed Refurbished product completes a rigorous refurbishment method that includes full testing that meets the equal practical specifications as new Apple products,” Apple says, including that “Your refurbished equipment is in reality ‘like new,’ with particular discount rates of up to 15%.” while inventory and pricing tends to change on a day-with the aid of-day basis, Apple’s certified Refurbished products keep is conventional among shoppers eager to acquire the latest “gently-used” — besides the fact that children utterly flawless, checked, inspected and warrantied Apple products — for a fraction of the expense.
Head over now,  view and browse Apple’s revamped licensed Refurbished online and save on all the remarkable offers listed here at: https://affordablennice.com/collections/apple for certified refurbished Apple Macs and iPads, iPhones and more.