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Samuel M. Livingston

Samsung Joins Everyone Else, Starts Testing Self-Driving Cars In California

Putting “California” and “cars” together in one sentence evokes a nice mental image of a convertible cruising down the scenic coastal curves of state Route 101. These days, though, the big thing in the Golden State is less about drivers having fun in the sun, and more about taking drivers out of the picture altogether. [More]

Silver Machine

Cablevision, Suddenlink Owner Altice May Join U.S. Cell Phone Market

With only four major U.S. wireless providers (and possibly three, if T-Mobile and Sprint merge), and a growing number of Americans whose primary connection to the world is through their phones, it makes sense that traditional cable operators are realizing they need to go mobile to reach cord-cutters and cord-nevers. Altice, the Dutch parent company of Cablevision and Suddenlink, is the latest cable biggie to say it may jump into the wireless fray stateside.
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Mike Mozart

Sam’s Club Forgot To Tell Some Employees About Their Clever Costco Promotion

Last Monday was an important day in retail history, and we’re not being sarcastic: it was the day that Costco switched its credit card acceptance policy from only accepting American Express to only accepting Visa. The transition didn’t go smoothly for some members, and national competitor Sam’s Club decided to take advantage of the confusion and try to win over some of those members. Unfortunately, some employees didn’t know about this. [More]

jetsetpress

AT&T Raises Phone Upgrade And Activation Fee To $20, Matches Verizon

You may remember just over a week ago when we learned about Verizon’s plans to raise activation fees for new lines or new phones for old lines for a wider variety of their customers. Someone over at AT&T Wireless apparently thought that sounded like a good idea, since the carrier will also raise its upgrade fee to $20. Worse: Verizon won’t impose the fee if you purchase your own phone elsewhere, but AT&T will. [More]

Mike Mozart

Sam’s Club To Accept Visa Credit Cards As Of February 1

Shoppers at Sam’s Club will no longer need to ensure that they have the correct credit card on hand or that they’ve brought cash: as of February 1, 2016, the warehouse club will begin accepting Visa credit cards in its stores, finally making all four credit card networks accepted in its stores. [More]