Hasbro Ready To Cash In On Toys Tied To Transformers Movie

Technorati Tags: Hasbro Inc.,Blockbusters,Transformer,No.1

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. ...

See thru protection for your netbook or laptop

 

Technorati Tags: samsill corporation,Altego,5 sizes,transparent

Samsill 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 .

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

Technorati Tags: Sony,Netbooks,Vaio W

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?

Super Mod: Portable Xbox 360 Laptop

 

Technorati Tags: ben heck,x360,laptop,craftmanship

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

Technorati Tags: college student,secure,LoJack

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.

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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

Analyst: Cheap ultrathin laptops push design limits; cracked plastic

Technorati Tags: cheap,slim,netbook

 

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.

Get a refurbished Acer laptop for $299.99

Technorati Tags: acer aspire,note book

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.

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.

Technorati Tags: bennington,computer technology