Etsy bans sale of questionable Washington Redskins merch

The debate over the appropriateness of the Washington Redskins’ name has been raging for what seems like ages now, and even homegrown e-commerce operations are feeling the effects. Consider Etsy, for instance. The fast-growing purveyor of neat and offbeat products recently updated its policies to ban the sale of any merch with the Redskins’ name or logo. Washington’s trademark burgundy and gold are still in the clear, as is the word “Washington” itself… and that’s about it. Etsy has already started reaching out to sellers whose wares run afoul of the new rule, but it’ll probably be a while before the site is fully purged. Just take a look: here’s still plenty of seemingly verboten Redskins-branded swag to be found on Etsy at this point, while sellers of more innocuous wares (like a HTTR “Hail to the Redskins” wristband that doesn’t actually say “Redskins”) are being told they’re out of luck. It’s possible that the furor over the Redskins name could come to a close soon – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell threw his support behind Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder, but his tenure might not last much longer as a result of his handling of Ray Rice’s domestic abuse controversy.

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Via: The Verge

Source: Etsy

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Phones4u forced into administration after EE says it’s pulling the plug

Less than two weeks ago, we remarked that things were looking tough for Phones4u. Today, it looks as though the company no longer has a future. After Vodafone said it was dropping its partnership deal with the company to go all in with Dixons Carphone, EE, the biggest carrier in the UK, has done what it threatened to do earlier in the year and announced it too is going alone. In a statement, Phones4u said that EE has decided not to renew its current contract, which expires in just over a year, leaving the company with no other choice than to call in the administrators. “The unexpected decisions by both Vodafone and EE have come as a complete shock to the business,” it noted, adding that it’ll honour existing contracts (no word on iPhone 6 pre-orders) but close stores while it assesses its options.

According to company representatives, Vodafone pulled a u-turn on talks after it had “consistently indicated to the management of Phones 4u over more than six months” that it would renew its deal. EE’s announcement also has it baffled, because the deal still has a year to run. Both O2 and Three have already walked away from the company. Although it has an existing deal with EE to provide coverage for its own LIFE Mobile MVNO, Phones4u’s customer footprint is small and would not be able to sustain 550 standalone stores that employ 5,596 people. What the future has in store for Phones4u is now anyone’s guess, but we expect Dixons Carphone will be rubbing its hands at the prospect of having one less rival on the High Street.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Nikon’s mid-range D750 DSLR acts pricier than it actually is

I first cut my teeth on a Nikon D40, but I’ve spent the past few years picking the up basics of photography with a handful of Canon SLRs. I’m not great by any stretch, but I’ve got just enough experience under my belt that I’m itching to trade in my more basic gear for something with a bit more oomph… which makes me the sort of person Nikon had in mind when it started putting together its new D750. We’ve covered the basics here, but let’s dig a little more into what it’s like to use the thing.

Here’s what you’ve got to remember about the D750: in many ways, it’s a mash-up of the year-old D610 and the newly released D810. The $2,300 body pairs a 24.9-megapixel full-frame sensor and dual SD card slots we saw in the D610 with the Expeed 4 image processor, metering system and 51-point autofocus sensor from the D810 (though that last one was refined to work better in super low-light situations). The control layout ’round the back is near identical to the D610, too, but there are some physical differences worth pointing out. Considering what Nikon has squeezed into the D750 (like built-in WiFi and a flip-up 3.2-inch LCD screen) it’s a surprise the 750 is as handy as it is. The grip is deeper and more comfortable than I’m used to, mostly because Nikon says they’ve shuffled around the sensor stack and internals to make the body thinner. Pair that with a weather-sealed body made of magnesium and carbon fiber (what is this, a car?) and you’ve got a surprisingly airy piece of kit to tote around, even when you’ve got a battery grip slapped on the bottom of it like I did.

Nikon staffers let me throw a NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED lens ($800 when it launches in October) onto the body, and performance was snappy and responsive. Pressing the shutter button triggers with the hearty, resounding thunk, and Nikon says you should be able to just north of 1,200 shots out of the D750 on a single charge. We’ll see if our experience lives up to that bar when it comes time for a full review. Videographers may get a kick out of the D750, too: it’ll shoot up to Full HD and you can tweak your aperture while you record. Alas, we couldn’t get any sample images or video, but there’s no denying that the D750 is a compelling little package… even if it does seem to make the still-kicking D610 look obsolete. The D750 body will cost only $300 more than the D610 and it’s got enough of the high-end D810’s neat tricks to make that price difference worth it for plenty of photogs. If you’re a Nikon buff itching for a back-up body or something fresh to replace some more amateurish gear, keep an eye out for this thing when it hit store shelves some time in October.

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