Best Buy - page 7

Apple has a great recycling program, but they are not the only company to offer such a program. Both RadioShack and Best Buy offer their own recycling programs. I thought it might be nice to share some information about these alternative programs with you on Earth Day.

The reason I’m mentioning this is due to the fact that I often hear from readers that aren’t close to an Apple Store. They often tell me that they may not even have a store in their city or state. Ouch.

Country living might be restful, but I’m glad that I live in a big city since Houston has six Apple Stores accessible to everyone living in Houston or the surrounding areas. Fortunately, some of you without such good access to Apple Stores just might have access to a RadioShack or a Best Buy. So let’s take a look at what they have to offer.

Earlier today, we brought you a report from CrunchGear about a Best Buy employee who had revealed that the retail giant was deliberately saving stock of the iPad 2 once it had met its sales quotas each day – a technique that apparently didn’t sit too well with Apple.

Since then, Best Buy has denied rumors that it has fallen out with the Cupertino company, and declared it was holding stock of the iPad 2 for an “upcoming promotion.”

In an official statement sent to Boy Genius Report, Best Buy said:

Best Buy continues to receive iPad 2 inventory from Apple on a regular basis. As we’ve said previously, we are fulfilling customer reservations first.

Our stores have been asked to temporarily hold non-reserved iPad 2 inventory for an upcoming promotion. This is a customary practice for us when there are supply constraints. Best Buy enjoys a great partnership with Apple, and we’re delighted by customer response to iPad 2.

While Best Buy seem to have clarified the issue of holding stock, it did not comment on a claim that its employees were lying to customers by informing them they had no stock of the second generation device, when in fact its stock rooms could be littered with them.

Three new iPad SKUs have been added to the Best Buy store database, leading to questions about what the unreleased products may be. All three are described as “Apple iPad SKU WiFi,” and two are listed at $599, with the third at $699.

The products show up as “unreleased products” on the Best Buy database for both the online and internal store databases, according to 9to5 Mac, who suggests these new listings could be the Verizon iPad + MiFi bundle, new Verizon CDMA iPads, or even the iPad 2.

Are you proud to call yourself a skinflint throwback to the antiquated ideals of Neo-Chaucerian 2009? Best Buy’s got a deal for you: a totally free iPhone 3GS.

It is going to be tough Christmas if you are a company that plans on selling a potential iPad rival. One company, Maylong, is selling their Android powered M-150 TabletPC at Walgreens for $99 and it’s going to be hard to sell after a review on Ars technica concluded with a verdict of “run screaming in the other direction. ”

Now Best Buy has come to the rescue with great ideas for iPad rivals that just don’t cut it via their BBYOpen blog.  Here are a few of my favorite suggestions they had for anyone unlucky enough to find an M-150 or something just as bad under their Christmas tree this year.

Black Friday is this week and it will mark the beginning of the 2010 holiday shopping season in the U.S. Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Black Friday.

I’m not exactly excited about braving the crowds for holiday bargains. So I’ll be using my iPhone or iPad and any of the free apps below to help me shop from wherever I happen to be.

November 7th’s turning out to be an important date for big box retail. It’s not just the day that Target’s slated to get the iPhone for the first time, but also the day that all 158 Best Buy Mobile stores will finally get the iPad.

Best Buy’s Mobile store locations are more Lilliputian Best Buys that focus on mbile electronics and are most often found in shopping malls or in congested downtown city locales.

There’s some obvious advantages for Apple pushing the iPad through as many outlets as it can this holiday season. Cupertino clearly does not want anyone to be able to fall upon the excuse of merely not being able to find an iPad or iPhone to buy a loved on this Christmas, and by selling iPads at Best Buy Mobile, Apple is able to expand its retail presence even to malls that don’t have an Apple Store.

Pretty soon, about the only excuse anyone’s going to have not to own an iOS device is sheer obstinance.

Apple’s guillotine-thin ultraportable laptop, the MacBook Air, is disappearing from shelves all around the country, as reports indicate that the low-end 1.83 GHz and the high-end 2.13 GHz are out of stock pretty much everywhere… and it may very way herald the imminent arrival of a smaller and svelter 11.6-inch MacBook Air.

The complete text of Best Buy’s launch plan for the iPhone 4 has been leaked to iClarified by an individual going by the handle of bbinsider.

The 24 page launch plan addressed to Best Buy employees includes:

• Things employees should not do during the sale.
• Details about employee purchases.
• Best Buy SKUs and pricing.
• AT&T rate and data plan requirements; Early termination fee information.
• Information about the iPhone 4 Micro SIM
• Tips on what to do with an old iPhone; Comparison between iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.
• Comparison with other vendor offerings from Sprint and Verizon
• Etc.

The  most interesting information revealed in the document, according to iClarified, is that Best Buy will be offering pre-sales on launch day for people standing in line waiting to buy an iPhone 4:

Since inventory availability is expected to be minimal, stores may open up a limited time pre-sale window as an option for customers on launch day who have not previously pre-purchased.
– Pre-sales may only occur up to 11:00 am local time
– Customers who pre-purchase on launch day will be added to the store’s pre-sale cue based on time of pre-sale and will get their pre-sale fulfilled in priority order
– Do not provide customers who pre-purchase on launch day timing on when a device may be available

You can read the entire document and grab the rest of the plans highlights yourself here.