News

• Microsoft reprises free Xbox back-to-school PC promo

  Microsoft will repeat last year's back-to-school promotion, kicking off the deal Sunday with an offer of a free Xbox 360 game console to eligible U.S. students who buy a new Windows 7 PC.

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  Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 on sale Sunday for $400

  Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is set to go on sale at retailers nationwide Sunday for $399.99, furthering the variety of tablet sizes from the vendor.

• Target to stop selling Amazon Kindles in its stores

  Target plans to stop selling Kindle e-readers in its brock-and-mortar stores after seeing buyers test the devices in its showrooms only to later buy them online from Amazon.

• Sprint offers LG Viper on LTE for $100

  The LG Viper 4G LTE smartphone will be available for pre-order April 12 with a price tag of $99.99 and a two-year service agreement and rebate, Sprint said Tuesday.

• 'Petting zoos' become IT tools to sell tech

  PHOENIX -- In the era of corporate adoption of consumer technology, the options for IT managers are increasing.

• Starbucks CIO leaves coffee giant for Best Buy

  College athlete, avid gamer and MBA graduate Stephen Gillett is leaving Starbucks to head up Best Buy's digital and global business services division. The 36-year-old former Starbucks CIO will start his new role at Best Buy effective March 14.

• Make way for iPad 3: Best Buy slashes iPad 2 prices

  Best Buy over the weekend began advertising a $50 price cut on the iPad 2, seemingly signalling that Apple's iPad 3 is really on the way.

• US gov't falling behind in social-media race, expert says

  The U.S. government is losing a race in cyberspace -- a social-networking race for the hearts and minds of Internet users, a computer security expert said Wednesday.

• Your identity up for grabs

  Security was a big issue in 2011 with more sophisticated and a wider range of threats than ever before wasting even more of everyone's time at a cost of billions of dollars.

• No more Napster

  Napster, the pioneering and controversial peer-to-peer music sharing service that exploded onto the Internet scene in the summer of 1999, is officially gone.

• Cyber Monday outlook: $1 billion in sales expected

  Industry watchers expect online sales to surpass $1 billion today, Cyber Monday.

• Amazon sees Kindle sales surge on Black Friday

  Black Friday proved to be the best ever for the Kindle e-reader and tablet devices, while the Kindle Fire tablet remains Amazon's top-selling product, the company said today.

• Laptops to sell for under $200 on Black Friday

  Heavily discounted PCs and tablets will be sold by top retailers on Black Friday, which marks one of the most active shopping days in the U.S. Walmart and Best Buy will offer fully equipped laptops for under US$200, continuing a promotional price battle they have engaged in for years. The sub-$200 laptops have slow processors and may lack key components, but could be effective desktop replacements for basic tasks like office productivity applications, Web surfing and video.

• Will Thanksgiving Day upstage Black Friday for online tech sales?

  Best Buy, Target, Sears, Staples and other major retailers have been releasing their Black Friday ads and circulars for the past week, setting up for what should be a busy shopping day for TVs, laptops, tablets and other electronics. But savvy shoppers who can negotiate time away from the family, turkey and football on Thanksgiving Day itself could also score bargains.

• Coalition targets US broadband adoption gap

  A coalition of IT vendors, online companies and nonprofit organizations have launched a wide-ranging program to drive up broadband adoption in the U.S. and train residents in tech skills in an effort to cut unemployment and spur economic growth.