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Retailers reporting influx of PS3 trade-ins for Xbox 360s

Posted by Harshad

Retailers reporting influx of PS3 trade-ins for Xbox 360s


Retailers reporting influx of PS3 trade-ins for Xbox 360s

Posted: 12 May 2011 02:51 PM PDT

Retailers reporting influx of PS3 trade-ins for Xbox 360sEdge is reporting today that retailers are starting to see the effects of the over 3-week-long PSN outage, with an influx of consumers trading their PS3s in for cash or Xbox 360s.

Furthermore, sales of PSN points cards are almost non-existent and the ratio has begun to shift for multi-platform games, with Xbox taking the lion's share.

One manager at a UK retailer had this to say:

In the first week of downtime we did not really see any major change in sales or trades. However from the second week onwards we have seen an increase of over 200 per cent on PS3 consoles being traded in, split almost 50/50 between those trading for cash and those taking a 360 instead.


A different retailer said most of those trading in their systems are from the "hardcore online shooter crowd," gamers that spend many hours online looking to level up. Black Ops and/or Modern Warfare 2 were cited in many cases.

PS3 sales have also taken a hit (says independent retailer in Germany):

We're just ten days into the month and already we have an increase of 200 per cent in PS3s coming into the store compared to all of March. Normally we sell them really fast, but not this time. We've only sold 30 to 40 per cent of our inventory right now.


For software sales, gamers buying Black Ops have split 66 percent to 34 percent in favor of the 360, although the numbers were 52/48 during the first week of the outage.

Not all retailers said trade-ins were growing but one retailer in the UK did say the satisfaction rate for Sony was falling:

All we've seen is an incredible amount of disgruntled people annoyed that they can't play online. Many have stopped complaining about the fact that Microsoft charges for Xbox Live. It used to be a big problem for most of our PS3 customers.

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Netflix streaming app finally available for a few Android devices

Posted: 12 May 2011 02:02 PM PDT

Netflix streaming app finally available for a few Android devicesNetflix has announced the launch of the long awaited streaming app for Android devices, however, it is only available on five devices.

As of right now, the app is available for the Nexus S, Nexus One, T-Mobile G2, HTC Evo 4G and HTC Incredible.

You must be running Android 2.2 (or 2.3 for Nexus S) to download the app.

Netflix was clear to explain why the small selection of phones:

The Android platform is gaining rapid adoption in the mobile world and presents a great opportunity to reach more of our members. Because the platform has evolved so rapidly, there are some significant challenges associated with developing a streaming video application for this ecosystem. One of these challenges is the lack of standard streaming playback features that the Netflix application can use to gain broad penetration across all available Android phones. In the absence of standardization, we have to test each individual handset and launch only on those that can support playback. We are aggressively qualifying phones and look forward to expanding the list of phones on which the Netflix app will be supported. We anticipate that many of these technical challenges will be resolved in the coming months and that we will be able to provide a Netflix application that will work on a large majority of Android phones.


Despite the fragmentation, the company is working on expanding the selection of devices the app will work with:

"e expect to quickly add to the number of phones that can download from Android Market as we work with ecosystem partners to expand playback support.


Download it from the Android Market directly or from here: Android Market on the web

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June Nintendo 3DS update will add browser, online store

Posted: 12 May 2011 10:49 AM PDT

June Nintendo 3DS update will add browser, online storeNintendo has announced that the 3DS "eShop" will be added with a firmware update on June 6th for North America and June 7th for Europe and Japan.

Additionally, the update will bring the much-anticipated web browser to the handheld, and add DSiWare transfer.

Says Nintendo:

By downloading the free update via a broadband internet connection, Nintendo 3DS users can enjoy a number of new features and enhancements including an internet browser and access to the Nintendo eShop, where users can browse and purchase downloadable content.


The 3DS, which offers 3D gaming without the need for glasses, has been selling well in Japan, Europe and North America since launch in March, despite a large price tag.

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Facebook admits to smear campaign against Google

Posted: 12 May 2011 10:21 AM PDT

Facebook admits to smear campaign against GoogleFacebook has come clean this week, admitting to secretly hiring a PR firm that planted negative stories about Google in newspapers and websites.

The social networking giant hired top-5 PR firm Burson-Marsteller to tell newspaper editors to investigate into whether Google was invading the privacy of its users.

Burson-Marsteller even offered to help noted blogger Christopher Soghoian write an op-ed that would have bashed Google. The PR firm promised the story could be placed later in the Huffington Post and the Washington Post. Soghoian instead released all the emails and declined the offer.

While many believed the "unnamed client" was either Apple or Microsoft, it turns out Facebook has an ax to grind and hates the fact that Google is trying to use Facebook data in its own social-networking services, like Social Circle.

Social Circle lets Gmail users see info about their Google and Facebook friends, but also their "secondary connections," or friends of friends.

The PR firm, in its smear campaign, was telling journalists that Social Circle is:

Designed to scrape private data and build deeply personal dossiers on millions of users—in a direct and flagrant violation of [Google's] agreement with the FTC.

The American people must be made aware of the now immediate intrusions into their deeply personal lives Google is cataloging and broadcasting every minute of every day—without their permission.

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NPD: PC sales struggling, but not because of iPad

Posted: 12 May 2011 09:50 AM PDT

NPD: PC sales struggling, but not because of iPadThe latest data from the NPD Group confirms that PC sales are struggling, but the firm says blaming the Apple iPad is the wrong way to go.

Of consumers who bought the iPad within six months of its debut, only 14 percent pushed aside plans to buy a PC to buy the tablet.

For the more important holiday season, that number fell to 12 percent.

Instead, NPD says the decline can be attributed to:

The explosion of computer sales when Windows 7 launched, as well as the huge increase in netbook sales at that time, are much more to blame for weak consumer PC sales growth than the iPad. Overall it appears that the vast majority of iPad purchases to-date have been incremental to the consumer technology industry.


The percentage of consumers looking to buy Windows notebooks under $500 has grown 21 percent since October, while the percentage of consumers looking for more expensive computers has fallen 25 percent in the same time frame.

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Thanks to the Beatles, U.S. music sales increase for first time in years

Posted: 12 May 2011 09:24 AM PDT

Thanks to the Beatles, U.S. music sales increase for first time in yearsAccording to the latest Nielsen figures, overall music sales in the U.S. have increased for the first time in years, mainly thanks to extremely strong sales of the Beatles digital catalog.

For the YTD (year-to-date) period, sales were up 1.6 percent, with digital track sales up 9.6 percent, making up for continued declines in physical CD sales.

Until the Beatles finally put their entire catalog on sale via digital distribution last November, growth in digital sales has slowed to just 3 percent, after seeing triple digit growth for most of the previous decade.

Since November, digital sales have been much higher, leading the firm to believe that the Beatles sales were the catalyst.

The sustained sales may also be attributed to Apple's strong marketing campaign for the Beatles music, which may have led an older generation to start buying music.

Vinyl record sales were also up 37 percent year-over-year, as the records have become a new "trend" for younger buyers.

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Obvious alert: Record labels angry at Google over Google Music launch

Posted: 12 May 2011 09:11 AM PDT

Obvious alert: Record labels angry at Google over Google Music launchAs reported this week, Google has launched the beta of their Google Music cloud service.

To nobody's surprise, the record labels are not happy, since Google decided to launch without any licensing deals in place.

The record labels gave Amazon the same angry treatment when they launched their CloudDrive last month.

Google Music lets users upload their music to an online server which can be played back in a Web browser or via a native Android app. In beta, the service is free but will eventually cost money.

It appears the negotiations between the labels and Google failed because the labels kept trying to raise rates and even tried to get Google to sign off on blocking "piracy sites" from Google searches.

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Original Samsung Galaxy Tab starting to get Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread update?

Posted: 12 May 2011 08:55 AM PDT

Original Samsung Galaxy Tab starting to get Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread update?According to numerous reports, Samsung has begun rolling out the Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread update to the original Galaxy Tab tablet.

2.3.3 may be the last firmware upgrade Galaxy Tab owners will receive, however, as Android 3.0 Honeycomb is not expected to ever make the trip.

Gingerbread adds a number of UI improvements, as well as some other features. NFC support is added but useless since the tablet does not have the chip built-in.

Samsung's new updated Galaxy Tab 10.1 is set for release soon, and will come with Honeycomb, dual-core processor and many other improvements including a larger screen and thinner bezel.

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Average user replaces computer every 4.5 years

Posted: 12 May 2011 08:38 AM PDT

Average user replaces computer every 4.5 yearsAccording to a new survey by Crucial, the average user replaces their computer after 4.5 years.

The survey polled 1000 PC owners in the US, UK and France, and it appears that over half of those polled believe their computer should last "much longer" than three years but admit they don't.

Most of those that upgraded their PC blamed "slow speeds," although it is unclear if these users had fast Internet connections, slow HDDs, viruses or just old hardware.

A solid 50 percent of those surveyed said they upgraded simply beacuse they hated something about their PC.

Comically, 35 percent of those polled said they were more scared about upgrading their computer manually than dealing with a house spider.

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BSA: Software piracy hits all-time high

Posted: 12 May 2011 08:09 AM PDT

BSA: Software piracy hits all-time highAccording to a new study from the BSA (Business Software Alliance), worldwide software piracy hit an all-time high in 2010, up to $59 billion worth.

That number was 14 percent higher than 2009 and 95 percent higher than 2003.

Says the group (via Cnet):

The software industry is being robbed blind. Nearly $59 billion worth of products were stolen last year--and the rates of theft are completely out of control in the world's fastest-growing markets.


The BSA has members from the software industry including all heavy hitters like Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec and McAfee.

As has been the trend for years, "emerging markets" accounted for most of the piracy, $32 billion worth in 2010.

Piracy rates jumped to 64 percent in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The Asian-Pacific region jumped to 60 percent, as well.

North America has the lowest piracy rate, again, at 21 percent.

The report does bring up an interesting fact, claiming that the most common form of piracy is a family who buys a single software license than installs it in all the computers in the home.

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