Sony Corporation’s own brand of e-book reader, the Daily Edition is also facing a similar situation of a shortage of supplies to the stores, just like the Nook, thus leaving the Kindle as the only alternative in the field of wireless e-readers for the consumers this holiday season. The more the shortage prolongs, the more the scope for Kindle’s sales increase.

The Nook devices that have been ordered since Friday last week will be shipped to the customers in the week beginning from January 4th, 2010. Furthermore, the e-book readers available in the Barnes & Nobles stores are in extremely short supply, thus making it very difficult to meet the consumers’ demand. According to Barnes & Nobles,

“While we increased production based on the high consumer interest, we’ve sold out of our initial Nook allotment available for delivery before the holidays. We do anticipate having limited stock available in our highest-volume stores over the holidays.”

Even Sony has stated that, due to the high consumer demand, the Daily Edition will also be experiencing an extreme shortage and thus will be available to the customers only on a first come, first serve basis and there can be no guarantees as far as the supply of the Daily Edition for the holiday season is concerned.

According to Rotman Epps (Forrester),

“These two companies wanted to show the market that they would be competition to Amazon for the 2009 holiday season and now they have to face the consequences of that strategy and apologize to consumers for empty boxes under the tree. There may be a lot of e-reader frustration — it may be the Cabbage Patch doll of the year or the Tickle Me Elmo,” referring to two popular toys of prior years that sold out quickly.”

Via Reuters.

The music hardware giant, Sony Corporation has announced that, it will be launching an all new online music store, called Sony Online Service, that will be one stop store for music, videos and other multimedia entertainment files. The Sony Online Service is being viewed as a stark competitor to the Apple iTunes, that has so far led the domain of online music stores.

The all new service from Sony was announced at Sony’s management strategy meeting in Tokyo, Japan and the service is expected to have some similarities to iTunes, that has been taken as the platform on which Sony Online Service has been designed.

Sony plans to the integrate its on PlayStation network, a services that provides the PlayStation gamers with an online environment where they can play the multi player modes of their favorite titles. The PlayStation network is currently comprised of more than 33 million users world wide.

According to a report published by Sony Corporation,

“Sony will try to differentiate its service from iTunes. One example: Users will be able to upload videos shot on camcorders, save photos taken with digital cameras, and post other digital content to their personal online accounts. That’s how Google’s suite of Net-based services (such as YouTube video-sharing and Picasso photo site) works. At some point down the road, Sony would consider letting independent software developers create applications for the service, much the way Apple does for its iPhone.”

Sony has long been facing financial crunch especially in its two most prominent divisions, TVs and video games. Due to the global economic downturn and the high prices of Sony electronic appliances, the company has witnessing a substantial loss in its revenue and profits. The all new online strategy developed by Sony management is the only shot that, the company can pin its hopes on for a recovery.

Via Electric Pig.

The all new feature available on the Kohl’s website is the ability of creating a list of items and commodities that will be available for the consumers for the Black Friday shopping season. The Friday after the U.S Thanksgiving, is traditionally known to be the beginning of the holiday shopping season. This new service will be available to all U.S user between November 22nd to November 27th 2009.

According to Julie Gardner, (Chief Marketing Officer, Kohl’s Corp.),

“In a tough economy for our customers, pre-shopping and planning their shopping are more important than ever because they really have to stretch their budgets. If we have a list, we stay well within our budget more.”

All Kohl’s stores across the U.S will remain open till 4 a.m. on Black Friday and will also be offering $10 coupons on every $50 purchases made by consumers along with ‘early bird’ deals on specific items as well. During the Black Friday season, the major retail stores throughout the United States are allowed to work till late hours at night and they offer sensational discounts and offers in an effort to generate more sales and revenue.

Via Bloomberg.

One of the biggest shopping seasons in the United States of America, also known as the Black Friday, as it falls on the first Friday after the Thanksgiving has made two of the biggest shopping networks, Wal-Mart and Target come out with all guns blazing. Both the companies have announced bottom dollar prices for their products and incredible deals on commodities that have the consumers run to their nearby Wal-Mart and Target outlets.

The all new explosive deals are targeted at electronic items such as, high-definition TVs, laptops and Blu-ray players etc. and also envelops day to day entertainment items for both children and adults such as, toys, DVDs etc. This new Black Friday shopping campaign by both the stores has raised their expectations as far as sales are concerned and the retail chains strongly believe that, this year’s holiday season will be extremely gratifying for their revenues and profits.

Even though Wal-Mart hasn’t announced all its commodities deals till yet, still some of the hot bargains that have indeed been by announced by the retail giant are, 50 inch Sanyo plasma HDTV for $598, Magnavox Blu-Ray disc player for $78, TomTom GPS System for $59, 
Reversible Fleece jacket for $7, Childrens sleepwear for $3. Apart from these daily items of use, Wal-Mart has lowered down the prices of some of the most sought after gadgets such as, Wii Play Bundle for Nintendo Wii for $39, Xbox 360 120GB Elite System w/ Free for $50, Xbox 360 Black Controller for $39, Gift Card for $299.99
, 
Lexar 4GB microSDHC Memory Card for $10.00
, Lexar 4GB SDHC Memory Card for $10.00 and 
Electronic Gadget 3-Slot Charging Station for $14.99.

Along with the above mentioned items that have been designated for the sale, Wal-Mart has also heavily focused on the entertainment section as well with a long list of items that are sure to make the consumers go on a shopping spree. These items include, a 15.6-inch eMachines laptop with 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, AMD CPU, and Windows 7 for $198, a 42-inch Emerson 720p plasma TV for $448, a 50-inch Sanyo plasma for $598, 46-inch Sony 1080p LCD TV for $798, Rock Band Special Edition (with all the instruments) for $50, Sony PlayStation 3 Slim with two games and a Blu-ray disc for $299, 320GB Western Digital external hard drive for $49 and a 10.1-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot camera with 3x optical zoom for $79.

As far as Target is concerned, the retail store is selling the Westinghouse 32″ Widescreen LCD HD TV for only $246 and the Xbox 360 120GB Elite System for $299.99.

Via Tha Indian & Yahoo! Tech.

The day Google announced the Google Android mobile operating system, rumors and speculations started speeding across the internet about a possible Google phone. However, in recent statements, Google had refuted all speculations about a possible Google mobile device and had stated that, Google was keen and interested in only developing software and not hardware.

Now it seems, Google Inc. is finally planning on designing and developing a mobile phone after all. HTC had recently announced an all new mobile device, The Dragon, that was based entirely on the Google Android. Yet, the Dragon isn’t the Google phone that has every tech savvy user on his toes. According to sources, Google is in fact working feverishly on designing and developing an in house built mobile phone, that is expected to be relearned very soon and will be available for the consumers directly through retailers. The Google phone will be manufactured by a third party manufacturer, but will carry the brand logo of Google and is believed to be slated for release in the year 2010.

The new Google phone is believed to be dictated by Google’s terms and conditions and no compromises are expected to be made when it comes to the design and the functionality of the new device. There are also reports that either, Samsung or LG would be the prefigured manufactures of the Google phone. However, due to the fact that, Samsung is already involved in making parts for Apple iPhone, it could be possible that, Apple Inc. might prohibit Samsung from working for Google, thus leaving LG as a sole preferred supplier for Google phone.

Via Pocket Tables.

One of the biggest and most influential lifestyle magazines conglomerate, Conde Nast is gearing up for a big time introduction in the much anticipated and highly awaited Apple Tablet. Conde Nast has been in the process of introducing tablet versions of its publications, ever since the talks of Apple Tablet hit the market.

Wired Magazine, which is one of the primary publications from Conde Nast has reportedly being converted into a digital version as well, for the Apple Tablet, thus confirming the speculations that Apple Inc. might be in the process of introducing its own Tablet in the year 2010. after the release of the digital version of the Wired magazine, the other 18 titles from Conde Nast are also slated for release on the Apple Tablet.

According to Conde Nast, the digital version of its publications will not only be limited to the Apple Tablet, but will be designed specifically to be run on a majority of tablets that, it believes will be released shortly. The digital versions of the magazines will be based on the Adobe platform for universal compatibility with tablet machines. Even without any confirmation from Apple regarding its proposed Tablet launch, Conde Nast officials are in intense talks with Apple Inc and Hewlett Packard (HP) for the inclusion of the publications in tablets that these companies are expected to launch in the near future.

Adobe Systems has also confirmed the development of the software required for the digital publications and has stated the development of such software isn’t exclusive only to Conde Nast, but similar deals can be struck with other publishing houses as well.

Via Gawker.

The biggest gaming title to hit the markets for the year 2009 is Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and in fact it has proven to be just the game that Activision was looking for to turn around its fortunes. Modern Warfare 2 recorded a landmark $500 million sales figure in just five days of its release. This figure far surpasses all sales outputs put forth by any gaming title ever released and the $500 million mark is also the biggest revenue ever generated by a new release, even a movie for that matter.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter games designed and developed for Windows, Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming platforms. However, the release of Activision’s biggest ever title was marred by a controversy over a feature in the game, where the players are enabled to play in the shoes of a terrorist and gun down civilian targets, in a terror attack on an airport. Still, this minor hindrance could not slow down the increasing popularity of Modern Warfare 2.

Even when compared to the revenues generated by Hollywood blockbusters in their first weeks, Modern Warfare 2 overshadows those numbers. The Dark Knight that raised $203.8 million in its opening week and Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince with $394 million in first seven days of its screening, weren’t able to even come close to the $500 million revenue figure generated by Modern Warfare 2.

According to Robert Kotick (CEO, Activision Blizzard),

“In just five days of sell through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop culture phenomenon. The title’s success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media.”

Via Venture Beat.

Ford pulled a very pleasant surprise amidst the crippling recession and ‘the worst market for American car manufacturers.’ The company is finally profitable, having recently reported a $1 billion profit for the third quarter period. It predicts to be “solidly profitable” in 2011.

Ford has had some dependable strategies and standard reasons such as cost-cutting, layoffs, and the cash for clunkers program. But there has also been another unusual, crucial, and extremely successful tactic: the use of social media. It seems that Ford has been gaining sales through it social media prowess.

‘This summer the company boasted that it had logged 13.2 million interactions with the public over social media.’ Having seen that ‘an uptick in positive social media interaction was responsible for Ford’s impressive profits,’ the company pursues its plans to spend ‘a full 25% of its advertising budget online this year, compared to 9% for the rest of the industry.’

Ford is cashing in on the ‘continued rise in social media’s popularity, and its online numbers reflect the buzz’: ‘more than 1.8 million YouTube views, more than 270,000 Flickr views and more than 1.8 million Twitter impressions, resulting in more than 13.2 million interactions.’ The @Ford Twitter account has 18 thousand followers.

Companies are starting to realize that the advertising game is now played online, away from the erstwhile and costly tri-media campaigns of television, print, and radio advertising platforms.

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Via Mediaite

‘TV watching is such an inherently lazy activity that many viewers can’t summon the energy to fast forward during breaks. In the key 18-49 age demographic, 46% watch all the ads during playback.’ So, most viewers, in fact, get to watch those commercials. What’s more, ‘shows enjoy 7%-20% more viewings over three days of playback with big networks seeing an average 10% increase overall.’ This makes the DVR ‘a serious boost to the TV industry.’

Another fact is that more households in the US own digital video recorders, with 33 percent thus far in 2009 as compared with 28 percent at this point in 2008. This phenomenon actually helps the ratings of some marginal shows. Some even become hits on their own. Fact is television-viewing couch potatoes are too lazy that they simply opt to sit through advertising commercials. Nearly half of all viewers do not skip commercials. Man’s passive activity isn’t hurting ad revenues one bit, DVR or no DVR.

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Via The New York Times

It seems that right now is a good time to be headed up to Google in search of a job despite the state of the nation’s economy. This is of course more so true if you have loads of talent, experience and have been in Microsoft’s camp for a long time earlier before jumping ship!

To be fair tough, in case of applications developer Don Dodge, he was forced to walk the plank at Microsoft than the man choosing to change firms. Yet, the fact that Microsoft let him go as part of its lay offs has meant hat Google has swooped right in and picked up another prime asset; or so it seems for now. Having worked for Google’s bitter rival for a long time Don was job hunting in Silicon Valley and Google gobbled him up in no less than a week; a record short time between a first interview and hiring for a high profile position at Google.

Don will now be working under Vic Gundotra, another ex-Microsoft man who was at their office for 15 years. It seems Google is playing the game well and winning the contest as of now with those in the enemy’s camp now firmly in their pocket. Of course, this does not by anyway mean that decisive victory is anywhere near for either camps!

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