Archive for December 2011

For kids of all ages, tablets and electronic gadgets are becoming the gift of choice. No longer do we see swarms of angry mobs in the toy section during Christmas time. They have moved over a couple of sections at Target and are now occupying the electronics section. While this might frighten the employees working in big-box retail electronics, it is driving up sales on expensive items and making a fortune for companies like Apple and Samsung.

While it may seem like the iPad 2 and other popular mobile devices should be relegated to older, more responsible people, they are the number one item flying out of stores and into the hands of young children. Traditional brands like Crayola are not relying on the sales of their physical products as much as they are on selling apps specifically geared towards children. The ColorStudio HD application allows young children to use the iPad as a toy. This is a particularly smart and crafty marketing move because in a weak economy, parents are going to be looking to save money by purchasing things they and their children would want together.

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For those who have recently purchased the brand new Kindle Fire, you may have noticed a lack of proper hardware and software features on the tablet. While the price is dramatically lower than most Android powered tablets or the iPad, it is being criticized by techies as a second-rate piece of equipment. While most non-technical users will find their Kindle Fire to be an excellent distraction, they may be carrying the stigma of a novelty gift more than an actual tool capable of performing powerful functions.

According to CNN, Amazon is hoping to release an operating system upgrade that will fix some of the major issues facing the Kindle Fire. The update will fix some of the problems related to the responsiveness and speed of the touchscreen, as well as give users greater control over the interface. Because the tablet doesn’t feature many external buttons, this upgrade needs to come as soon as possible.

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Starz today has launched a new Facebook interactive experience called Spartacus “Take up Arms”, and for those of us who love the Spartacus series, we will now have a place to get our daily dose of Spartacus until the series starts on the 27th of January.

Fans like me of the series will be able to team up with one of the lead characters (Spartacus, Lucy, Cirix, etc) and join their cause.  Once you join their cause you can invite your friends to play along and so you can complete challenges and earn points.

Each week you’ll be able to win prizes such as DVD’s and other Spartacus goodies. There will be one Grand Prize winner who will be whisked away to New Zealand for 8 days to check out the Spartacus set.

For more information visit the Spartacus Take up Arms Facebook App.

I love the Envy Series from HP they are probably the best consumer notebook that isn’t made by Apple, and today we found an amazing deal for you. $400 off the Envy 17 with an Intel 2nd Gen Core i5 Processor, 6 GB of DDR3 memory, a 750 GB HDD and of course a 17.3” full HD LED back-lit display. It’s a powerful little machine.

This is an amazing deal if you are looking for a high end notebook snatch this one up before the deal ends.

Price break down:

$1,499.99 – $400 coupon code: NBS3697 = $1,099.99 with FREE shipping. Upgrade to Core i7 starts at $100.

If you are in NYC sorry only NY, and you spot the icon to the left  from now until the 17th of December, you may have just won a prize! Scan the bar code near the asterisk and find out if you have won a brand new Blackberry Bold 9900/9930 smartphone. They are also giving away Blackberry accessories and gift cards for coffee, they didn’t specify if it was Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts but I am hoping its Dunkin!

Radiris from CuteGeek.com said she will be on the hunt for the symbol, since she just won a Blackberry Playbook, and she wouldn’t mind a matching blackberry smartphone.

A lot of people I know have stopped using Google for one reason. They feel Google knows too much about them.

Today on Twitter Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the acquisition of Gowalla by Facebook and said “We’ve acquired Gowalla. I’m ecstatic and can’t wait to have access to thousands of users’ location data.”

So will these same people who left Google, and yes people have stopped using google, also start leaving Facebook for the same reason? I personally don’t mind the acquisition I don’t use Gowalla, but it’s really scary to see a CEO of a company say publicly he is ecstatic to have access to thousands of users location data, especially after they just settled a privacy complaint with the FTC.

What do you think?

Last weekend, I was able to take a mini vacation and catch the MLG Nationals thanks to at&t and their brand ambassador program. With a Sony Ericsson Xperia play in hand I covered the event for you guys. Click here to see the coverage.

I was really excited about this trip, as I was going to be riding up on Amtrak, a 2 hour 50 minute ride. But as soon as I got on the train and realized all the scenery I had seen a dozen times on the drive up to Boston I quickly became bored. But thanks to AT&T I didn’t stay bored for long, as I had the Xperia Play with me which came pre-loaded with games and I entertained myself playing Battlefield 2 and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. Game play on the Xperia is amazing thanks to the Playstation certified controls. I also played with it on the ride back and not once did my battery go dead!

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