Enlarge / Consumer Reports' investigation suggests that, should this delivery person press and hold the bell button and then pair using Eken's app, he could see if other delivery people get such a perfunctory response. (credit: Eken)

Video doorbell cameras have been commoditized to the point where they're available for $30–$40 on marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, Temu, and Shein. The true cost of owning one might be much greater, however.

Consumer Reports (CR) has released the findings of a security investigation into two budget-minded doorbell brands, Eken and Tuck, which are largely the same hardware produced by the Eken Group in China, according to CR. The cameras are further resold under at least 10 more brands. The cameras are set up through a common mobile app, Aiwit . And the cameras share something else, CR claims: "troubling security vulnerabilities."

Enlarge (credit: Vizio )

Walmart announced an agreement to buy Vizio today. Irvine, California-based Vizio is best known for lower-priced TVs, but its real value to Walmart is its advertising business and access to user data.

Walmart said it's buying Vizio for approximately $2.3 billion, pending regulatory clearance and additional closing conditions. Vizio can also terminate the transaction over the next 45 days if it accepts a better offer, per the announcement.

Walmart will keep selling non-Vizio TVs should the merger close, Seth Dallaire, Walmart US' EVP and CRO who would manage Vizio post-acquisition, told The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ).

Enlarge / Eye drop over woman's eye. (credit: Getty | AGF )

The Indian manufacturing facility that made generic eye drops sold under CVS, Target, Rite Aid, and Walmart brands had a slew of manufacturing violations, including allowing workers to regularly perform their roles barefoot and failing to document bacterial contamination, according to an inspection report released by the Food and Drug Administration.

Last month, the regulator warned consumers to immediately stop using over two dozen kinds of big-brand eye drops due to a risk of infection . The list has since been updated to include a few more products. In addition to the big store brands, the eye drops were also sold as Leader (Cardinal Health), Rugby (Cardinal Health), and Velocity Pharma branded products.

All of the products are made by Kilitch Healthcare India Limited in Mumbai. At the time of the FDA's initial warning, the agency said it had found bacterial contamination in critical production areas of the Mumbai facility. As such, the agency warned of a possibility that the products, which are intended to be sterile, may not be and could pose a risk of infection.

Enlarge / This 1980 transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image revealed some of the ultrastructural morphology exhibited by three poxvirus, molluscum contagiosum virions. (credit: CDC )

The Food and Drug Administration sent a flurry of warning letters this week over bogus homeopathic products falsely claiming to be antiviral cures—products mostly marketed to children.

Amazon , Walmart , and the homeopathic company behind Naturasil products were among those receiving warnings for allegedly selling unapproved drugs in violation of federal regulations. The products are "especially concerning from a public health perspective because they are marketed for use in children," the FDA wrote in its letter to Amazon.

The regulator identified four products on Amazon that were in violation. All of the products claimed to treat molluscum contagiosum and three were identified as homeopathic products. One of the products was Naturasil's "Molluscum Treatment Kit," which was also the focus of the letter to Walmart.

Enlarge / What're ya buyin'? (credit: Aurich Lawson | Capcom)

Online retailers that host third-party sellers, like Amazon and Walmart, have extensive, competitively priced electronics selections. But for years, they have also served as playgrounds for fraudulent sellers, who list products with inflated or deceptive performance claims. Worse, some of these products pose a physical threat to customers.

The problem has become so widespread that by the end of this month, the federal government will require online retailers to do a much better job of vetting seller credentials, courtesy of the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers ( INFORM Consumers) Act. But scammers are persistent, and workarounds seem inevitable. So what more should we demand from these giant retailers, and what can shoppers, including the less tech-savvy, do to take matters into their own hands?

To paint a picture of how prominent scammy tech is online, imagine you're in the market for a roomy portable SSD. You eventually land at Walmart.com, where there's a 60TB drive selling for under $39 . The only downside? It's obviously not a real 60TB SSD.

Enlarge (credit: Getty | Jeff Greenberg )

Pharmacy giants CVS and Walmart will have to face trials over claims that placing ineffective homeopathic products alongside legitimate over-the-counter medicines on store shelves deceives consumers into thinking that the pseudoscientific products are akin to evidence-based, Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs.

The claims come from the nonprofit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which filed nearly identical lawsuits against CVS and Walmart in 2018 and 2019, respectively, to try to boot homeopathic products from pharmacy aisles for good. CFI claimed that deceptive placement of the water-based products violated the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA).

Two lower courts initially dismissed the lawsuits. But, in a unanimous ruling last week, a panel of three judges for the District of Columbia's highest court overturned the dismissals in a consolidated appeal, allowing the trials to move forward.

Enlarge / A Canoo LDV wearing Walmart colors. The retailer should receive its first LDVs in 2023. (credit: Canoo)

Electric vehicle startup Canoo announced on Tuesday that Walmart has placed an order for 4,500 of its Lifestyle Delivery Vehicles. Canoo and Walmart are customizing the LDV for last-mile deliveries, with added cargo space instead of a front passenger seat and slide-out shelves in the back designed to fit totes used by the retail giant.

"Our LDV has the turning radius of a small passenger vehicle on a parking-friendly, compact footprint, yet the payload and cargo space of a commercial delivery vehicle. This is the winning algorithm to seriously compete in the last-mile delivery race, globally," said Tony Aquila, investor, chairman, and CEO of Canoo. "Walmart’s massive store footprint provides a strategic advantage in today’s growing 'Need it now' mindset and an unmatched opportunity for growing EV demand, especially at today’s gas prices."

Canoo has had a rocky time of late. Founded by Faraday Future alumni and now based, like Walmart, in Bentonville, Arkansas , it originally planned a subscription-only electric van, then underwent a management change and a merger with a special purpose acquisition company that resulted in a pivot. In April of this year it won a contract to provide NASA with a new astronaut transport vehicle but the following month was forced to issue a warning that it might not have enough cash to pay its bills.