Whereas previous E3 appearances have seen Nintendo show off new hardware, Fils-Aime said, the show this time around will be focused solely on new titles. Alongside the official announcements, Best Buy locations in the US and Canada will have demo stations set up in multiple stores so as to give gamers a chance to try well in advance of when they’ll be able to buy.

Exact details on which locations and which games will be participating are unknown at this stage. However, Nintendo’s focus on new titles hardly comes as a surprise, given the company has previously blamed a shortage of games for 3DS and Wii U for underwhelming sales.

What there won’t be is a big E3 press conference. It’s not the first time Nintendo has tried to whet appetites with some sneaky pre-release access. Back in November, ahead of sales of the Wii U, various US retailers offered experience kiosks where the new console could be tried out.

Still, developer confidence in the Wii U particularly is looking patchy. EA, for instance, confirmed this week that it has nothing in the pipeline for the console.

The Nintendo Direct also revealed some release dates for upcoming titles, including Donkey Kong and the Legend of Zelda. SEGA, meanwhile, has inked an exclusive deal with Nintendo for the next Sonic the Hedgehog title – Sonic Lost World – which will only be available on 3DS and Wii U.

The Yoga 11S essentially takes the small form factor of the Yoga 11 (which we reviewed), and blends it with the performance of the Yoga 13, offering faster hardware on the inside that makes it a bit speedier than the regular Yoga 11. And of course, it comes with the same 360-degree hinge action that lets you use the device as a tablet of sorts.

Lenovo’s website has the Yoga 11S packing a 1.4GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB solid state drive for $800, while Best Buy has a bit of a better deal with a 1.5GHz Core i5 chip on the inside at the same price. You probably won’t notice too much of a difference, but if you’re all about specs, it seems the Best Buy deal is the better grab.

As for the display, the Yoga 11S has the same 11.6-inch HD IPS screen that the regular Yoga 11 has, along with 10-finger touch support. Best Buy will have the Yoga 11S available starting on June 23, while Lenovo’s website lists a ship date of “more than 4 weeks,” which will roughly get us to late June for possibly a tandem release with Best Buy.

We ended up getting our hands on with the Yoga 11S during CES 2013 back in January, and we also reviewed the regular Yoga 11. Indeed, there is a slight performance boost with the Yoga 11S, but the Yoga 11 is working with the nifty Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, which packs quite a punch for a convertible laptop like this.

VIA: Windows Experience Blog

SOURCE: Lenovo and Best Buy

If such happens, the agreement has Carphone Warehouse pegged to pay whatever difference may result under an approximate $99 million agreement based on the sum total of the aforementioned proceeds Best Buy receives in addition to the market value of whatever shares may remain. In addition, says the announcement, Best Buy has to pay nearly $45 million to Carphone Warehouse to settle some current obligations it has with the group.

Although it is a definitive agreement, it isn’t yet completely settled, something that is currently slated to take place this upcoming June. Carphpne Warehouse shareholders need to approve the deal, but its board of directions have agreed and signed letters of commitment to the transaction. Likewise, Best Buy’s board also agrees with the deal. There are currently Best Buy stores being run in eight countries as part of the joint venture between the two companies.

Best Buy’s President and CEO Hubert Joly said about the announcement: “After reviewing the business and spending time with our partners, we concluded that the timing and economics were right to enter into this agreement with CPW. This transaction allows us to 1) simplify our business; 2) substantially improve our Return on Invested Capital, one of the five pillars of our Renew Blue transformation; and 3) strengthen our balance sheet.”

[via Best Buy]

Beta testing in will continue through June, as the heads at Leap Motion have let it be known today, while the ship date for the device appears now to be hard set for July 22nd. Arrival dates will be soon after, depending completely on customer locations relative to the ship points. Leap Motion has made it clear that their requirements for release are extremely strict and that the beta test period was alwasy in play.

“We are behind schedule, it’s not as if we woke up for the first time today and decided we needed a beta test,” noted Leap Motion CEO Michael Buckwald. According to the Buckwald, they do have the ability to meet the original ship date, but have delayed it due to their desire for more comprehensive testing on the device. At this moment, it would appear that the hardware is ready, software tweaks may be in play, and the product “could be shipped tomorrow.”

As for the HP deal spokem about quite recently, it would appear that nothing has been affected between them and the computing company.

“It definitely won’t affect the HP deal. All the milestones that were in play with the HP deal are still in effect.” – Buckwald

The only different between the Beta test units that are created today and those that will be out later this year will be an updated SDK. This software update will bring the device up to the final release version of the machine which will, indeed, be shipped at first on July 22nd.

T-Mobile confirmed that it would be carrying the HTC One during an event last month to announce its new UNcarrier mobile plans. Along with the iPhone 5 and the Samsung GALAXY S 4, the HTC One will join T-Mobile’s arsenal of mobile devices being offered in stores. The GALAXY S 4 is scheduled to arrive on T-Mobile on May 1, so the HTC One will beat Samsung’s new device to the punch.

While Best Buy’s listing for the T-Mobile version says the phone will sell for $249 after a two-year contract, T-Mobile will sell the phone at $99 down, with two years worth of monthly payments to pay off the full $699 price of the phone. For those looking to do the smaller down payment, it may be a good idea to head straight for a T-Mobile store if you’re in the market for an HTC One.

However, T-Mobile has yet to make an official announcement of the release date of the HTC One, so while Best Buy says that the phone will become available on April 19, we can’t be 100% sure that it will actually happen. However, a release date that’s right on the same path as AT&T seems very believable, we’ll ultimately have to wait for T-Mobile’s word before making the official call.

Tesla cancelled plans for a cheaper,smaller battery version of its Model S vehicle, but later on it announced a revolutionary financing product to help make its Model S vehicles affordable to customers. Apple’s next two iPhones were said to be in production while Steve Jobs was still alive, and in related news, Apple issued an apology to China over its “unfair” warranty policies. The Pirate Bay also took the crown as the world’s largest file-sharing website.

Verizon and AT&T are reportedly placing a joint bid for Vodafone. Apple’s iPhone 5S is said to be currently in production, and AT&T, along with other carriers, states that the HTC One will begin shipping on April 19th. Windows Blue will reportedly be Windows 8.1 and be released within a few months, and Samsung’s new phablet will reportedly be called the Samsung Galaxy Mega and will have a 6.3-inch display. The 2nd-gen Nexus 7 is rumored to be released in July, and Samsung and Mozilla are working together on a new web browser engine. The USPTO invalidated Apple’s Bounce-Back patent once again, and Activision laid off 40 full-time employees after they finished development for its Deadpool game.

Facebook’s Event kicked off on April 4th, where it announced its new Android product, Facebook Home, which will be released on April 12th for multiple devices. It will have many features, like Chat Heads messaging and a Cover Feed lockscreen. It will be embedded on the AT&T’s exclusive HTC First, but you can easily disable the software with this guide. Be sure to check out SlashGear’s hands-on guide with both Facebook Home and the HTC First. Samsung is expected to launch “Experience Shops” in 1400 Best Buys to rival Apple’s mini-shops.

The full SXSW Google Glass demonstration video is now available for viewing. Images for the BlackBerry R10 leaked showing a low-end QWERTY Blackberry 10 device. An ITC Judge stated in a preliminary ruling that Samsung infringed on Apple’s text-selection patent, and a German court invalidated Apple’s slide-to-unlock patent. A Skype trojan has been reported to be going around globally, turning PCs into Bitcoin miners, and HP chairman Raymond Lane has decided to step down from his position. That’s all for today’s Weekend Wrap-up! Be sure to check out the Evening Wrap-Up tag portal for more in-depth news for each day of this week.

The Samsung Experience Shops will feature, as you might have guessed, Samsung mobile products: tablets, smartphones, and laptops, among other items. As such, consumers will have access to a wide array of Samsung products to handle and test via the store-within-a-store setup. These Samsung stores will have variables sizes, with some being larger and others being smaller – the biggest store is about 460 square feet.

Some of the 1400 Best Buy stores that will feature the Experience Shops will also offer Samsung Smart Service, which involves both so-called Samsung Experience Consultants and trained Best Buy employees that will help consumers shop for gadgets. These individuals will be trained in warranties, activating devices, providing support, and more.

Samsung Telecommunications America’s President Dale Sohn had this to say: “With the Samsung Experience Shops, we are ensuring consumers get the most of that innovation by learning how to leverage their mobile devices across our ecosystem of consumer electronics. Consumers will have one place to not only explore and learn about our full portfolio of mobile products, but also the support of a Samsung expert to help with selecting and servicing them.”

[via Android Central]

Best Buy already has a dedicated Apple section in its computer department. The dedicated Apple section is set apart from the rest of computers and looks a lot like it came directly from the Apple Store. The special Samsung section of the mobile store will be rolled out in high-traffic Best Buy locations around the country first. Reports indicate that these high-traffic stores will be told to remove two isles next to their mobile department and prepare to install new Samsung sections.

The sections will reportedly feature large Samsung signage and custom demo stations offering access to many of Samsung’s products. Stores that get these new Samsung sections will be holding special training sessions for employees of the mobile department that focus heavily on being able to show consumers the Samsung specific features of the company’s devices. Reports indicate that the GALAXY S 4 will be the star of these Samsung sections, but multiple products from Samsung will be on display.

Reports indicate that later this year another round of redesigns will come to other Best Buy stores. Ultimately, all Best Buy locations will have their own Samsung section in the store. I’m wondering what products the new Samsung section in the stores will replace. My local Best Buy location has video games directly behind the mobile store. I’d hate to find out that Best Buy will be reducing the number of games it stocks in order to get more Samsung devices into the store. The selection of PC games at Best Buy is already incredibly poor.

[via Geek.com]

The camera is called the Canon EOS-b and is an 18-megapixel camera that comes with an EF-S 18-55 mm zoom lens. The camera is expected to go official on March 22. The product specifications on Best Buy show that the camera will have a DIGIC 5 image processor and a 3-inch color TFT-LCD screen on the back. That screen has a resolution of 1,040,000 pixels and is touch sensitive.

The camera will record high-definition movies and has Movie Servo AF to keep your subject in focus while filming video. The camera also has an integrated monaural microphone and Video Snapshot feature with integrated editing capability. The listing calls out the ability to shoot photos at four frames per second.

Other features include an ISO range of 100-12,800 that can be expanded to 25,600. The camera has a nine point autofocus system, and optical viewfinder, built-in flash, and integrated optical image stabilization. It also has white balance controls, scene modes, advanced imaging features, and integrated face detection technology. The features sound pretty good for the money and it’s unclear exactly when you might expect to receive the camera if you pre-order.

[via Engadget]

Best Buy is requiring all of its corporate employees to work from its headquarters in Richfield, Minnesota. That means that many workers will have to relocate, and many others will have to start commuting. But not too many people will be affected seeing as Best Buy has laid off 400 of its corporate employees in its restructuring process. ROWE was designed so that employees could do their work wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Employees weren’t evaluated on the number of hours they put in, but rather the quality of work they put in.

The company has no plans of ever bringing the ROWE program back, but Matt Furman, Best Buy’s Chief Communications Officer/Senior VP of Public Affairs, stated, “On an individual basis, an employee and a manager will have the opportunity to work out an arrangement that’s in everyone’s interests. But for the most part, the goal is to have the employees in the office whenever possible.”

Best Buy, like Yahoo, wants to bring its business back up and it feels that it needs everyone to be face to face with each other in order to fix the company’s issues. However, this new structure change will (and most likely has) outrage many of its corporate employees who like being able to decide their own schedule. Creativity doesn’t always strike at 9-5 in the office and being forced to stay in one place can actually be inhibiting.

ROWE released a statement saying, “In a Results-Only company or department, employees can do whatever they want whenever they want, as long as the work gets done. No more pointless meetings, racing to get in at 9:00 a.m., or begging for permission to watch your kid play soccer. You make the decisions about what you do and where you do it, every minute of every day.”

[via Network World]

As for plans to buyout the company and take it private, founder Dick Schulze looks to be reneging on that proposal. Alongside the company’s quarterly earnings announcement, it announced that the deadline for Schulze to make an offer expired yesterday, which means that the company will “continue to focus on its transformation for the benefit of all of its stakeholders.”

We heard back in October that Schulze was working with different equity firms in order to make plans for a private buyout of the electronics retail chain. Buying out the company was said to cost around $11 billion. Schulze has previously stated that he could buy the company for $24-$26 per share, which would value the company between $8.16 billion and $8.84 billion. However, with debt added on, the total bill would round up to about $11 billion.

No reason was given as to why Schulze decided to back out, but there could have been numerous reasons to choose from, including cold feet or the failure in coming to an agreement with equity firms. Either way, it looks like Best Buy will remain a public company after all, and shareholders will still get to have their say in the company.

Starting March 3, Best Buy’s “Low Price Guarantee” policy will go into effect for all Best Buy locations, as well as its website, mobile stores, and even phone orders. The retailer plans to match prices for all local competitors, as well as a total of 19 online retailers, including Amazon, Apple, and Newegg. However, this good news will come at a cost.

Alongside the year-round price matching, Best Buy is lowering its return policy deadline from 30 days to 15 days, which isn’t too big of a deal, because that’s still over two weeks that you have to decide if you want to return something or not, but it may deter some shoppers from buying something too soon, with the fear that the return policy deadline will pass.

However, one of the things that the price matching policy doesn’t apply to are smartphones under contract, but the company says that things such as smartphone chargers. It seems more and more retailers are heading towards this route, with Target offering permanent price matching just last month. Could it soon be the end of ridiculous markups in brick-and-mortar stores?

[via Bloomberg]

Best Buy told Game Informer that it isn’t likely to receive the game until Wednesday, February 6, while GameStop said its shipments might not come in until Friday, February 8. Of course, it’s impossible to check with all GameStop and Best Buy stores, but the GameStop stores we called up they told us the same thing: no shipments until later this week. One GameStop employee said that the games may arrive by Wednesday, but Friday is probably the safer bet.

All of this, it seems, can be blamed on some kind of shipping error. We aren’t entirely sure what’s preventing these stores from receiving their copies of the game, but the problem is big enough that its retail release is now being pushed back a couple of days in some areas. In any case, there are probably still some stores receiving the game today, so if you’ve been hankering for some Fire Emblem action, call up the game stores around you and see if they’ve got it available.

There’s always the digital release too, with the game available right now through the 3DS eShop. It’s a shame to hear about these delays, as Fire Emblem: Awakening is being lauded as one of the best games on the 3DS. Did any of you manage to secure a copy of Fire Emblem: Awakening today, or are you hearing similar things from the store you pre-ordered it at?

Samsung ended up going all out this year for their Super Bowl ad, taking up a full two minutes of airtime, costing them around $16 million after it was all said and done. Actors Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd, as well as NBA all-star LeBron James made appearances in the commercial, and discussed some ideas on what Samsung’s “next big thing” could be. BlackBerry (formerly known as RIM) aired their first-ever Super Bowl ad, spending a few million dollars on an ad showing off the new BlackBerry Z10, which according to the ad, will light you on fire, so be careful.

Best Buy ended up airing their own Super Bowl ad as well, and it features SNL alum and Parks & Recreation star Amy Poehler, who is pretty much the most adorable and funniest woman in show business right now, so we have to give it up for Best Buy for pulling off such a cute and witty ad.

We knew GoDaddy would make an appearance at the Super Bowl, as they do every year, but this time they aired two ads, one featuring the typical sexy theme that you know and love, and then there was an ad that actually wasn’t that bad. The company advertised their .co domain names, and the ad rings true of anyone with an original idea these days.

As far as the automotive commercials, it was a hit or miss mostly. Audi’s “Prom” ad was probably our favorite one out of the bunch, with Dodge’s “Paul Harvey” commercial at a close second. Other car ads included VW’s semi-racist Jamaican ad, Hyundai’s adorable “Team” ad featuring kids with super powers, Kia’s “Hotbots” ad, Mercedes-Benz with their celebrity-filled commercial (as well as one featuring Kate Upton), Lincoln’s Jimmy Fallon ad and “Phoenix” teaser, and an awkward Toyota ad featuring Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco.

Movie trailers were also hot stuff during Super Bowl commercial breaks. The Iron Man 3 trailer caught our eye the most, with Star Trek: Into Darkness also showing off a quick teaser for us. World War Z also made a quick appearance, and we also saw an extended teaser for Johnny Depp’s upcoming movie, The Lone Ranger.

Now we want to hear what you think. We know not every ad this year was amazing, and some were iffy at best. What was your favorite commercial from the Super Bowl? Which tech company blew it out of the park? Which one could’ve been better? What suggestions would you make to the creators of the ads? Sound off in the comments below!

Of course, with these lower price tags, there’s a chance that some models will sell out before the promotion comes to a close, in which case you’ll simply be out of luck. That $200 discount brings the 11.6-inch Airs with 64GB and 128GB of storage down to $799 and $899, respectively. Those prices aren’t too bad, but if you’re looking for a MacBook Air with a bit more to offer, the 13.3-inch model with 128GB of storage has come down to $999. Finally, the 13.3-inch model with 256GB of storage is at $1,299 during this promotion.

To make the deal sweeter, Best Buy is also offering free shipping on these MacBook Airs. Expect more than a few people to take advantage of these deals, and indeed, we’re already seeing some restrictions on the $799 11.6-inch MacBooks Airs. Though they don’t appear to be sold out yet, Best Buy is no longer offering to ship them, meaning that you’ll have to pick yours up in store if you order one.

Earlier this week, Apple delivered its financial report for its fiscal Q1 2013. Though things looked solid for the most part with Apple declaring record iPhone and iPad sales, the company’s stock has taken some hits since the report was released. Are you planning on picking up one of these MacBook Airs during Best Buy’s promotion?

[via PCMag]

In fact, Leap Motion’s technology can not only track ten fingers, but with an accuracy of up to 1/100th of a millimeter. There’s no visible delay in the tracking either, the company says, thanks to a 290fps capture rate, and the area of sensitivity covers 150-degrees.

Of course, hardware is only half of the equation, and so Leap Motion has been working on cultivating the developer scene so that there’s sufficient software to make owning the controller itself worthwhile. 12,000 free developer units have already been seeded, with applications in gaming, computer-aided design, augmented reality, and more.

Leap Motion walkthrough:

Earlier this month, Leap Motion announced a deal with ASUS to instill select future PCs from the company with integrated motion-control tracking. This new deal with Best Buy will mean even those without a new ASUS PC will be able to join in, though the retailer will only be the exclusive North American sales partner.

Those outside of the US and Canada can order direct from the manufacturer, with the controller varying in price depending on your country. In the US, it’s $69.99 before shipping; for a UK delivery, for instance, that rises to $83.99 before shipping. Deliveries are expected early this year.

In any case, Best Buy says these white consoles will begin arriving at its warehouses on January 27, which is just a couple short weeks away. There’s a 500GB hard drive packed in this bundle, along with one year of PS Plus. There doesn’t appear to be any games included in this package, but with that year of PS Plus, you’ll probably be swimming in free games before long.

No word on how long this limited edition bundle will be around, but if you want to take one home with you, you’ll have to drop $300. That doesn’t seem too bad considering the size of the hard drive and limited edition color, but keep in mind that this is Sony’s newest PlayStation model. A few people have been complaining about the look and feel of this latest PlayStation Slim, so you might want to take that into account if you’re thinking of picking this one up.

Still, as far as PS3 packages go, the hard drive makes this is one of the better offerings we’ve seen come out of Sony. There isn’t any word on whether or not this limited edition color will make its way to the US, but since it’s been released in Europe, Australia, Japan, and is apparently headed for Canada, that’s a pretty good sign. We’ll have to wait and see what Sony has to say on the matter, so stay tuned.

[via Joystiq]

Essentially, Best Buy wasn’t too happy about Walmart’s steeper discount on the iPhone 5 because they don’t think that Walmart had enough iPhone 5 units to meet demand. Therefore, Best Buy was filling the stock at a discount that Walmart doesn’t have. Best Buy has reportedly claimed it lost about $65,000 in profit on the day Walmart advertised its iPhone 5 promotion, and the store says it was forced to match Walmart’s advertised price, even though they claim Walmart didn’t have enough iPhone 5 inventory in the first place.

However, Walmart claims that it did, in fact, have sufficient stock of the iPhone 5, quoting 98% availability at its stores carrying the device. Walmart had noted as the sale launched that it was working closely with Apple on the promotion and was securing significant numbers of units, but that the sale was first-come first-serve with no rain checks being offered.

Any way you look at it, it seems Best Buy was simply just upset that Walmart was undercutting them, and they felt like they needed a reliable excuse in order to effectively complain about the price difference. $65,000 in one day may not seem like a lot, and we don’t know what Best Buy’s sales goals were for the day, but that much of a loss in a single day is huge any way you look at it.

[via WSJ]

Users will need to create an account, which is free, and add UltraViolet, which is part of the service and where the videos are uploaded. DVDs can be converted to either standard-definition or high-definition, whichever is preferred. Obviously, the high-definition videos will have a larger file size than the standard-definition files.

Once converted, it will automatically be added to both UltraViolet and the CinemaNow library. Users can access the ripped videos via both using apps that support the services. Users can use an iPad, for example, to watch their movies, which have been ripped and uploaded to the cloud. Hundreds of titles can be ripped using the service; you can see the full list here.

The list of titles that can be ripped using the service is being slowly expanded, so if a movie you want to convert isn’t supported yet, be sure to check back in the near future. The computer software is available for both Windows and Mac OS X. Android and iOS apps are available for use with UltraViolet and CinemaNow.

[via CinemaNow]

Usually, you’d pay $199.99 for a 16GB iPhone 5, $299.99 for a 32GB model, and $399.99 for the 64GB; at Best Buy, those versions come in at $149.99, $249.99, and $349.99 respectively. That’s the same as AT&T would charge you for a refurbished 64GB iPhone 5 - the carrier did, at one point, have $99.99 refurbs, but swiftly sold out of the 16GB model.

Apple’s supply issues around the iPhone 5 have begun to ease, with the company’s own online store now listing the handset as in-stock. That comes after several months of delays following the usual post-launch furore.

In fact, Apple’s strict limiting of iPhone 5 supplies has pretty much come to an end. Not only is the company offering the smartphone SIM-free and off-contract in the US, but it has lifted its block on each customer buying more than two devices at any one time.

Whether Best Buy’s promotion will stick around is unclear, though we’re guessing plenty of people are hoping for a new iPhone 5 under the tree this holiday season.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

The PlayStation Store silently launched on the web today, so you can do your PlayStation-related shopping from your computer from now on. The HTC One VX budget handset hit AT&T today, while Apple CEO Tim Cook was talking about the competition and sharing his feelings on the anti-Apple Samsung ads. The very cool Samsung Galaxy Camera has been announced for Verizon, while the Samsung Muse music player is has arrived in the US.

GameStop is now selling Kindle Fire tablets and offering free $25 Amazon gift cards to anyone who picks one up, and we learned that T-Mobile is currently testing a new pre-paid mobile brand. Google announced today that it’s replacing its Mergers and Acquisitions chief, while we heard that hackable hotel room door locks will be getting replaced by the manufacturer. A meteor gave some Texas residents quite the show today, and a new 268-megapixel camera has snapped the first shot of the distant Carina Nebula. Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition has launched on the iPad, so be sure to check it out if you don’t mind watching a few hundred hours of your life slip away.

As is usually the case, we have a number of original articles for you to check out tonight. Chris Burns goes hands-on with the Verizon Galaxy Note II and delivers his review of the Men In Black 3 Movie Touch app. Craig Lloyd tells us what he thought of the HTC One X+ in his review, while Don Reisinger tells us why Nintendo needs to launch a new console in 2014. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy your weekend everyone!

TechForward alleged that Best Buy misappropriated its trade secrets relating to the company’s Guaranteed Buyback Program. A jury decided that Best Buy is guilty of making illegal use of TechForward’s trade secrets after working together for months, and then deciding to cancel the deal and implementa a buyback program of their own.

The buyback program involves customers choosing to purchase the plan at the time they’re buying a gadget, similar to purchasing an extended time warranty. Customers then have the option of selling the gadget back to Best Buy for store credit once they no longer want the product, but the longer they keep the gadget, the less they’ll get back.

It’s certainly a win for the small guys, and an even bigger loss to Best Buy who is already struggling to keep its sales up, as well as attempting to stay relevant as online shopping is becoming more and more popular. TechForward co-founders Jade Van Doren and Marc Lebovitz said that they’re “extremely pleased that the jury recognized Best Buy’s misconduct” and they hope that the verdict gets seen as a warning to other large companies “that there are real consequences to illegally exploiting start-up businesses.”

If you’re fed up with your satellite provider, or maybe you’ve finally decided you’re tired of waiting for current episodes of The Walking Dead to hit Netflix and you want to get cable in your home, Best Buy and Time Warner cable have teamed up for an interesting exclusive deal. Perhaps the most interesting part of this deal is that Time Warner cable seems to be so desperate for customers it’s willing to hand out some impressive freebies to lure customers in.

The exclusive Best Buy deal works for new and existing customers who upgrade to the Triple Play package. The package will cost you $89.99 per month for one year and includes Internet access, home phone service, and digital TV.

In exchange for agreeing to use the service for a year, Best Buy and Time Warner will give you a Xbox 360 4 GB console and a $150 Best Buy gift card. Ironically, many customers will end up using that free Xbox 360 to stream video from Netflix and other competitors.

The Windows Phone 8X by HTC, for instance, is currently listed at $99.99 with a new, two-year agreement from the same retailer. It’s unactivated, unsubsidized price is the same $599.99, but HTC is obviously being more aggressive than its Finnish counterpart.

At $100, that pits the HTC 8X against Apple’s iPhone 4S, though the iOS smartphone has twice the storage of its 8GB Windows Phone rival. Considering HTC also opted not to give the 8X a memory card slot, instead preserving the unbroken lines of its unibody plastic casing, that could prove to be a considerable limitation, even with Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud storage push.

The Lumia 920 lacks a microSD slot too, but at least gets 32GB of internal capacity. Best Buy has no listings for the smartphone’s accessories, such as the wireless charging plates, though based on UK pricing we’re not expecting them to come cheaply.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Unfortunately, there are still few precious details on the tablet’s specs. According to the announcement made on Insignia’s Facebook page, the Flex will have a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 9.7 inch display, and a 10 hour battery life. The picture released on the company’s Twitter page shortly before the announcement shows a microSD slot. The source added to these details, saying that it will have a camera and weighs about 1.45 pounds.

According to the source, the Flex will be available exclusively from Best Buy on November 11th. It’s price makes the tablet more expensive than the smaller – yet vastly popular – Google Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD, both of which are priced at $199. Although priced lower than the iPad and many other Android tablets with similarly sized screens, such as the 10-inch Galaxy Tab 2, it’s up against some stiff competition in a fairly saturated market.

Insignia is Best Buy’s in-house brand, and has been used to provide fairly low-cost electronics for those who aren’t in the market for more expensive devices from big name brands. It is possible this could have a potentially negative effect on sales, with consumers choosing to pay a bit more for a tablet from a brand with a different reputation. Still, the specs seem decent, and the price is modest, making the Flex a potentially nice budget tablet.

[via Reuters]

Over the last few weeks, Best Buy has been dropping tease tweets about a “mysterious” product that it would be unveiling in the near future. One such tweet from October 8th, which included a vague image, read, “This picture just might give it away: Can you identify this mystery product that will be in stores next month?” According to the announcement made on Facebook and a tweet over at @Insignia, the aforementioned mystery product was the Flex tablet.

Although information is sparse, we do know this: the Flex tablet will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, has a 1GHz dual-core processor, 9.7-inch screen and a battery life of ten hours. According to the Facebook and Twitter announcements, it will “hit store shelves one month from today,” placing it around November 11th. Given these specs, many speculate that the tablet will be priced between $150 and $250.

While the image provided with the announcement doesn’t show any ports, the mystery image posted on Twitter on Monday shows a microSD port, a headphone port, and an integrated microphone. The microSD slot provides an expansion opportunity in the event the Flex has mediocre internal storage space. We’ll have more info for you when the device is released in November.

[via Facebook]

Dell is getting in early on the Windows 8 action, opening up pre-orders for a handful of new machines today, and we learned that a staggering 6 billion people around the world are now using a mobile phone of some type. A leaked T-Mobile release roadmap gives us an idea of when the carrier expects to receive a bunch of different devices, including the Windows Phone 8X. We received a rather in-depth look at an LG Nexus prototype today, and LG delivered a brand new Optimus G “product movie” that aims to get us familiar with the new handset’s features. Netflix released a Windows 8-compatible version of its app today, just ahead of the launch of the OS.

Google could be headed for an antitrust case from the FTC, and it seems that the Apple Maps controversy hasn’t done much to damage consumer enthusiasm for the iPhone 5. Speaking of the iPhone 5, Apple’s latest mobile offering has managed to overtake the Samsung Galaxy S III in web traffic despite being available for a much shorter amount of time, and Google is getting the Play Store ready for the holiday rush. SoftBank is looking to secure $23 billion to buy a majority stake in Sprint, and industry insiders are claiming that the long-rumored iPad Mini will be revealed on October 23 – just a couple weeks from now.

Star Citizen has already managed to raise an absurd $500,000 in funding, while Borderlands 2 was seen outshining its predecessor in a pretty significant way. We learned that the games industry is still on the decline, and ASUS unveiled a brand new Windows 8 VivoBook today. Amazon is now posting a disclaimer about the Kindle Paperwhite’s backlighting, YouTube is rethinking the way it ranks videos for search results, and Anonymous has cut ties with Wikileaks after the website started restricting access and asking visitors for donations.

Finally tonight, we have an unboxing and hands-on with the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD for you to check out, and Chris Burns tells us why every little piece of Apple news seems to matter so much these days. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, here’s hoping that this weekend is a good one!

Specifically speaking, a Best Buy location in St. Cloud, MN has the HP Pavilion 23, the ENVY TouchSmart, the ENVY 23 TouchSmart, and a pair of ENVY m6 laptops out on the show floor for customers to play around with. You obviously can’t take one of them home with you today, but this a good chance to see Windows 8 in action. This should be especially handy for those who didn’t want to bother with installing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Windows 8 is scheduled to launch on October 26, and it looks ready to take the PC world by storm – or at least that’s the outcome Microsoft is hoping for. Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer recently said that he thinks Windows 8 could be as big as Windows 95 was for the company, and manufacturers are more than willing to show us their fancy new Windows 8 machines. Microsoft has pumped a lot of money into the marketing campaign for Windows 8, so you can bet that those manufacturers are counting on the new OS to move some machines once October 26 is on the books.

Thought WinSource’s report only covers one Best Buy store, there’s a good chance that other stores have already put Windows 8 devices out on the show floor. If your store hasn’t yet, it’s only a matter of time. In any case, if you’re interested in checking out Windows 8, it can’t hurt to stop by your local Best Buy to see if it has any computers running Windows 8 you can take a look at.

Like other retailers, Best Buy has seen a growth in shoppers who come to brick & mortar stores to browse through and play with the physical products on display, but then fail to actually complete a transaction. Instead, having used that hands-on experience to settle on a specific product, they buy it online at reduced rates from retailers without the costs of maintaining stores and sales teams that Best Buy must cover.

The process is known as “showrooming,” though Best Buy has argued that it is not such a significant problem as analysts have suggested. The company’s own estimates suggest that the number of “showrooming” customers using its stores are in the mid-teens, having seen a rise of roughly 3-percent over the past 24-months.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to increase [our] close rate” Best Buy spokesperson Matthew Furman said, referring to the roughly 40-percent of shoppers who browse the store but leave without making a purchase. Back in July, the company revealed plans to borrow store strategy from Apple with, among other things, a “Solution Central” help desk in the center.

Nonetheless, Best Buy VP of consumer insights Bill Hoffman insists that showrooming is “still very low” in terms of the risks to overall profit. “We need to pay attention to it” he concedes, however, and the online price-match policy will go some way to addressing it. It’s unclear whether the scheme will be a one-time promotion during the holidays, or if it will continue.

The smaller of the two units here comes in a lovely silver cover made of aluminum alloy while the larger model in a non-touch configuration comes in a dark gray magnesium alloy cover. The smaller rings in at 4.5 pounds while the larger is just about 5 pounds while they both work with Acer Green Instant On as well as Acer Always Connect.

The Instant On feature allows your device to wake up from sleep in less than 2 seconds and from a deep sleep in 6 seconds. Always Connect then connects to the web in 2.5 second by remembering wi-fi spots galore. AcerCloud technology is ready and willing here on the M5 series and both units work with 3rd generation Intel Core i5 processors with Turbo Boost Technology 2.0.

Both units work with two USB 3.0 ports, backlit keyboards, Dolby Home Theater v4, Acer AntiTheft, and a lovely HDMI port for HD connection to gigantic monitors. The 14-inch version of this series of computers features a 10-point multi-touch display for full Windows 8 touchscreen interaction. You’ve got a vivid HD display with “edge-to-edge” design as well as Windows 8′s full collection of touch-friendly abilities.

Best Buy will be carrying both units starting on October 26th, with prices being ever so slightly different for the two different models. The Aspire M5-481PT with full touch support begin at $799.99, while the 15.6-inch Aspire M5-581T configurations begin at $699.99. This may very well be the first time in history that a pair of notebooks were released that the larger display has the lower price – how about that!

Reports indicate that Schulze and the private equity firms working with him could offer as much as $11 billion for Best Buy. Reuters reports that the private equity firms working with the Best Buy founder include Apollo Global Management LLC, Cerberus Capital Management LP, TPG Capital LP, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Leonard Green & Partners LP. Sources indicate that at the same time Schulze, who owns 20% of Best Buy, is pouring through the books he’s also negotiating with these private equity firms on what his role would be after the potential buyout.

Schulze and the private equity firms also have come to agreement on exactly what would become of his 20% stake in the electronics retailer. Reuters reports that the process is in the early stages and no decisions have been made yet according to its sources. The sources also stated that the private equity group wasn’t likely to offer a buyout proposal before the middle of November.

Schulze has previously stated that he could buy Best Buy for $24-$26 per share. That share price would value the company between $8.16 billion and $8.84 billion. When debt is added in the buyout could cost as much as $10.9 billion.

[via Reuters]

Checking over at Best Buy’s website this doesn’t appear to be a sale of any sort, and is the actual price moving forward. For those that don’t need the iPhone 4S, this is a solid price and comes just in time for those back to school shoppers. This new price comes just a few days after Apple’s Q3 earnings report earlier this week. Where they stated to have sold around 27 million iPhones this quarter, which was viewed as low numbers.

We can expect sales of the older iPhone 4 to soar a little bit with the new competitive pricing, although with all the recent rumors of the iPhone 5 (or the new iPhone) some might be waiting to see what Apple has up their sleeves. If you’re eligible for an upgrade and are ready to sign a new contract, head to Best Buy and snag the iPhone 4 8GB for just $49.99 available today.

[via Tuaw]

For that reason, just about everyone believes that technology brick-and-mortar stores will eventually go extinct. A host of companies have tried to be successful in that market, like Circuit City, CompUSA, and others, and they have all failed. Now Best Buy, the company that helped put tons of competitors into the ground, is starting to lose its footing.

Surely, Best Buy’s fall would lead to the end of the tech brick-and-mortar, right?

Think again.

Like it or not, we still need brick-and-mortar stores that carry all of the tech goodies you’re after. Although early adopters are more than willing to watch a couple of videos on the Web or check out a product page and plunk down hundreds of dollars for a device without even seeing it in person, the mainstream consumer isn’t like that. And the mainstream consumer isn’t going to change.

The typical consumer wants to go to a place like Best Buy and touch the product they’re considering. They also like to ask sales folks for information on alternatives to see if they’re getting the best bang for their buck. And although we can debate the quality of the advice they’re getting from places like Best Buy, they still like having it.

Will that save a store like Best Buy? It’s impossible to say. A couple of years ago, I might have said that Best Buy has a long and profitable future ahead of it. But with the recent turmoil and continuing trouble attracting customers, I’m not so sure any longer. There is a chance that Best Buy might meet an early demise, similar to the way its predecessors did.

But just because Best Buy might take a nosedive, it doesn’t mean that the brick-and-mortar is dead. Another company will crop up behind it with a unique take on tech sales, and all will be right in the world again. It’s the longevity factor that has proven an issue with today’s technology retailers.

Still, it’s not a good idea to count out brick-and-mortar retailers. I won’t sit here and debate the fact that brick-and-mortars are more expensive than online counterparts. And in terms of convenience, there’s simply no comparison to online stores. But for the vast majority of customers that want to take products for a test drive before determining once and for all if something is right for them, they’re incredibly necessary. And for that reason alone, they’re not going anywhere.

“This is catch-up, if you will, but there’s much more to come,” Mikan insists. Best Buy has suffered considerably from what retail experts call “showrooming”; where potential customers uses the physical store to check out products, but then complete any actual sale with online merchants where prices are often more competitive.

Just as Apple Stores have mobile payment terminals with which employees can charge cards no matter where they are, Best Buy is introducing more points around its prototype stores where transactions can take place. There’s also a greater emphasis on accurate and knowledgeable advice, with the retailer scaling back on the raw number of devices on-show and instead focusing on having a team that can talk about the virtues of a smaller selection.

Meanwhile, rather than focusing solely on the bottom-line, stores will be judged using various metrics including customer satisfaction, with those locations doing well at pleasing shoppers getting bonuses. The aim is to create retail locations where it “will be a place where customers want to congregate and learn how to get more out of their gadgets” and hopefully turn around the decline in average annual visits.

Best Buy has already featured a little slice of Apple retail in its stores, in the shape of dedicated areas where the Cupertino company’s merchandise takes pride of place. Now, it seems, the retailer is hoping those areas will act as seeds and spread the sales success throughout the chain.

The Minnesota-based retail giant has been the source of many rumors about release dates and product pricing. And we’ve all just come to expect it. However, Best Buy has taken the extreme measure of bringing a lawsuit against whoever the culprit was who leaked details about a very important and secretive gadget – Samsung’s Galaxy S III phone. The only problem is, it doesn’t know who that culprit is.

But filing a lawsuit will allow it the authority to dig deeper and find out. The investigation is no doubt brought on by the persuasion of Samsung, which has proven that it is lawsuit-happy over the last few years. “Confidential Marketing Information is developed by Best Buy and is distributed only to a select group of Best Buy employees on a ‘need to know’ basis, and to selected third-party service providers and their employees by means of a secure, password-protected Web site. The Defendants … have intentionally and wrongfully interfered with Best Buy’s business interests and economic relation,” Best Buy wrote in its claim.

[via CBC]

For Best Buy, the constant inundation of news stories about how customers in their stores behave is potentially more damaging to its reputation than the reality of how their customers behave. So to quash this perception of “showrooming,” the retailer is apparently considering offering streaming prices on LCD screens to show customers that it has nothing to hide. So if you walk by the newest 3D TV, you might see a little monitor next to it that shows real-time prices from Walmart, Amazon, etc.

Obviously there would be a huge risk with this since Best Buy is usually not the cheapest place to buy something. But if you saw right there, at that moment of impulse, that if you were to go all the way home and wait for Amazon to ship it to you that you’d only save $10, you might still go ahead and just buy it. It’s that nagging thought of “Hey, I bet Amazon has this for, like, $100 less” that is truly killing Best Buy. It’s a neat idea. We’ll see if it comes to pass.

[via Star Tribune]

Best Buy took another blow this week as founder and largest shareholder Richard Schulze resigned as chairman and director of the company. Schulze also noted that he was exploring options for its 20% stake in Best Buy. Schulze owns 69 million shares of Best Buy valued at $1.36 billion.

If he chooses to put the shares on the market, Best Buy could become a target for takeover. Schulze was expected to step down as chairman in June 21 and then leave the Board of Directors in 2013. That stemmed from an investigation that found he had known of an alleged affair between former CEO Brian Dunn and a 29-year-old female subordinate and had not notified other board members. Best Buy named board member Hatim Tyabji as its new chairman.

[via WSJ]

The bundle includes a 4GB Xbox 360 console along with the Kinect motion sensor, which normally costs around $284 sold together. To get the duo for $99, you’ll have to sign up for two years of Xbox LIVE Gold, which costs $14.99 per month or about $360 over the course of the contract.

You do have 30 days to return the hardware and cancel the subscription, sacrificing only the first month’s subscription fee, which is non-refundable. Once you go past 30 days, you’ll have to pay an early termination fee starting at $250.

Although overtime you’ll be paying more than if you just bought the Xbox and Kinect at regular price, the deep discount will likely attract more first-time customers. This would certainly help bring Microsoft’s new SmartGlass feature into more living rooms. Microsoft recently made several new announcements involving new Xbox and Kinect features and integrations at its press event for E3 2012.

[via PC Mag]

The price cuts start on the least expensive MacBook Pro with a $100 discount and are offering up to nearly $200 off the higher-end models they’ve got in stock. This compared to the retailer’s price-cut of the iPad 2 this February shows that the new MacBook will be released very, very soon. When the iPad 2 was discounted by $50 this February at Best Buy, the 3rd generation iPad was released a week later.

The display will be at the center of attention when this new MacBook Pro drops, it likely taking on a resolution densification that is on par with how impressive the 2012 iPad with “retina quality display” was when it was released. This means that the new MacBook Pro 2012 model will need a bigger battery, this pointing towards this model doing away with the optical drive and replacing it with batteries and making the whole unit thinner as Apple does so. We’re also feeling the idea that Apple will push gaming and app sales on this particular model MacBook Pro, this tied closely with the improved Ivy Bridge processors and NVIDIA graphics inside.

Have a peek at our MacBook Pro 2012 timeline below and expect not only the 3rd Generation Intel Core processor lineup inside, but USB 3.0 along the sides as well – soon!

This May 24th shipping date for the HTC EVO 4G LTE only appears to apply to customers who pre-ordered directly through the carrier at the moment, with businesses like Best Buy not having spoken up on the situation as of yet. Last we heard from Best Buy, the EVO was still delayed indefinitely. Now we must wait just three more days until the red kickstand-having beast arrives on smartphone loving fans’ doorsteps across the nation.

Earlier today we had a look at the HTC EVO 4G LTE as it compared to the HTC One X, both smartphones being top-tier Android monsters for their respective carriers. Have a look back at our [HTC EVO 4G LTE full review] as well, and head to the timeline below to follow the EVO back to its origin earlier this year. And don’t forget to join us on our ImageChip Tour of New Orleans with the HTC EVO 4G LTE as well – fun stuff!