Archive for the ‘Consumer Electronics’ Category

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Looking At Physical Retail Stores

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Posted 07 Feb 2012 — by Amy Gilroy
Category AAPL, AMZN, Consumer Electronics, Market News, Retail, Stocks

By Amy Gilroy
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) plans to open a brick and mortar retail store in Seattle to sell its own gadgets including the Kindle Fire, reported Reuters citing the blog Good E-Reader.

The store might also sell books, particularly the books for which it acts as publisher.

It’s purpose is to test whether a chain of Amazon retail stores would be a money winning venture.

The strategy may be inspired by the success of Apple Stores (Apple Inc., NASDAQ:AAPL), said analysts. And the goal is also to learn if the store would improve sales of the Kindle, as consumers might want to try it out before buying. Read More

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Motorola’s (NYSE:MMI) Droid Razr Maxx Now Available: Still Skinny

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Posted 27 Jan 2012 — by Lynn Shannon
Category Consumer Electronics, GOOG, Market News, MMI, Stocks, Technology, VZ

Motorola's (NYSE:MMI) Droid Razr Maxx

By Lynn Shannon

If you thought the ultra-thin Motorola Razr (Motorola Mobility Holdings, NYSE:MMI) was cool but a little light on the battery life, then the Motorola Razr Maxx, available as of Thursday through Verizon Wireless (Verizon Communications, NYSE:VZ) may be the next phone for you. Read More

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Target (NYSE:TGT) Acts to Stop “Showrooming”

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Posted 26 Jan 2012 — by Amy Gilroy
Category AAPL, BBY, Consumer Electronics, Market News, Retail (Department and Discount), Services, Stocks, TGT, WMT

Target (NYSE:TGT)

By Amy Gilroy

For the specialist, and for any brick and mortar store, a concern is that consumers are using your shop as a showroom, only to leave empty-handed and price shop online. Read More

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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Reports Astounding iPhone Sales

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Posted 25 Jan 2012 — by Amy Gilroy
Category AAPL, Consumer Electronics, Investing, Market News, Stocks, Technology, Trading

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4S

By Amy Gilroy

Updated. Not long ago, it was a big deal if Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold 15 million iPhones over the holiday quarter. On Monday night, Apple announced it sold 37 million iPhones during its recent quarter ended December 31, 2011. Read More

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General Motors’ (NYSE:GM) OnStar Sells 20K Retail Mirrors To Date

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Posted 10 Jan 2012 — by Amy Gilroy
Category Auto and Truck Manufacturers, Automotive, Consumer Cyclical, Consumer Electronics, GM, Market News, Stocks, Technology

By Amy Gilroy

General Motors' (NYSE:GM) OnStarGeneral Motors’ (NYSE:GM) OnStar officially answered the question we’ve been asking for months now. It has sold 20,000 retail FMV mirrors to date since the launch this summer. The company is also planning a second version of the mirror that brings OnStar to almost any vehicle, and it plans to expand distribution of the mirror in the next 2-3 months.

Beyond that, OnStar is providing few details on distribution or what the second generation FMV might look like.

The company said it saw a spike in sales around Christmas, and concludes that the mirror is definitely a “gifting item,” said a spokesman. The company also lowered the price of the mirror during the holiday season to about $199, from $299. Read More

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Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) Shows Traffic Camera Views on PND

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Posted 10 Jan 2012 — by Lynn Shannon
Category Consumer Electronics, GRMN, Market News, Navigation, Stocks, Technology

By Lynn Shannon

Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) Smartphone LinkGarmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) is releasing a new app for Android users that shows live traffic camera views on a nuvi portable navigation device (PND).

By using your Android phone’s wireless connection, you may look up real time photos from traffic cameras across the U.S. and Canada to get a look at traffic and weather conditions–a first for PNDs, says Garmin.

The app is called Garmin Smartphone Link for Android. You connect the phone to the PND via Bluetooth to deliver other services as well, including local search, weather, “myGarmin messaging,” ratings of points of interest and tracking. A paid premium tier of services includes the photo-live traffic cameras, advanced weather, fuel prices and real-time speed and red light camera alerts. Read More

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Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Ripe for Take Over: Bloomberg

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Posted 06 Jan 2012 — by Amy Gilroy
Category AMZN, BBY, Consumer Electronics, Market News, Retail, Stocks, Technology, WMT

By Amy Gilroy

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY)In the latest of negative reports for Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), analysts say the company is ripe for a buy out.

The big box retailer lost almost a third of its market value last year, but it still has a high cash flow.

“…the world’s largest seller of consumer electronics is now valued at just 3.6 times its free cash flow (BBY), the cheapest of any retailer worth more than $1 billion,” said Bloomberg.

Best Buy still produces more free cash flow than any comparable store and it has more cash than debt, which makes it an attractive LBO target, analysts told Bloomberg. Read More

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Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Is Gradually Going Out Of Business: Forbes

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Posted 04 Jan 2012 — by Amy Gilroy
Category AAPL, AMZN, BBY, Consumer Electronics, Investing, Market News, Retail, Stocks

By Amy Gilroy

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY)A Forbes story Monday gives Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) a few more years before it goes out of business.

Competition with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and also Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stores and the failure of 3D to take off is only part of the reason. For the most part, Best Buy’s demise is its own fault, claims Forbes contributor Larry Downes.

Despite the exit of Circuit City as a competitor, Best Buy is losing marketing share. Its stock has lost 40 percent of its worth. Analysts give it a rating of B-. Read More

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Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android Takes More Than Half Smartphone Market Share

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Posted 16 Nov 2011 — by Lynn Shannon
Category AAPL, Consumer Electronics, GOOG, Market News, MSFT, RIMM, Stocks, Technology

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android

By Lynn Shannon

Google’s (NASDAG:GOOG) Android won more than half the market share in smartphone sales for Q3 this year, according to Gartner’s worldwide statistics. In fact, Android’s market share doubled from the same time last year to over 52 percent compared to about 25 percent a year ago. Read More

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TomTom’s (AMS:TOM2) First U.S. OEM Deal

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Posted 16 Nov 2011 — by William Damsky
Category Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Market News, Navigation, Stocks, TOM2

By William Damsky

TomTom (AMS:TOM2)TomTom NV (AMS:TOM2) will offer a factory fit navigation unit for the first time in a U.S. vehicle.

At the LA Auto Show it will unveil a dealer option for the Mazda (Mazda Motor Corporation, TYO:7261) SUV CX-5 compact crossover, that will be available in the U.S. by February 2012. The navi unit is integrated into the dashboard and it has an SD card so drivers can update their maps.

“We have had a successful collaboration with Mazda in Europe over the last 14 months, and we are excited to expand our relationship to the North American market,” said Giles Shrimpton, Managing Director TomTom Automotive. Read More

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) Has Voice Text Too: Review

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Posted 29 Oct 2011 — by Amy Gilroy
Category Consumer Electronics, Market News, MSFT, Stocks, Technology

By Amy Gilroy

Windows Phone 7.5 MangoWe neglected to mention earlier that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phones such as those from HTC Corporation (TPE:2498) and Samsung (SEO:005930) now have a voice assistant too, like the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4S and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android based phones, in the new Windows Phone update called Mango.

While not quite as robust as Apple’s Siri or Google’s Voice Actions, Mango’s “Speech” lets you dictate a text message and it will read back your texts to you. You can perform Internet searches by voice and switch apps by voice.

Users hold down the Windows-logo button and the Speech assistant pops up. There are four commands for voice: “Call,” “Text,” “Find,” and “Open.” Read More

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