Vizio launched its fourth annual TDs for TVs professional football rewards program Tuesday that awards TVs to fans and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. For each touchdown scored by wide receivers Stevie Johnson, San Diego Chargers; Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers; Kenny Stills, Miami Dolphins; and Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons, Vizio will give away a 43-inch M-Series 4K Ultra HD smart TV to a fan who enters the contest and the local Boys & Girls Club in the city represented by the team that scores the touchdown, said the company. Consumers can also sign up for Vizio Fandemonium, an online rewards program in which participants earn points redeemable for prizes and experiences from Vizio and other brands.
Staples is running a $50-off sale on iPads this week as part of a Labor Day sales event. That brings the price of a 16 GB Apple iPad mini 2 to $249, the website said. Sale price of a 64 GB iPad Air was $549, a week before the expected announcement of new iPads in Apple’s fall launch, and doubling the memory took the sale price of the 128 GB iPad Air to $649.
Activeon hopes to win attention from the 9 million U.S. households expected to buy an action camera this year with $2,000 prizes awarded in a video contest. The company is giving away $2,000 a week for “outstanding videos” submitted online, and entrants also have a chance to win a Tesla Motors Model S premium electric vehicle, Activeon said. The $119 CX action camera has a 2-inch LCD display and two-hour removable battery. Resolution is 1080p/30 frames per second with a 5-megapixel CMOS video sensor, the company said. The contest is open through Oct. 31 to U.S. residents 13 years or older with a limit of one entry per week. Videos must be recorded on an Activeon camera, the company said.
Deals tied to back-to-school season and new smartphone releases continue to roll out, as CE manufacturers and retailers look to make up for summer sales doldrums with freebies and steep discounts. Goldman Sachs reported Friday in its July Americas retail recap that CE revenue fell 2.5 percent year over year for the month and slipped 1.2 percent from June. Goldman Sachs cited Walmart’s July Black Friday sale, noting the retailer's lowered free shipping minimum amid an “intensifying competitive environment.” Spurring customers to upgrade to the phablets that Samsung announced last week, Samsung and Best Buy are offering a free wireless charger and $200 Best Buy gift card to customers who trade in a working smartphone for a Galaxy Note 5 or Galaxy S6 edge+. The wireless charger offer is good through Sept. 26, while supplies last. Phone prices start at $249 with two-year contract for a 32GB Galaxy Note 5 on Sprint and Verizon; AT&T’s plan is $24.67/month for 30 months. Dell, meanwhile, is throwing in a free 32-inch TV with the purchase of one of eight PC models on its e-commerce site. Starting price for the free TV bundle is $699 for an Inspiron desktop PC with Windows 10, an Intel Core i3-4170 processor, 8 GB RAM, 1TB hard drive and no monitor. A 13-inch Inspiron 2-in-1 laptop, starting at $929, was also part of the deal and comes with a free stylus. The bonus 32-inch LED TVs are the LG 32LF500B HDTV, selling at Amazon Friday for $198, and the Samsung UN32J4000AF, tagged at Amazon for $218. A live chat specialist told us customers can choose the TV they want.
San Antonio-based AV retailer Bjorn’s planned a weekend sale to ride the coattails of Texas’ sales tax holiday weekend Aug. 7-9. The tax-free promotion was good only on select items bought in store and those that didn’t have pre-existing sale pricing, a store representative told us. The optional sales tax holiday for the Aug. 7-9 weekend varied by state for computers ranging from $750 to $3,500 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Mexico and Tennessee, said taxadmin.org.
Faculty, students and parents can receive a free pair of Beats Solo2 on-ear headphones or upgrade to a pair of Beats Solo2 wireless headphones for $100 when they buy an eligible Mac computer with education pricing through Sept. 18, Apple said in Friday promotional announcement. The offer had been available through Apple brick-and-mortar stores since late July, but now is extended to Apple’s online store, the company said.
Office Depot announced a free in-store upgrade to Windows 10 starting Friday on eligible Windows devices bought at Office Depot or Office Max retail locations. Consumers who buy a Windows device also will receive free installation in-store and free for one-year Windows 10 tutorials that begin Aug. 2. The stores are also pitching a setup and protection package for $69 that includes a one-year virus-free guarantee with installation of McAfee LiveSafe, 90 days of phone or online support and installation of Microsoft Office. The stores are using the publicity to tout their computer repair service, too. Current PC owners who upgrade to Windows 10 can get a PC tuneup to boost speeds and check for viruses for $29, they said Wednesday.
Samsung is throwing in a free 32 GB Galaxy S6 smartphone with the purchase of select models in its reference SUHD TV product line. In an email to its customer list Tuesday, Samsung pitched the Galaxy S6 as a remote control option for the TV. Value of the S6 is $679, said the fine print. The bundle deal is good with the JS9500, JS9100, JS9000, JS8500, JS850D or JS8600 TVs, said Samsung. A second option in the bundle promotion is an S6 edge for $400 (valued at $779) with the purchase of the designated TVs.
Gannett began a mobile iteration of Gravity, its digital video advertising product, for USA Today on Android and iOS apps, with LG the first featured advertiser, the media company said in a news release Wednesday. It said that 61 percent of Gannett desktop users across 140-plus markets interacted with ads in 2015 from that Gravity product.
Consumers can enter a sweepstakes to win one of 108 $500 Visa gift cards when they sign up for Redbox’s “Play Pass” loyalty program through Sept. 30, Redbox and Visa said Monday in a joint announcement. Linking a Redbox account to a Visa debit or credit card as the “default payment” also will earn contest entrants an additional two opportunities to win, they said. Play Pass members earn 10 points for every DVD or Blu-ray they rent, and can redeem 100 points for a free rental, Redbox said. Play Pass members also can qualify for free rentals on their birthdays and on the anniversary of joining the loyalty program, it said.