Consumer Reports: Tour Inside the Test Labs
Gearlog — ... YONKERS, NY -- Every once in a while, Consumer Reports opens its test facilities to others in the media for a show and tell, typically just as a major magazine issue approaches: holiday gifts in the fall, sometimes new cars in the spring. This week, with the impending release of its Best Electronics holiday issue (December), Consumer Reports showed off its massive facilities in Yonkers, NY, a half-hour north of New York City. ...

Consumer Reports Rates Top Digital Cameras
I4U News — ... Reports says go for the Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS ELPH at $200. The Casio Exilim Card EX-S10 and Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T70 are also recommended. Those looking for a camera under $200 should check out the Canon PowerShot A590 IS, Samsung L210 and Pentax Optio M50. In the DSLR category, the Nikon D90 is recommended thanks to its video recording capability. The Lumix DMC-G1, Pentax K200D, Canon EOS Rebel XSi are recommended. On the high DSLR end, the Canon EOS040D is recommended. Via Consumer Reprots Posted on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:56:44 CDT | by Shane McGlaun ...

Inside Consumer Reports' Electronics Testing Lab [Hardware]
Gizmodo — You probably only read Consumer Reports if a) you are at your grandparents house or b) you are a grandparent yourself. But that's too bad, because tucked quietly away in the NYC suburb of Yonkers lies one of the biggest and best electronics testing labs money can buy. And what goes on here at Consumer Reports main test facility probably puts most other tech pubs to shame. We got a chance to look at all of the top dollar gear used to put everything found in CR's electronics pages in a complete vacuum of testing, basically removing every possible outside variable to test the pure hardware performance. That ...

Consumer Reports’s New App for iPhone & iPod Touch
SolSie.com — ... independent, buying advice to consumers in different forms of media," said Jerry Steinbrink, vice president of publishing for Consumer Reports.  "From print, to online, to mobile phones, and now on iPhones and the iPod Touch, putting Consumer Reports in the hands of consumers at the point of purchase will help them make better purchasing decisions." [image] [image] Leave a comment Name (required) E-mail (required) URI Your Comment Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

Consumer Reports App for iPhone, iPod Touch
Cult of Mac — ... A free app from magazine Consumer Reports available on iTunes may help harried shoppers decide in a hurry which model is worth it in the coming holiday season. ...

Consumer Reports Survey Details America's Black Friday Spending Plans [Black Friday]
Gizmodo — While you are busy letting us know your Black Friday plans for this year over in our Question of the Day, do feel free to cheat off the paper of the 1,000 or so folks Consumer Reports called up and grilled on their own personal plans for post-holiday mayhem. How will Giz readers stack up? CR found that, unsurprisingly, the number of folks hitting the stores is higher this year despite the economy's current position in the proverbial shitter—26% versus 21% in 2007. And of that 26%, electronics remain the main target, although much more so this year than last, with 85% heading to the gadget ...

Samsung Blackjack II is the top smartphone according to Consumer Reports
PalmAddicts — ... Bloody hell, I don't see this coming, and I believe neither do you. But according to Consumer Reports' report in January 2009 issue (via ...

Consumer Reports top 5 smartphones will surprise you [jkOnTheRun]
GigaOM Network — ... Consumer Reports is a great publication, online or print, that does a very thorough job testing, rating and reporting on various consumer products.  They usually are good at defining what is important to the consumer and designing criteria for rating products in a given category.  It was with great surprise when ...

Consumer Reports top 5 smartphones will surprise you
jkOnTheRun — ... Consumer Reports is a great publication, online or print, that does a very thorough job testing, rating and reporting on various consumer products.  They usually are good at defining what is important to the consumer and designing criteria for rating products in a given category.  It was with great surprise when ...

Consumer Reports consumes Consumerist
VentureBeat — Gawker Media, the publisher of popular blogs such as Gawker and Jezebel, has sold its Consumerist blog to Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports. Consumerist snarkily brings readers product deals and discounts as well as critiques and tips for dealing with companies (see “Target ‘not responsible’ for flying carts of doom” for a sample post). The blog is most popular with younger, male readers, with 70% between ages 18-34, although it’s taught me everything I never wanted to ...

Consumers Union to Buy Gawker Blog Consumerist
NYT > Technology — Consumers Union , the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, planned to announce on Wednesday that it had acquired Consumerist.com , a popular blog formerly owned by Gawker Media . Consumerist is one of several sites Gawker has sold this year, including the political gossip blog Wonkette and the travel site Gridskipper. The blog offers consumer tips, like how to return products and how to confound a telemarketer, and covers shopper complaints, like excessive retail markups. It will become part of a new division of Consumers Union, and the current editors will remain. No plans are under way ...

Consumers Union's New Consumer Media Unit Could Expand Beyond Consumerist; No Paid Ads Allowed
paidContent — ... But that distance doesn't include a change CU's policy towards advertising. Weine said the only ads on Consumerist will be house ads for Consumer Reports products. ConsumerReports.org has 3.3 million paid subscribers and provides a blend of premium and free content. Plans call for Consumerist to remain free. Weine: "As of now the only thing in Consumer Media is free content and that's our intention." So what's the business model? Weine suggests stepping back first to see the business model for Consumers Union, which is 90 percent subscription ...

Facebook's new privacy policy under fire
SFGate: The Technology Chronicles — ... , which is now run by the publisher of Consumer Reports . The new policy isn't much different from the old, but people are taking issue with the deletion of language that said Facebook's license to use members' information would "automatically expire" if the content were removed. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to clarify the amended policy Monday in a ...

Some information wants to be sold?
TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home — The crux of many of the “can newspapers be saved” articles we have covered in recent months is whether consumers would be willing to pay for content. In a recent article, Slate—itself a veteran of attempting to charge users for content—looks at kinds of content for which consumers might be willing to pay. In the article, Jack Shafer writes: Not all successful paid sites are alike, but they all share at least one of these attributes: 1) They are so amazing as to be irreplaceable. 2) They are beautifully designed and executed and extremely easy to use. ...

Tibesti launches reviews site with questionable reviews
Webware.com — ... "We want the credibility of Consumer Reports," Hale told me. Which reviews site doesn't? But you have to earn that by having good reviews. ...

Consumer Reports Top Cars: Toyota Prius, Lexus LS 460
Gearlog — ... The Toyota Prius hybrid is the best value in a new car and the Lexus LS 460 is the best overall vehicle, says Consumer Reports in its April 2009 cars issue. In the 10 categories the magazine uses, eight of the top 10 picks are Japanese, one is Korean, and one is American. The top 10 cars overall in road tests are a bit more diverse: six Japanese, two German, one Korean, one American. The magazine says its top picks are based on road tests, reliability, and safety. Are there are any categories where American automakers dominate? Unfortunately, yes: the three least satisfying cars ...

Consumer Reports: Boomtime for cybercrime
SFGate: The Technology Chronicles — ... software to protect against accidentally downloading malicious code, and nearly 20 percent didn't try to block viruses. Cost should not be a problem, the magazine said, because some of the best security software on the market is free, although it can be harder than commercial software to use. You can see Consumer Reports' recommendations on the best security software and computers at www.consumerreports.org. The magazine's Online Security Guide, which offers resources and tips, is here . ...

Consumer Reports continues to dote on Apple's notebooks
Infinite Loop — ... Consumer Reports sure does love Apple's notebooks, as evidenced by the publication's June report. The latest unibody MacBooks were given the blue ribbon in every portable category, including desktop replacements. When it came to the 13-inch notebook category, Apple's offerings occupied all three of the top spots, with the unibody MacBook at the top, the MacBook Air in second place, and the plastic MacBook in third. ...

Consumer Reports Conducting Link Exchange Requests?
Search Engine Roundtable — ... There are rumors that the incredibly popular magazine and website, Consumer Reports is sending out link exchange requests to webmasters and SEOs. A ...

When Is It Worthwhile To Buy Organic? [Organic Food]
Consumerist — ... . Unfortunately, it doesn't cover foods beyond fruits and vegetables, such as grains and meats. According to Consumer Reports , baby food, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy should also head up the list of things you want to buy organically. Just make sure when doing so that you carefully read labels. Labels including "USDA Organic/Organic," "Not Treated with rBGH," "No Hormones Administered or Added" and "Certified Humane" are the real deal. Products labeled "No Antibiotics Used or Administered/Raised without Antibiotics," "No Hormones Administered" and "Grass-Fed" might also be ...

Downturn in Consumption Hits Consumer Reports; Mulling Layoffs
paidContent — If consumers aren’t buying, then they aren’t buying Consumer Reports either. At least not as much as previous years. And so, even though the print + online combine still has nine million subscribers (it doesn’t accept advertising) and has been profitable for the longest time, the parent Consumers Union is mulling some layoffs, its first ever, if the employees union doesn’t agree to a $1.8 million in cost savings. CU’s new 2010 fiscal year, which started on June 1, projects an operating loss, though the Union won’t specify how much. CU’s annual report for 2009 is not ...

5 Ways Traditional Media Companies are Using Online Video
Mashable! — ... Consumer Reports started out as a print publication in the 1930s. During the next quarter century, it became a trade media icon, often changing the marketing campaigns of products by issuing positive or negative reviews. Its web site, ConsumerReports.org, extended this influence online. While its business ...

Net Neutrality: Hit satire coming to a theatre near you
ZDNet Government — ... even if the script says to stand over in the corner, you can be sure that they’ll find a way to center stage. Their problem is that they don’t have all the dialogue properly memorized, too busy being John Wayne and Mary Pickford when the audience thought they were getting Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts. Their solution is to quickly change characters, but change their mind so often they wind up playing Archie Bunker and Britney Spears. If only George Carlin was still around to save them. Consumers are the hardest act. They don’t have a single voice but they tell you that they do. ...

Consumer Reports readers love the Apple Store
Macworld — ... take note: Apparently you'll need more than minimalist design and enthusiastic clerks wearing brightly-colored shirts if you want to run a successful brick-and-mortar store. In a recent  Consumer Reports survey, Apple Stores finished in a tie for the top spot among walk-in electronics retailers. Published in the magazine's December issue, the results of the poll show that, on a scale of 0 to 100, readers rated their experience at the Apple Store as a 90. The ratings were based on responses from more than 31,000 readers who bought electronics between June 2008 and June 2009. ...

Cell survey: Verizon best, AT&T worst in Houston
TechBlog —

Survey: Top 7 tech gripes
TechBlog — Linkpost | 11.29.2009 | Main November 29, 2009 Survey: Top 7 tech gripes We love technology, except when we don't. And when we don't is when it's more of a hindrance than a help, especially when it's misused or when it simply doesn't work as it should. Then, it drives us bonkers. Consumer Reports asked 1,125 Americans to rank 21 common gripes on a scale of 1-10, and the results appeared in the January 2010 issue - the same print edition that includes the wireless provider survey I wrote about Saturday . And like the cell phone piece, this story isn't on the magazine's Web site . What's ...

AT&T Dead Last in Customer Satisfaction [REPORT]
Mashable! — From the “this might not come as much of a surprise” department is the latest wireless customer satisfaction survey from Consumer Reports. The annual results from over 50,000 readers surveyed in 26 U.S. cities found AT&T to have the lowest customer satisfaction rating in 19 of them, while Verizon ranked highest (that undoubtedly stings AT&T). Considering that customer complaints have frequently been brushed under the rug as relatively isolated problems in high profile markets like New York City and San Francisco because of the proliferation of iPhone ...