Technologies

Amazon workers seeking to unionize could get lift from labor board settlement

A settlement between Amazon and the National Labor Relations Board comes nearly a month after a regional NLRB director said Amazon illegally interfered with an Alabama union vote.

Amazon workers who want to organize unions now have an easier path. The National Labor Relations Board has reached a settlement with the online giant that allows workers to «form, join, or assist a union,» pick representatives to bargain on their behalf, and «act together with other employees» for worker «benefit and protection.»

Amazon warehouse employees will also no longer be forced to leave «non-working areas» 15 minutes before or after they start their shifts.

«Whether a company has 10 employees or a million employees, it must abide by the National Labor Relations Act,» Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel for the NLRB, said Thursday in a statement. «This settlement agreement provides a crucial commitment from Amazon to millions of its workers across the United States that it will not interfere with their right to act collectively to improve their workplace by forming a union or taking other collective action.

«Working people should know that the National Labor Relations Board will vigorously seek to ensure Amazon’s compliance with the settlement and continue to defend the labor rights of all workers.»

News of the agreement was revealed Thursday following a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The New York Times. It comes nearly a month after an NLRB regional director disqualified the results of a failed union vote at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama. The decision was based in part on a mailbox that Amazon placed near the entrance of the facility alongside signs that told workers to vote.

Regional director Lisa Henderson wrote in her 20-page ruling that by placing the mailbox and signs, Amazon had installed its own ballot collection box, which is against NLRB protocols as it suggests that the company is running the election. The mailbox was also placed in the view of multiple security cameras.

In a statement provided to CNET at the time, Amazon said it was disappointed in the decision and reiterated that it believes unions won’t benefit its employees. The company didn’t address the complaints that it broke labor laws in the lead-up to the vote.

Amazon didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

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Technologies

Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.