Consumer Electronics Daily News

Device Repair Service Seeks Franchisees

Shatter Buggy  combines something new--iDevice repair--with something old--house calls--to create a business model for 21st century success. Now celebrating its inaugural year of business, the company is ready for its next phase of growth. Shatter Buggy founder Benjamin Head has announced that franchising opportunities are now available, with compelling discounts for the first several contracts. He advises those who have contemplated starting their own business to seriously consider franchising with Shatter Buggy, as it combines a low cost of entry with a proven model for success.

In the not-so-distant past, a broken iPhone or iPad meant a trip back to the retail store, wherein the customer was forced to purchase a new device. A relatively simple repair, such as replacement of a cracked screen, would result in a surprisingly large bill, especially if the manufacturer determines that the damages are not covered by warranty, as is typically the case with broken glass. This fact of technological life served as the inspiration for the founding of Shatter Buggy.

The market for iDevice repair, particularly in urban areas, is nearly limitless. Before founding Shatter Buggy, Head realized that a business centered on fast, convenient repair of these devices was a market niche that no one yet occupied. A year later, and the business has not only succeeded, but flourished. For prospective franchisees, Shatter Buggy offers a chance to get in on the ground floor of an efficient, in-demand, fast-paced and evolving organization. Franchising is an opportunity to leave the corporate world behind; all that's required is startup funding and a passion to guide a new business venture toward healthy sustainability.

"Shatter Buggy provides a one-of-a-kind service model to owners of iDevices," explained Head. "Our innovations include a scheduling system that enables precise appointments rather than 'windows' of time, factory-direct replacement parts and a six-month warranty on parts and labor. From the customer's point of view, Shatter Buggy offers affordable, reliable and economical service."

 

Sony Retail Footprint Expands With Store Re-Openings and Gallery Experience

Sony Electronics is starting its retail expansion with a splash, opening the doors to three newly remodeled Sony Stores and several brand new Sony Gallery experiences in just a few short months.

Following the success of the most recently redesigned Sony Store in the Simon Mall Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, the three new concept stores located in Miami, San Diego and Orlando will reopen with the same fresh, modern, and immersive experience that has become the hallmark of the Sony retail store shopping experience. The remodels will bring the total of U.S. redesigned stores to eight.

Sony's innovative retail expansion plans also include free-standing "Sony Galleries," a curated assortment of Sony's best products in a smaller store footprint. The first Sony Gallery opened this week at the Westfield UTC Mall in San Diego, and is located in the central court near Tiffany's. Two more Sony Galleries will open in New Jersey and San Francisco next month, and additional locations are being planned in shopping centers across the country.

The Sony Gallery at UTC is the predecessor to another new Sony retail store concept that will open this fall, a "boutique" in size and style with the best TVs, cameras, computers and audio products and services Sony has on the market.

"We're creating a new way to shop for consumer electronics," said Mike Fasulo, Executive Vice President of sales operations for Sony Electronics. "People expect the best from Sony, and we want to exceed their expectations by providing a personal, memorable shopping experience to all of our guests, that keeps them and their families coming back again and again."

"The Sony retail store goal is to be the best, the easiest, and the most fun place to shop for Sony products," said Brian Sheehan, Senior Vice President of Sony Direct. "We've got passionate Sony fans ready and waiting to help our guests find that perfect product or solution that only Sony can provide."

Personalized Services, Customized Solutions

Rated #1 by Laptop, Tech Media magazine for Tech Support (2012), Sony Stores continue to offer premium services that provide guests with exceptional support for their Sony products. From installation to product personalization, Sony's exclusive service offerings include product set-up assistance and training by Sony experts, activation of wireless services, and technical PC and IT support by certified technicians. In-home consultations, delivery, and TV and home audio and video installation by authorized technicians are also provided.

About the Re-designed Sony Stores

The newly redesigned Sony stores feature a wide-open store front, providing shoppers an unobstructed view into the world of Sony. Inside, Sony fans will be able to experience all things Sony.  From Sony music artists playing over the speakers to Sony Pictures movies playing on the immersive 4K televisions, the full breadth of Sony's assets can be enjoyed in one great place.

The new design was developed with a focus on the guest experience, and features a light, bright, and flexible store layout that makes it easy for people to test and try their favorite Sony products. The innovative interior walls are moveable and changeable, allowing new color schemes to be reconfigured to highlight specific products, services, or content.

The three Sony Stores being remodeled will re-open in the new design over the course of the next few months, including: 

• Aventura Mall (Aventura, FL) – April 23
• Fashion Valley Mall (San Diego, Calif.) – May 18
• The Mall at Millenia (Orlando, FL) – July 2013

Happy Days for Shoppers

Rumors abound in the CE marketplace that the $99 SRP Android tablet is on its way from multiple suppliers. Look for them as early as the first quarter of next year.

Coupled with this, there are more retailers who've decided to enable WiFi throughout their stores to assist customers in doing the online price and product research they insist on doing anyway. 

Come next year, we'll have a choice of stores where we can go to see what's on display, take our cute little tablet from our purse and log on to make sure that we're getting exactly what we want at the price that works for us and then hand over a credit card and pay a roving cashier without ever having to stand in line at a cash register. Happy days indeed.

Kindle Fire Tablets Now Available at U.S. GameStop Stores

GameStop offering free $25 Amazon.com gift card with Kindle Fire purchase until Jan. 31, 2013

Just in time for holiday shopping, GameStop has added the popular Kindle Fire family of tablets to its growing selection of the hottest mobile electronics. Kindle Fire HD 7” ($199.99) is now available for purchase in all 4,400 U.S. GameStop stores. Kindle Fire HD 8.9" ($299.99) and Kindle Fire 7” ($159.99) are also available in select stores. Visit www.GameStop.com/TabletStores for participating locations.

“Gaming is one of the most popular activities on Kindle Fire, so we’re excited that GameStop is offering the new Kindle Fire family to its customers,” said Mike McKenna, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Kindle Fire HD, with its stunning custom HD display, gyroscope and accelerometer with full tilt and turn controls is great for gaming, and the perfect choice for GameStop’s enthusiastic customer base.”

“Android tablets are topping many holiday lists, so it’s the perfect time to add Kindle Fire to GameStop’s mobile electronics selection,” said Joe Gorman, Vice President of Mobile at GameStop. “And with customers able to trade old video games, devices and more toward the purchase of new products, including Kindle Fire, we’re making it easier than ever for customers to get the holiday gifts they want.”

Exclusively at GameStop, customers will get a $25 Amazon.com gift card with the purchase of a new Kindle Fire now through Jan. 31, 2013. GameStop customers can also get up to $100 in-store credit when they trade in an original Kindle Fire. For complete details contact your local GameStop store or visit www.GameStop.com/DeviceTrader.

PriceGrabber Reveals Online Shopping Trends During Black Friday

Leading shopping site PriceGrabber.com® today revealed the latest online shopping behavior and trends over the busiest shopping period of the year. The findings indicated that Black Friday has turned into "Black Week," with sales starting earlier and deals extending later.

PriceGrabber experienced a 14 percent year-over-year growth in traffic this year from Thanksgiving until Cyber Monday, signifying that more consumers are using the internet for research, price comparison and purchasing gifts. As expected, Cyber Monday was PriceGrabber's biggest day last weekend with 20 percent more traffic than Black Friday. Consumer shopping behavior is based on PriceGrabber data and website analytics from Nov. 22 to Nov. 26, 2012.

"This year, Black Friday leaked into Thanksgiving and extended into the weekend, while Cyber Monday deals were stretched to Tuesday, as we saw strong online activity starting on Thanksgiving Day and continuing throughout the week," said Steve Krenzer, CEO of PriceGrabber.com. "We expect this 'Black Week' trend to continue next year, as retailers try to get in front of consumers earlier, and keep them engaged by offering compelling deals throughout the week – which is great news for shoppers. As a result of this new trend, shoppers this season had more time to take advantage of discounts, resulting in a consistent year-over-year growth in visits and page views."

Mobile device traffic increases Shoppers are taking advantage of having the internet in their back pocket. Traffic from smartphones and tablets have increased significantly compared to 2011, with 27 percent of total traffic originating through a mobile device over the Thanksgiving weekend, an increase of over 116 percent compared to the same period in 2011. It is worth noting that on Black Friday, PriceGrabber saw significantly more mobile traffic than on Cyber Monday. Increased mobile volume was an indication of some show-rooming and price matching but consumer intent stayed strong as sales completion rate was within the normal range for mobile devices.

Top Category Trends

Tablets and eReaders were among the highest growth channels this holiday weekend, with an 81 percent year-over-year traffic increase, and a modest 3 percent decline in average order price driven by the introduction of lower cost tablets such as the iPad Mini®. Smartphones were also among the highest growth categories with 60 percent year-over-year increase in volume and a 16 percent drop in average price compared to last year. Other popular categories included headphones with a 51 percent year-over-year growth in volume and an average price of $162. The TV category was the top searched page over the weekend and PriceGrabber saw huge discounts with the average price declining by 10 percent year-over-year. However, volume stayed relatively flat compared to last year, showing that the discounts did not result in increased demand. The price of digital cameras increased by 14 percent this year to an average of $612. PriceGrabber believes this increase is due to the introduction of higher end SLR cameras. However, overall traffic declined by 6 percent, indicating that improved smartphone cameras are taking share from the expensive SLRs. MP3 Players and GPS devices experienced the sharpest decline in traffic with almost 40 percent fewer visits this holiday weekend compared to last year.

Trending Products (Nov. 22 to Nov. 26, 2012)

Tablets: The Latitude™ ST from Dell® was the most popular product and tablet over the weekend, followed closely by the Samsung® Galaxy Tab® 2. PriceGrabber also saw high activity on the Asus® Google® Nexus 7® and the iPad®.

TVs: Samsung® was the top brand with the UN46EH5000 46" LED TV, the UN32EH4003F 32" LED TV and the PN51E530 51" Plasma TV. The Mitsubishi® WD-73C12 73" DLP Projection TV was also among the most popular TVs.

Cameras: The Canon® EOS Rebel® T3i™ and T4i™ Camera Kits with 18-55mm lens were among the most popular products this year. The Nikon® D5100™ and D3100™ models of the black SLR digital camera kit with 18-55mm lens were also among the most popular cameras, followed by the Nikon® D7000™16.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body, as well as the Nikon® Coolpix® P510™ Black Digital Camera.

Toys: The Elf on the Shelf® Boy and activity book was the number one toy, followed by the Mini® power quad ride-on, LEGO® Ninjago® Epic Dragon Battle, and Hot Wheels® 3 Lane Plug In. The Hasbro® Furby®, Monster High® dolls, Easy Bake Oven®, Lionel Trains® The Scout® Steam Train Starter Set, and the Mattel® Barbie® Dream House Bundle were also among the top toys over Black Friday weekend.

Video Games: The top console was the Xbox 360® Black 250GB Console Kinect® Adventures Special Edition Bundle, also ranked in the top ten top products overall. In the video game category, the Wii® U Black 32 GB Console Deluxe Set was the second most popular console. Top games include Just Dance 4®, God of War® Saga Collection, Borderlands 2®, Madden NFL 13™, Assassin's Creed® 3, Skylanders® Giants Starter Kit, and Marvel Avengers®: Battle for Earth.

Market Research Finds Increased Spending Plans for CE Devices

New Consumer Analytics research from Parks Associates indicates U.S. consumers plan to spend over 33 percent more on CE devices this holiday season compared to last year, with the total amount increasing from $793 per household in 2011 to $1,058 in 2012. The survey of 2,500 U.S. broadband households, fielded in October/November 2012, found 63 percent of households plan to make a CE purchase, a 37 percent increase over last year. Tablets and smartphones are the hottest items, and consumers express the greatest preferences for the Apple iPad and iPhone.

"Twenty-six percent of U.S. consumers intend to spend more on CE, the best rate since 2008," said John Barrett, Director, Consumer Analytics, Parks Associates. "For the first time, more U.S. households plan to purchase a tablet than a laptop, netbook, or Ultrabook computer."

Parks Associates finds consumers want a device that offers both advanced features and portability but have yet to find the product that perfectly blends the benefits of laptops and tablets. Consumers who are 25-34, earn $75,000-$100,000 annually, or already own a tablet or multiple desktops/laptops are most likely to consider tablets as laptop substitutes.

"The introduction of the Microsoft Surface tablet brought some enthusiasm from consumers, but interest dropped sharply once Microsoft announced pricing and the additional cost of the keyboard attachment," Barrett said. "The iPad Mini, conversely, is luring many tablet buyers with its lower price point."

In almost all product categories, intentions to purchase online are also increasing. For example, 47 percent of tablet shoppers plan to purchase online, versus 32 percent last year, and 25 percent of people looking for a flat-panel TV will purchase online, versus 17 percent in 2011. For almost all CE products, online shoppers show a preference for online storefronts of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Best Buy. 

OfficeMax Aims to Become Go-To Store for Business Electronics

OfficeMax® Incorporated today launched one-stop shopping for customers with an expanded selection of accessories for Apple® products. The accessories – now approaching 300 items at OfficeMax stores for iPod®, iPad®, iPhone® and MacBook® and more than 800 at OfficeMax.com – provide OfficeMax with one of the largest selection of accessories for Apple products among office supply retailers.

"The expanded selection of accessories for Apple products adds to OfficeMax's ever-growing selection of technology products and accessories for our customers," said Ronald Lalla, Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer at OfficeMax. "Apple customers are very enthusiastic about accessories for their Apple products, and we want to provide them with the largest selection available."

The growing selection of accessories include cases, chargers, portable power, headphones, home and portable audio systems, and docking systems from brands including Speck®, Targus®, Belkin®, Monster® and more. Accessories for iPhone 5 will also be available in time for the holiday shopping season. All of the accessories for Apple products can now be found in one easy-to-find location within the technology department at OfficeMax stores nationwide, or online at OfficeMax.com.

 

Wal-Mart to Stop Selling Kindle

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is phasing out the sale of Amazon.com's Kindle Fire tablet and Kindle e-readers, the second major retailer to stop offering the items in six months, according to the Associated Press. AP reports that Wal-Mart will continue selling the Kindles it has on hand until its stock is depleted.

Review Authority Announces Ten Best MP3 Players

The best MP3 players have been identified by the producer of comprehensive independent ratings, reviewauthority.com, for the month of January 2012. For the best MP3 players, reviewauthority.com has connected with independent researchers to identify the best MP3 players in the electronics industry and review them according to their strengths and weaknesses. The ratings of the best MP3 players released on a monthly basis are the results of this evaluation which delves into the most important aspects of portable electronics which function mainly as a music player.

The Best MP3 Players are:

1) Apple iPod classic 160 GB

2) Samsung Galaxy 4.0

3) Apple iPod touch 8GB

4) Creative ZEN X-Fi2

5) Zune HD

6) Sony Walkman NWZ-E354BLK

7) SanDisk Sansa Fuze

8) SanDisk Sansa Clip

9) Apple iPod Suffle

10) Coby 4GB Flash

Evaluations of the best MP3 players involve a process of rating and evaluating each individual MP3 player in order to determine how well they compare in terms of audio quality, storage capacity, compatibility, ease of use, and battery life.

To find the best MP3 players visit: mp3-players.reviewauthority.com/rankings-of-best-mp3-players.

Sony and Panasonic to Collaborate on the Joint Development of Next Generation OLED Panels for TVs/Large-sized Displays Sony Corporation Panasonic Corporation

Sony Corporation and Panasonic Corporation announced that they have signed an agreement regarding the joint development of next-generation OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panels and modules for TVs and large-sized displays.

Sony and Panasonic plan to jointly develop next-generation OLED panels and modules by each utilizing their core and printing technologies. They plan to jointly develop printing method-based, next-generation OLED technology, which will be suitable for low-cost mass production of large, high resolution OLED panels and modules. Sony and Panasonic aim to establish mass-production technology during 2013, by integrating their unique technologies to improve the overall efficiency of development.

Sony launched the world’s first OLED TV in 2007 with its 11-inch model. Sony also released a 25-inch professional OLED monitor in 2011, and continued to develop products and mass-produce OLED displays utilizing deposition technologies. Further, Sony has actively promoted the research and development of next-generation OLED technologies such as hybrid OLED element devices and processing (manufacturing) technologies that combine deposition and printing methods, thin film transistor (TFT) drivers such as oxide TFTs, and flexible organic TFTs, and has presented its development results at academic conferences.

Panasonic is a leader in the technology development of large-sized screen, high-resolution OLED panels and utilizes the cutting-edge “all printing method”, among other printing methods which have the advantage of being competitive for producing large-sized screens at a lower cost. Panasonic owns the unique production and equipment technologies which enable the production of OLED panels through this method. Panasonic is also pursuing the future possibility of OLED panels, and is carrying out research and development of advancements in flexible OLED panels and aiming to develop large-sized, high quality sheet-type displays.

In parallel with the joint development of the next-generation technologies of the OLED panels and modules, Sony and Panasonic plan to continue to study collaboration in the mass production of OLED panels and modules. Also, each company plans to utilize its own strengths to develop and commercialize its own competitive, high-performance, next-generation OLED televisions and large-sized displays.