Cubalaya Blog US

Rain Checks for Nintendo Wiis

Our last post was about the race to buy a Nintendo Wii for Christmas, and how they have steadily become scarce.  Here's an update on the problem.

Nintendo is well aware of this problem, and while they know they won't even come close to meeting demand in December, they have come up with a Wii "rain check" program for potential buyers.  Shoppers who buy a Wii at the full price of $249 on December 20th or 21st at GameStop will get a certificate promising a Wii "sometime in January".   This will give people something to put under the tree, even if it's not the Wii console itself.

 

Nintendo reportedly sold 981,000 consoles in the US this November, leading the video game console market.  And while their monthly production has been raised from 1 million to 1.8 million, the strong year-round demand and appeal to non-traditional gamers (usually young males) has caught Nintendo by (pleasant) surprise.

So, hopefully by the end of January everyone who wants a Wii will have one, without paying the marked-up prices on eBay and other sites.

(Reuters)

In its earlier days, digital camera was pretty crude. However, as there were newer inventions like pda and colour bit printers, the digital cameraswere modified as well.

The Race for a Wii

Although Nintendo plans to make another million Wii gaming consoles this month, with less than three weeks left until Christmas, it looks as if the supply of the $250 console will fall well short of demand.  Finding a Wii on store shelves is nearly impossible, and the eBay auctions have them going between $400-$600.  Some retailers also charge higher prices, often because they choose to offer the Wii with a few games and accessories, rather than just selling the console by itself.

The Wii has been selling so fast in its first year on the market that it has caught many by surprise, including Nintendo itself.  Usually video game sales slow down during the summer season, allowing the manufacturers to stock up for the Christmas shopping season.  But the Wii has been selling so well all year long that Nintendo's warehouses are reportedly empty, hence the shortage.

Nintendo's senior vice-president, George Harrison, is well aware of the current shortage.  His advice is to check when brick-and-mortar stores receive shipments of the console (by asking sales clerks, for instance), and try to get to the retail stores at opening hour on Sundays. Why Sunday? Because most retail stores run big advertisements in Sunday newspapers, and therefore save some consoles to stock the shelves with on that day.  Another factor to consider is that retail stores apparently receive more stock per store than specialized game stores, so Best-Buy might be a better bet than GameStop.

 

Online, you can check out the offers for a Wii on Cubalaya, and also take a look at our Wii Product Review.   

Christmas Bargains Online

A recent study conducted in the UK shows that Christmas shoppers can bag substantial savings by going online rather than to the high street, research by consumer group Which? shows.

It found that savings of more than 1,000 pounds could be made on a shopping list of five popular gifts -- a flat-screen television, camera, camcorder, hi-fi and DVD recorder.

Researchers compared prices on 72 products at 111 retailers and found that online savings ranged from 11 percent on digital camcorders to 29 percent on LCD and plasma televisions.

Savings could also be made on everything from books (14 percent) and MP3/MP4 players (11 percent) to CDs (7 percent) and champagne (2 percent).

But games consoles -- such as the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 -- were found to be similarly priced.

"The trick to bagging a bargain is to discover which stores offer the most extras," Which? said in its November magazine.

"For example, while John Lewis sells the PS3 for 398 pounds, HMV sells it for 425 pounds, but with four games (which cost up to 50 pounds each) and an extra controller -- which is the best deal we found."

Consumers could be missing out on savings of up to 240 million pounds a year by not shopping online, recent research by the Office of Fair Trading shows.

People's top 10 reasons for shopping over the Internet include ease of price comparison, avoiding crowds, price competitiveness and more choice, according to a poll of 2,343 Which? online panel members.

Source: Reuters (London)

Social Shopping Experiences

Online shoppping is quickly becoming more social-oriented, as ebay's and Facebook's recent upgrades show.  While the former is first and foremost an e-commerce giant, and the latter is the leading social networking online service, they have each taken steps that bring them closer together. 

ebay has launched "ebay neighborhoods", which are micro-social networks focused on a single product or category.  Inside these neighborhoods one can find blogs, guides, reviews, product searches and users- all content found across ebay.  Members can join these neighborhoods and add to discussions, post photos, invite friends, write reviews and meet other like-minded people.  It is also possible for users to start new neighborhoods for specific products, sports teams, hobbies or any other idea.

Facebook has thousands of applications for members to use as add-ons, but the most interesting addition is "My Shopping".  This application, powered by SecretPrices.com, allows users to shop within their own Facebook user, where they can search for products, rate items they want or already own and get advice or make a recommendation on a product.  A recent survey shows that many teenagers communicate with their friends while shopping- either by shopping together physically, talking on cell phones, texting or IMing.  Facebook is looking to enhance the social aspect of online shopping through its social environment.

It will be interesting to see if these two leading Internet services end up competing with each other as social shopping networks, and how this will affect the rest of the online shopping world.

Women's Blogs

A recent survey shows that 50% of Americans regularly visit blogs, and more interestingly, that more women have blogs than men, as 20% of women who regularly visit blogs have one themselves, as opposed to 14% of men.  Taking this statistic for granted, one shouldn't be surprised by the index sites for women's blogs, listing blogs on every subject from Arts to Websites.

One example of this type of site is blogher.com.  Besides reading other women's blogs, it is possible to register your own blog and add it to the database.    Blogsbywomen.org is another example, with over   5,100 blogs listed.

There are also more topic-oriented sites, such as askpatty.com, which specializes in automotive advice for women. 

This site has everything a woman needs to know about cars; there's a list of women-friendly certified dealers across the country, information about alternative fuels, an advice page for car trouble and much more.

And allwomenstalk.com specializes in fashion, style and entertainment, as it gathers  articles from popular blogs and websites for women and shows them all in one place.  This site is more trendy than the others, with a more stylish design and user interface.

Cubalaya Launches a Product Review Service

To enhance the Cubalaya shopping comparison service, we have started a product review section on the site.  The reviews are mini-product reviews, giving you the short story rather than the lengthy technical description.  For instance, if you're interested in the new Nokia N95 mobile phone- you should check out its review; however, if you're not sure what you should be looking for in a DVD player, the relevant buying guide will help you figure that out.

Each product review page is divided into 3 parts:

• Ratings- the product rated according to its design, features and other attributes. Each category of products has its own specific attribute list, making product comparison easier.
• Overall Review- a written review of the product including technical details, features and other important information.
• Summary- The no-nonsense bottom line.

So far we have covered some popular products, and soon we hope to expand our reviews database and create another useful tool for online shoppers.

Furthermore, at the bottom of each review page you can find a link to full-length review from a different site.  Besides being more detailed, these sites usually have consumer reviews as well.

Last, but not least, each product has its own video review as well.  These videos give you a good first look at the product and also a visual explanation of its functions.  The following example is a video review of the Panasonic TH-42PZ700 television:

Online Payment Methods

With Amazon starting its own full-blown online payment system, PayPal and its owner eBay have found a worthy competitor.  Although some people only look to Amazon as a place to get that out-of-print long-lost paperback, it has become a shopping giant for new and used items, the latter traditionally considered eBay's forte.  An online payment system makes life much easier for private merchants, allowing them to receive their payment without going through the fuss of working with the credit card companies.

But not just the merchants benefit from this kind of system- giving personal information online, especially a credit card number or an electronic check, has always been a bit risky.  Online security has improved substantially over the years, but the fear of electronic fraud has been one of the major factors in PayPal's success.  They act as the middleman between the customer and the merchant, and keep the fomer's financial data to themselves, offering a stronger sense of security, not to mention making purchases a quicker process.  In fact, eBay determined this idea so useful to its business model that it purchased PayPal in 2002. 

And then came Google Checkout.  Waiving all transaction fees through the end of 2007, Google is looking to expand its circle of merchants during the holiday season.  While still lacking many of PayPal's features, the Google has a wide range of online stores which accept Google Checkout, allows payments through a mobile phone (soon to be extended further with the GPhone?), and, unlike PayPal, has great customer service.  And looking at the recent upgrades to the Checkout service- it seems Google takes customer feedback to heart.

The Cubalaya Team

Cubalaya is an online shopping comparison site, and has been active since November 2006.  Besides the shopping comparison engine there are also product buying guides and this blog, all an integral part of the Cubalaya site.

Behind the site stands the Cubalaya Team.  Courtesy of Vuvox, try to find its members hidden in this slide-show:

Paul's Not Dead!

Are you a Beatles fan?  Are you another one among the many disappointed that most of their songs are no longer than two-and-a-half minutes each?  And are you still suspicious of Paul McCartney walking barefoot across "Abbey Road"?  If you are, we have something in common.

Even though the Anthology was released almost 12 years ago, I hadn't decided to buy it until recently.  I just figured that I already had a big enough collection of Beatles music, and that the previously unreleased tracks would not be anything special (otherwise they would have been released in the first place).

 

But the Anthology is nothing short of extraordinary.  Three double albums of some really terrific music, and the previously unreleased pieces are all worthwhile.  From "Free as a Bird" to "The End" I can only wish I had bought the Anthology long ago.

There was still one problem, though.  With Junior usually heading to bed before the sun sets, I can't use the full capabilities of my sound system.  Waking him up means a very long night for me and the Missus (not to mention incurring the wrath of said woman).

Enter the Bose QuietComfort 3 Noise Canceling Headphones.  They not only allow me to listen to the four Liverpudlians without disturbing anybody, but also let me turn into a real "Nowhere Man", where even Junior's screams can't reach me (which I'm sure my wife will make me pay for later).

 

I'd especially recommend these headphones for those of you who want to listen to music in other noise-rich environments, like on the plane or at the mall.  Don't ask me how they work; just sit back, relax, and enjoy the silence.

Buying Guides

I know I'm not an electronics genius.  I mean, how could I be one if I still have my Dad's old record player (along with some great original Beatles records by the way)?  But I decided yesterday to upgrade to a digital camera, and thank goodness I found out that cubalaya has a buying guides section, with a comprehensive digital camera guide. 

And since I've opened up to electronics, it's about time I upgraded our home entertainment system, which at the moment consists of a pre-historic 1994 model Panasonic 29'' TV.  Not to knock Ole' Sparky, but the 21st century is already 7 years old.  I am currently debating between an LCD or a plasma TV set, but, as you might have already guessed, I had no idea there was a difference between them until I read the cubalaya television buying guide.

But enough electronics talk.  Did I mention I'm looking for a new stroller?  I know that today they come with all sorts of accessories (I even heard a rumor about a built-in MP3 player!), so I was able to find a wide range of models on the stroller search page.  I'm seriously considering a jogging stroller, and maybe that MP3 player would come in handy so Junior won't have to listen to his old man huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf.