Hasta La Gadget!

After the Kindle Fire proved that people wanted cheaper tablets, everybody started making them. Google made the Nexus 7, Apple is coming out with an iPad mini and now Best Buy wants to make its own cheap Android tablet: the Insignia Flex. The only difference is that Best Buy’s cheap tablet isn’t small. It’s a full size 9.7-inch tablet. More »

Best Buy announced, via its Insignia Facebook page, the new Insignia Flex Android tablet. Although the specs are modest, the design is something that catches the eye, giving it a unique look in a market full of look-alike tablets. The specifications indicate that this could end up being a nice budget tablet, but no word has been given on pricing yet.

Over the last few weeks, Best Buy has been dropping tease tweets about a “mysterious” product that it would be unveiling in the near future. One such tweet from October 8th, which included a vague image, read, “This picture just might give it away: Can you identify this mystery product that will be in stores next month?” According to the announcement made on Facebook and a tweet over at @Insignia, the aforementioned mystery product was the Flex tablet.

Although information is sparse, we do know this: the Flex tablet will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, has a 1GHz dual-core processor, 9.7-inch screen and a battery life of ten hours. According to the Facebook and Twitter announcements, it will “hit store shelves one month from today,” placing it around November 11th. Given these specs, many speculate that the tablet will be priced between $150 and $250.

While the image provided with the announcement doesn’t show any ports, the mystery image posted on Twitter on Monday shows a microSD port, a headphone port, and an integrated microphone. The microSD slot provides an expansion opportunity in the event the Flex has mediocre internal storage space. We’ll have more info for you when the device is released in November.

[via Facebook]

Best Buy announces the 9.7-inch Insignia Flex Android tablet is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve heard a lot about Windows 8 today – Netflix pushed a Windows 8 update earlier today, we learned a little more about the Windows 8 marketing campaign, and – most importantly – the new OS officially went up for pre-order. With that mind, Best Buy has wasted no time putting Windows 8 PCs on display in some of its stores. WinSource reports that at least one Best Buy store is showing off a number of HP Windows 8 notebooks, ultrabooks, and all-in-one PCs to get customers excited about the release of the latest Windows installment.

Specifically speaking, a Best Buy location in St. Cloud, MN has the HP Pavilion 23, the ENVY TouchSmart, the ENVY 23 TouchSmart, and a pair of ENVY m6 laptops out on the show floor for customers to play around with. You obviously can’t take one of them home with you today, but this a good chance to see Windows 8 in action. This should be especially handy for those who didn’t want to bother with installing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Windows 8 is scheduled to launch on October 26, and it looks ready to take the PC world by storm – or at least that’s the outcome Microsoft is hoping for. Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer recently said that he thinks Windows 8 could be as big as Windows 95 was for the company, and manufacturers are more than willing to show us their fancy new Windows 8 machines. Microsoft has pumped a lot of money into the marketing campaign for Windows 8, so you can bet that those manufacturers are counting on the new OS to move some machines once October 26 is on the books.

Thought WinSource’s report only covers one Best Buy store, there’s a good chance that other stores have already put Windows 8 devices out on the show floor. If your store hasn’t yet, it’s only a matter of time. In any case, if you’re interested in checking out Windows 8, it can’t hurt to stop by your local Best Buy to see if it has any computers running Windows 8 you can take a look at.

Windows 8 HP PCs pop up at Best Buy stores is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve all done this before where we go to a retail store, try out a product before heading home to place our orders online. This is not a move appreciated by many retailers especially since online retailers, such as Amazon or even eBay offer the products for cheaper prices. Well the good news is that if you’d rather not wait for a product to be shipped to you, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that during this holiday season, Best Buy will be matching their prices against online retailers such as Amazon. This is a move to put a halt to what is known as “showrooming”, where people come to try products out before buying them online.

Granted Best Buy admits that showrooming isn’t that huge of a deal, since 40% of their customers that walk leave with a product, but firmly believes that this is an issue that they should pay attention to. As an added incentive, the report has also revealed that Best Buy could be offering free home delivery on items that are out of stock which hopefully will keep customers loyal and choose to buy from them. Assuming this report is accurate, we guess we know where we will be shopping this holiday!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Best Buy drops HTC Flyer further down to $100 (Updated), Microsoft Kinect Sold Out At Various Retailers,

Best Buy will match online pricing during the holiday season, so as to reduce the impact of “showrooming” where would-be buyers play with products in-store but then order them from cheaper internet vendors. Meanwhile, free home delivery will be offered for products currently out of stock, sources speaking to the WSJ claim, though it’s possible that Best Buy may exclude some items from the price matching program, which is still being worked out.

Like other retailers, Best Buy has seen a growth in shoppers who come to brick & mortar stores to browse through and play with the physical products on display, but then fail to actually complete a transaction. Instead, having used that hands-on experience to settle on a specific product, they buy it online at reduced rates from retailers without the costs of maintaining stores and sales teams that Best Buy must cover.

The process is known as “showrooming,” though Best Buy has argued that it is not such a significant problem as analysts have suggested. The company’s own estimates suggest that the number of “showrooming” customers using its stores are in the mid-teens, having seen a rise of roughly 3-percent over the past 24-months.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to increase [our] close rate” Best Buy spokesperson Matthew Furman said, referring to the roughly 40-percent of shoppers who browse the store but leave without making a purchase. Back in July, the company revealed plans to borrow store strategy from Apple with, among other things, a “Solution Central” help desk in the center.

Nonetheless, Best Buy VP of consumer insights Bill Hoffman insists that showrooming is “still very low” in terms of the risks to overall profit. “We need to pay attention to it” he concedes, however, and the online price-match policy will go some way to addressing it. It’s unclear whether the scheme will be a one-time promotion during the holidays, or if it will continue.

Best Buy battles “showrooming” with internet price-matching is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.