About To Break Down And Buy A Snowblower You May Be Too Late

(funny strange or funny ha ha)

Some people plan ahead, and a few people plan way ahead. For example, they go shopping for a snowblower in August, months before snow even thinks about forming. Most regular people don’t have this level of foresight, though, which is why there aren’t any snowblowers left in stores after a massive storm hits your region.

Sure, that seems pretty obvious from the outside, but that’s no help when you’ve got a drifted-in driveway and your local Home Depot says that they’re out of stock. Fortunately, there are always other options.

Our bundled-up colleagues over at Consumer Reports called around the snow-encrusted New York City suburbs to find out who still had snowblowers in stock. Inventory was running low at big-box stores and at Sears, but one category of store that most shoppers might not think of still had plenty of machines. Going directly to the dealers for outdoor-equipment manufacturers like Toro and MTD was fruitful, since dealers supply retail stores and sell directly to consumers. Local dealers had a variety of models in stock and ready to blow through your snow.

Buy a snow blower now before they sell out [Consumer Reports]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

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LG G Pro 2 Could Be Released In March Ahead Of The G3

LG made some big moves in 2013. After partnering with Google for the Nexus 4 in the fall of 2012, they followed up with the Optimus G Pro in April and the G2 in September of last year. The curved G Flex was released in November, too. The Korean company wants to make some big moves and challenge the big dogs and they’re on the right track to make that happen. In 2014, we could be looking at a handful more high-end smartphones from LG.

According to Korean site Naver , LG may be prepping the follow-up to the Optimus G Pro for release as early as March. We had previously heard that this new phablet might be called the GX. The LG G Pro 2 would be a perfect fit for a March release, and it would fit with LG’s release schedule this year. Like Samsung, LG released a flagship device in the spring and another in the fall. In LG’s case, their spring release was a phablet device, with the slightly smaller G2 being released later in the year. Unfortunately, we don’t have any details about the G Pro 2 other than this Korean analyst thinking it will be unveiled in Q1 of this year.

We have heard some rumors about the upcoming LG G3, which is expected to be announced in the second half of this year. The G3 will be the follow-up to the G2 and should come with a Quad HD 1440 x 2560 resolution display. We’re also hearing that it will pack a 16-megapixel rear camera and an all new octa-core processor that LG is building themselves. If last year’s pattern holds true, the G Pro 2 will have similar specs. If LG doesn’t have their new chipset ready in time, they may opt for a Snapdragon 800 or maybe an 805. Last year’s Optimus G Pro runs on a Snapdragon 600 SoC, so any one of those would be a step up. The new LG devices coming this year could also feature some kind of a flexible display based on the G Flex hardware.

A spring release would put the G Pro 2 head to head with the Samsung Galaxy S5, so we hope LG brings their A-game.

The post LG G Pro 2 Could Be Released In March Ahead Of The G3 appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

via AndroidHeadlines.com | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/01/lg-g-pro-2-released-march-ahead-g3.html

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Why Picking Up Extra Money Through Ride sharing May Not Be So Wise

(The Shabby Bunny)

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft have been in the news lately, mostly because of the controversial pricing structure and clashes with the taxi industry that these companies are trying so hard to disrupt. If all of this coverage has made you think, “Hey, I want to drive strangers around for some extra cash,” that’s possible with Lyft or the lower-end UberX service. There may be a danger that you hadn’t anticipated, though.

Let’s say that–heaven forbid–you get in a car crash while driving with a paying customer. Consumer Reports’ Car Insurance Guy points out that while Lyft drivers get excess liability insurance, that insurance does not cover injuries to you (the driver) or damage to your vehicle. Paying passengers, pedestrians, other cars? Sure.

“Well, that’s what I have car insurance for!” you might point out. Yes, you have personal car insurance. Not commercial car insurance. Most insurance policies have something that’s called a “livery exception.” That means “no hauling strangers around for pay.” You can drive your friend to the bait and tackle store when she gives you gas money, but you can’t prowl around the city with your smartphone out looking for people to drive around.

If you want to drive for one of these services, you have a few choices. You could not tell your insurer, then hope that nothing goes wrong. In the case of a crash, you could instruct your passengers to pretend to be your friends, which is fraudulent and could backfire. Your other choice is to tell your insurer that you’re doing some part-time taxi driving, and pay for a more expensive commercial policy. Would that be worth it? You would have to check with your insurance company.

Don’t risk your car insurance by operating your vehicle as a part-time taxi [Consumer Reports]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

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