Posts tagged Shopping at Switched

Posts with tag shopping

Apple Could Be Running Out of iPods, Analyst Says

by Lee Bains, posted Dec 4th 2008 at 6:29PM

One analyst suspects that Apple may be undergoing what he describes as an "iPod shortage" this Holiday season, Cnet reports.

Shaw Wu (of the Kaufman Bros. market analysis firm) disclosed in a statement that, judging from insider retailer reports, he believes stores like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target are experiencing this "shortage." Buyers found Amazon.com to be under-supplied with the media players as early as the Saturday following Black Friday.

This news comes as a surprise, considering, and probably attributable to, the current state of the economy. Wu suspects, and we tend to agree, that Apple -- in light of bleak Holiday shopping forecasts -- did not foresee the demand for iPods approaching current numbers. Wu suspects that Apple, before holiday shopping is all said and done, will unload 21 million iPods. If they can supply them, that is.

While we acknowledge the inconvenience potential iPod buyers could encounter if their store were to run out of the media players, we also have a problem with the term 'shortage' in its application to this development.

When crops fail, there's a food shortage. When rain doesn't fall, there's a water shortage. Heck, when oil wells dry up, there's a petroleum shortage. But when you can't buy an iPod, that's just the store running out of some stuff you want. [From: Cnet]

Mall Displaying Mugshots of Convicted Shoplifters

by Kaiser Hwang, posted Dec 3rd 2008 at 11:01AM

Finding an effective way to deter crime is obviously preferable to stopping a crime in progress. The question is, how do you do it? At home, people bar their windows, put up "Beware of Dog" signs, and conspicuously display security system signage in hopes of scaring off criminals before they commit a crime. But what if you're a shop owner inside a mall? The Staten Island district attorney thinks he has the solution: advertise criminal mugshots on HDTVs throughout the building.

Already in effect at the Staten Island Mall on 11 in-mall displays, district attorney Daniel Donovan used $8000.00 of forfeited criminal money to buy the "ads." By mid-January, the selected mugshots will have been shown over two million times to an uncountable number of shoppers. The company serving the incriminating photos, Adspace Digital Mall Network, owns numerous video displays in 105 malls across 39 cities, so if proven successful, chances are you'll be seeing eye-to-eye with the mugshots of some convicted local criminals.

While we can generally see the benefits of this concept, there are many variables here that have to be taken into consideration. Kara Gotsch, advocacy director of The Sentencing Project, a civil liberties group makes one especially good point: "Their sentence was whatever the judge gave them. This is punishment above and beyond," said Gotsch . "It's stigmatizing these people." Even though Donovon stresses that only chronic cases are getting the ad treatment, don't people deserve the right to start over? [From: WalletPop]

Even With $199 Players, Blu-ray Sales Are Struggling

by Kaiser Hwang, posted Dec 3rd 2008 at 7:25AM

Back when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, Blu-ray and HD-DVD coexisted in a competitive market that frustrated consumers with a lack of high-def disc formats. The result was no one really upgrading to either format due to fears of one or the other going obsolete. Then HD-DVD officially gave up, and Blu-ray was declared the winner. Happily ever after, right? Not quite.

According to a study by ABI Research, only 8% of consumers were considering upgrading to Blu-ray players this holiday season due to the cost involved. Not just the cost of the players (which have dropped dramatically over months, all the way down to $199), but the cost of an HDTV, a Blu-ray player, and the more expensive movies combined. Especially when you can now download HD content over the Internet and watch it on your TV with your PlayStation 3, XBox 360, Netflix box, or Vudu player. Given that many people don't care that much for high-def content (yet), or simply don't see much difference between SD and HD content, paying twice as much for a television, player, and movie seems like a waste.

So is Blu-ray out for the count? Maybe not. Let's not forget we're in a struggling economy that will one day get better. Additionally, PlayStation 3 sales have been skyrocketing, automatically giving millions of people a Blu-ray player in their house. Add onto that some DVD-like prices for Blu-ray movies on Amazon, and there's hope for the format yet. Regardless, we still buy physical media every now and then, mostly because digital options (like downloads) have yet to include all the special features included on discs. [From: Boing Boing]

Cyber Monday Traffic Way Up, Xbox 360 Sales Hit Record

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 2nd 2008 at 10:53AM

Cyber Monday Traffic Way Up, Xbox 360 Cleans House

Yesterday's news about holiday shopping was somewhat positive, with online shopping found to be up two percent on Black Friday compared to 2007, but the word that overall holiday shopping was down four percent sent the markets reeling. Today's news about Cyber Monday, though, is much more positive, with word coming in that there were 46 percent more shoppers online than last year!

The rate of shoppers yesterday was 6.7 million per minute, a massive figure that's nearly 50 percent higher than last year's 4.6 million. There's no word yet of final sales resulting from all that traffic, but it must be good, and Microsoft, for one, is spreading some joy, letting the world know that over the holiday weekend it sold 25 percent more Xbox 360 consoles than during the same period last year. An even better sign for the console, currently the cheapest of the current generation of gaming systems, is that it out-sold Sony's PlayStation3 by a three-to-one ratio. What we don't know is how well Nintendo's Wii sold, but one word comes to mind: gangbusters. [From: ZDNet, and Microsoft]

Despite Economic Slump, Online Black Friday Sales Up

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 1st 2008 at 10:30AM

Online Holiday Sales Up 2 Percent vs. Last Year, Down Overall

Okay, so you don't need us to tell you that the economy is in dire straights at the moment. But, perhaps we can be the bearer of a wee bit of good news on this Cyber Monday. While online holiday sales have been down this year compared to November of 2007, sales on Thanksgiving day and Black Friday were actually up -- just not enough to offset the decline.

Online sales for the period covering November 27 and 28 were up two percent over last year, a combined $822 million. But, the preceding days in the month were down four percent, $10.4 billion this year compared to $10.8 billion last year. Interestingly, according to the report from comScore, online Black Friday shoppers tended to sleep in, being most active at Noon-4pm in the afternoon. That's a stark contrast to the average buying experience most associate with that holiest of shopping days -- getting up at 2:00am to stand in the cold in a long line of bargain hunters. [From: comScore]

Where to Find Black Friday Gadget Deals

by Tom Samiljan, posted Nov 28th 2008 at 6:04AM

Whether you or not you want to spend money this year on gifts, you can't escape the fact that the official holiday shopping season kicks off today, "Black Friday," as the day after Thanksgiving is dubbed. Retailers in every category offer significant deals on this day, and the consumer electronics industry is no exception. If you're planning on buying either yourself or someone else a computer, television, MP3 player, or other gadget, you should take a look at the various sites that highlight the latest holiday sales, as well as any newspaper circulars.

Whereas in the past, Black Friday deals were mostly reserved for the Friday after Thanksgiving itself, this year the economic downturn means that the sales are likely to last well up to Christmas and beyond.

Though some deals have already been leaked or announced, many Black Friday markdowns don't get announced until today, so here are a few online places to find out about the latest sales:

Free Stuff: Not only is Engadget offering updates on the latest Black Friday Gadget deals, but will also be giving away actual merchandise, which means you may not even have to schlep to the mall this year!

Apple Deals: The Unofficial Apple Weblog will keep you up to date on any Apple-related deals, in case you're in the market for Apple software or a new MacBook, iPod, or iPhone.

What the Biggest Retailers Are Offering: Looking for the rare sub-$1,000 50-inch plasma HDTV? Hint: You can get it at Wal-Mart, but make sure to check out Walletpop's roundup of sales at all the other big stores, from Target and Circuit City to Toys R Us and Amazon.

The Best Bargains: CNET has a good roundup of which gadgets have the best markdowns, from PlayStation 3 packages to memory cards.

All Bargains All the Time: For everything else, check out DealNews.com, which offers up-to-the-minute listings of every single online and brick-and-mortar deal on pretty much everything, including, of course, consumer electronics.

15 Ways to Save Money on Gadgets

by Jon Chase, posted Nov 27th 2008 at 12:01AM

Getting a good deal on consumer electronics these days often seems akin to trying to time the stock market-you may get lucky every once in a while, but more often than not, it's a fool's errand. Either you find yourself faced with a dodgy no-name dealer who lied about what is actually in stock, or you get upsold by the salesperson at the local big box retailer and end up going home having paid a lot more than you were hoping. That's why we've come up with some time-tested strategies, a few insider tips and a little un-common sense for helping you to avoid buyer's remorse when shopping for gifts this year. Here are the 15 ways we know to get the best possible deal on your most coveted electronics items-hit the comments with any you think we missed.

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Dynamism Launches Gizmine, for Stylish Gadgets from Japan

by Tom Samiljan, posted Nov 25th 2008 at 5:26PM

Looking for something sleek and cool and design-y that can pretty much guarantee you won't find anywhere else? (That is, unless you feel like schlepping all the way to Tokyo, and then schlepping all the way back with a heavy paper shredder.) If that sounds like you, discerning gift-giver, then you'll want to head straight over the the just-launched Gizmine, an online boutique run by the same folks who brought us online Japanese-gadget--emporium Dynamism.

This is the place to come for said Red-Dot-Award-for-Good-Design-winning paper shredder, the latest curvy designs by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa (new alarm clocks, subtle calculators, distinct watches), as well as hot red leather backpacks by venerable Tokyo luggage-maker Isaburo. You'll find everything from iPod accessories and headphones to robots and video games.

Whereas Dynamism is the place to get the latest cell phone or laptop from Japan or Europe -- a gadget nerd's favorite gift, by the way -- Gizmine caters to a more aesthetically-minded gadget lover, said CEO Douglas Krone when he called us to preview the site earlier today.

As is the case on Dyamism, if you want something, but can't find it on the site, you can probably ask the folks at Gizmine to order it for you.

We're just psyched we won't have to schlep stuff like that humidifier from retro-chic gadget label Amadana in our return-from-Tokyo luggage anymore, since it looks like we can now get home delivery of this kind of gear. [From: Gizmine]

SnapTell Lets You Lookup Products on Your iPhone

by Evan Shamoon, posted Nov 22nd 2008 at 3:01PM

Like buying stuff but hate getting ripped off?

There's a new, free iPhone app on the App Store there called SnapTell Explorer that's going to make buying stuff even easier (though no more spiritually satisfying). Essentially, you take a photo of the cover of any CD, DVD, book, or video game, and it automatically identifies the product and finds ratings and pricing information online. And, remarkably, it works.

It's not perfect, however; once you locate a product, you have to link to stores like Amazon to get the information, rather than said information just coming up in the window. There's also no way to view prices across multiple stores (though this will apparently be included in the next release, which should be in the next few weeks).

Basically, much like the app's rather ugly name, SnapTell is just a bit awkward; it's not as slick as it should be, and it's slow when using EDGE. And for you G1 users, the app will be coming to Android soon as well.

Yaaaay capitalism. [From: TechCrunch]

New Visa Card Features Keypad, Generates Random Security Codes

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 16th 2008 at 10:01AM

In response to popular concerns with online credit card fraud, Visa Europe has announced a newly designed credit card, complete with a keypad and digital number display, according to the Daily Mail.

While the credit card is of the usual size and features a credit card number and magnetic strip for use with conventional card readers, it does not have a security code number in the traditional sense. Instead, cardholders will enter their PIN into the keypad, which will then generate a random number on the display. This random number will serve as the cardholder's one-time security code, which can then be entered to make online purchases.

While we're all about ways to combat identity theft, and think that this card is as valid a solution as any, we still know better than to immediately jump on board with new technology, particularly when it has to do with money, and even more particularly when we're in the middle of a recession. We'll let some other folks try it first, and then have them tell us how it works out. [From: The Daily Mail]

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