Friday, July 10, 2009

Hasbro Ready To Cash In On Toys Tied To Transformers Movie

Hasbro Inc. (HAS) is revving up for bigger sales in the toy aisle thanks to the blockbuster Transformers movie sequel, with merchandise sales topping the 2007 product lineup by as much as 25%, analysts say.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is No. 1 at the box office so far this year. Since its June 24 release, the movie has racked up $607.6 million in global ticket sales through July 6, according to reporting service Box Office Mojo.

Industry analysts forecast that Transformers toy-related sales, including licensing fees, could be as high as $600 million by year's end. ...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

See thru protection for your netbook or laptop

 

netsleeveSamsill Corporation has announced the launch of Altego™, a new corporate brand. The Clear Laptop Sleeve represents Samsill’s first product launch under this brand. They are available in 5 sizes and have a transparent front panel to allow you to see the outside design of your laptop or netbook. They are also water resistant and airport checkpoint friendly. The Altego sleeves are currently being sold exclusively though Dell .

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Sony Announces $500 Netbook, Wins ‘Race to Bottom’

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Sony doesn’t make netbooks. The Vaio P, for example is absolutely, positively not a netbook. In fact, in February Sony senior vice president Mike Abary called the whole netbook market “a race to the bottom.”

That’s right. Sony denied that it would make a netbook. So, as night follows day, we now have the Vaio W. A netbook. From Sony.

The Vaio W will be a full-on, 1.6GHz Atom powered, ten-inch screened netbook. The other specs also fail to deviate from the cheap formula: 160GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, an Ethernet jack, Bluetooth and a couple of USB ports. The SD reader will work with MemorySticks, too, of course, and Sony has made one break with tradition: The screen is a high-res 1,366 x 768 instead of the more usual 1,024 x 600, meaning that text will be slightly harder to read.

The Vaio W will cost $500 when it launches in the US in August, and for that you’ll get a plastic case in a choice of three colors (white, pink and, ahem, brown?). A case which looks like nothing more than an MSI Wind with a new logo slapped on. Could it be that Sony, in its hurry to win the race to the bottom, has forgotten that every other netbook maker is selling cheaper, sleeker machines already?

Monday, July 6, 2009

Super Mod: Portable Xbox 360 Laptop

 

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portablexbox360

Would you buy something like this?  Created by Ben “What The” Heck, this portable Xbox 360 laptop mod will definitely turn more than a few heads at the local corporate coffee shop.  Features include:  an integrated Ethernet port, digital push button volume control, improved ventilation, flush-mount DVD drive, and a Jasper Motherboard.  By the looks of these pics it’s easy to tell the level of craftsmanship applied by Ben and it actually looks like a real product.  Good job buddy!

Site offers college students security items to protect themselves and property

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An online store geared towards helping college students find products that can better secure the thousands of dollars in valuables they often bring to school has been launched. Called SecureOnCampus.com, it purports to be the first online destination catering to the security needs of college students and their parents.


The site, offers items that can help protect a student’s digital camera, laptop, MP3 player, cell phone, ID, passports, cash and credit cards. This includes dorm safes, pepper sprays, personal alarms, back up hard drives and laptop locks. LoJack for Laptops, tracking software designed to find stolen computers with the help of local law enforcement, is also available.

SecureOnCampus.com is owned by marketing consultant and e-commerce brand development company Act Three Marketing LLC, and is the creation of Rob Pellizzi, formally senior vice president of marketing at MTV Networks

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Analyst: Cheap ultrathin laptops push design limits; cracked plastic

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Been eyeing a thin-and-light laptop recently? You know, the kind that usually comes prefixed with the “Macbook Air killer” tag?

Be careful what you wish for.

Broadpoint AmTech analyst Doug Freedman said Wednesday to CNET contributor Brooke Crothers that some PC manufacturers are discovering the limits to how thin a cheap laptop can really be.

“Early production units being built in plastic, with the bottom case being plastic, are cracking,” Freedman said in the interview, referring to discussions he had with original equipment manufacturers and and original design manufacturers.

(ODMs usually just supply “blank” or “white label” devices to OEMs, which then slap on their own brand.)

The solution? Follow Apple’s lead and use a metal shell to house the system, Freedman said in a research note distributed Wednesday morning. At the moment, the MacBook Air and Dell Adamo are the only systems made of metal on the market — but the Air starts at $1,499 and the Adamo $1,999.

By comparison, MSI’s X-Slim 340 — made of mostly plastic — sells for $900.

Of course, with a metal case comes a higher price tag. Which means a “Macbook Air killer” becomes considerably less competitive feature-for-feature, price-for-price, with the more expensive ultrathin laptops already on the market.

The design limits are such a sensitive issue that Intel issued a statement Wednesday saying that the case problem Freedman refers to has nothing to with Intel processors, Crothers reports.

“Case design issues reported to be found by an ODM, not consumers, in early production units for ultra-thin laptops have nothing to do with Intel processors whatsoever. We want to be clear that this is not a CPU design issue,” Intel said in a statement.

Freedman writes that ODMs and OEMs are trying to bring out laptops based on Intel’s “CULV,” or consumer ultra-low voltage, technology in an attempt to bridge the gap between the hot (but underpowered and undersized) netbook market and traditional notebooks. The expensive thin-and-lights on the market now use ultra-low voltage, or ULV, tech.

On the consumer side, that’s why we’re seeing PC manufacturers (Samsung, Lenovo) pumping out larger 11- and 12-inch Atom-powered, Nvidia Ion-based netbooks rather than ULV Pentium/Celeron/Core 2 systems.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Get a refurbished Acer laptop for $299.99

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The refurbished Acer Aspire AS5515 is a steal at $299.99.

(Credit: CompUSA)

Remember the $350 eMachines laptop from last week? If you don't mind a shorter warranty and smaller hard drive, you can scoop up a refurbished Acer Aspire AS5515 notebook for $299.99. Shipping will run you a mere $1.99.

Usually when I see notebook for under $300, it has a Celeron processor (barf), a Linux OS (fine for some, but not ideal for all), or both.

The Aspire isn't dramatically better in either respect--it has a 1.6GHz single-core AMD Athlon 2650e and Windows Vista Basic--but it should run at a decent clip thanks to its 3GB of DDR2 RAM.

Other noteworthy specs include a 160GB hard drive, 15.4-inch screen, DVD burner, and 6.2-pound travel weight.

In other words, it's an entry-level notebook. And because it's a refurb, it has a 90-day warranty.

But did I mention the $299.99 price tag? Because, seriously, that's a ridiculously good price--especially considering that your average Netbook costs about the same and does a lot less. (Yeah, I went there.)

CompUSA frequently sells out of items like this, so if you're in the market for a new lappie, I would hesitate not one bit.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

BSD fifth graders will receive new laptops

 

BENNINGTON — The Bennington School District Board voted unanimously Monday to approve the purchase of $100,000 worth of new computer technology for the three elementary schools.

The majority of the money, all of which the district has in its budget, will go toward purchasing new laptop computers for the fifth-grade students and teachers to use in the classroom.

The board also decided to purchase new interactive white boards for all of the kindergarten, first-, and second-grade classrooms.

A document prepared by school administrators and the board states the importance of the new technology — citing that 80 percent of schools in the country have implemented personal computers for its students report one third of those students have shown "significant academic improvement."

The document also expresses a desire to eventually purchase personal laptops in the fourth-grade and third-grade classrooms, as well as interactive white boards for every classroom in the three schools.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Cooler Master touts world’s smallest 95W laptop adapter

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SNA95

In the neverending quest to shrink down the size of notebook power adapters, Cooler Master tosses its hat into the ring with the pretty-small SNA 95. It’s a 95-watt adapter with some thoughtful extras like a USB charging port, cable management base, and nine different power tips for widespread compatibility with most notebook manufacturers.

cooler master

Cooler Master claims to have “the smallest 95W adapter in the world” at 2.9 x 0.7 x 5.7 inches and, indeed, the short, flat, and wide body shape may allow it to slip more easily into backpacks and briefcases. That is, of course, assuming you leave the above-pictured cable management dock at home.

The SNA 95 is available online at Sundial Micro for $70 — I couldn’t find it anywhere else after a quick search but Cooler Master products are found all over the place so it may just be a matter of time as this is still a new-ish product.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Cooler master touts world’s smallest 95W laptop adapter

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SNA95

In the neverending quest to shrink down the size of notebook power adapters, Cooler Master tosses its hat into the ring with the pretty-small SNA 95. It’s a 95-watt adapter with some thoughtful extras like a USB charging port, cable management base, and nine different power tips for widespread compatibility with most notebook manufacturers.

cooler master

Cooler Master claims to have “the smallest 95W adapter in the world” at 2.9 x 0.7 x 5.7 inches and, indeed, the short, flat, and wide body shape may allow it to slip more easily into backpacks and briefcases. That is, of course, assuming you leave the above-pictured cable management dock at home.

The SNA 95 is available online at Sundial Micro for $70 — I couldn’t find it anywhere else after a quick search but Cooler Master products are found all over the place so it may just be a matter of time as this is still a new-ish product.

 

In the neverending quest to shrink down the size of notebook power adapters, Cooler Master tosses its hat into the ring with the pretty-small SNA 95. It’s a 95-watt adapter with some thoughtful extras like a USB charging port, cable management base, and nine different power tips for widespread compatibility with most notebook manufacturers.

 

Cooler Master claims to have “the smallest 95W adapter in the world” at 2.9 x 0.7 x 5.7 inches and, indeed, the short, flat, and wide body shape may allow it to slip more easily into backpacks and briefcases. That is, of course, assuming you leave the above-pictured cable management dock at home.

The SNA 95 is available online at Sundial Micro for $70 — I couldn’t find it anywhere else after a quick search but Cooler Master products are found all over the place so it may just be a matter of time as this is still a new-ish product.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

ASUS Eee PC 1000HA Intel Atom 1.6GHz 10" Widescreen Netbook Laptop in Fine Ebony, model no. EPC1000HA-BLK026X, or White, model no. EPC1000HA-WHI024X at ZipZoomfly

 

ASUS Eee PC 1000HA Intel Atom 1.6GHz 10" Widescreen Netbook Laptop in Fine Ebony, model no. EPC1000HA-BLK026X, or White, model no. EPC1000HA-WHI024X

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How to get it:

1.Click on this link to go to ZipZoomfly
2.Add to cart and check out.
3.Fill out and mail $30 mail-in rebate

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- Easy to Learn, Work, and Play
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

NPD: Consumers Are Dissatisfied with Netbooks

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A new survey shows that a lot of consumers who buy netbooks may be dissatisfied with their purchases. In late spring, consultant NPD surveyed 600 online consumers to gage their impressions of the popular mini-laptops called netbooks.

The survey yielded some suprizing results: Sixty percent of consumers thought that netbooks would function exactly like regular laptops. As a result, only 58% of consumers who purchased a netbook instead of a laptop were satisfied with their purchase (as a point of reference, about 70% of regular laptop buyers were satisfied with their purchases).

One of the reasons is, consumers aren’t using their netbooks as intended, for light Web browsing and e-mail via Wi-Fi or 3G wireless networks outside the home. Some 60% of the netbooks purchased never leave the house, according to NPD. After making their purchase, many users realize the netbooks’ chips aren’t as fast and capable as those of laptops, and don’t support video as well.

Clearly, PC makers and retailers need to do a better job explaining the differences in capabilities between netbooks and regular laptops to consumers. After having played with an HP Mini netbook for the past couple of months, I can attest to the fact that netbooks are great — if used for what they were intended. I loved using mine to quickly check Hotmail or to watch a video off of YouTube. But try multitasking, such as downloading a photo or a document while streaming a video off of YouTube, and their performance falls off the cliff. Consumers need to be made aware of this before they make their purchases.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Competition Dell Inspiron Mini 10

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Pink Dell laptop

Dell Inspiron Mini 10

Dell Inspiron Mini 10

Win a pink Dell laptop to celebrate the DVD release of Confessions Of A Shopaholic

Don't miss Isla Fisher in the chick flick of the year when Confessions Of A Shopaholic launches on Blu-ray and DVD from 29th June.

To celebrate the DVD release of Confessions Of A Shopaholic we are giving away a pink Dell Inspiron Mini 10 laptop and a copy of the DVD to one lucky person.

Filled with fabulous frocks, romance and laugh out loud comedy moments this is one "must have" that won't break the bank, allowing fans to get their fashion fix from the safety of the sofa. 

Based on the best-selling books by Sophie Kinsella, Confessions Of A Shopaholic stars Isla Fisher  as New York journalist and shopping addict Rebecca Bloomwood.

Unable to land her dream job at a top fashion mag, Rebecca gets a break as a columnist on a financial magazine edited by the dashing Luke Brandon (played by British actor Hugh Dancy). 

But as the debts mount up and the bailiffs move in, Rebecca realises she could lose everything.  Will she realise there's more to life than retail therapy and change her ways in time to keep her job and get the guy?

Log on to : http://www.gm.tv/competitions/free-prize-draws/35664-pink-dell-laptop.html

Sunday, June 21, 2009

In Retrospect, Bringing the Laptop Was a Bad Idea

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I took BART up to The City today to attend a World Fantasy Convention 2009 meeting. Because I got off to a late start, I had to the choice of getting to the razor-repair place before the meeting or having breakfast; I choose the latter for health reasons. Not much I can say about the meeting other than "it was a con committee meeting and we talked about a lot of organizational stuff, some of which affects me." After the meeting, I started walking down Market Street toward 5th when a streetcar happened to come along. As a Muni transfer is good for 90 minutes, I figured I could get two rides out of the system, so I paid my $1.50 (soon to be $2) and hopped on for the short trip. I then walked down to the appliance-repair place on Folsom Street.
As I sort of figured, the cost of replacing the battery on my razor -- it's soldered in to the chassis and is not something you can casually replace like a watch battery -- plus the cost of replacing the razor heads (which were due for replacement) plus the cost of another $10 BART fare in a few days to come get the razor when they'd finished working on it exceeded the cost of buying a new comparable model that uses the same lotion cartridges, so I bought a new razor from them. They offered to dispose of the old razor (the battery is supposed to be separately removed and disposed of as battery waste), and I rather thoughtlessly said yes. This was a mistake about which I didn't remember until later. It's possible to pick up the replacement batteries fairly cheaply online, and Lisa said that she'd wanted to take a crack at soldering a replacement if my trip to the repair shop didn't work out. I'm kicking myself now about that and hope that Lisa doesn't kick me too much about it when I admit to the brain cramp. The repair shop guy said that when the batteries start to wear out on that model, the motor usually fails not too long afterward, so maybe it's not a huge loss in any event, but it bugs me nonetheless. The now-discarded razor did last four years, which may not be too bad a run, although the razor before than went ten as I recall and still runs at need.
I then had lunch and decided to walk down Market toward the Ferry Building and the Embarcadero, planning to catch the next streetcar going my way. I got nearly all the way to Pier 39 before one came along, while eight went the other direction. Sheesh. And when one did come along, it only went about three stops before getting to Pier 39 and the end of the line. By then my transfer had run out, and I had the choice of paying another $1.50 or walking back downtown. I walked. I walked a lot. Right now there's over 11,000 steps on my pedometer. My blood sugar an hour after a big plate of pasta was a mere 78, so I didn't feel guilty at all about getting a venti Mocha at Starbucks, where I'm finally online for the first time since I got up here. That briefcase with the computer including the spare battery is heavy, and really there was no point in my having brought it along, but it does give me a chance to record my thoughts while I'm still thinking about it before tonight's SF in SF reading.
At one point I thought I might just go back to Fremont, but once I was up here and after all that time spent walking, I figured I might as well stay up here until the SF in SF event tonight and get "full value" from my travel day.
The people in this Starbucks are mopping the floor and looking anxiously at me, with ten minutes to closing, so I'll shut down here and get a move on.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

NEW VAIO LAPTOP

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Sony’s gone and sparked a Blu-ray price war with its newest machine, the Sony VAIO NW, packing some impressive specs and BD-ROM for just over £500! Read on for the lowdown.

The Sony VAIO NW had the covers whipped off it in the US last night, and the 15.5-inch laptop promises a lot for a little. Inside the Sony VAIO NW you’ll find WXGA display, 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, Radeon HD4570 graphics, 4GB of RAM, a 400GB HDD and the option of a large capacity 5.5 hour battery.

The major selling point though? You can buy the Sony VAIO NW with a plain old DVD drive, but for $880 (£535) you can nab a build kitted out with BD-ROM to belt out Blu-rays on the go.

We’re still chasing confirmation of a UK release and price, but the Sony VAIO NW is shaping up to be a tasty, and tastefully priced, future proofed desktop replacement, so check out the official shots in our gallery.

Friday, June 19, 2009

More than half of schools seen joining state laptop program

More than half of Maine's high schools plan to equip their students with Apple laptops as part of the state's Learning Technology Initiative, according to preliminary state data.

Sixty-four of Maine's 119 public high schools have signed or are planning to sign onto the program. The remaining 55 districts have declined to participate.

The Maine Department of Education expects to place an order with Apple for 60,000 laptops and then order additional machines as eight additional districts formalize their decisions, department spokesman David Connerty-Marin said.

Those 60,000 machines will also cover seventh- and eighth-grade students and the state's middle and high school teachers, who have received computers under the initiative since it began in 2002.

There's a chance the eight districts that have yet to formalize a decision ultimately won't participate in the laptop program, Connerty-Marin said. Some are waiting until the Department of Education has confirmed with federal officials whether schools can use a pool of federal funds called Title I to pay laptop leases. Others need their school boards to sign off on their intentions to provide the machines.

"Ultimately, districts will need to decide for their budgeting purposes," he said. "There will be a point at which they won't be able to have them for their students at the start of school.

"That doesn't mean they can't have them for the third week of school," Connerty-Marin added.

The expansion of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative to the high school grades has changed shape a number of times since Gov. John Baldacci unveiled the plans in March.

School districts initially faced a May deadline to decide whether they would participate in the program's expansion. But the decision deadline is on hold now as state education officials sort out what federal funds schools can use to pay for the machines.

Early program guidelines also required that school systems purchase laptops for all high school students. Now, program rules allow districts to lease laptops for only a portion of the student body.

Apple is charging $242 annually for each MacBook, equipped with pre-installed educational software.

The initiative also includes training for teachers on integrating technology into their instruction and wireless-network upgrades for schools.

2 arrested in Best Buy laptop burglary

Police pursue pickup from scene and recover 15 computers, officials say.

By EUGENE W. FIELDS

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ORANGE – Police arrested two men and are looking for two others who are suspected of burglarizing the Best Buy electronics store at 2375 Tustin St. early this morning.

Orange police Sgt. Dan Adams said officers responded to an alarm call at the store at 2:25 a.m. and saw a pickup speeding away and two men fleeing on foot.

Officers pursued the truck, ending the chase less than a mile away at the intersection of Tustin and Bixby Avenue. Adams said 15 laptop computers were recovered.

"We have two in custody and the other two got away," Adams said. "We have information regarding the suspects that got away and our detectives are actively investigating."

The names of the two men in custody were not released, and Adams said that the police would not release descriptions of the others because the investigation is ongoing.

A call to the Best Buy corporate office was not immediately returned.

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