retailers

In a new report, tech industry analysts suggest that the world's major electronics retailers have contributed to slow sales of Microsoft's newest operating system (OS), Windows 8 . The problem: retailers didn't make Windows 8's changes clear to ... consumers or do enough to try and help those consumers understand the OS' new user interface. "Windows 8 brought a brand new UI [user interface] that had not fundamentally changed since DOS," noted Moor Insights & Strategy analyst, Patrick Moorhead. "[So] how did big-box retail respond? The same way they have for the last 20 years." "Massive ... (view more)

The Hewlett-Packard (HP) TouchPad hasn't proven much of a competitor for Apple's iPad, but at the right price it's an attractive alternative. And at $99, it's the kind of deal few Best Buy or Amazon shoppers have been able to pass up. The price ... reduction has a lot to do with HP's recent decision to discontinue the TouchPad tablet, a decision that came not long after the company announced it would move away from the WebOS proprietary operating system. 16GB for $99; 32GB for $149 Last Friday, HP drastically reduced the price of each version of the TouchPad. The 16GB model went down from $399 to ... (view more)

Since high definition televisions (HDTVs) first made a splash in the electronics market five years ago, at no point have sales of these devices actually declined -- that is, until now. According to a recent report from the Consumer Electronics ... Association, consumers simply aren't buying high definition televisions right now, meaning it's expected prices could come down significantly in the coming months. The Consumer Electronics Association report points to one glaring statistic: in 2010, 34.4 million TV sets were shipped by manufacturers. That's down 500,000 from 2009, the first time there's ... (view more)

After experimenting with the "Cashback" concept for its new search engine Bing, not only does Microsoft intend on continuing with the program, the company will now offer double the cashback rewards. When Microsoft first released Bing, discount ... shoppers rejoiced at the thought of reclaiming a portion of their online retailing expenses thanks to the "Cashback" promotion launched in conjunction with the new "decision engine". The Cashback idea offers loyal users financial incentives for making purchases with advertising retailers found through Bing. Yes, Microsoft will actually refund ... (view more)

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) complaint to the European Commission (EC) about its competitor's practice of encouraging retailers to sell their own processors has ended with a significant fine against defendant Intel. The ruling is expected ... later this week. Back in 2001, AMD filed complaint against Intel, claiming that its rival in the x86 microprocessor market had violated antitrust law by pushing retailers to sell its own hardware over AMD-based computers. Intel did so through retroactive rebates that ultimately saved retailers and customers cash -- but according to AMD, it came at ... (view more)

How much thought do you give to security when you use your credit card at a retail location? According to the Chicago Tribune, most consumers don't think about what happens to their credit card information when their plastic gets swiped at the cash ... register. Unfortunately, large retailers have networks that are potentially vulnerable to breaches connected to cash registers, bar code scanners and store computers. (Source: chicagotribune.com ) In some high-profile cases of network vulnerability, thieves don't just pluck one credit card number. They pluck millions of them. For instance, in 2007 ... (view more)

Despite the popularity of Blu-ray players, iPhones, iPods, and games like Rock Band 2 and LittleBigPlanet, the tech industry has not been impervious to the slings and arrows of a declining U.S. economy. According to a recent report, even Black ... Friday tech sales were down this year. Business trackers NPD have released figures for this year's Black Friday score, and results for the technology industry are not good. This year, consumers spent just over $2 billion on electronics at retail outlets, down significantly from last year's $2.21 billion mark. Although the number of sales online seems to ... (view more)

Google is the web's most powerful entity. That much is not in doubt. The search engine's popularity dwarfs competitors Yahoo or Ask.com, and no one knows it more than retailers. A number of companies are now a bit worried Google is inching up on ... their territory, offering a service that steers consumers away from official retail web sites for an alternate page established by the search titan itself. It works like this. A web user enters the typical, one-in-a-gazillion search on Google. Nothing new there. However, once the results are listed, a second box created by Google points those shoppers ... (view more)