buying

Apple turns you on with the angle of its laptops

Sometimes, you're in a bar and there's a member of your target sex leaning just slightly toward you.

At least, that's what you think. Or rather feel. Something about their posture beckons you. Something suggests that you should be at one with them. Something tells you that they want you to complete them.

This is, apparently, a feeling Apple would like you to have inside its stores.

According to a moving piece from Forbes, each morning Apple employees whip out their iPhones, use an app called Simply Angle, and position the laptops to seduce.

The angle of … Read more

Just how well did Nokia's Lumia 900 do?

Despite a mountain of hype and support behind it, Nokia's Lumia 900 was no blockbuster.

Recent data and comments suggest the phone performed well, but not great. After a strong start, sales petered. While AT&T was initially enthusiastic about the Lumia 900, it isn't saying much about the phone now.

More importantly, the Lumia 900 failed to break into the minds of consumers and establish Windows Phone as a heavyweight in the smartphone industry, behind only Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Still, the phone did well enough to keep Nokia in the game, even … Read more

Best Buy chairman resigns, eyes options for his 20 percent stake

Best Buy founder and Chairman Richard Schulze said today he will resign from the board and explore options to sell his 20 percent stake in the retailer.

In a terse statement, Schulze, Best Buy's largest shareholder, said that he continues "to believe in Best Buy and its future," but acknowledged "there is an urgent need for Best Buy to reinvigorate growth by reconnecting with today's customers and building pathways to the next generation of consumers."

Schulze's statement is a bit of a mixed message. He believes in Best Buy, but is looking to &… Read more

Best Buy, GameStop to sell $99 Xbox subscriptions

Microsoft plans to expand its $99 Xbox subscription offer to all U.S Best Buy stores and some GameStop stores later this month, according to an entry posted in a company blog today.

The deal is for a limited number of users for a short period of time, but if there is enough interest, the company may expand the offer again, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Currently, the offer is exclusively available at 17 Microsoft stores. The $99 offer combines an Xbox 360 and Kinect motion sensor with a two-year service contract. … Read more

Best Buy offers discount on iTunes gift cards

Those of you shopping for iTunes gift cards can grab them at a healthy discount at Best Buy.

The retail outlet is offering the full range of iTunes gift cards for 15 percent off the usual price. So a $15 card is selling for $12.75, a $25 card for $21.25, a $50 card for $42.50, and a $100 card for $85.

Buyers can opt to purchase online so the code is delivered via e-mail or pick up a card at their local Best Buy store. No returns or refunds are allowed on the iTunes gift cards, but … Read more

Best Buy Q1 stabilizes, but has to adapt to 'new realities'

Best Buy's first quarter results were better than expected, but were helped by an extra selling week and lower tax rate. In other words, Best Buy remains a work in progress.

The company reported first quarter earnings of $255 million, or 64 cents a share, on revenue of $11.61 billion, up 2 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 72 cents a share.

Wall Street was expecting earnings of 59 cents a share on revenue of $11.52 billion.

The results, however, aren't what they seem. Best Buy got a boost from an extra selling week … Read more

HTC Evo 4G LTE shipments now delayed at Best Buy

Customers who pre-ordered HTC's Evo 4G LTE through Best Buy may have to wait a while for their phone to show up.

Best Buy has starting e-mailing customers to inform them that Sprint has changed the phone's release date. But the new date is as yet unknown, according to blog site Phandroid. As a result, the carrier can't even provide an estimate as to when the new Evo may ship.

Best Buy's order page for the phone simply indicates that it's "coming soon." Likewise, Sprint's page says that it's "out … Read more

Best Buy cuts price of iPhone 4 to $49.99

Those of you in the market for an iPhone 4 can now pick one up at Best Buy for just $49.99.

The iPhone 4 is half off the usual retail price of $99.99 and requires a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless, AT&T, or Sprint. Potential buyers have a color choice of black or white.

The deal seems to be an in-store only promotion as the Best Buy Web site shows that none of the models is available for shipping. Stock may also be limited -- an online search of various stores around the country revealed the … Read more

Best Buy: Write down your e-mail password (and give it to us)

One of the great intellectual new talents of this century has been training one's mind to remember all one's passwords.

Because writing them down always seems so very dangerous.

However, it seems that Best Buy's Geek Squad is rather keen for you to write down your password and, um, pass it to them.

Ars Technica's Jon Brodkin says he experienced this revealing phenomenon when he shopping with his brother for a new computer at Best Buy in Scottsdale, Ariz.

As his brother completed his purchase of a fine HP Windows 7 machine, Brodkin says his brother … Read more

Why Best Buy CEO's 'expressed affection' for employee was problem

commentary Brian Dunn gave Best Buy's board of directors plenty of reason to doubt that he was the man to engineer the company's comeback.

Dunn, 52, who resigned as CEO of the struggling electronics chain last month while the company was investigating his "alleged misconduct," was taken down by an "inappropriate relationship" with a 29-year-old female employee. That was the finding of investigators who were hired to look into the relationship and Best Buy released their report today.

The four-page audit included details about Dunn loaning the woman money, giving her use of a … Read more