SquareTrade Warranty Blog

Your task, should you choose to accept it: Changing an Industry!

On a mission to change an industry: As you know, SquareTrade's mission is to empower consumers with a choice. As such, we're known for doing a lot of things that break the status quo, setting us apart from those other pushy, pricey warranties.

One way we go about this is by finding innovative ways to use technology to save you time, money and energy. Which means, if you like a challenge, live to instigate change and love to take the initiative, you're our kind of people!

Put your problem-solving hat on! During recent interviews for the newest members of our engineering team, we gave them a fun creative challenge: 

• We gave them each a box of legos, a web camera, laptop and rubix cube. 
• Their task was to develop an algorithm to solve the rubix cube in 20 moves or less. Points for speed but reliability was essential.

The result? The world's fastest lego speedcubing robot!

OK, so I'm just kidding about the test we gave our new engineers. Sort of. We didn't give them the rubix cube challenge, but...

Smart Technology: More Efficient and Affordable

Technology saves time and energy! As a gadget geek, I'm constantly in awe of how technology can be used to do things quicker and more efficiently. I must admit, I'm especially thrilled whenever the result is convenience with a smaller price tag AND reduced carbon footprint.

It's part of why I love living in the Bay Area, a global center for cleantech innovation. I'm constantly on the lookout for  companies like SquareTrade that use technology to do things smarter - saving consumers time, money and energy.

In related news: Earlier this week, IBM announced a breakthrough in solar-panels. The result? They've developed a way to obtain a 40% boost in efficiency over commercially available solar cells -- at a fraction of the cost!

As a savvy consumer, you already know that SquareTrade is up 70% less than traditional warranties. And, like the IBM researchers, our team is constantly innovating, searching for more convenient, efficient ways to do things.

Case in point? With SquareTrade's paperless management, you always have 24 x 7 access to view, print, transfer/cancel your warranty. Since your contract is all online, you'll never have to keep up with that paperwork!

Filing a claim is quick and easy too:  Just go to squaretrade.com and log in to "My Warranties" or give us a call at 877-WARRANTY.

 

Yup, we'll even store your item's receipt digitally to save you time and avoid hassle, should you ever need to file a claim:

Just go to squaretrade.com and log in to "My Warranties." After you login, select your warranty. Click "Manage my receipt" and find out where to forward your purchase confirmation email or fax in your receipt.

It's that easy! We'll send you a confirmation email within the hour.

Questions? Please give us a call at 877-WARRANTY and we'll be happy to assist!

While we put technology to use to make things more efficient and affordable, we pride ourselves on best-in class service. This means providing excellent service - online or off, whenever you need us. So give us a call anytime - we love hearing from you!

CBS reports: SquareTrade Customers Avoid High Pressure Warranty Sales

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Are warranties worthwhile or just a waste of time?  CBS 19 (WOIO-TV) and CBS 5 ConsumerWatch (KPIX-TV) took a closer look at extended warranties, exploring the pros and cons. Is there a way to avoid the high-pressure warranty sales? Check out these videos - sure you can relate!

CBS 19 recommends SquareTrade to avoid high pressure sales tactics & get a "square deal." (Feb. 8, 2010)

Sue Kwon of CBS 5 Consumer Watch says avoid pressure at checkout --
get half the cost of traditional warranties with SquareTrade. (Feb. 4, 2010)

Gadget fans vote: Top 10 Super Bowl tech ads

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It's the Monday after the big game which means it's time for one of my favorite past times - breaking down the highlights of the Super Bowl's best ads!  It's one of the hottest topics of conversation around the office water cooler and it certainly has twitter and facebook abuzz. But, here's an interesting twist for fellow gadget fans...

Over the weekend I came across a poll in Computerworld, highlighting the Top 10 Super Bowl Tech ads, since 1976. As Computerworld's Valerie Potter points out, "technology companies have a long and illustrious history as Super Bowl advertisers." So far, Apple seems to be holding a comfortable lead as the best Super Bowl tech ad:

The Apple "1984" Super Bowl ad (1984) which introduced the Macintosh Computer to the world.

"No "top 10" list of Super Bowl commercials would be complete without Apple's iconic "1984," which introduced the vibrant new Macintosh computer to a sterile, gray, corporate dystopia inspired by George Orwell's 1984. And yet it breaks all the rules of Super Bowl advertising: It's not funny. It's not cute. It's not fast-moving. It's not heartwarming." "But, wow. Just ... wow." - Valerie Potter, Computerworld

So, what's your #1 pick? If you haven't already, be sure to check out the rest - including classics from Intel, Iomega, Garmin and Xerox! Vote for your top pick or submit one of your own. (Feel free to post your favorite video on our facebook fanpage or  join the conversation on twitter).

Google and Amazon Working on an Answer to the iPad?

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Hrmmm....are things just heating up? With the start of the New Year, a number of  tablets were announced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Already, there was talk that Tablet PCs were perched to steal the spotlight from netbooks. Then came the official unvieling of Apple's iPad.  Now, there are rumors flying about Google stepping into the fray, pointing to a series of mockups and early concepts for a Chrome-based tablet PC. Meanwhile, Amazon is also said to have acquired touchscreen startup Touchco with plans to merge it with its Kindle Hardware division.

So, what might this mean for the future of media tablets? According to a report from analysts at ABI Research, we'll likely see four million media tablets shipped this year and "a rise to 57 million units by 2015, prodded along by the iPad." I'll admit I'm a bit of a gadget geek and may eventually be included amongst those tablet owners. But, working for an industry-changer like SquareTrade, what I find particularly exciting (and far more important) is that companies like Apple, Google and Amazon have a proven ability to push the industry, driving constant innovation:

Multi-touch for Nexus One but not other Androids?

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With Google's announcement Tuesday, Nexus One owners were informed they would soon be receiving an over-the-air software update which will enable multi-touch for various applications. Other updates would address some of the problems with the Nexus that many of you reported earlier - including a general fix to improve spotty 3G connectivity.

Are fellow Androids left behind? I'm sure that this will be warmly received by Nexus One users as it will enhance browsing and navigation through photos and maps with pinch-to-zoom technology. But, I can't help but wonder how Droid, Hero, Cliq and other (potential) Android owners feel. The multi-touch support is possible but absent from many of these fellow Androids. It's not clear why that's the case but there's plenty of speculation... Google, up until yesterday, left multi-touch off its U.S. Android phones, presumably in deference to Apple’s multi-touch patent. - ZDNet, Jason O'Grady Rumor has it Apple requested that Google avoid multi-touch back when the companies were cozy, but Google may no longer want to comply now that the relationship has soured. - PCWorld, Jared Newman Within minutes of Apple pushing iPhone 3.1.3 Google began pushing out an Android update to Nexus One users. Hmmm. Timing's a little suspicious, but we'll chalk it up to coincidence. - ZDNet, Jason O'Grady Where does that leave you - still waiting for your update? What's your reaction to the timing of the Nexus One multi-touch update? Any current Nexus One owners already download and test it out? Feel free to sound off in the comments below or join the conversation on twitter. Oh, and on the note of waiting: if you're a current Nexus One owner, you should be on the lookout for a message in your phone's notification bar prompting you to download the software update. For details on the full list of updates, see Google's Nexus One announcement.

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