Wal-mart

'Toy Story 3' spouts Vudu streaming option

"Toy Story 3" is available on DVD and Blu-ray starting today. Those who buy their disc from Wal-Mart will find a streaming version included.

According to Vudu, Wal-Mart customers who buy "Toy Story 3" on Blu-ray or DVD will receive a free copy of the movie on Vudu's streaming service. The film is available on all forms of Vudu, including via Boxee's software on the Web or on Blu-ray players and HDTVs with Vudu's streaming service, the company said in a blog post.

The free streaming version of "Toy Story 3" … Read more

Sam's Club to sell iPhone and iPad

Warehouse chain Sam's Club will be selling Apple's iPad and iPhone.

The large members-only retail outlet confirmed the news at an investor meeting today. No date was given as to when the popular tablet and smartphone would be available. But the news follows yesterday's announcement by Sam's Club's parent Wal-Mart that it would start selling the iPad at some stores on Friday, and that the tablet would be available at all 2,300 stores by mid-November.

Wal-Mart and Sam's Club join Best Buy and Target on the growing list of retailers selling the iPad. … Read more

Ballmer debuts Windows Phone 7

  Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded: Windows Phone 7 offers more flexibility Google Windfarms Palm Pre 2 leaks Wal-Mart gets the iPad

Wal-Mart to start selling iPad on Friday

Wal-Mart has confirmed that it will start selling the iPad in its stores starting Friday, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

According to the report, Apple's tablet initially will be available in "hundreds" of Wal-Mart locations. The big box retailer plans to have the iPad in over 2,300 stores by mid-November to capitalize on the holiday shopping season, the Journal reported.

Wal-Mart will sell all six versions of the iPad at the same retail price they're offered for at Apple Stores. The company said that it plans to sell the iPad on its Web site, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1307: A zero-day porn moment (podcast)

On today's Buzz Out Loud, Jason confesses his noob security mistake, Consumer Reports wants the world to know they STILL don't recommend the iPhone 4. Plus, Mark Zuckerberg's Hollywood moment isn't going to be as fun as he hoped, and we predict the MPAA will go nuclear if rumors of a permanent HDCP crack are true.

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

Wal-Mart announces new Family Mobile service

Wal-Mart, which already offers Common Cents and Straight Talk prepaid plans, has just launched a post-paid service called Wal-Mart Family Mobile. While Common Cents and Straight Talk runs on Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless respectively, Wal-Mart Family Mobile will piggyback on T-Mobile USA's network.

Customers will get unlimited calls and texts for $45 a month for the first line, and $25 for each additional line. However, data and international calls will be deducted from a prepaid account attached to the family plan, so this isn't really a service for high data consumption. For 1GB of data accessible to … Read more

Sam's Club to offer Wi-Fi access, mobile app

Sam's Club is hoping that free Wi-Fi access will be one way to lure more buyers into its stores, especially those who are shopping for Wi-Fi TVs.

The warehouse membership club owned by Wal-Mart announced Tuesday that it plans to upgrade its more than 500 U.S. stores with Wi-Fi by November.

Provided by AT&T, the free Wi-Fi will enable shoppers to try out the full features of Wi-Fi-enabled TVs. Customers will be able to check out Facebook, Pandora, and other online services on TVs in the store to get a better sense of how they might … Read more

Sprint and Wal-Mart offer cheap prepaid plan

Sprint Nextel is teaming up with Wal-Mart to offer a new prepaid mobile phone service for consumers who don't use their cell phones much.

On Thursday the No. 3 wireless operator in the U.S. announced the new Common Cents prepaid mobile phone brand. This new plan charges customers 7 cents per minute for phone calls and 7 cents per text message. Wal-Mart plans to offer the phones, which will range in price from $20 to $70, in more than 700 stores. And it will sell the devices next to another low-cost prepaid brand, Tracfone, which uses Verizon Wireless' … Read more

Wal-Mart tries to close gadget gap with Best Buy

Sometime early next week when you walk into the electronics section of your local Wal-Mart, you're likely to notice some changes.

More big name brands of TVs, Blu-ray players, smartphones, and other gadgets will begin to populate the store shelves as the retailing giant tries to expand its reach and customer base even further. The new products will include the latest in TV technology, meaning displays with LED backlighting and Internet connections, Web-connected Blu-ray players, and home networking equipment. There's also going to be more emphasis on getting the trendiest smartphones from carriers on the first day they're available elsewhere, and more accessible mobile broadband plans.

Wal-Mart isn't an underdog in many categories, but in electronics, it's far from being the category leader. Best Buy, whose revenues in 2009 totaled $45 billion, is the largest seller of consumer electronics. Wal-Mart beefing up its gadget offerings is likely part of an effort to play a little catch-up with Best Buy. In 2009, Wal-Mart's electronics sales were $33 billion, or 13 percent of its $258 billion overall revenue.

Wal-Mart, of course, has plenty of things going for it that Best Buy doesn't. Its reach is extensive, and when the recession hit, Wal-Mart was able to take advantage of many people's freshly discovered frugality. Another thing that happened is technology has become essential to a lot of daily activities. As things like computers and TVs become must-haves for all demographics and not just the geeky early-adopter set, Wal-Mart is well-positioned to make even more sales of gadgets. … Read more