Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Asus and Target have just announced that the Eee PC will now be available both online and also at 150 of their retail locations. I suppose this news should come as little surprise, because Asus seems to be spreading the Eee brand so thin with new models, that it now being available at Target almost seems normal.

I think what will end up being more surprising is just how many customers will see this as a good idea. As a geek, I love my Eee PC, and I have shown it to many non-geeks who loved it, but majority of them also stated that without having used mine, they would never have purchased one.

Anyway, hopefully Target and Asus will have better luck, they currently have a pretty full range of products available including the 2G Surf in a variety of colors, the 4G Surf in black or white, and accessories to include extra batteries, headphones, power adapters and mice. The 2G Surf is retailing for $299.99 and the 4G Surf is retailing for $349.99.

Product [Target] Via [jkOnTheRun]

With a lot of the hype currently surrounding the impending release of the iPhone 3G its almost easy to forget that there are other nice touchscreen phones already on the market. One of which is the Samsung Instinct, that was recently released with Sprint.

This latest press announcement may serve more a reminder to everyone that the Instinct is available, but I suppose it does also deserve some recognition. Best Buy has just announced that the Instinct has become their best selling phone for the past two years. According to Best Buy;

“The sleek, highly touted Sprint multimedia phone produced record sales in its first two weeks at Best Buy, which has seen its sales of higher-end, multimedia phone increase 10x in the past year since Best Buy Mobile began its national roll out.”

The Instinct, which retails for $129.99 with a two-year agreement originally went on sale on June 19. Best Buy is also Sprint’s exclusive retail partner for the Instinct through August 28.

Read [Best Buy]

Keeping true to their priority of being significant hubs of the community, Boost Mobile opened its first three retail stores, they are located in Huntington Park, California, Hialeah, Florida and Houston, Texas. In addition to the new retail locations the Boost Mobile prepaid products have been and will remain available to consumers at Wal-Mart, 7-11 and a huge number of other retail outlets.

More than just a place to buy goods, Michael Lanzo, Boost Vice President of Sales and Marketing says, “our stores have a great vibe and highlight the best we have to offer.” Contrary to the common shops, Lanzo adds, “they’re much more than just retail spots aimed at attracting customers—the stores are centers for community connection.  Becoming an integral part of these neighborhoods is a priority for Boost, and we are actively engaging local civic officials and giving back to charities in the communities where our stores are located.”

Boost seems determined to cultivate a ‘community’ image. The stores aim to exude a green vibe, filling the stores with furniture and decor made of recycled materials.

Via [MobileCrunch]

It looks like Amazon’s decision to file a lawsuit against New York’s new tax policy on online stores may back fire on them as the Texas Comptroller’s Office is investigating the probability that the online store may actually owe the Texas government millions of dollars in unpaid taxes. If you will recall, in its case against the New York tax policy, Amazon argued that it should not pay the NY government any taxes because it doesn’t have a “physical presence” in New York.

The same reason is now being used by the Texas government as it found out that Amazon has a “physical presence” in the area. Apparently, Amazon has operated a distribution center at 2700 Regent Boulevard in Irving from 2006 to 2007. This was pointed out by the Dallas Morning News when it called Amazon to ask why it is not charging sales taxes to its online customers.

Amazon has not yet issued a statement confirming that it actually owns the distribution center. But if the presence of an Amazon flag outside the building is any indication of ownership, then Amazon may indeed own the distribution center.

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As if the CompUSA saga has not been dragged out enough. The stores were being closed, then some were snapped up by Tiger Direct and now we are learning that yet another big-box retail giant will be assuming some of the remaining locations.

Reports are claiming that Best Buy has snapped up 17 of the CompUSA retail location leases, which range from three years up to fourteen years for a total of $13.5 million. It seems like CompUSA may have gone away, but instead of something new and exciting coming in return, it appears to be just more of the same standard electronic retail locations.

Best Buy is planning on opening a mix of new Best Buy and Pacific Sales stores at these locations over the next two years.

Via [Twin Cities BizJournals]

Verizon Wireless has started redesigning its retail stores located in around 280 locations US-wide. Verizon has refurbished the old look of the its stores with bright colors and engaging layout. The redesign was implemented to provide their customers with a new and worthwhile experience while getting their fix of the latest Verizon gizmos.

“With these stores, Verizon Wireless takes the next step in wireless retailing. We are committed to providing customers with a unique and engaging shopping environment as well as easy access to support services,” said Jack Plating, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless.

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Sprint is planning on closing all of their stores, to include licensed dealer locations from 9am to 11am PST today. During this time all partners, owners and employees will watch a webcast. While this is most likely just some employee training, we can always hope for something good, possibly some news of the rumored $60 unlimited calling plan?

Lets just hope the closing of the Sprint stores offers us geeks a little more exciting news than the Starbucks closing. All things considered better coffee is a good thing, but we were hoping to hear something a little more tech friendly.

Via [IntoMobile]

We recently learned that Palm was planning on closing all of their retail locations, that fact was even later confirmed by Palm, but it seems there may have been a little confusion. It turns out that those airport retail locations will indeed remain open, it seems they are not actually owned by Palm but by Airport Wireless.

Now rest assured next time you are stuck in that airport you will still be able to drop in and pick up that overpriced accessory or play with kill time with the latest Palm device until your flight leaves. There was a mention of the stores seeing some re-branding, so it may not be an official Palm store, but the stores will still remain.

Via [Engadget Mobile]

The whole situation still makes me a little nervous about just how nice the shopping experience will be, but there is a slight bit of good news for CompUSA fans. Those 16 retail store locations that we mentioned the other day, they are going to be retaining the CompUSA name. Systemax, the parent company of Tiger Direct is also planning on re-branding the existing 11 Tiger Direct retail locations with the CompUSA name and use Tiger Direct only for their online sales. The deal is said to cost $30 million and is an all cash deal.

Read [Trading Markets] Via [SlashGear]

TigerDirect has completed the purchase of 16 of the CompUSA retail locations as well as the inventory and website. According to a statement from TigerDirect, the “best CompUSA retail stores” will be integrated within a few weeks. According to a tipster over on the Consumerist the locations will include the retail locations from Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, of course there has not been any confirmation on that. Having been to a TigerDirect retail location before, this news, at least to me does not sound really good. Of course with some of the bad experiences that I had while shopping at CompUSA, it may just be like no changes were made.

Via [Consumerist]

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