cyber

Cyber Monday sales rise 33 percent

Cyber Monday has typically been a big day for online retailers, but yesterday was a significant step up over last year, IBM has revealed.

According to the company, online sales were up 33 percent compared to Cyber Monday 2010 and 29.3 percent compared to Black Friday 2011. Consumers spent an average of $198.26 per order this year, IBM said. Last year, the average Cyber Monday order was $193.24.

"Cyber Monday was once again the big winner for the Thanksgiving holiday shopping season, with a record number of consumers focused on finding the best online deals," … Read more

Google Music's version of Cyber Monday: $1.99 albums

This is the way to break in a music service.

A surefire way for any retailer to attract attention is to hack away at prices and Google Music today launched a Cyber Monday sale that should bring people flocking in for a look at the new service.

Today only, Google Music is selling albums from such artists as Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Drake, Mary J. Blige and Forence + the Machine for $1.99.

This is no 10 percent markdown on back catalog titles. Some of the albums available are recent releases. Google kicked sand on the Cyber Monday music sales of … Read more

Cyber Monday steal: Ebates offers double the cash back

If you shop online a lot, you need to know about Ebates. And FatWallet Cash Back. And RewardsRunner.com. These and other sites give you back cold, hard cash on your purchases--kind of like a Discover card on steroids.

Take Ebates (that's my referral link, FYI). In honor of Cyber Monday, the service is offering double cash back from 500 stores.

Update: This deal is long since over, of course, but I still think Ebates and other cash-back sites are great for saving money on almost everything you buy online.

And in some cases, more than double. When you … Read more

Audyssey shaves speaker prices for Cyber Monday

If you're interested in a new pair of media speakers, Audyssey's running a Cyber Monday $149 special on its Apple TV-friendly Lower East Side Media Speakers that trims $50 off the $199 street price (list price is $249).

In my review, I said, "The Audyssey Lower East Side Media Speakers have an attractive, compact design, and offer good sound with lots of bass. They're also one of the few powered stereo speakers to have an optical digital connection (for Apple TV or the PS3, for instance) in addition to an analog input."

The company's … Read more

The 404 954: Where hey, it's Monday, wanna Cyber? (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 Podcast episode:

Black Friday online shopping actually works, grows 26 percent Best Buy, Verizon, Dell launch Cyber Monday deals. Apple posts Black Friday retail records, despite customers reporting underwhelming discounts. Kindle family soars on Black Friday, but unit sales still elusive.… Read more

Kobo Touch $69.99 at Buy.com today

It was Barnes & Noble's turn on Black Friday. Now it's Kobo's turn on Cyber Monday.

Last week, Barnes & Noble offered up a limited edition of the Nook Simple Touch for $79. Now Kobo's teamed up with Buy.com to sell the new ad-supported Kobo Touch With Offers for $69.99 in a one-day sale.

That's a $30 price cut and a good deal on a solid touch-screen e-reader. (Read our full review here).

Like the Kindle Touch With Special Offers, the Kobo Touch With Offers features an advertisement just at the bottom of … Read more

Five great Cyber Monday deals

Happy Cyber Monday! I've always preferred this "holiday" to Black Friday, as it allows me to shop in my preferred garb: bathrobe and slippers. (Tried that on a Black Friday once; I am no longer welcome in the mall.)

Indeed, this is arguably this biggest shopping day of the year for the ol' Cheapskate, as all the deals are, by definition, online. I'll be discussing some of my favorites live today on CNET's Holiday Help Desk, which airs at 3 p.m. ET, noon PT.

In the meantime, here are some assorted Cyber Monday goodies … Read more

Best Buy, Verizon, Dell launch Cyber Monday deals

Best Buy, Amazon, Verizon, and Dell launched Cyber Monday deals featuring discounted laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Best Buy is calling its sale "Cyber Week" and puts Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, and Toshiba laptops at the top of the list on its launch page. All three come with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Best Buy laptops listed on Cyber Week page:

Lenovo, $299.99: Model: 1450ABU. 15.6-inch LED-backlit display, AMD dual-core E-450 accelerated processor, 4GB memory, 320GB hard disk drive, and optical drive. HP Pavilion, $349.99: Model: g4-1229dx. 14-inch LED-backlit display, Intel dual-core "Sandy Bridge" Pentium B950 processor, 4GB memory, 500GB hard drive, and optical drive. Toshiba - Satellite Laptop, $379.99: Model: C655-S5305. 15.6" LED-backlit display, Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3-2330M processor (2.2GHz), 4GB memory, 320GB hard drive, and optical drive.

Top 10 music Blu-ray discs

I've received so many great-sounding Blu-rays over the past couple of months, I had to put together a Top 10 list.

A lot of them didn't make the cut; just because a Blu-ray has a high-resolution soundtrack doesn't automatically mean it sounds great; the variables of the original recordings and mixing can make or break the sound. For example, Tom Petty's "Mojo" Blu-ray doesn't sound much better than the CD version of the same music, but it does have an uninspired 5.1 surround mix. All of the following discs are distinctly better … Read more

Networking products to look for on Black Friday

It's that time of year again.

If you're in the market for networking devices to upgrade your home's media-streaming capabilities, Black Friday is a great opportunity to fulfill that desire. As with everything else, not all networking devices are created equal. In fact when it comes to wireless routers, it's actually a better deal to pay the full price for one that works than getting a lemon for cheap.

But we're talking about getting the one that works for cheap here. And while I can't advise you on how great of a deal you'… Read more