Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart to close its MP3 store

Wal-Mart Stores plans to close its MP3 download store at the end of the month after spending years as an also-ran to Apple's iTunes.

The retailer giant recently informed distribution and licensing partners of the impending closure in a letter first reported by the Digital Music News blog:

After eight years in business, the Walmart Music Downloads Store located at mp3.walmart.com will close on August 28, 2011. All content in the Store will be disabled and no longer available for download from the store.

The sale of physical record music products on Walmart.com as well as … Read more

AT&T quietly releases Android-powered Sharp FX Plus

It's without much fanfare that we learned about AT&T's Sharp FX Plus, a rather entry-level Android 2.2 Froyo smartphone that has been available since July 30. Like the Sharp FX before it, the FX Plus is positioned as a messaging phone targeting the younger set. However, it does get an upgrade with Android, and a much rounder body that smooths over some of its predecessor's rough edges.

In addition to a virtual keyboard equipped with Swype, the Sharp FX Plus has a slide-out QWERTY for composing longer texts and messages. The handset supports AT&… Read more

Wal-Mart takes another crack at challenging Netflix

Retailing behemoth Wal-Mart Stores said today that it has added the Vudu streaming-video service to Walmart.com.

The move comes 18 months after Wal-Mart acquired Vudu and enables shoppers to stream Vudu titles or buy physical DVDs or Blue-ray discs from Walmart.com.

Customers can rent or buy movies and TV shows on a per-title basis. Netflix, the leader in distributing films and TV shows over the Web, rents movies for a monthly subscription fee, which, as it happens, is going up come September.

Wal-Mart launches Vudu on its Web site at an opportune time. Netflix announced earlier this month … Read more

Vizio's new 8-inch tablet now up for preorder

First demoed at CES in January, Vizio's new 8-inch VIA tablet finally has a price and a ship date.

Slated to ship on July 18, the new Android tablet is now available for preorder. Vizio is selling the tablet directly for the full retail price of $399. However, consumers can grab a better deal by ordering it at Costco for $329 or Wal-Mart for $348.

A report from mid-June had already pegged Wal-Mart selling the tablet for $349.

Equipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread but customized with Vizio's own user interface, the tablet offers an 8-inch, 1,024x768 … Read more

Vizio's Android tablet to hit Wal-Mart for $349?

Vizio's upcoming 8-inch Android Via tablet could soon find itself on the shelves at Wal-Mart selling for $349, according to an apparently leaked photo.

Displaying what appears to be a photo of the product's placard, tech enthusiast site This is My confirms some of the tablet's specs, including a high-resolution capacitive touch screen, a front-facing camera, and built-in GPS. Though no release date was revealed, the site asserts that the tablet should reach the market soon.

Vizio, which is primarily a maker of LCD TVs, demoed Via--its first tablet--at CES in January.

A hands-on look from CNET … Read more

Vudu debuts prepaid movie voucher cards

Vudu is offering a brick-and-mortar purchase option for its digital movies.

Starting Tuesday, Wal-Mart customers will be able to buy a voucher card for a Vudu digital download. Once they get home, plugging the scratch-off code into any Vudu-compatible streaming device will allow them to stream the movie at their leisure. (Compatible devices include the PlayStation 3, any PC or Mac, and many TVs and Blu-ray players.)

Because it's a purchase, not a rental, viewers can re-stream the movie ad infinitum. Currently, only the standard-def streaming version (not the HD version) will be sold at retail. (HD and "HDX" versions of some titles are available via Vudu's online interface for an additional charge, usually $19.99; it's unclear if the HD/HDX versions of films will be made available at retail.)

The debut title is "Battle: Los Angeles," which is being sold for $14.96. By comparison, Wal-Mart is selling the DVD of the same film for $16.96, the HD Blu-ray for $19.96, and the DVD/Blu-ray combo pack for $24.96. The prices appear nearly equivalent on Amazon, including the Amazon Instant (streaming) version for $14.99. … Read more

HP TouchPad 32GB to sell for $599 at Wal-Mart?

Hewlett-Packard has said its touchscreen tablet will be available sometime this summer. But for how much, when, and where?

We might now have partial answers to those questions.

The blog Pre Central has an internal Wal-Mart document that indicates it plans to be one of the retailers that will sell the HP TouchPad. The retailer's system shows a 32GB TouchPad with Wi-Fi at a price of $599.

The document also lists accessories for the device: the Touchstone dock at $79.88, a WebOS Bluetooth keyboard for $69.88, an HP-made case for $49.88, and an AC charger for $29.88.

The $599 price point for the 32GB with Wi-Fi version makes sense. It's also exactly what the TouchPad's chief competition, Apple's 32GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi only, goes for.

HP first introduced the tablet in February, the first major new product resulting from its purchase of Palm.

The TouchPad has a 9.7-inch touch screen, weighs 1.6 pounds, is 13.7 millimeters thick, and comes in 16GB or 32GB of storage. Inside is a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, a gyroscope, and an accelerometer. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1451: Apple: finish Samsung!! (Podcast)

Tong stood in line all night for Mortal Kombat, while Molly went to bed with her laptop and her brand new Keynote download. Impressive, right? In the actual news, Apple files a major set of patent and trademark lawsuits against manufacturing partner Samsung, Netflix is doing family plans, and what happened to all those 1-800 numbers. Dial carefully children. Dial carefully.

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

Report: AT&T already shipping iPad 2

In what may have been nothing more than a minor footnote to Friday's launch of Apple's iPad 2, shipping times on Apple's Web site quickly jumped from 3 to 5 business days to 2 to 3 weeks.

Interestingly, according to a report from AppleInsider, AT&T is already shipping iPad 2s to customers, with some expecting to see theirs as early as Monday.

As of the writing of this article, shipping times on Apple's Web site are 3 to 4 weeks for all models of the iPad 2. The photo below, from AppleInsider, shows the … Read more