Lexus is pitching a hybrid tablet/print experience with CinePrint™, its proprietary ad technology to merge print and digital. The Toyota-owned luxury automaker demonstrates the 2013 ES in a video demo (below) of its ad in the Oct. 15th issue of Time Inc.'s Sports Illustrated magazine — just slip a tablet under the page to see it come to life.Continue reading...

In a serious challenge to Amazon's latest Kindle moves and Apple iPad, Barnes & Noble has introduced the two newest tablets in the NOOK family of e-readers: NOOK HD ($199) and NOOK HD+ ($269). The New York Times sees B&N positioning the first HD Nook tablets as "iPad Lite," and call the retailer's new "video service for the Nook color devices similar to the iTunes store and includes movies and TV series from Disney, Viacom and Warner Brothers."

According to B&N's press materials, NOOK HD is "the lightest and highest resolution 7-inch HD tablet ever. NOOK HD+ is the lightest Full HD tablet with a brilliant 9-inch HD display that magazine and movie lovers will adore. Enjoy incredible reading and entertainment like never seen before – all starting at just $199."

They're available for pre-order at nook.com and in-store on Nov. 1st; AP took a look at how they stack up here.

Toys R Us is really aiming for this holiday season to bring in some big bucks. As a result, the company is hiring 13% more seasonal help than it did last year, hiring 45,000 temporary employees across the U.S.

Why the need for all the extra folks? Well, the retailer is planning to have 50 more pop-up shops than it did last year across the country  and it is, of course, very excited about the revenue possibilities for its new made-for-kids-tablet called Tabeo, a featured item on its 2012 Hot Toys List.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the store's proprietary $150 Tabeo is going to hit its stores, as planned, in October. Fuhu, the Taiwanese manufacturer of the kid-friendly Nabi tablet that Toys R Us sold before Tabeo, is attempting to block its sale with a lawsuit claiming intellectual property infringement.Continue reading...

Enough is enough, Walmart seems to be saying. That's why America's largest retailer no longer will sell Amazon's Kindle tablets after the store chain runs out of its current supply.

Enough of what? Although Walmart said little in its official statement about its decision, it's clear that more and more bricks-and-mortar retailers are resisting "showrooming," in which their physical, tangible displays on their expensive physical, tangible real estate turn into a mere testing ground for consumers who then turn on their heels, walk out of the stores without buying a tablet there, and order them online.

Most of Amazon's Kindles — which began as e-readers but now can stream a wide variety of digital content — are bought online from Amazon. Target said in May that it would stop selling Kindles. 

Also, Walmart had had enough of Amazon's perceived tricks such as what the online retailer did last year during the annual holiday fistfight between the retailers (and eBay): promoting a smartphone app called Price Check that allowed users to compare Amazon's prices to those at stores by scanning bar codes.Continue reading...

Nobody wants to relive the days of folks getting trampled for Cabbage Patch Kids or engaging in fistfights for Tickle Me Elmo dolls. Perhaps to avoid such awfulness, which of course brings bad publicity for whatever retailer is involved, and to pick up a few bucks along the way, Toys R Us is letting consumers reserve specific toys before the holiday season — with a catch.

In addition to announcing its list of the 50 “hot toys” (which includes Hasbro's version 2.0-edition Furby, a $70 Laloopsy doll, One Direction dolls) that kids, apparently, are clamoring for this holiday season, the toys' prospective buyers will be informed when the product arrives. That way, nobody has to get trampled.

That’s not to say that Toys R Us isn’t going to do everything it can to get as many people into its doors during the crucial holiday shopping season as it can. Indeed, the Hot Toys RSVP checklist must be downloaded from the Toys R Us website and then printed as a PDF and delivered to a bricks and mortar Toys R Us store with a 20% deposit to hold the item for pick-up. The better to woo you with impulse purchases, my dear.Continue reading...

As rumored, Amazon indeed revealed two new Kindle e-Reader models today: Kindle Fire HD and the Kindle Paperwhite — described as the most advanced e-reader ever."

"Paperwhite" refers to the ability to now read the screen as you would paper, as it's "constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, up to 8 weeks of battery life, and a thin and light design for just $119; Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G — never pay for or hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot with the all-new top-of-the-line Kindle e-reader with free 3G wireless for just $179." The size and price of the classic Kindle, meanwhile, shrinks to $69.

Kindle Fire HD (above) is the pricier e-Reader family, aimed at the "high end" consumer with price points to match:Continue reading...

In case you were watching Bill Clinton's DNC love-in for Barack Obama Wednesday night, it may come as news that Amazon teased its new Kindle devices during the NFL season opener. Rumored to include the Kindle Paperwhite, the official press conference begins today at 10:30 a.m. PT in Barker Hangar and will be covered live. [Update: more details here.]

CNET reported last week the debut of two 7-inch Kindle Fires, “including a high-end model with a zippy processor, a camera, physical volume controls, an HDMI port, and larger storage than a second, more bare-bones version.” 

Amazon’s uber-strategy is to sell the devices at a low enough price point to ensure deep market penetration, and then make money on higher-margin content, e.g., e-books, video, games, apps and music.

"The swing factor in the expectation on the upcoming Kindle Fire could be on how much lower pricing can go," said So Young Lee, analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. "Introducing a tablet below the $150 mark could be compelling and another game changer in the industry where the $199 price point is no longer unique."Continue reading...

Google made tech news headlines with the recent introduction of three new products, two of which round out its new Nexus product line, a brand that puts Google squarely in the hardware business — and in Apple's crosshairs.

The slick, sleek website for Nexus seems to have that cool, clean sophistication we've come to know and love from Apple. All three of the products found there rival Apple products: the Galaxy Nexus phone, which is co-branded Google and Samsung (iPhone), Nexus 7 tablet (iPad), and the Nexus Q streaming media player (watch out, Apple TV).

But the buzz around Nexus Q has reached beyond technology alone. It has raised an intriguing issue that could be seen as either a deeper competitive strategy that pits "Made in USA" against "Made in China", or perhaps, nothing more than an expedient product solution.Continue reading...