SquareTrade Warranty Blog

Mio's Moov GPS is the best April Fool's ever.

Good news, everyone!  Mio's Moov GPS line makes our shores on April 1st... for real.  What do we like about the Moov?  Well, let's just say they know they've got some stiff competition, so they're stepping it up with some sweet extra features.

First, they're slightly cheaper, and that never hurts.  The Moov 200, 300, and 310 look like slight re-dresses of Europe's Moov 200, 330, and 370, but don't let those numbers bother you.  They still retail between $180 and $250, and the big difference between them is that they range from a 3.5" touch-screen to a 4.3-incher.  But here's what's comes standard on all three;

• Lifetime traffic updates, and it looks like it's going to be totally free.  Other GPS companies charge a $50 subscription.

• Marked-out traffic cameras and known/suspected speed traps, for which you get visual and audio warnings.  It's not a built-in radar detector, but that's still real, real nice.

• A SiRF chip they're claiming is five times faster than other GPS signals, so you're not waiting around staring at the "Acquiring Satellite" message.

We dig all that.  Plus, the 370 also has maps for 22 non-America countries with local searches, which could save you a boatload of cash if you travel a lot and like to take your GPS with you.  Other companies tend to charge for adding those maps to your GPS.  Oh, and text-to-voice on all three, too. 

And you could do a lot worse than to put a SquareTrade GPS warranty on it, maybe with Accidental Damage coverage just to be on the safe side... you never know what kind of trouble you might run into out on the open road, with the wind in your hair and the bugs in your teeth.  Now that's livin'.

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Cheap GPS devices at Best Buy!

Okay, Best Buy, after a rough start, you've been good this week and we were very pleased to see you've singled out six GPS models and chopped between $50 and $300 off the price of each one.  We approve.

And the selection's pretty eclectic, too.  On the 15% off end of the scale, you've got a pair of TomToms; the ONE XL-S, a nifty text-to-speech gadget with a 4.3" touch-screen and a Gig of onboard flash memory, going for only $300, and the GO 920T, which bumps the SSD up to 4GB.  We also found a trio of Magellans - the 3200, 3250, and 4250 for $$70, $80, and $100 off, respectively, leading up to a $700 all-in-one GPS/CD/DVD in-dash player from Pioneer, down from $1000.  That's good stuff, BB.

But, and we're sorry to keep bringing this up, your warranties still cost about twice what a SquareTrade GPS warranty does... and oddly, it doesn't even look like you're offering warranties on your sale GPS devices.  That's okay; we are.  And we're throwing in a 5-Day Service Guarantee and an option for Accidental Damage coverage, too.

That's a pretty good arrangement, BB.  You sell the swag for less, we'll keep it safe for less. We should do this more often.

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Blu-Ray 2.0 goes Live on PS3 First.

Sony barely paused to feast on the remains of former HD rival Toshiba before announcing the Blu-Ray 2.0 spec (a.k.a. BD-Live), an enhanced Blu-Ray disc with even more features that no Blu-Ray player currently on the market will be able to access.  Whoops!  Solution: Sony's own PlayStation 3.

Sometime in the next two weeks, Firmware v2.20 will bump the PlayStation 3 up to the BD-Live specs, allowing for what's being touted as a whole new level of DVD interactivity.  Is it?  Well, part of the BD-Live protocol calls for internet connectivity, so you'll get updated content for whatever disc you pop in for as long as the studio supports it.  Ringtones, multiplayer games, and trailers have been mentioned as early content, but we suspect at some point that'll expand to new making-ofs, post-release interviews and audio commentary.  The disc themselves are bumped to a full Gig of storage to take on all the new schwag, and allow for various picture-in-picture features. The first BD-Live disc are set to release on April 8.

And yep, the PS3 will be the only player set to do those things. 

Just as well, really.  We've said for a long time that a PS3 might just be your best option for a Blu-Ray player, given that they cost the same and play games as well as movies.  The current projections are that regular Blu-Ray players won't come down to the $200 range for another year.  But any which way you decide to go, a SquareTrade warranty on your equipment might not be a bad idea, and it'll certainly cost less and do more than any warranty you're used to.

On the other hand, BD-Live's still in its infancy, so you may not feel the urge to rush right out and nab that three-disc 2.0 Special Edition of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.  That's okay... neither do we.

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The Nokia N95 8GB gets shipped and (Holy Crap!) tagged.

The last time we talked about the Nokia N95 8GB smartphone, it was New Year's Eve and we were already bleary-eyed and stunned by the grandeur of its feature set, and even more stunned by its ginormous price tag.  Well, now that it's officially here, that $700 estimate has been revised... upward.

Yes.  We couldn't believe it, either.

Nevertheless, Nokia is presenting a top-end slider (without a QWERTY keyboard or touch-screen, we have to mention) for the going rate of $750. 

What do you get for that stack of cash?  For starters, a super-fast HSDPA connection that might actually make downloading movies to your cell phone a practical endeavor, and the 2.8 inch QVGA screen will make it look really good despite the shrinkage.  There's also a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and voice-directed GPS functions, and just for laughs, Nokia's throwing in a free 6-month A-GPS subscription, too. 

Early reviews are calling the N95 8GB a very, very, very good phone, but we're stuck on $750 price tag.  You could get three refurbished 8GB iPhones for that kind of cash!  But if you do want the Holiest of Holies, seriously consider putting a SquareTrade warranty on it, with Accidental Damage coverage... that's way too much money to loose because somebody bumps you while you're crossing the street.

Final verdict: it's one sweet piece of gadget, but daaaaaaaaamn!

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Panasonic's Lumix DMC-TZ50 brings the Wifi to your camera.

It seems like only yesterday that we were telling you about the touch-screen Lumix DMC-FX500, and how somebody at Panasonic was running wild with the cool camera designs.  Well, today's flavor is WiFi, and it's all over the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50.

The TZ50 looses a megapixel from the TZ5 and FX500 (knocking it down to 9.1, which is plenty) to rock an 802.11b/g WiFi connection from any hotspot, but doubles up on the zoom with a 10x optical lens and has a non-touch 3" screen in back.  Once you snap yet another picture of your cat in mid-air, you can upload it to the internets from any hotspot you can find, but forget sending it directly to LOLcats.  The Japanese release, like a lot of WiFi cameras, is strictly limited to one destination... in this case, the Lumix club, though indications are you'll have more options by the time it hits our shores.  At the very least, Panasonic's CES demos allowed uploads to Google's Picasa.

That zoom and the WiFi will probably bump the price to the higher end of the Lumix scale, so a SquareTrade warranty might be a good idea to cover your investment, particularly with some Accidental Damage coverage added.  You are gonna be taking this sucker on the road, after all.

The TZ50 doesn't have an American date yet, but we'd be surprised if it lags far beyond the mid-May date it has in Japan.  That's also right around the time other Lumix models hit shelves in the U.S. of A.

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Guitar Hero to Rock your DS like a Hurricane.

We've gotten our first look at Vicarious Visions' Guitar Hero On Tour for the Nintendo DS, and it looks like they've taken the big game and squashed it down for the mobile set in ways that make a lot of sense.

German magazine N-Zone de broke the new add-on that makes it all possible: the Guitar Grip.  It snaps into the GBA port while you're holding your DS in you left hand (open in book format), fingers on four frets while you strum away stylus-style (a pick is included, too) with your right.  No word yet how (or even if) they'll accommodate you Lefty Flip fans, but it wouldn't take much to flip the DS upside-down and reverse the screens.  The Guitar Grip also has a handy strap in back to keep your axe in the palm of your hand while you perform like a Golden God.

No word yet on the playlist, but GH isn't known for disappointing rock aficionados.  This one could be yet another killer app for Nintendo's killer handheld, and if you pick one up so you can wail wherever you go, know that your DS is eligible for a 3-Year SquareTrade warranty with a 5-Day Service Guarantee that will get your life back on track fast, should anything go wrong.  It's cheap for the quality, and even gives you an Accidental Damage coverage option if you get carried away and start going all Pete Townsend on your instrument.

Guitar Hero On Tour is, like all the best tours, coming to town sometime this summer.

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Gartner endorses the iPhone for enterprise use.

Business technology consultant Gartner has reversed its former anti-iPhone stance and, post SDK release, now endorses the Apple iPhone for scaled business application.

"The iPhone will soon be tailored for enterprises. Gartner recommends "appliance-level" support status once firmware 2.0 and improvements are released. iPhone will become a popular tool alongside BlackBerry and Microsoft devices."

That's more than likely to have a strong effect on purchasing decisions going forward for corporate IT departments.  We've already reported on all the enterprise support the iPhone's getting with Firmware 2.0, but combined with the SDK, big business can adapt any proprietary systems they have for their corporate-issued iPhones (we also know second party companies like Salesforce are already onboard) with minimum security issues.  And if an employee is terminated, they can wipe his iPhone access remotely in no time.

And while commercial-use items like a company printers aren't eligible for a SquareTrade warranty, single-use business items like smart phones are... at half the cost of regular cell phone insurance, with a guaranteed 5-business day turnaround and much better customer reviews.  We're also one of only two avenues for iPhone warranties - a 3-Year SquareTrade iPhone warranty runs about half the price of a 2-Year Apple Care plan - and we're the only ones who offer Accidental Damage coverage.

The iPhone already took a big chunk of the smartphone market away from RIM in its first year.  Once Firmware 2.0 releases in early summer, its second year will be about taking on the corporate market. Expect to see a lot more Suits walking around with iPhones by Fall.

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Best Buy mails out $50 gift cards to HD-DVD mourners.

 Okay, so they're a little late to the party, but better late than never.  Best Buy is doing a little something-something for all those HD-DVD owners who got left without a chair when the music stopped, and it even looks like they're trying to one-up Circuit City's already-cool return policy.

If you bought an HD-DVD player or peripheral before Feburary 23rd, you're now entitled to a $50 Best Buy gift card.  You may not even have to ask for yours; BB's automatically mailing them out to everyone they can identify.  If you're in Best Buy's Reward Zone, bought it off their website, or bought one of their overpriced warranties, you should get your gift card should show up in the mail within two weeks.  Otherwise you'll have to bust out a receipt or a credit card statement and show it to the guys at the store... though they're also claiming you can do it over the phone at (888) BEST BUY.

The beauty of that is you can keep your HD-DVD player if you want... you're just getting free Best Buy money.  But starting his Friday, you can also ditch it by using Best Buy's new Trade-In Center, which will pony out another gift card based on their estimate of what your item's worth.  A few wee tests suggests that under optimum conditions, that'll be 60% of the retail price, but the good news is this option's available on any HD-DVD player (and any other electronics you've got lying around) whether you bought it at Best Buy or not.

It might not be perfect system, but it's better than nothing... which is what BB could've done instead.  But when you start spending all that cheddar, keep in mind that a SquareTrade warranty costs half as much for a faster service that's rated better by our own customers. 

Still, credit where credit's due... the gift card giveaway alone makes it about $10 million Best Buy's about to eat on this format war, all for your sake.  See, and you thought it was the consumers who were going to lose. 

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The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 gets all touchy-feely.

What's the latest gadget to jump on the touch-screen bandwagon?  Why, that would be your humble digital camera... the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500.  And it's not all that humble, either.

What you've got here is a 10.1-megapixel point-and-shooter with a 25-125mm wide angle lens, equipped with a 5x optical zoom.  That's serious business right there.  But notice the general lack of controls in sight on the front?  That trend continues on the back, though there's still a clickwheel and Mode/Display buttons as backup.  Mostly, there's a 3" touch-screen, from which you can do things like set the Auto-focus and exposure, or adjust shots on the fly with your finger or a LUMIX stylus pen that's hidden somewhere in the casing. Damned if we can figure out where it goes on the camera.

Similar to its TZ5 cousin, the FX500 also notches up a video feature that clocks 1280 x 720 movies at thirty frames per second.  Not bad at all.

And the whole thing is eligible for a SquareTrade digital camera warranty when it arrives in May, with or without Accidental Damage coverage.  At a retail price of $400, you could cover it for three full years for almost half what a retail store would charge you.

Somebody got aggressive about camera development over at Panasonic, because we're seeing some nice toys coming from them lately.  But we're still waiting for our touch-screen HDTV.

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Panasonic's SV-SD870N brings on da Funk, cuts out da Noize.

We've got nothing on those Other digital music players, but they must be running out of cool things to call them. Panasonic's SV-SD870N isn't exactly a catchy name, but it does have a few interesting features to that non-catchy name.

For example, it's tough to knock a listed 100-hour battery charge... it's tougher not to cast an accusing look Apple's way.  But the latest in the D-snap line won't last nearly that long if you decide to activate its built-in noise cancellation feature, which claims to silence 83% of all surrounding audio distractions at the touch of a button.  It comes with a 2GB SD card in your choice of red, blue, black, white, or silver, and that should just about cover the full range of human desire.

Of course, you might also want to cover it with a SquareTrade warranty, but that's between you and your rough-n-ready lifestyle.  The SV-SD870N is due for release next month.

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