Apple sells 25% of music in the US, none of which is AC/DC

According to the number crunchers at NPD Group, the trend that came to a head last year when Apple beat out Wal-Mart for the title of largest Stateside music retailer is continuing apace. That’s right — one in four songs sold in America is sold on iTunes, while Wal-Mart (including CD sales through retail stores, sales through their website, and Wal-Mart Music Downloads) holds the number two position at 14 percent. And number three, if you’re morbidly curious, is Best Buy. In addition, 69% of all digital music sold in the US comes from the iTunes store, with Amazon ranking second at 8 percent. When talking formats, the CD remains the most popular at 65 percent, but as some dude named Russ Crupnick (NPD’s vice president of entertainment industry analysis) notes, “with digital music sales growing at 15 to 20 percent, and CDs falling by an equal proportion, digital music sales will nearly equal CD sales by the end of 2010.” Which can only be a good thing, if it means that we’ll never have to step into a Wal-Mart again. Sales of ringtones and sales to consumers under 13 were not tabulated, which means the data may incorrectly skew away from purchases of The Wiggles’ Go Bananas! and that Crazy Frog song.

[Via TUAW]

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Apple sells 25% of music in the US, none of which is AC/DC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony debuts iPod / iPhone-friendly ALTUS multi-room audio line

We haven’t seen a new S-AIR product since Sony outed a few wireless HTIBs back in March, but it looks as if the outfit is hopping back on that horse with a new line at Best Buy. The ALTUS audio product range gets going with the “premium” ALT-SA31iR multi-room iPod package, which is comprised of an iPod / iPhone docking station and a pair of wireless speakers; it also touts an AM / FM tuner as well as an LCD-equipped S-AIR remote commander. The AIR-SW10Ti iPod docking station adds in a wireless subwoofer, while the ALT-SA32PC multi-room audio package consists of an S-AIR transmitter that connects to one’s PC via USB and a pair of wireless speakers. Finally, the ALT-A33PC package has an identical USB S-AIR transmitter, but includes a universal receiver with analog audio inputs. As for prices? Try $700, $400, $500 and $200 in order of mention, with each up for pre-order today through Sony and on sale in Best Buy locations starting next month.

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Sony debuts iPod / iPhone-friendly ALTUS multi-room audio line originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zune HD coming September 15th, says leaked display stand

Once again, an anonymous Best Buy employee has come through with some new Zune HD details, and this one’s infinitely more tangible than a computer screen. Pictures of an official display sent to Gizmodo seem to all but confirm its street date will be September 15th, just one week past what we heard yesterday. Pre-orders require a $25 deposit, but as for the full price, the best we’ve got right now are those $220 / $280 estimates from yesterday.

Update: If you needed any more reason to take September 15th off from work, Buy.com has a Zune HD countdown leading to that very day. Huzzah! Thanks, Stephen!

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Zune HD coming September 15th, says leaked display stand originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy lists Zune HD at $220 for 16GB, $290 for 32GB, coming September 8th

It hasn’t been long at all since we saw Zune HD make its FCC debut, and now Gizmodo’s gotten ahold of what looks to be screenshots from Best Buy’s inventory system listing 16GB and 32GB Zune HD models going on sale September 8th for $220 and $290, respectively. Retailers don’t necessarily have the best track record for release dates or pricing, and while Best Buy’s inventory pricing is in fact notoriously wrong prior to release, it’s usually way high. As for the date, it certainly falls within the Fall 2009 window we’ve heard before, but if it’s really less than a month away, rest assured Microsoft will be flexing some advertising muscle in the not-too-distant future.

Update: Looks like Amazon now has its listing up as well, albeit a non-functional one. [Via ZuneSpring]

Continue reading Best Buy lists Zune HD at $220 for 16GB, $290 for 32GB, coming September 8th

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Best Buy lists Zune HD at $220 for 16GB, $290 for 32GB, coming September 8th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don’t let retailer’s lights distract you from buying the right HDTV

In case you hadn’t already learned your lesson and started checking behind the displays while HDTV shopping, the HD Guru points out another element of the in-store experience that throws off buyers (and likely contributes to the LCD vs. plasma choices we find so infuriating): lighting. In case you don’t recall from your last trek to a big box superstore, the lighting is quite often stuck on blinding making it nearly impossible to discern any difference in picture quality between televisions, specifically in terms of contrast and black levels (the pictures above are of the same value priced display, at left, under normal home lighting, at right, how it looks under some store lighting setups.) Tested with an illuminance meter, all the stores (except Best Buy’s Magnolia showrooms) averaged well above home ambient lighting levels, with Wal-Mart and Costco measuring the highest at 411.66 and 742.77 lux. Still, there’s tips on how to get a good idea of a TV’s black levels even under those circumstances, plus some choice words left over for the incredible (and useless) dynamic contrast ratio numbers every manufacturer trots out these days, so go ahead and get educated.

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Don’t let retailer’s lights distract you from buying the right HDTV originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Chocolate Touch and Samsung Omnia 2 slated for August 23rd, according to supposed Best Buy leak

If this screen capture to be believed, August 23rd is gearing up to be one helluva day for phone lovers. According to this snapshot from Best Buy’s computers, that’s when LG’s desirable BL40 Chocolate Touch will be making its way into the consumer world, alongside a red Xenon and a bevy of Samsung phones including Omnia 2, Rogue, and Solstice. No clue on what the Tour is doing up there dated for the 23rd, since it’s already out on both Verizon and Sprint, but perhaps a major shipment is in the works. As for that M330 for September 8th? Yeah, we’re not sure. Surrounding that tantalizing list from the top and bottom, respectively, are Samsung’s eco-conscious Reclaim — presumably listed for August 16th, although the date is obscured — and a red and black “G2” from august 5th, which would undoubtedly be referring to T-Mobile’s sophomore Android device, the myTouch 3G. Two weeks seem awfully close, but if this pans out, we certainly won’t be arguing.

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LG Chocolate Touch and Samsung Omnia 2 slated for August 23rd, according to supposed Best Buy leak originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy goes 3D, even augmented reality isn’t safe from advertising

In its never-ending quest to sell you more things, Best Buy has added augmented reality to its Sunday ads. The printed missives can now be used, in conjunction with a webcam and a purpose-built website, to create 3D representations of the latest product being pimped. Yes, it’s probably easier to walk to a store and handle the goods in person, but that’s hardly the point of AR now, is it? We’re not sure where to rank this effort in the pantheon of quirky promotional ideas, but we’ll give credit to the big box retailer for stepping outside itself and trying something new to separate you from your hard-earned cash.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

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Best Buy goes 3D, even augmented reality isn’t safe from advertising originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm Pre drops to $99 at Best Buy (update: “error is being corrected,” says Best Buy)

Interesting — just a couple days after Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told a conference that “it’s too early to tell” if the Pre’s a hit while talking about Android, the latest Best Buy ad shows Palm’s baby on sale for just $99 on a two-year contract. That ought to spike some sales, but we’ll see if its just a one-week special or a permanent drop before we start trying to read any tea leaves here — anyone running out to grab one?

Update: Best Buy marketing manager John Bernier has chimed in via his Twitter account to say that the Pre is $199 and that the “error is being corrected.” It’ll be interesting to see if any lucky customers managed to nab the device for less than a Benjamin.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read – Hesse’s comments
Read – $99 Pre at Best Buy

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Palm Pre drops to $99 at Best Buy (update: “error is being corrected,” says Best Buy) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy gears up for back to school crowds with Next Class-branded laptop series

It’s getting to be that time of the year where all the kids and teenagers flock to retail and spend copious amounts on back-to-school gear. Best Buy knows this cycle all too well, and has hand-picked a quartet laptops to showcase for its Next Class branded lineup. So what do these laptops have? Anywhere from a 14 to 15.5-inch screen, bundled Microsoft Office and 12 to 15 months of antivirus software, Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 3GB DDR3 or 4GB DDR2 memory, 320GB HDD, a sub-six pound weight, and a three to six hour battery life. Each of the four have their own merits, from Toshiba’s $650 price tag to Dell’s 4.7 pound body, but to us the HP Pavilion DV4 and Sony VAIO NW stand out. Of course, you could cast your net a little wider and shop around for all kinds of different models yourself, but if you’re feeling particularly lazy, this isn’t a bad set to pick from.

Read – Press release
Read – Next Class website

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Best Buy gears up for back to school crowds with Next Class-branded laptop series originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CLEAR WiMAX goes live in Las Vegas, Samsung Mondi ships to take advantage

Looking for one more excuse to stay inside and avoid that sweltering Las Vegas heat this summer? Good news, gamblers — Clearwire’s CLEAR WiMAX service has officially gone live across 638 square miles in the greater Las Vegas area. By the books, that’s serving right around 1.7 million residents, not including the influx of tourists from other WiMAX-equipped cities that will undoubtedly take advantage. To coincide with the launch, Samsung has also announced that its QWERTY-packin’, DivX-friendly Mondi — which we toyed with back at CTIA — will be available in Vegas-area Best Buy and Clearwire outlets starting August 1st. Said MID arrives with 4G support, WiFi, GPS, 3 megapixel camera, a QWERTY keypad, a 4.3-inch touchscreen, Opera 9.5 and a customizable set of widgets on top of Windows Mobile. The device is supposedly available now through Samsung’s website and “select Samsung authorized distributors,” but we’re having no lucky hunting one down at present time.

Read – CLEAR in Las Vegas
Read – Samsung Mondi shipping

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CLEAR WiMAX goes live in Las Vegas, Samsung Mondi ships to take advantage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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