PC TIPS, TICKS AND NEW PRODUCT

Earn Money via CashPirate

2014-06-29T11:36:00.001-07:00

How to Earn Paypal Money and Amazon Giftcards via CashPirate

1.) Download and Install "CashPirate" app from Google Play Store.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ayet.cashpirate

2.) Open the App and Register. Enter this code: DIXSUL

You are now rewarded with awesome 500 BONUS CREDITS! Congratulations!

3.) Tap "Earn Money" menu to check out great free apps, games, and trailer videos.

4.) Once you reach your goal and accumulate at least 2500 Credit Points, Its time to Redeem Rewards!

5.) Tap on "Payouts" menu, look for $2.5 Paypal and select "Redeem".

6.) Enter your Paypal Email Address.

7.) After less than a minute, you will receive your Cash Pirate Payout Request Confirmation via email.

8.) And your Cash Pirate Paypal Reward Notification!

9.) See your $2.50 CashPirate Reward reflected on your Paypal Account Instantly!

Get Free Recharge and Win up to Rs. 4000 using mCent.com

2013-05-01T00:57:00.003-07:00

mCent is another online service providing you with free recharge's but this time its not like any email sending or link clicking and points crediting service, but they simple have a good referral's scheme for you so if you get maximum referrals to them they will not provide you with points or 1 rupee but they have a good package like if you top all the other 25 contestants you will be rewarded with Rs. 4000.

So yes you have to compete with other people to come in 25 ranks they have settled out, so its really an awesome opportunity for anyone as you have to get more referrals to get more money, plus your name will be mentioned in the leather board about what rank you are onto. So after that you can easily get your mobile recharged for free. So now follow below step's to get started.

Visit mCent signup page [Link]
Now just add your mobile number and click on sign Up.
Now add your details and proceed.
Now after your signup is done you will be taken to the offer's page, well just choose the offer that you compete onto, every offer have different rewards.
If you want to earn Rs. 4000 or something then choose the second offer.
Now they will provide every thing what you need to do well you just need to copy the referral link for you provided above.
Now share that link with your friends, reader's or anywhere on social network's.
So now the more referral's you get them the more money can be redeemed.

So now guy's its your time to show how linkful you are, get maximum signup's through your friends and get more money.

10 Awesome Science Researched Facts that are Amazing !

2013-05-01T00:53:00.003-07:00

Facts are really awesome to be heard and to be believed I, and when something is related to science I will love it out too much, so I found 10 awesome science related facts that are too good be to seen and heard about, well all the facts are written on the images so go through them below and have fun, do share this with all your friends if you like them :)

Control Mouse Movements using Awesome Body Gesture's

2013-05-01T00:49:00.003-07:00

Have you ever wondered to convert your desktop or laptop into that Kinect kind of thing you saw for those Microsoft consoles, well now you can give a pinch of that same thing to your mouse control by moving it using your body gestures.
Camera Mouse is an innovative tool that can easily move your mouse cursors by just using your body gesture's it like tagging something and using your webcam to track that thing and when it moves it simply moves your mouse.
So you do not need any additional hardware setup to do this thing just a webcam installed will work perfect. Now what's the use about this tool well as mentioned on their official website CameraMouse.org its really a good tool for people with some disabilities or for anyone having problem to navigate the mouse with their hands just fix a spot and you are ready to rock and roll.

This little tool even comes with bunch of settings you can tweak out for more awesome and comfortable experience. You can choose the clicking option that will allow you to click anything within in a time period, so everything is configurable using their settings panel.
So now just check out below steps on how to download this tool and use this on your PC or laptop and get an awesome wireless Kinect experience right away.

Download CameraMouse [Link]
Now extract the .zip package and you will get a .exe setup, double click it.
Now just follow steps and install this software on your PC.
Now you will get a green rectangle icon on your desktop double click it and you will have this tool running.
Now you will see your webcam running and your face would be visible.
Now just use your mouse to click on any part of your face or body to track.
Now a green rectangle would be marked on that place.
Now it will start moving as you move and now you will see your mouse moving as your part move's that's it.
Now you can easily click on any part and enjoy mouse movements with gesture's.
Now to use click's just open settings and under clicking Tick Mark it.
Now choose settings and when ever you want a click just wait for that seconds and mouse will automatically click on that place.

So that's it now you can easily use your body parts to get mouse movements, if you face any problem's do comment below and if you like this post do share it with all your friends.

Using Analytics to Increase Your eBay Sales & Profits

2012-04-12T03:15:00.002-07:00

A lot of people have asked us about “analytics.” What are analytics, how can I get them, and what can I use them for? But more importantly: Will using such a service increase my sales?
According to several user testimonials, the answer is a definite yes. In fact, you’re lucky to be reading this article. Implement even a few of the techniques offered by analytics services, and your sales will increase almost immediately. Your buyers might even thank you.
Here’s why it matters. As a sales person, you deal with a large number of variables. The decisions you make directly shape your income and your buyers experience. Analytics are a toolbox to create happy buyers; a way to make things easy for them.
Here are the questions you can answer to increase sales:

When are the best days and times to list?
Which auction template option sells the most product?
Should I bother to sell internationally?
How long does it take for me to make a sale from the first click to the last?
How much do sales increase during the holidays?

Or, use analytics for problem solving:

Why are people not bidding on my items?
Why do people leave without bidding?
How much did the last outage cost me?

Most people generally “feel” the answers to these questions based on their experience and implicit knowledge of their product. What if you find out three months from now that you have been losing money … for three months?
Now, you can get the answers to these questions in much shorter time. Analytics is a new area of expertise: People used to care about how many visitors they got, now they should care about what visitors do.
I recommend Sellebrity Analytics. First of all, the site is 100% free if you have 50 concurrent listings or less. If you have more than 50 listings running at any given time, you will need to upgrade starting at $4.99 per month. You can also manage several user IDs with one login, starting at $9.99 per month.
Sellebrity Analytics claims not to hurt your sales in any way. For example, appending the small 88 x 33 tracking counter to the very bottom of your listings will not result in an unfavorable change to Best Match because you are not changing the description.
Here is a testimonial from eBay user “ladydaysvintage:”

“Sellebrity has helped me a great deal. I’d pretty much stopped selling international. Your site showed me how many international sales I’ve missed out on due to high shipping. I made some adjustments, offer lower cost shipping, and international sales have increased. So I am very pleased.”

Folks, this one is a no-brainer. It’s free and it works. There is no downside.

weekly New Products Roundup – Week 34, with eBay Price Comparison

2012-04-12T03:13:00.004-07:00

Multimedia Video Glasses – Movies, Games and More (40 Inch Virtual Screen)

CVQL-G225-N1: Big Screen Display That Fits In Your Pocket! Imagine being able to watch movies on a 40 inch cinema display while on the bus, in a park, or… More…

Mini Dome Surveillance Camera with IR Night Vision (PAL, Sony CCD)

CVNH-I152-PAL: Get this super compact high resolution dome surveillance camera, featuring IR Night Vision; it’s one of the smallest security dome cameras on the market! More…

2.4GHz Wireless Web Camera with Built-in Microphone

CVSB-I177: 2.4GHz Wireless Web Camera with Built-in Microphone: Stay connected and keep video chatting with maximum convenience – even steps away from your computer! More…

Compact Tactical Red Laser Gun Sight (Dual Weaver Rail Mount / Under Mount)

CVKW-G336: This is a professional precision red laser sight with a convenient weaver rail for multi-mount use, light weight, compact and highly functional…. More…

Protective Leather Case with Spill-Proof Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad2 (Rotatable)

CVUD-A114: An elegant and stylishly made leather case that protects your precious iPad 2 and provides you with Bluetooth and spill-proof keyboard for easy typing. More…

How to Use eBay Pulse to Hunt Out Hot New Markets

2012-04-12T03:10:00.002-07:00

If you are new to eBay or on the hunt for a hot new niche market, eBay Pulse provides an exceptional (and free) solution for seeking out a new money-spinning product that you can sell on eBay for a profit.

What is eBay Pulse?

eBay Pulse is a tool that tells us exactly which products are the most popular on eBay at any given time. It’s great for seeing:

1. What eBay users are buying

2. What eBay users are searching for

3. Who the biggest sellers of that product are (great for eyeing up your competitors!)

When you first get to the eBay Pulse page, this is what you will see:

You should consider the list of the top ten searches on this page as a list of products that you should never attempt to sell. These products, including iPods and Coach handbags, are oversaturated markets that only top eBay sellers with huge budgets can make money selling.
Unless you, too, have a large budget for bulk-buying and marketing these products, you should avoid these products! Instead, you want to use the eBay Pulse category feature to drill down into sub categories and find hot niche products that strike a healthy balance between supply and demand.
These products, believe it or not, will make you a lot more money than the more ‘popular’ products listed on the eBay Pulse homepage. They still have a hungry demand from buyers, while less sellers try to offer these items which makes it a lot easier for you to make profitable and consistent sales.
So how do you unearth these hot niches?

Here’s a quick demonstration:

Start by locating the category drill down on the eBay Pulse home page.

Then click the drop down menu and reveal all the categories on eBay.

From here, you can choose any category that you are interested in or think might make a good niche. For this demonstration, I’ll select Dolls and Bears then click Update.

After I click update, eBay Pulse generates a new list of popular searches. This time, the list shows the most popular searches in the Dolls and Bears category.

We’re getting closer to finding a good niche now, but if we drill down even further, we can hunt out an even ‘deeper’ niche. Generally, the more you drill down, the better because you will have less competitors, but still a good stream of sellers so I’m going to go one category further and select “Reborn dolls” from the drop-down.

Now we’re getting somewhere! As you can see below, there are a number of results for reborn dolls and other keyword variations. This is great news because it means these are among buyers.

So what do you do with this list of potential niches? To determine which is the most viable for you, search eBay and see which keyword has the least search results.
In doing so, you can determine the one that has the least supply, or the least number of competitors selling it, and because we already know from eBay Pulse that demand is high, you can be fairly confident that you’re looking at a hot niche that will sell for good profits.
For example, I searched eBay.com for “reborn baby dolls” and “reborn baby girl”. Look at the difference in search results between the keywords:

As you can see, there are 5,855 searches for “reborn baby dolls” and 1,220 searches for “reborn baby girl”. This tells us that there is less competition on eBay in the reborn baby girl category. Meanwhile, we know from eBay Pulse that there is a similar level of demand.
If I were looking for a new niche, I would take this data and find myself a wholesale supplier of reborn dolls and start listing them on eBay!

50 Tips and Tools for Selling on The New eBay

2012-04-12T03:06:00.004-07:00

Free eBay tips and eBay tools and services to help eBay sellers build a profitable eBay business
Whether you're a casual seller, or looking to build an eBay business, you will first need to master the "basics" of successful selling. These tips, techniques, and suggestions are a good start—but it's just the tip of the iceberg of what you can learn to increase your eBay success.

1. Buy on eBay before you sell

I get emails from people all the time wanting to know how to make money selling on eBay. The first question I ask them is if they have bought anything on eBay. Amazingly a lot of them say no. You really need to buy on eBay to understand how the platform works and what eBay looks like from the buyer's point of view. You will never be successful selling on eBay until you learn to buy.

2. Learn to sell on eBay by selling on eBay

The best way to start selling on eBay is to actually start selling on eBay. Yes, there are some things to learn, but take your time, look at the eBay help files (and these tips) and just start selling. You will make some mistakes—we all do. But don't get frustrated or give up. You will get better with experience.
Also, selling will make you a better buyer. You will understand things from the seller's point of view and learn other ways to spot bargains.

3. The best types of products to sell on eBay

Everyone wants to sell the latest consumer product, but the truth is there is a lot of competition from established sellers and even big online companies that have special deals with eBay. The best item to sell on eBay is something used or a very specialized (niche) product that few others are selling.
You can buy virtually anything used: clothing, books, computers, DVDs, Stereo equipment, and so on. If you are going to sell new goods, make sure you can buy them cheaply enough to sell and make a profit. One source is the closeout and liquidation companies that sell overstocks and seasonal items returned by department stores. Here is a link to a Free Wholesale Search Engine. I also offer an inexpensive product called My Top 99 Wholesale Sources for eBay Sellers. This is a great place to find good wholesale sources that will work with eBay sellers. These are not perfect or complete resources—they are just a place to start. Be a little careful with the Wholesale Search Engine. It is a search engine and I can't control what shows up there. So just because a company comes up in a search that doesn't mean I endorse it.
Another great product area is consumables. The idea here is to get repeat business via your website from customers who buy from you on eBay. One of the best selling products from The Auction Seller's Resource is the Wholesale Buying System (WBS). This tells you how, what, and where to buy products to sell on eBay. The WBS comes with access to a members-only website where you can access thousands of wholesale companies directly. The website is updated monthly to add new sources.

4. Master niche marketing and specialize for success

This is home-plate for your success strategy. Find your own niche. Define your market. Then you can know the type of person you're going to be selling to and the types of product you want to sell. You will also have less competition.
Forget trying to sell computers, digital cameras, iPods and plasma TVs. There is no way you can compete with the big guys unless you have tons of money. And those drop ship web sites and programs that claim to have those products are mostly scams. Find a small niche --or several small niches that you can dominate.
Along with being in a superior position to take advantage of repeat business, the benefits from becoming specialized are endless. If you know more about your product area, you will be able to buy at better prices and people who sense you specialize in something will be more comfortable buying from you.

5. Become an expert in your field

Become an authority on what you do in your online auction business. It doesn’t matter if you sell fishing lures, ink cartridges or collectible glass -- you want to be thought of before anyone else.
When you become an authority in your field, a whole new universe of business and opportunity is opened up to you. I buy certain types of things on eBay from the same sellers over and over. I wouldn't dare do business with anyone else, not when they have proven themselves and their product.
You want to earn that same type of position in the minds of eBayer's for your niche. Also continue your auction education. Read books and training manuals, visit the chat and message boards, attend an eBay University when it comes to your town, go to eBay Live, and keep learning all the time.

6. Increase sales by putting audio in your auctions

I began using audio (voice) in my auctions in May of 2004. I saw an immediate increase in sales. For example, I sell expensive fire pit barbeques ($200+). Before using audio, I was selling one or two a week. Once I put audio in my auctions I started selling almost one a day. The same thing happened with my EZ Cube Photo Studios. I was selling about two a week on eBay. When I added audio to my auctions with Seller's Voice, my sales more than doubled. Now I sell at least four and sometimes five or six units a week.
We also sell Starbucks collectibles. I ran a test of identical auctions with and without audio. Every auction with audio got more bidders and sold for a higher price—in some cases as much as 22 percent higher!
I use a company called Seller's Voice for my audio. It is so easy. I just dial an 800 number, record my message and then go to their website and copy a short line of code to paste into my auction. If you launch your auction first, you can also record the message and just type the auction number into the phone and they will paste it in for you.

7. Get a sales tax number

Contact the sales tax authority in your county or state offices to get a sales tax number. This enables you to buy from many wholesale companies that would not deal with you otherwise.
If you are not sure who to contact in your state, just call your local chamber of commerce and they will advise you or give you the phone number or website address to register. If you go to the FREE Articles page on our web site there is an article on state sales taxes with a link to all of the state websites where you can apply on line.

8. Automate your auctions

Automate your auctions with an auction management service. I have tried several companies and have finally settled on Vendio. They provide auction templates where you type in your headlines and text, insert your images, set your price, terms, length of auction, and schedule your auctions to launch at any day or time you specify.
These services also track your inventory and sales, send automated emails to customers, provide a PayPal or credit card gateway, and automatically post feedback once payment is received. People are often hesitant to pay a monthly fee to an auction management company, but believe me, over time they really save you money and they are far better than eBay's tools such as Turbo Lister and Selling Manager.
You should also invest in software to print labels. The website www.edicia.com is a good resource. You can get a great deal on label printers and scales that integrate right into your computer.

9. Build credibility

Be trustworthy. Remove every doubt about your credibility. You can do this through presenting yourself positively through your feedback, being passionately devoted to your business and by being an expert. Create an About Me Page on eBay. A photo of yourself will humanize the online experience and can bring amazing results. One with your dog or cat in the picture is even better.

10. Your auction headline and item description is where it all begins.

Your headline is your advertising and your item description is your salesperson. On the web, how your potential buyer perceives you and your product is everything.
Be sure to use power words in your auction title (headline). Rare, Unique, Powerful, New, Unusual, Stunning, Top Notch, First Class, etc. Just be sure not to exaggerate. Don't call something "rare" if it is not.
Copy writing is the art of showcasing yourself and what you sell to your buyer in the best possible light. It's the most important thing you have going for you. A carefully crafted sales letter (item description) can increase your results exponentially without having to spend an extra penny.

11. Use keywords in your auction headline (title) and description

Remember that almost all eBay bidders find what they are looking for by using the search function. Be sure to use carefully chosen and accurate keywords in your title and description. eBay gives you 55 characters in your title. Be sure to use all of them. This will help you get hits. Important keywords include the brand, color, size, and model number.

12. Stand behind your product and service

We offer an unconditional money-back guarantee on everything we sell. This has been our practice since our first day on eBay. Now if you are selling cars or houses or "as-is" used goods that may not be a good idea, but the simple offer of a satisfaction guarantee will dramatically increase your sales.
Even unhappy people rarely go to the trouble of sending something back. The cost of providing the few refunds will be far out weighed by the increased volume of your sales. At the very least offer a guarantee that your items are exactly as described and you will give a full refund if they are not. You must spell out your return policy clearly at the end of your auction description and/or in the form eBay gives you to do this. Even if your returns policy is "no returns" eBay requires you to include it.

13. Set up an eBay Store

eBay Store listing fees are lower than for non-stores sellers. The inventory shows up in the main search results (just like any other 30 day fixed price listing). There are many extras that eBay Stores sellers receive, but based on price alone, you are probably ready for a Store once you are selling 55 or more items through fixed price listings per month. That is the break-even point between the fees and the Store Basic level subscription.

14. Launch more but shorter auctions

eBay places auctions ending soonest higher in the search results. If you have identical merchandise, run shorter auctions more often. This way you will show up in the Time Ending Soonest and Best Match search orders more often. You will pay a little more in listing fees, but your should make this up by selling more items.

15. Use an email signature

One great free way to promote your auction business is by using an email signature. Signatures are six to eight line inserts at the end of your email messages. All email programs support them. Your signature should include a description of what you sell and a hyperlink to your eBay store or your about me page. Set it up to automatically put your signature at the end of every email so you don't have to type it each time.

16. Automate your shipping and save time and money at the post office

If you don't have much time to spend at the post office, and I'm sure you don't, prepare in advance. You can have all of your mailing supplies sent to you by the USPS and UPS.
Visit http://www.usps.gov and http://ups.com for more details. eBay and PayPal now have an automated shipping system integrated with UPS and USPS right on their site.
If you ship via USPS Priority Mail (a favorite option for eBay sellers) you can use delivery confirmation to track your packages. It is free if you do it on line at http://www.usps.com or it costs 70 cents to do it at the post office window. You can use delivery confirmation for parcel post and first class parcels, but it is not free online, and costs 80 cents at the post office.
PayPal now also offers the ability to pay for your shipping online. Also, you get a better rate through the USPS if you pay either online through its site, or through PayPal.

17. Building a high Feedback Score quickly

Here is a quick way to build good feedback: Sell something at a very low price, such as an inexpensive baseball card for a dollar. Put up a fixed price listing for 50 of the item you are selling. Don't worry about making money; just try to break even. Mail the cards out quickly, post great feedback for each buyer and send each buyer an email politely asking each of them to return the favor. Be sure to include the hyperlink to the feedback post in your email.

18. Where to get free shipping supplies?

If you send your items via USPS priority mail the post office will give you free envelopes, tape, and boxes. Think this through. If you pay the priority mail fee, and get free boxes, that is often close to what UPS charges when you add in the cost of a box.
Another source for free shipping supplies is your local gift shop or kitchen shop. These merchants receive merchandise in good boxes everyday with plenty of bubble-pak and Styrofoam peanuts that they simply throw away or pay to have recycled. Get friendly with your local gift shop and you can have access to tons of free shipping suppliers.

19. Sign Up for BuySafe if you sell expensive products

If you sell expensive goods, BuySAFE is a company that provides fraud insurance to your buyers. It costs a little to sign up, but BuySAFE has plenty of evidence that shows that using BuySAFE in your auctions will increase your bids and final values much more than the cost of their service. Sign up at www.buysafe.com.

20. Sell SquareTrade Warranties

If you sell electronics or cameras, you can make extra money by offering a warranty on your products through SquareTrade at www.squaretrade.com.

21. How to keep your customers happy and generate lots of positive feedback

Customers want three things: (1) instant gratification, (2) clear, fast communications and (3) to get what they were promised.

Use PayPal to get payment quickly and then ship quickly.
Answer emails immediately.
Reveal any flaws or shortcomings your item has.
Never over-promise or over describe an item.
Package your items carefully and professionally.
If you can, toss in something for free. (I recently bought a collectible beer mug and the seller included a few free beer coasters.)

22. Get your news from AuctionBytes.com

www.AuctionBytes.com is a great site with lots of free resources for online sellers. They have an online auction calendar that lists best times to start and end an auction, a free online tutorial on how to take good photos, a daily and a bi-weekly free newsletter, and plenty of additional free resources. Best of all they have a daily news feed of news about eBay and other online venues.

23. Learn how to write great titles and item descriptions

Our premier book, The Complete eBay Marketing System has two chapters on writing auction titles and item descriptions designed to help you increase hits and bids. Poor titles and descriptions are one of the largest reasons eBay sellers get poor auction results.

24. Find Wholesale Products to Sell With Our Free Wholesale Search Engine

If you click on the link to Web Wholesale Search in the navigation at the top of this page it will take you to a wholesale search engine. Now, as with any search engine there are always people who can scam the results, so there are some companies that will come up who are not true wholesalers and you will get results from companies that claim to be dropshippers but are mostly phony middlemen who make their money off of fees they charge you to sign up. But keep looking as there are many true wholesale suppliers and real distributors that will come up in the results.

25. Learn simple HTML commands to spice up your auctions

eBay has an HTML editor but it is limited. Once you start selling, take the time to learn a little HTML. Don't be afraid of HTML. Anyone can do it. For example, you should start all of your eBay auction item descriptions with the command: <font size=+1>. This will make your type larger and easier to read. It helps to break your item description into smaller shorter paragraphs to increase readability. Just use this command to create a new paragraph <P>.
You can make your text bold by typing <B> at the beginning of the bold text and </B> where you want it to end.
Go to: www.davesite.com for a simple and free online tutorial on how to do HTML.

26. Create attractive backgrounds for your auctions

Go to: www.grsites.com/textures to get free background textures for your auction item descriptions. Over 6000 backgrounds are available at no cost.

27. If you are going to be in this business, you need to know the vocabulary

Net Lingo at www.netlingo.com is a free site that teaches you all the terms and lingo of the world wide web and various online services.

28. Get a professional auction education

Attend eBay Live
Attend the online eBay workshops (Look on the announcement board for the schedules)
Use the various eBay online tutorials
Bookmark the eBay help files and print out the ones you access very frequently for easy reference
Print this document out (77 tips) and put it in the same notebook
Buy some of the great eBay training books from The Auction Seller's Resource Bookshop

29. Incorporate to protect yourself from liability

Not many people get sued selling stuff on eBay, but it can happen. If you incorporate, the corporation can shield you from most lawsuits. In fact once a lawyer learns that you are incorporated and you don't keep assets in the corporation, a lot of times they will not bother suing because they know your assets are protected. There are also lots of tax benefits to incorporating even if your eBay income is fairly small.
I used a company called My Corporation. They did an excellent job—very personal service and very quick. Best of all they did it right. Some of the online incorporating services are really shoddy and they don't tailor the corporation to what you are doing. (I know a lot of folks like Legal Zoom. I used to recommend them but then I had a bad experience with them, so I now use and recommend My Corporation).

30. Learn how to buy at government auctions

You don't have to pay for this information. Here is a link to our site where everything you need to bid on government auctions is free: www.skipmcgrath.com/auction_sr/gvnmtauctions.shtml.
Government auctions can be a great place to find bargains, but proceed with caution. Make sure you thoroughly inspect anything before you buy it.

31. Package your eBay shipments professionally

No one likes to receive his or her "treasure" in a battered shoe box or an old cereal box. Take the time to pack your sales carefully. Invest in bubble pak, peanuts, tissue paper, and so on. Many of these supplies can be sourced from local gift shops who would have to recycle them. Alternatively, you can find great prices for shipping supplies on eBay.

32. Know your fees before you sell

Here is a great little free tool for eBay sellers. It is an online calculator that calculates eBay and PayPal fees to help you decide the best price and format to list an item on eBay. If you are running an eBay business this is a great little tool to help you figure out the best price to start an item and the most efficient selling format. There are two free calculators that I like: www.newlifeauctions.com/calc.html and www.ebcalc.com.

33. Sell Liquidation Closeouts

Clothing, accessories, electronics, household goods, toys and sporting goods are some of the hottest sellers on eBay. It can be very hard to source these products new from the distributors. But many eBay sellers make excellent profits buying these products from Liquidation and Surplus Dealers. One of the largest and easiest to deal with is Liquidation.com. They use an auction format similar to eBay. One word of caution, check the shipping before bidding. Click here to see the wholesale auctions at Liquidation.com.

34. Set your starting bid low to attract hits

Do you have a good item that you KNOW will sell well? Start it off at a very low price. This will get you healthy early bidding. You want a large group around the item; some will be competitive bidders—people who will pay extra just for the thrill of winning.
You'll usually get more for your item than someone who priced their item higher, because your auction has more bidders watching.
Plus, your first 100 auctions listed with a starting price under $1 do not have a listing fee. So you have no cost until it actually sells.

35. Write complete item descriptions

Make your item description as complete as possible. Include all relevant details: condition, size, weight, age, collectability, any short-comings or defects, etc.
Something you think isn't important could actually be very important to someone else. Describe your item's condition, talk about its benefits and uses and keep writing until you run out of something to say.

36. Use Item Specifics

The item specifics are drop-down menus shown near the top of the Sell Your Item form. They are category specific and include things like brand, color, size, style, etc. If you are offered Item Specifics, use them fully. Buyers narrow down their results using these options. If you didn't use them, your item goes into the "not specified" group. Very few buyers ever look in there. Also, if you didn't put a keyword in your title, but the item would match based on your item specifics selections, your item will still show up in the search results. So, if you forgot to add that it was red in your title, but in the "color" item specifics menu you selected red, it will still show up if the buyer includes "red" as a search term.

37. Have a written sales, payment, and delivery policy to protect yourself and avoid misunderstandings

Spell out everything you do. How much do you charge for shipping? How will you ship the item? What is your policy on insurance? Do you use escrow for expensive items? When do you post feedback?
The more information you give a buyer the better the buying and selling experience will be for both parties—but don't forget to make it sound friendly. You don't want your auctions to sound like a bunch of rules written by a high school principal.

38. Don't get greedy and overcharge for shipping

Overcharging for shipping is one of the leading causes of negative feedback. and low DSR scores. You should only charge what it normally costs you to pack and ship. Buyers are sensitive in this area. They know when you are making a profit on shipping. You can charge a small premium to cover your cost of handling and shipping materials, but it should be reasonable. Always offer to combine shipping costs if a person buys more than one item. Explain your shipping policy in the item description.
There is a game some sellers play whereby they list a $5 item for 99-cents but the shipping is $7.99 when it only cost a dollar to ship. eBay will cancel your auction if they catch you doing this as it constitutes fee avoidance.

39. Offer combined shipping to entice buyers to purchase more

Getting a buyer to purchase more than one item from you is called cross-selling. If you specialize in a product niche, this isn't too hard. Offer good combined shipping rates (not just $1 off the second item) to entice buyers to purchase more. It saves you time and money because you only have to ship one parcel, but it also gives you more feedback opportunities. The buyer can leave feedback for every transaction. So if you sell five items to one person, you could increase your feedback score by five just from that one buyer. If you can get the majority of your buyers to purchase more than one item, you will increase your feedback score much quicker. Plus, buyers who purchase more than one item from you are more likely to add you as a favorite seller and come back for more items.

40. Always include the item number in your emails

Always include the item number with the end of auction notice and any request for payment. Place the number in the subject line so you can easily track emails. People often bid on several items and can get confused. eBay automatically sends a "won" item email which usually gets buyers to pay, but you may need to follow up, so keep this number handy.

41. Start and end your auctions at the best times

Do you always start and end your auctions at the best times? Start and end your auctions at peak traffic periods when traffic is the heaviest.
I like my auctions to end on Sunday or Monday evenings between 5 and 7 PM (Pacific Time). Saturday and Sunday mornings are also good times. Believe it or not, Mondays during the lunch hour are very good also. Remember there can sometimes be a posting delay of up to two hours on eBay during the busy times. Also, don't forget that eBay uses Pacific Time.
This is one of the best reasons to use an auction management service such as Vendio. You can create your auction and schedule it to launch at a specific time or day. eBay also has a scheduling utility but they charge you 10¢ every time you use it. Ten cents sounds like a small amount of money but it can add up over time.

42. What to do when you make a mistake in an auction?

You may be able to revise your listing depending on the error you need to fix, how long your listing still has to go, and if you have any bids. If it has more than 12 hours until the end, and you don't have any bids yet, you can change your pictures entirely, reduce the starting price, and change any information in your listing except the format (you can't go from auction to fixed price or vice versa). If you do have bids, you can still revise a lot of the listing (add to the item description, add photos, reduce the reserve price, and so on). The buyer has the right to withdraw his bid if your additions to the item description significantly change the item. For example, you said the iPod was black, but then revise it to say it's actually hot pink.
You can cancel the auction entirely if your error is not fixable or if you have less than 12 hours remaining before you caught the error. If you relist it using the "relist" button on the closed listing page, you are eligible for the relist credit if your item sells when you relist it.

43. Why does eBay end auctions?

eBay will only end your auction if you violate the listing guidelines. Read them carefully. They are written to give eBay wide latitude. eBay rarely discovers a listing violation. They rely mostly on the community to report violations.
The most common violations are listing in the wrong category, keyword spamming, excessive shipping, putting a link to an outside website in your auction description, and not selling a tangible product (such as an eBook download).

44. What to do when eBay ends an auction?

If you are guilty as sin—just forget it and get on with your life. It's not the end of the world. If you feel you are wronged, then answer the "auction ended" email with a polite request for an explanation and/or tell your side of the story.
Please understand the eBay enforcement employees receive hundreds of angry emails a day. It is very easy for them to get "pissy" (excuse my language). A polite and sincere inquiry will often uncover valuable information. Your violation may have been a minor technicality, which can be easily corrected. They will rarely tell you this if you send them an angry or rude email.

45. Set up a website and use eBay to drive business to it

Every eBay seller should have a website. Remember sales you make from your website do not incur eBay fees. eBay has cracked down on sellers using auctions to drive hits to their websites, but there are still some loopholes and techniques you can use without running afoul of eBay. These are explained in detail in The Complete eBay Marketing System. (I can't give all my techniques away here!)

46. Learn how to promote your website and/or eBay store

This tip is really an advertisement, but one that I think you can benefit from as I did.
Simply the best website builder system and training on the web is from a company called Site Build It. This company has been around for 12 years and is very highly respected. Their customers love them so much they are almost cult-like and rave about their service.
People are often frightened by websites because they think they are too technical –but with Site Build It, if you can point, click and type you can build a website and get traffic to it. But most importantly Site Build It comes with tons of free training.

Getting ranked at the top of search engines
Web page promotion and design
Turning leads into lifetime customers with e-mail marketing
How to get White-listed with major email services such as Yahoo, AOL and MSN so all your email gets through to your customers.
Building a responsive opt-in email list—FAST
Exploiting AOL and other online services
Free and low-cost online classified ads that produce sales
Dominating your market with affiliate/reseller/associate programs
Newsgroup promotions
Snowballing your profits with Auto-responders
How and when to promote yourself on bulletin boards
Getting links from high traffic sites
Sales strategies
Writing killer ad copy
Banner ads (tips and tricks)
Profiting with discussion lists and newsletters
Completely automating your business
Getting your own Visa/MasterCard/AmEx account with ZERO COSTS

... and this is just the tip of the iceberg! Even if you are a complete newbie or a seasoned Internet marketer, I guarantee you will benefit from the unconventional tips and tricks that Site Build It can teach you.
I personally used the information I learned with Site Build It to increase traffic and sales from my website by over 400% in less than three months. There are plenty of techniques you can apply to your eBay business and you will learn ways to develop synergy between your eBay business and a website.
So if you are interested in starting a business or just increasing your profits from an existing business, visit Site Build It. They even have a special page for eBay sellers here.

47. Brand your business

If you go on the eBay search engine and type in eBay store design, you will find a number of eBay sellers who will design an eBay store for your with branding and matching auction templates. This will give all of your listings a similar look and feel and help brand your business so people can find you again. If you want a professional company to do this for you, check out www.frooition.com.

48. Over-communicate with your buyers

When an auction ends, send your buyers an immediate email congratulating them and providing clear payment instructions. Send them another email when you ship the item (this really impresses buyers). Send them a follow-up email to see if everything went okay. This email should include the link where they can post feedback.
Make sure you enter the parcel tracking number in My eBay if you didn't purchase the shipping label through PayPal. Buyers look for this to see that the item has actually been shipped. Plus, it can save you from getting a follow up email asking for it. Include the number in your "item shipped" email too and remind them that it is also available in My eBay.

49. Be careful using a Reserve Price Auction (RPA)

No one likes a reserve. Most people understand the necessity for it, but there are a large percentage of users who will simply not bid on RPAs.
If you are selling a very expensive item, certainly place a reserve on it, but let the potential bidders know what the reserve is. It doesn't have to be a secret. The point of a reserve is to protect you against something selling too cheaply. Being open about your reserve can actually help you get bids.

50. Increase bids by making your auctions readable

Use a short opening paragraph that promises something, and then deliver on the promise. Describe the product, but also write about its benefits and/or how it is used. If you have personally used the product, describe your experience.
Short sentences are easier to read than long ones. If you write a long sentence, follow it with a short one. Keep your paragraphs to less than three or four lines. Boldface important words or phrases. Include attention-getters: questions, news items, a guarantee or a promise. Ask for the bid at the end of the description. Use active verbs, write in the 2nd person, and use enthusiastic language.

Ebay Tips and Tricks for the New Ebayer

2012-04-12T03:05:00.001-07:00

This guide is meant for anyone that buys anything on Ebay - especially those of you who are new to Ebay. Some of the things I will try to help you with is how to avoid making a bad purchase on Ebay. Also how to keep from getting outbid on the things you want, especially at the last minute. There are numerous guides on how to use Ebay, but I've never seen a quick and easy reference to use that gets right to the point. So here goes.

70 percent or more of bids are placed during the last few minutes of the auction
Place an odd bid amount - Never an even dollar amount
Avoid auctions that offer an item for 99 cents but they say in big bold words to email first
Don't fall for the word RARE on anything
Never buy anything from email offers outside of Ebay
Avoid auctions that ONLY accept payment by wire transfers, Western Union, or cash
Familiarize yourself with all Ebay features before bidding
Always check a users feedback rating
Research the item before you buy it
Be cautious of sellers from other countries
Never click on anything in an email from Ebay or Paypal
What to do if you receive a fake email?
Lastly - if it looks to good to be true, IT IS !!

As I think of more tips, I will update this guide. There's no sure fire way to avoid getting ripped off on Ebay, but hopefully these tips will help you avoid that headache. So here's the details....

70 percent or more of bids are placed during the last few minutes of the auction

TRUE - You're probably wondering how someone outbid you at the last second on an auction you bid on 3 days ago. To be like most people and place a last second bid, the best trick to use is go to the auction item. Then click on the web page address, highlight the whole address, then right click and select copy. Now open a new browser window and paste the address (right click and paste) and hit enter. Now you have two web pages open, both to the same auction.
Now here's the trick...In the second webpage, go ahead and enter your bid and click on the place bid button. If you go to a page that asks for your user name and password, go ahead and enter it and click submit. Now you should go to CONFIRMATION page. This is the final step before you actually place your bid. DO NOT CLICK SUBMIT just yet. You can leave this page open for as long as you want too. Now, go back to the other webpage you have opened - the first one. On this webpage, you can keep refreshing the webpage and watch the timer count down. Once the auction gets down under 30 seconds, rush back to the second webpage and click SUBMIT. You just placed a last second bid called a snipe bid.
Once under 30 seconds, you decide on when to hit the submit button on the second webpage. Depending on how daring you are, you can wait until the very last second. BUT, keep in mind that it takes about 3 - 5 seconds for Ebay to confirm your bid. So if you wait a little too long, you could still lose out and your bid not be accepted.

Place an odd bid amount - Never an even dollar amount

Never place an even bid such as $3.00 or $10.00. The trick use to be was to place your bid for one penny more. This way you would win over someone that placed an even dollar bid. But, most people have caught on to that trick. Now you have to bid an odd amount. If you're going to bid on something for $5, place an odd bid for $5.05 or $5.12 or something similar. You will have a better chance of winning the auction. The only people that place even dollar bids are people who are new to Ebay.

Avoid auctions that offer an item for 99 cents but they say in big bold words to email first

This is normally a scam. Look at the sellers other items by clicking on View Seller's Other Items. If all or most of their auctions have this same text, avoid this seller like the plague. It may say you have to be pre-approved before purchasing this auction. The auction may even contain text telling that they are selling you the purchase info only, not the actual item being sold. The only pre-approval needed for ebay auctions are normally in the Ebay Live auctions or in the Ebay vehicles categories.

Don't fall for the word RARE on anything

Very few things on Ebay are actually rare. It's all a marketing scheme. Words like rare, one of a kind, unique, the only one I've seen, etc... are all marketing words to pull you in and help cross that line of to buy or not to buy. I've written another guide specifically about this problem. But, the basics are, research what you're interested in. Email the seller. WHY is it rare? If they give you a vague answer, run. If they give you a specific answer and can even tell you a little bit of history on the item, then it probably is rare. Is everything the seller has listed marked as rare? Search Ebay and the internet. If you find more of the same item listed on Ebay, chances are it's not rare. Just put the word rare in the search engine on ebay and see how many listings come up. You should see at least 200,000 listings. Can there really be that many rare items for sale on Ebay?

Never buy anything from email offers outside of Ebay

If you bid on an auction and lost, you might receive an email from the seller offering a second item at the same winning bid. DO NOT go for this unless you know and have dealt with this buyer before. Ebay says to NEVER accept offers like this. This is one of the main reasons Ebay has offered a new service for sellers called Second Chance Offers. You can get a second chance email from the seller, but it will be for the highest bid you placed. Not for the highest bid in the auction. As long as you make a purchase through an Ebay auction, you have a very good chance of not getting ripped off.

Avoid auctions that ONLY accept payment by wire transfers, Western Union, or cash

If the seller only accepts these payment methods, run! You have a very good chance of getting ripped off. You can not get your money back by any of these payment methods. Once you send the money, it's gone. If you don't receive the auction item, there is nothing you can do to get your money back. The best way to protect yourself is use Paypal. There are no fees for sending money. All fees are charged to the seller. Most sellers on Ebay are legitimate and accept Paypal. If you've been ripped of and did make a payment this way, you can report the crime to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Just look them up in any search engine and it will take you to their webpage. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).

Familiarize yourself with all Ebay features before bidding

Ebay has lots and lots of features that can help you with your buying experience. Everything from searching to discussion boards. For searching, make sure and use the Advanced Search feature. You would be surprised at the number of auctions you could miss by just using the normal search. Once you go to the advanced search feature, always put a check mark in Search Title and Description. This will make a huge difference. You can also search better by using a plus or minus sign in front of keywords. A plus sign means it MUST have that word. A minus sign means you're not interested in auctions that have that keyword. You can also search for phrases by using quotes. If you search for caterpillar model truck, it will bring up all auctions that have any one of those keywords in it. Such as automotive auctions for any kind of truck. But, if put the three words inside quotes it will ONLY bring up auctions that have this phrase in the auction.
The discussion boards can be a source of a huge amount of info and help. To get there, just click on the Community button at the top of any ebay webpage. This will take you to a page of different categories for discussion boards. The best one to click on is go to the first one - Discussion Boards. In here you can discussion boards on everything from buyer complaints to category specific questions. You can spend hours reading thorough all the comments. This is a good place to ask questions about anything.

Always check a users feedback rating

If a user has a lot of negative feedbacks recently, avoid this seller. But, you can take it with a grain of salt too. If the seller in question has 500 positives in the last 30 days and only one or two negatives, then that's probably from a few disgruntled buyers. More than likely these are difficult customers and there probably wasn't anything the seller could do to make them happy. Human nature is too ALWAYS try to blame someone else for their mistake. Ask any little kid if they did something wrong even when they did. The usual answer is "I didn't do it". Human nature at it's purest and most honest form.

Research the item before you buy it

If you're not sure what you're buying but it's something you want, research it. You have one of the most powerful research tools right at your fingertips. The INTERNET. Use the many different search engines to research your item. Find out if it's rare or really worth what the seller is asking. Use the internet to help you decide what you would pay for the item. You can also use Ebay as a research tool. It's one of the few places you can search past sales. You can't do that at a brick and mortar type store. Use the Advanced Search feature and put in your keywords for the auction item you’re interested in. Put a check mark in Completed Listings Only. This way you can search completed auctions only and see if this item has been selling and if so, for how much. The bad thing is Ebay only keeps closed auction on the books for 30 days. So you have to remember that you're search is only for the last 30 days. You can also email the seller. Most sellers are knowledgeable about what they are selling. There may even be a unique history behind the item you’re looking at. Just ask...

Be cautious of sellers from other countries

This one is tricky. Make sure and research the seller carefully. Look at his/her feedback rating. Email them any questions you have. Most sellers from other countries are just as honest as any other seller. But, you have to decide if you want to deal with someone in a foreign country. There may be language barriers, customs issues, extra shipping charges, etc. I've bought a lot of things from sellers outside the U.S. I've only been ripped off once. That one was my own fault too. I knew it might be a bad idea, but for the low dollar amount, I took the chance. At least I got the opportunity to leave the appropriate feedback for that seller.

Never click on any links in an email from Ebay or Paypal

There is a new security feature from Ebay now. When you receive an OFFICAL email from Ebay, it will also be sent to My Messages in your My Ebay page. NEVER click on any link in an email from Ebay or Paypal. Neither company with EVER send you a link inside their emails. Even if the link looks legitimate, there's a 100% chance it's not. If you do click on it, it will always take you to a webpage that will look exactly like an official Ebay page. If you think you have an official email or announcement from Ebay, open up a new browser window and type in www.Ebay.com. Then click on MyEbay and sign in. Then down on the left side, click on My Messages. If there is no copy of the same message in there, then the email you received is fake. It's called a spoof email. What the sender is trying to do is get you to go to their webpage and enter in your ebay id, password, credit card info, billing address, ccv # on the credit card, social security number, mothers maiden name, etc... for whatever reason. With this info, they can not only use your Ebay account to rip off other people, they can also steal your identity. With the power of the internet, once you enter this info, the fraudulent charges can start as quickly as within an hour. If I sent you a letter through the mail and asked you fill out all this same info and send it back to me. You would say "HELL NO". So why would you do it from an email? Again, to play it safe on the internet, NEVER EVER open a link in an email unless it's from someone you know such as a relative or friend. Other than that, NEVER click on a link in email. By following this simple rule, you will save yourself a ton of trouble.

What to do if you receive a fake email?

If you think you've received a fake email from either Ebay or Paypal, simply forward it to one of these addresses: For Ebay, forward the message to SPOOF at EBAY dot COM. For Paypal, forward the message to SPOOF at PAYPAL dot COM. (you have to change the words AT and DOT to the appropriate symbols). You should get a reply email usually within minutes telling you if it was a fake email or not.

Lastly - if it looks to good to be true, IT IS !!

This one works every time. There's a reason this saying has been around longer than you or I. It always works.
Hopefully you got at least one good tip out of this guide. If you have any questions, you can email me. I will always try to answer them to the best of my knowledge. Don't forget to vote below if you found this guide helpful of not. Just click on yes or no - that's it.
Ebay also has a great starter page with video tutorials as well. Just go to Ebay: Learning Center and start learning.
Rod

Selling Products on eBay from Your ePages Shop

2012-04-11T23:28:00.005-07:00

With hundreds of thousands of people regularly buying goods on eBay it is easy to understand its importance as an additional sales channel. Thankfully with the ePages software this channel can be easily exploited allowing goods to be sold from your shop.

Overview of The Steps

The procedure for selling goods on eBay from your shop is simple and straightforward. The basic process is this:

Create an eBay seller account.
Activate the eBay account in your shop (enter the details from the eBay account).
Create a template in your shop that will be used to display product information on eBay.
Activate the e-mail notification.
Choose, configure and upload products to eBay.

Creating an eBay Account in Your Shop

After you registered on eBay, activate your eBay account in the administration area of your shop:

Navigate to ‘Settings’ -> ‘eBay Settings’ -> ‘eBay accounts’.
Select the eBay platform you will be selling on, normally ‘United Kingdom’ and enter a name, e.g. ‘Joe Bloggs UK eBay Account’. Click on ‘Save’.
To configure this account click on ‘Complete it’. Enter the country you’re selling from e.g. UK, the region e.g. London and the town e.g. London. Click on ‘Save’.
The account must now be authenticated by eBay. Click on ‘Request Authentication’, the system will test whether a connection to eBay can be created, if successful a ’Request authentication from eBay’ link will be displayed.
Click this link and you will be automatically forwarded to eBay (to be authenticated), enter your account details and click ‘sign in’. Provided there are no problems you will be asked if you wish to link your eBay account to your shop, click ‘I agree’. You will now be returned to your shop and your account will be authenticated.
Test it by clicking ‘Test authentication’.

Note your account will not be authenticated indefinitely. You will need to periodically repeat step 5 to continue selling items on eBay through your shop.

Creating The Template for The Product Display

To display more detailed information about your product on eBay you’ll now define a template for the product presentation. You can either create your own or use/edit a pre-configured template. Multiple templates can be created for different types of product you sell.
1. Navigate to ‘Settings’ -> ‘eBay Settings’ -> ‘Templates’.
2. Creating your own template:

Enter a name for the template e.g. Furniture and click on ‘Save’. Navigate into the template.
If you are comfortable using HTML you can enter code directly into the main text area or alternatively use the WYSIWYG editor (click ‘Edit text’).
To include product information (including images) in the template simply use the ‘placeholders’ next to the text box.

3. Use/Edit a pre-configured template.

Navigate to ‘Select sample templates’. Select the template you wish to use. Click ‘Apply’.
The template will now be added to your list of templates. You can now edit it as above. Tip – Use the WYSIWYG editor to edit such a template, it’s much easier and quicker to make changes.

Configuring Your Email Notification Settings

Once a sale is completed in eBay the customer will receive an e-mail informing them that they were successful and that the item can now be paid for in your shop. Within the administration area of your shop however it is necessary to configure this e-mail event:

Navigate to ‘Settings’ -> ‘E-mail Settings’ -> ‘Events’ > ‘eBay’ – Request to finalise item.
Enter a sender address; this is the address the customer will receive the confirmation e-mail from. If you have one set up you could use a special sales@mycompany.co.uk address. If you don’t have this facility just enter your company/personal e-mail address e.g. joebloggs@mycompany.co.uk.
Enter a personal/ company e-mail address in Bcc, this is so you can immediately be notified that a sale has been completed.
Enter a header/ footer text if you wish to include additional information. E.g. ‘Thank you for shopping with My Company. The order will be processed through my web shop. Please follow the link.’
Click ‘Save’.

Choosing Your Products and Uploading Them to eBay

Find the product(s) in your shop you wish to sell and add them to the tray.
To do this navigate to ‘Products", click on a product and navigate to ‘Portals" -> ‘eBay’ and click on ‘Create new item"*.
Click on the ‘item’ and define details like ‘Product item type’, ‘Template’, ‘Categories’, ‘Start price’ and ‘Payment’.
For ‘Delivery’ and ‘Payment’ choose the offered methods or ‘Others’/ ‘See article description’ if you want to offer other delivery and payment methods than eBay is providing. In this case you should enter some explaining text in the product description.
Navigate to ‘Verification’ and click on ‘Verify’ (any problin case of an error you’ll receive a message with information).
Click on ‘Upload to eBay’.

* If you want to upload more than one product within one item (with the same settings) to eBay at the same time, you can choose multiple products and compile them to an eBay item via the tray function.
As soon as an item has been uploaded, it can’t be modified anymore. However you can always view the item and it’s current bids by clicking on the eBay ID link in the product view under the ‘Products’ register.

How eBay Built Its New Energy Efficient Data Center

2012-04-11T23:26:00.002-07:00

With more than 100 million eBay users buying and selling $2,000 worth of goods every second, data centers are a big deal to the e-commerce company. And maintaining all that data requires plenty of energy: eBay's data centers consume more than half of all the power used by the company.

Power consumption has been a key issue, and a significant cost, for data center operators. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that U.S. data centers' power bills totaled $4.5 billion in 2006 (PDF), and energy use has grown since then.

With its newest data center, though, eBay is readying itself for even larger loads while consolidating the equipment it already has and using energy more efficiently, in part by taking advantage of free cooling.

The company developed its new Phoenix facility, dubbed Project Mercury, with guidance from The Green Grid on best practices for energy efficient and adaptable data centers. That guidance includes The Green Grid's Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric, which measures how much energy coming into a data center is used to power computing instead of cooling, lighting or other equipment.

It’s typically used to benchmark performance and track improvements. But instead of using the metric to measure its efficiency after building the data center, eBay decided to make PUE -- along with the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of the servers and the total cost of the energy they will use over their lifespan -- primary factors in its design and equipment decisions from the get-go.

When planning its Phoenix data center, eBay stated it wanted a facility with a PUE of 1.2 and used that goal to guide its decisions. (Lower numbers indicate higher effectiveness.) The company said that the data center had a site average PUE of 1.35 during one week in January, with a 1.26 PUE at its best. Partial PUEs around 1.04 have also been recorded.

That's noteworthy considering that the project consolidated 11 data centers into three locations while deploying tens of thousands of servers in a six-month period, following the completion of its "Project Topaz" data center in Utah in 2010. The consolidation enables eBay to get out of leased facilities and into ones that it owns, where it can control the efficiency.

The data center is also using its environment to receive free, year-round cooling in the form of a hot-water cooling system that uses cooling-tower water to chill containers and racks in the center. While computers use only 57 percent of the power in the average U.S. data center, the air conditioning and other equipment gobbling the rest, computers use at least 78 percent -- and up to 95 percent -- of the power in eBay's Phoenix facility.

The inside of the center was also developed with changes in mind, with a modular and scalable design that can handle up to five generations of new technologies.

The Green Grid details specifics of the project in a case study, "Breaking New Ground on Data Center Efficiency."

Canon imageRUNNER LBP3480 and LBP5280 Laser Printers

2012-04-11T13:41:00.003-07:00

Canon announced color imageRUNNER LBP5280 and monochrome imageRUNNER LBP3480 laser printers for small businesses with support for imageWARE Enterprise Management Console, uniFLOW, unified print drivers, imageWARE Remote and Canon's MEAP application platform.

Color imageRUNNER LBP5280

The Canon imageRUNNER LBP5280 is a net-new addition to the Canon imageRUNNER LBP Series, handling legal-size paper and is perfect for users needing desktop color printing. With a paper capacity of up to 550 sheets, the model outputs high-quality color documents at up to 21 pages-per-minute (ppm). Generous standard features include 2400 (equivalent) x 600 dpi, Adobe PostScript 3, PCL5c/6, Canon's UFR II print solution, 768MB of internal memory, duplex printing and USB Direct print. Options include a 250 sheet cassette, an 8GB SD Card, and a Barcode Print Kit for easy printing of barcode fonts in support of enterprise resource planning tools and other barcode-centric processes.

imageRUNNER LBP3480

The Canon imageRUNNER LBP3480 model -- which succeeds imageRUNNER LBP3470 -- also supports up to legal-size media and is an ideal choice for customers needing a compact black and white printer. With a paper capacity of up to 800 sheets, the model outputs crisp monochrome documents at up to 35 ppm at up to 2400 (equivalent) x 600 dpi. Standard features mirror the Color imageRUNNER LBP5280 with Adobe PostScript 3, PCL5c/6, Canon's UFR II print solution, 768MB of internal memory, duplex printing, and USB Direct print. Options include a 500 sheet cassette, an 8GB SD Card, and a Barcode Print Kit for easy printing of barcode fonts in support of enterprise resource planning tools and other barcode-centric processes.

The Color imageRUNNER LBP5280 and the imageRUNNER LBP348 fully supports imageWARE Remote and Canon's innovative Content Delivery System. imageWARE Remote, Canon's eMaintenance solution, allows Canon Authorized Dealers to proactively and securely monitor usage, relay status, and even report errors, saving customers valuable time and resources. The Content Delivery System allows service providers to deliver remote firmware and software updates to customers with limited or no business interruption. The standard DeviceLink integration can also automatically route inbound faxes from an imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFP to the new printer models, making receiving faxes both more convenient and secure, while cutting costs by reducing the number of fax lines an organization needs. The combination of these management and collaboration tools, combined with MEAP technology, brings advanced MFP solutions and features to a small-format desktop printer.

Ease of Use and Convenience
To increase ease of use and simplify operation for general users, the two new printers are equipped with a 5-line LCD. The panel features on-screen navigation with a scrolling display to facilitate device use as well as animations to help guide operations. The aforementioned imageWARE Remote, CDS, and Device Link streamline usage for administrators and users alike. For added convenience, both models include popular features from the imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFPs lineup including: USB Direct Print, allowing users to print documents from a USB drive without a computer; and Encrypted Secured Print, enabled with the optional SD Card. The optional SD card also enables Mail Box storage for frequently used jobs and Email Printing, allowing a user to simply send an email to the printer to print the message and supported attached files.
Price and Availability
Canon imageRUNNER LBP3480 → $599 (Monochrome)
Canon imageRUNNER LBP5280 → $899 (Color)

Canon EOS 60Da Digital SLR Camera for Astronomers

2012-04-11T13:40:00.005-07:00

Canon announced the EOS 60Da, an astronomy optimized version of their EOS 60D DSLR camera. The new digital SLR camera caters to astronomers and hobbyists who enjoy capturing the beauty of the night sky by offering a modified infrared filter and a low-noise sensor with heightened hydrogen-alpha sensitivity. These modifications allow the camera to capture magnificent photographs of "red hydrogen emission" nebulae and other cosmic phenomena.

The Canon EOS 60Da camera packs a powerful 18-megapixel CMOS sensor (APS-C) that produces sharp and high-contrast images of astronomical objects, a major enhancement over the previous EOS 20Da model's 8.2-megapixel sensor. The improved infrared-blocking filter is a modification suited specifically toward astronomy enthusiasts to achieve a hydrogen-alpha light sensitivity that is approximately three times higher than that of a normal Canon DSLR camera. This produces a 20-percent higher transmittance of Hydrogen Alpha line, or H α wavelength, allowing astronomers to capture crisp, clear images of reddish, diffuse nebulae.

Enhanced Features
Crisp images of the stars and planets can be viewed on the EOS 60Da's improved 3.0-inch Clear View LCD screen with 1,040,000 dots for detailed focusing. The flip-out Vari-angle screen allows photographers to adjust the screen for easy viewing without straining even while the camera is mounted to a telescope via a third-party T-ring adapter. Optimized for stargazing with friends or in an educational setting, astronomy enthusiasts can connect the camera to a TV with the provided AVC-DC400ST Stereo AV Video Cable and display the night sky on a TV monitor using the camera's Live View mode. Moreover, the EOS 60Da's Live View mode is equipped with a Silent Shooting feature that eliminates shutter-induced vibration for maximum camera stability when the camera is mounted to a telescope or super-telephoto EF lens.

Enhanced noise reduction on the EOS 60Da sensor offers photographers the ability to experiment with the wide array of ISO settings and increased ISO speeds up to 6400 expandable to 12800. Other features include an intelligent nine-point autofocus system, full manual controls, and RAW, JPEG, and RAW+JPEG image recording capabilities.

Accessories
The EOS 60Da helps capture the wonders of the night sky with its use of Canon's award-winning EF and EF-S lenses along with other EOS accessories. Additionally, the EOS 60Da is packaged with Canon's RA-E3 Remote Controller Adapter, providing the ability to connect a Canon Timer Remote Control such as the TC-80N3 (optional accessory). The TC-80N3 is ideal for controlling time exposures longer than 30 seconds as well as capturing a series of consecutive time exposures that can be composited during post-processing for improved image quality. This is especially useful when the camera body is connected to a telescope or an EF super telephoto lens.

Canon has also included an AC adapter kit with the EOS 60Da, allowing the camera to be powered through an AC wall outlet or a battery-powered inverter, ideal for long exposure image or video capture at home or in the field.

Price and Availability
The Canon EOS 60Da will be available this month from select authorized dealers for $1,499 (body only).

PlanOn ScanStik SK600 Portable Pen Scanner

2012-04-11T13:40:00.002-07:00

PlanOn today announced ScanStik (model SK600), a pen-sized full page color scanner that scans the whole page at once just like a flat-bed scanner, but without the bulk. Fast and easy to use, ScanStik features a 'click and scan' fast function, that scans a full page in just 4 seconds. After scanning, just plug ScanStik into the USB port of your computer to transfer, recognize, organize, and edit scans with the included ABBYY FineReader SE and PaperPort OCR Software and PlanOn's CLC (Crystal Line Contact) image technology with superior image quality for better presentations and OCR accuracy.

ScanStik also includes a rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery, which charges ScanStik via the computer's USB slot, so you never have to worry about needing new batteries or buying a charger. Its MicroSD memory slot holds thousands of image scans from 150 to 600 dpi resolution in color or black and white.

"ScanStik allows you to bring your office with you, letting you scan contracts, receipts, invoices, business cards -- everything you would do at work -- while on the road," said Doug Verkaik, CEO of Planon.

For the Mobile Professional: Smaller then full page scanners, ScanStik fits in your bag or purse and saves time by having your office tools with you at all times. Agents, (Real Estate, Investment, and Insurance) or salespeople gather important documents on the road instead of taking them back to the office to copy and return. Just scan the info: driver's license, property tax bill, survey, life insurance, application, etc. on the spot. Also ScanStik eliminates the hassle and cost of using hotel business services by scanning and emailing right in your hotel room.

At the Office: Use ScanStik right at your desk. Avoid the inconvenience of looking for a scanner in the office and then retrieving the file on the network. Makes it fast and easy to receive documents from co-workers or customers, then lets you print, sign, scan and email back.

At Home: Use ScanStik for capturing expense receipts for taxes, pictures, and important personal documents (insurance, wills, report cards, warranty info, etc.). Organize scans with the included software.

For the Student: Scan the pages you need from a book or article in the library or classroom without having to borrow it for days. Collaborate with other students on projects and scan and share info quickly -- scan lecture notes from missed days.

Features:

Resolution:150, 300, & 600 DPI
Scan: 24-bit Color JPG, B&W
Dimensions: 8.9" x 0.5" x 0.5" (227mm x 13mm x13mm)
Battery: Re-chargeable Lithium Polymer (charges through USB slot)
Memory: MicroSD card slot (purchase separately)
Connectivity: USB
Image Technology: PlanOn CLC (Crystal Line Contact)
Platforms: Windows XP, Vista, 7 32/64 and MacOSX
Multi-Page Scan Mode
LED Function Display
Selectable Resolutions and Formats
Free Firmware Upgrades
Leather Case
USB Cable
CD-ROM Installation Disk
ABBYY FineReader SE OCR Software
PaperPort OCR Software
Quick Start Guide

Price and Availability
The PlanOn ScanStik SK600 is available immediately for $159.99 (check for a lower price). See other portable scanners.

MediawavePC MW-2060 Media Player

2012-04-11T13:39:00.002-07:00

MediawavePC Inc. announced the MW-2060 media player powered by 2nd Generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Processor options, Intel QM67 chipset, DDR3 1066/1333 SO-DIMM RAM, and 2.5" SATA hard drive or SSD. Other standard features are Compact Flash Slot, HDMI, DVI-I, 4x USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Serial Port, SIM Slot and HD Audio. Its 7.8"W x 1.4"H x 6"D in dimensions make it ideal for use where space is limited.

The MW-2060's high reliability in harsh environments, compact size, and high performance make it highly suited for a wide range of industrial applications such as Digital Signage, Gaming, Transportation, Surveillance, and Thin Servers.

The unit comes standard with a VESA mounting kit making it easy to install behind large screen displays and on flat surfaces. The internal Mini-PCI-e and available (3G Card) SIM slot are useful for locations where wired internet access is not available.

Pricing was not announced. More information is available at http://www.mediawavepc.com/d_MW2060.htm.

Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 USB Flash Drives

2012-04-11T13:38:00.004-07:00

Kingston introduced the DataTraveler Elite 3.0 (model DTE30) USB 3.0 Flash Drives in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, which offer up to 70MB/s read and 30MB/s write times.

DataTraveler Elite 3.0 helps consumers save time. For example, in internal testing, DataTraveler Elite 3.0 was approximately two times faster than a standard USB 2.0 Flash drive copying over 22GB worth of data. The testing was done with a single Blu-ray movie, over 10,000 photos and more than 4,000 songs.

DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. Available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, DataTraveler Elite 3.0 features a sleek, capless and retractable design to protect the USB connector, allowing users to keep the drive with them at all times as it can be easily attached to a key ring or lanyard.

Kingston's DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is backed by a five-year warranty.

Part Number	Capacity and Features	MSRP (U.S. only)
DTE30/16GB	16GB DataTraveler Elite 3.0 USB Flash Drive	$37.00
DTE30/32GB	32GB DataTraveler Elite 3.0 USB Flash Drive	$89.00
DTE30/64GB	64GB DataTraveler Elite 3.0 USB Flash Drive	$135.00

Cisco Linksys EA2700, EA3500 and EA4500 Smart Wi-Fi Routers

2012-04-11T13:38:00.002-07:00

Cisco introduced three new Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Routers with app enabled capabilities, plus exceptional wireless performance and maximum throughput. The new routers support Cisco Connect Cloud, the next generation of Cisco Connect software, which provides simple anytime, anywhere management of multiple home networks.

The new Linksys EA Series Smart Wi-Fi Routers (EA4500, EA3500 and EA2700) deliver the latest home Wi-Fi technology and offer a range of prices and performance for active online homes -- easily handling everything from streaming HD video and multiplayer gaming to downloading large files, adding storage or printers, and connecting multiple devices.

The new Linksys EA-Series is now app enabled, to provide consumers with all-new, anytime and anywhere experiences and solutions in areas such as home control, entertainment and protection.

Cisco Connect guides consumers through simple setup and management of their Linksys E-Series and X-Series home routers. Cisco Connect Express is the company's first mobile app providing home network management from smart phones and tablets while on the home network. The next generation of Cisco Connect software, called Cisco Connect Cloud, works with new Linksys EA-Series products and enhances the users' experience by giving them anytime, anywhere access to multiple home networks, from their smart mobile device, tablet app or web browser. Users can give guests Internet access, set parental controls, and add devices to their network from anywhere at any time through Cisco Connect Cloud's easy-to-use password-protected site. New apps coming from Cisco and partners will deliver additional capabilities for connected devices, so that consumers can benefit from improved home network experiences right away and for years to come.

Linksys EA4500 App Enabled Dual-Band N900 Router with Gigabit and USB → $199

Wireless-N Dual-Band (Up to 900 Mpbs)
App Enabled
4 Gigabit Ports
USB Port
DNLA Media Server
Basic Parental Controls
Guest Access
IPV6

Linksys EA3500 App Enabled Dual-Band N750 Router with Gigabit and USB → $139

Wireless-N Dual-Band (Up to 750 Mpbs)
App Enabled
4 Gigabit Ports
USB Port
Basic Parental Controls
Guest Access
IPV6

Linksys EA2700 App Enabled N600 Dual-Band Router with Gigabit → $99

Wireless-N Dual-Band (Up to 600 Mpbs)
App Enabled
4 Gigabit Ports
Basic Parental Controls
Guest Access
IPV6

Availability
The Linksys EA-Series routers are available now. The new Cisco Connect Cloud Web-based software is planned for availability worldwide at no additional cost in June. New apps and partner solutions that take advantage of the Cisco home network platform are also planned for availability in June, with details to be announced at that time. See more Linksys routers.

D-Link MovieNite DSM-310 Streaming Media Player

2012-04-11T13:37:00.002-07:00

D-Link today announced the Apple TV look-alike MovieNite streaming media player (model DSM-310) that delivers instant access to an unlimited amount of 1080p HD movies and TV shows, and personalized Internet radio straight to any TV. Easy to setup and even easier to use, MovieNite offers a range of home entertainment content available via one-click of the remote, including: VUDU, Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Picasa, as well as the ability to view mydlink-enabled network cameras. .

MovieNite features a simple three-step setup, built-in wireless and Ethernet connectivity for quick connection to a home network, HDMI output to stream HD movies up to 1080p, and composite audio/video connections to turn any analog TV into a Smart TV. Simply plug the MovieNite into a TV and power outlet and set up MovieNite using the onscreen menu and user-friendly one-button instant navigation remote control.

Features

VUDU -- Enjoy the hottest new releases and largest HD library with a cinema-like experience at home with no monthly subscription fees (simply pay for what you watch)
Netflix -- Instantly watch thousands of TV shows and movies under monthly subscription
YouTube -- Discover and watch video clips from the Internet and share your favorite online videos on the big screen
Pandora -- Listen to free Internet radio, personalize your stations and discover new music

MovieNite also offers additional streaming capabilities, including the ability to conveniently view live mydlink-enabled network cameras on a TV using the mydlink app to monitor your home and keep an eye on your kids or pets, as well as online photo sharing with the Picasa app. And, a free MovieNite remote app is available for iPhone and Android allowing consumers to control MovieNite using the smartphone remote app.

Availability and Pricing
The D-Link MovieNite Streaming Media Player (DSM-310) is available now for $59.99 at Walmart. See more media players.

Epson PowerLite X15 LCD Projector

2012-04-11T13:36:00.002-07:00

Epson announced the PowerLite X15, a 3,000 lumens 3LCD XGA Projector for classrooms or small businesses. It replaces the PowerLite 92, and delivers bright images with white light output and advanced connectivity.

The PowerLite X15 delivers an advanced feature set, including HDMI digital connectivity to connect to the latest devices for high-quality video and digital audio. The projector also features USB Plug 'n Play for instantly projecting video and audio from a PC or Mac computer via a USB connection. In addition, the projector offers easy setup with Easy-Slide technology, an intuitive horizontal keystone adjustment slide control bar that allows teachers to place the projector off-center from the screen and easily make the necessary horizontal image adjustments with the touch of a finger.

"The PowerLite X15 delivers a huge bang for the buck," said Heather Litus Johnston, product manager, K-12 Projection Marketing, Epson America, Inc. "Designed with education in mind, the PowerLite X15 offers brightness, connectivity, reliability, and ease-of-use at a very affordable price -- making it easy to enhance any classroom with high quality imaging."

Features

Setup Flexibility: ±30 degree horizontal keystone slide and automatic vertical keystone correction provides easy and convenient setup in virtually any classroom setting; Quick Corner allows the four corners of an image to be moved independently for a perfectly rectangular image; 1.2x optical zoom provides flexibility to suit the space without sacrificing image quality
Extended Lamp Life: Using Epson's exclusive E-TORL lamp technology, the lamp life can last up to 5,000 hours in economy mode, helping to maximize presentation time
Convenient Control: Direct Power On and Off allows for an installed projector to be powered on and off with a flip of a wall switch; Instant On and Instant Off enables presenters to avoid delays when starting and finishing presentations and be up and running in only five seconds; A/V Mute Slide instantly turns off the sound and images to create a quick pause in the presentation, conserving lamp life and energy and helping to save costs
Advanced Connectivity: Connect directly to the EPSON DC-06 document camera for added versatility via USB or multiple computers via the two VGA ports; audio out and monitor out ports connect to external speakers and monitors for enhanced sound and presenting ease; RS-232c support offers connection to an AV control device
Closed Captioning: Built-in closed captioning decoder makes presentations accessible to students with hearing impairments at no added cost and helps meet ADA section 508 compliance
3LCD Technology: Features the latest 3LCD, 3-chip technology to deliver amazing, true-to-life color and detail for powerful presentations; 3LCD technology provides an energy-efficient light engine which efficiently uses available lamp light to create stunning images; in contrast to 1-chip DLP technology, 3LCD requires, on average, 25 percent less electricity per lumen of brightness

Price and Availability
The EPSON PowerLite X15 will be available in May 2012 for $599.

Sceptre E425BV-FHDD 3D LED LCD HDTV

2012-04-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

Sceptre introduced the E425BV-FHDD 42-inch LED 3D HDTV featuring superb image quality, two passive 3D glasses and surround sound capabilities.

Sleek and stylish, the new E425BV-FHDD creates the ultimate 3D home viewing experience by utilizing passive 3D glasses, which eliminates the eye strain and headaches often associated with 3D viewing. In addition, passive 3D glasses, unlike active shutter glasses, do not require recharging or battery replacement.

Housed in an elegant design with piano black finish, the new 3D HDTV can swivel up to 60 degrees and is wall mountable, giving viewers the ability to perfectly customize and adjust their 3D viewing experience while remaining flexible enough to become a living room centerpiece or a painting-like masterpiece in a space efficient bedroom.

"The new unit seamlessly switches between 2D and 3D programming without any loss of quality, allowing users to enjoy a 3D movie at home without breaking the bank," stated Cathy Chou, Vice President of Operations, Sceptre.

The new 3D HDTV is Energy Star 5.3 compliant, the highest current effective rating according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, and has an estimated LED backlight life of over 50,000 hours, resulting in superb efficiency and costs savings.

Features

Model: E425BV-FHDD
Active Screen Size: 42"
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Widescreen
LED Backlight Life: 50,000 Hours
Frame Rate: 60 Hz
Brightness: 360 cd/m2 (2D mode), 160 cd/m2 (3D mode)
Contrast Radio: 3,5000:1 (typical)
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Response Time: 6.5 ms
Signal Compatibility: 1080P, 1080i, 720P, 480, 480i
Built-in Speakers: 10 watts per Channel x 2
Ports: 5 HDMI, 1 USB
Weight: 32 lbs with stand
Additional Characteristics:
- 3D Comb Filter and De-Interlace Technology
- Auto Dynamic Contrast Enhancer
- Surround Sound with Sound Equalizer
- Automatic MPEG Noise Reduction
- Wall Mountable 400x400mm

Price and Availability
The Sceptre E425BV-FHDD is available now for $799.

Wacom Bamboo Stylus duo Pen for Tablets

2012-04-11T13:33:00.002-07:00

Wacom announced Bamboo Stylus duo, a new dual-purpose stylus for the iPad and Android tablets, which combines a proven capacitive pen tip for on-screen input at one end of the Stylus with a premium ball-point ink pen at the opposite end for use on traditional paper. With an elegant design and quality craftsmanship, Bamboo Stylus duo is the ideal tool for writing, drawing or doodling in both a digital and analog world.

The Bamboo Stylus duo, with its simple clean shape and satin textured metal body, serves the needs of the analog and digital user with just one tool. At one end of the Stylus, there is a smooth best-in-class responsive pen tip for on-screen usage, while the other end houses a high quality inking pen for traditional writing and drawing. The pen cap can conveniently be attached to either end of the pen.

The multitalented Bamboo Stylus duo and the colourful range of Bamboo Stylus solo -- with only a rubber tip -- enable note-taking, annotating and drawing to creating visual communication aids such as mind maps, charts and sketches. Whether using a digital or traditional medium, the user experience is intuitive and natural.

Features

Easy access to both touch screen and traditional paper with just one tool
Natural experience with both stylus and refined ball-point pen
Enhanced stylus user experience with an authentic and intuitive note-taking app (Bamboo Paper)
Material finish
High-value plated metal
Satin texture and elegant color scheme (platinum silver / black)
Soft rings for a smooth and precise fit of the cap on both tip ends
Smooth and soft conductive rubber tip (6mm)
Black ball-point ink cartridge, 0.7 mm ball-point size
Balanced and optimized pen weight: 24g
Replaceable standardized stylus tip -- compatible with all Bamboo Styluses
Replaceable standardized inking pen cartridge

Wacom also announced the introduction of Bamboo Paper, the free digital notebook app that recently passed the 2.5 million download mark on the iPad, for the Android market. Bamboo Paper allows users to create and share handwritten notes, doodles and sketches on their mobile devices. In combination with Bamboo Stylus, Bamboo Paper becomes the perfect companion for all touch screens. The app will be available as a free download from the Google Play Android market place in May. More features, such as multiple notebooks, will be added in the coming months.

Availability and Pricing
Available at Wacom's eStore in April 24, 2012, Bamboo Stylus duo is priced at $39.95 (USD). Bamboo Paper for iPad and Android, will be available as a free download from Apple's App Store and the Google Play Android market place respectively beginning in May 2012.

Yamaha YHT-397BL, 497BL, 597BL, 797BL, 897BL HTiB Systems

2012-04-11T13:32:00.001-07:00

Yamaha introduced five new 5.1 home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) systems priced from $449.95 to $849.95, which offer cutting edge performance and convenience features not often seen in value-level systems. All models feature receivers with front panel USB ports for direct connectivity to iPhones, iPods and USB drives, as well as five high-performance speakers and powerful 100-watt subwoofers. The top-end models, YHT-897BL, YHT-797BL and YHT-597BL include a network receiver with Airplay and free control app for iOS/Android/Kindle Fire smart phones and tablets, as well as direct connectivity to iPads and the company's proprietary CINEMA DSP 3D for enveloping home theater experiences. AirPlay compatibility enables music to be streamed wirelessly from the latest versions of iTunes stored on Macs, PCs and compatible Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod touch devices. These systems also deliver music content from Internet radio and DLNA-certified devices.

YHT-897BL

The free Yamaha AV controller app available for iOS (iPad/iPhone) and Android devices offers control over these AV receivers and access to music stored on smart phones and tablets. With the popularity of the Kindle Fire, Yamaha developed a native app that is now available from the Amazon Appstore as well. The App is designed to provide a portrait or landscape mode interface, depending on the device, for easy visibility and use.

Each of the systems are future proof, offering 4K video pass-through from yet-to-be-introduced source components that will deliver content with four times the resolution of 1080p. They also provide 3D video pass-through with Audio Return Channel (ARC).

YHT-797BL

For easy system operation while viewing movies or television, the systems offer advanced multi-language on-screen displays that overlay onto HD and 3D video signals to depict system control and setup prompts. Data, such as song titles, from connected iPads, iPhones, iPods or USB drives is shown on the receivers' attractive on-screen displays. Connected devices can also charge automatically for later use on the go.

YHT-597BL

All of the new systems offer a full complement of HD Audio format decoding, including Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. CINEMA DSP 3D (YHT-897BL, YHT-797BL, YHT-597BL) and CINEMA DSP (YHT-497BL and YHT-397BL), with 17 DSP programs, enables users to adjust the listening experience precisely to their preferences. SILENT CINEMA makes it possible to hear large-scale surround sound through ordinary headphones.

Yamaha also integrates its improved YPAO system calibration into its HTiB systems that ensures more accurate room measurements by confirming the subwoofer is fully responding before making audio adjustments. Four SCENE Mode buttons automatically power on the appropriate components and make system adjustments for specific entertainment options.
Price and Availability
Yamaha YHT-397BL → $449.95 available (April 2012)
Yamaha YHT-497BL → $479.95 available (April 2012)
Yamaha YHT-597BL → $649.95 available (May 2012)
Yamaha YHT-797BL → $799.95 available (May 2012)
Yamaha YHT-897BL → $849.95 available (May 2012)

HTC EVO 4G LTE Smartphone

2012-04-11T13:30:00.004-07:00

HTC announced the next-generation EVO 4G LTE smartphone will be available exclusively from Sprint in Q2 for $199.99 with an unlimited data plan. The new smartphone focuses on exceptional improvements in camera technology, audio and voice quality on both the network and device.

HTC EVO 4G LTE is built on Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, integrated with HTC Sense 4. HTC EVO 4G LTE boasts brilliant features, including a vibrant 4.7-inch HD display, HD voice capabilities, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, large 2000mAh embedded battery and dual-cameras (8-megapixel rear-facing and 1.3-megapixel front-facing) with instant capture capability. HTC EVO 4G LTE brings back the fan-favorite kickstand built into the smartphone's refined, slim design.

With the launch of HTC EVO 4G LTE, Sprint becomes the first U.S. carrier to announce plans for a nationwide HD Voice network beginning in late 2012 as part of Sprint's Network Vision program.

HD Voice is the next-generation evolution of voice quality and the future of voice communications for mobile phones. The service will provide fuller, more natural-sounding and less fatiguing voice quality and should reduce troublesome background noises often found in a cafe or on the street. Users should expect to identify voices and hear every word better than ever.

HTC EVO 4G LTE is Sprint's first device with HTC's Authentic Sound experience integrating Beats Audio. The technology enables customers to hear music the way the artist intended with unique audio tuning that delivers thundering bass, soaring midrange and crisp highs.

HTC EVO 4G LTE incorporates Beats Audio across the entire phone experience, including playing music stored on the device, streaming from a favorite service, watching a movie or YouTube video, or playing the latest hot game. HTC Sync Manager software also lets users easily get their music on the device from their PC, and it works with current programs, including iTunes.

Photography Features

The on-screen photo and video buttons are right next to each other so users don't have to switch modes. This allows the user to take video and still photos concurrently.
It makes the whole idea of "video mode" or "photo mode" irrelevant. While shooting a video, the user can just tap the shutter button and it captures a still image of that exact moment. Still images can also be captured during video playback.
HTC EVO 4G LTE's camera has a super-fast start-up and auto-focus time. With the fast auto-focus, users can easily stay with a moving object or person, taking numerous pictures just by holding the shutter button.

In addition, HTC ImageSense technology combines hardware and software advancements to the camera lens, sensor and software, including integration of a new custom HTC ImageChip, to take great photos even in adverse conditions. The best-in-class f/2.0 camera lens lets in 44 percent more light than the lenses used on most camera phones. The Smart Flash also adjusts the flash strength based on how far away the object is, so users won't get photos where everything looks washed out.

Style and Design
Crafted from aluminum spaceframe in an anodized black finish, HTC EVO 4G LTE delivers cutting-edge function and style in a thin and distinctive design. The smartphone's 4.7-inch display and 80-degree viewing angle makes it easier to share pictures and video with others. The multiposition kickstand allows users to watch videos hands-free.

Price and Availability
HTC EVO 4G LTE will be available in the second quarter for $199.99 (excludes taxes and surcharges). The availability date will be announced later, but pre-orders will begin Monday, May 7, 2012.

3 Ways to Spruce Up your Android’s Security

2012-04-11T04:33:00.000-07:00

Our androids are the pride and joy of our lives. It’s not just a phone, it’s our picture album, our email inbox, our video collection, our appointment book and god knows what else. The plethora of things that we manage to use our android for is amazing – and scary. How do you make sure that you keep all that data safe? Better yet, how do you make sure that all that data stays safe if your phone is stolen or lost? You can pretty much idiot proof your phone from theft and loss in three different ways. You can resolve all such issues via android monitoring app.

[Photo via Flickr]

Beef up your passwords

In case you lose your phone or someone takes it the first order of business should be to make sure that they don’t get their hands on any of your data. Apps such as Keeper can help create passwords that are extremely secure. You don’t have to type your passwords over and over again and avoid someone stealing them. The app can help keep your phone safe from hackers as well and keeps all your records encrypted. If you can’t keep someone from taking your phone then at least make sure that you keep them out of your phone.

Get an anti-theft app

If someone manages to swipe your phone while it has an app like the AntiDroid Theft or Cerberus on it, then they won’t be able to run that far. If they manage to change your sim with another for their own use, the app will tell you. In addition, it’ll also turn your phone’s camera into a spy cam so you can use their own pictures as evidence that they’ve got your phone. With the app on your android you won’t have to worry about figuring out where the phone went, at least. It’s easy to use so if you’re not a tech geek you won’t have to worry about finding your way around the three different options. Cerebrus will additionally let you swipe your phone’s memory clean so the phone thief won’t be able to access your private data.

Monitor your own phone

You can monitor your own phone with something like the android monitoring app. Yes, most people use them to spy on other people. A growing number is now turning to the app to try and keep their own data safe. Essentially the android monitoring app works by transmitting emails, texts, pictures, videos, appointments and a whole host of other things from the phone to an online account for the installer’s review. But if you end up installing it yourself what this basically does is keep your data safe for you. So if you manage to drop your phone into the toilet at least you won’t have to worry about frank’s birthday bash pictures going down the drain. In addition, if a thief makes away with your phone you can simply track the jerk all the way to his grandmother’s garden with the GPS tracking option you get from the app.

Gevey Works on iPhone 4 Running iOS 5.1 with Preserved Baseband

2012-04-10T22:36:00.002-07:00

Whenever Apple seeds a newer iOS update, the only two things that users are concerned about are whether the newer iOS can be jailbroken & whether an unlock is available for iPhone on that update.

[via Flickr]

Apple recently released iOS 5.1 to the public. And the good news is that, it still can be jailbroken. But the bad news is that the jailbreak is currently tethered & is available only for non A5 devices including iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 3G/4 and iPad 1. iPhone 4S and iPad 2 owners still have to wait.
Also, if you’re an iPhone 4 user relying on Gevey unlock, then here’s another good news for you. Gevey sim works on iOS 5.1 while preserving the baseband. If you want to use Gevey, your baseband must be 04.10.01, 03.10.01 or 02.10.01. Currently, there’s no Gevey unlock for 04.11.08. ApplenBerry is still working on it.
Follow one of these 2 tutorials to preserve baseband and create custom iOS 5.1:

Here are two screenshots of iPhone 4 running on Gevey sim:

If you’re using Gevey Ultra, you can install FuriousMod 2.0 from Cydia to automate the 112 procedure and get untethered unlock. But note that the jailbreak for iOS 5.1 is tethered and you’ll need to boot your iPhone in tethered mode if it turns off.

Note for iPhone 4S users:

There’s currently no low level bootrom exploit for iPhone 4S. And iOS 5.1 on iPhone 4S cannot be jailbroken currently. Hence you cannot preserve the baseband on iPhone 4S. So if you’re using a locked iPhone 4S and using R Sim or Gevey Ultra S to unlock it, better stay where you are.