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Who would have figured that Wal-Mart would have become the exclusive retailer for classic rock bands coming back to life?

In the latest news in this area, the king of retailers revealed that the new AC/DC album, Black Ice, will be sold exclusively in Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores starting in late October.

The deal is part of a wider strategy for the world’s biggest retailer to get exclusive deals to sell CDs. It is the latest album to be sold under such an arrangement, as Wal-Mart got exclusive rights to sell albums by the Eagles and Journey in recent months.

(And don’t forget that AC/DC has one of the all-time top selling albums — can you believe it? Back in Black sold more than 22 million copies!)

The AC/DC deal was made in conjunction with Columbia Records.

The album is the band’s first containing all-new material in eight years. It will cost $11.88. The CD will also be available online at the Sam’s Club and AC/DC Web sites. 

Tags: ac/dc, back in black, black ice, columbia records, eagles, journey, sam’s club, wal-mart

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Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Portable Audio

Brace yourselves, dear readers. The item we’re about to explain just might be is most certainly the best thing to ever happen to the digital audio player market. ZVUE’s 1GB pre-loaded Journey MP3 player not only reeks of the early ’80s in design alone, but this thing actually arrives with 22 Journey tracks loaded on (11 new joints, 11 of your childhood favorites). It’s like buying Journey’s greatest hits and getting a DAP for free — go on, be good to yourself, it’s only $39.88. Jump past the break if you need some encouragement / discouragement.

[Via AnythingButiPod, thanks Dula]

Continue reading ZVUE’s 1GB Journey DAP comes with 22 tracks you’ll never delete

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops

Apparently some folks have $6,600 to toss on a gaming PC, and thankfully, those folks — we won’t mention names — invested in a camera to let us all live vicariously. HP’s Blackbird 002 Exhilaration Edition, which packs a pair of NVIDIA’s potent GeForce GTX 280 cards, has landed in the home of one lucky gamer, and there’s a good selection of pictures to prove it. You know where to head from here.

[Thanks, bioender]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Teclast’s M26 seemed vaguely more interesting than the dozens of other garbage, status-quo portable media devices that get pumped out of Chinese factories on a weekly basis — and now we need not spend any more time wondering just where they got their design, um, inspiration. At least Meizu’s M8 sexed it up a little — this take is just a bit depressing.

[Via thegadgetsite]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

An external graphics card that’s actually nearing release? Be still our hearts! Fujitsu Siemens’ recently leaked external unit, which will be based on ATI XGP technology, is actually really, really close to hitting retail — according to a piece over at Fudzilla, anyway. Slated to be titled Lasso, the RV670-based device should be more than enough to handle basic tasks, but unfortunately, benchmarks were off limits. On the upside, digital photography was not, so head on down to the read link for a few more snaps.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

Well, what do you know? That Guitar Hero axe that was spotted a few months back on How I Met Your Mother was actually a sneak peek of the six string that comes bundled with the new Activision title. The unwavering rockers over at FW Labs were able to secure a copy of the game in Chile before most everyone else on the planet, and rather than enjoying their fortune without telling a soul, they decided to snap a host of photos and even upload a few videos of the experience. The new toys in the attic are right there in the read link.

[Thanks, David]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops

In typical ASUS style, it utterly failed in dishing out a nice gallery of press shots to go along with the official unveiling of the Atom-powered Eee Box. Nevertheless, those photographs you’ve been hankering for have finally appeared, with luscious high-resolution angles of the white, black and “red” Eee Box. For the whole gallery along with a few informational pages on how this miniature PC is guaranteed to revolutionize the way you compute, give the read link down there a little love.

[Thanks, Sascha]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Hey there EVOLT E-520, we nearly forgot you ever existed! Just over a month after Olympus’ latest DSLR first broke cover, one particular individual has managed to corral one from an Austrian shop and snap a few stills. Reportedly, he’s planning to write up a full review, but judging by the way the initial round of shots went, we’re not so sure he’s going to keep it long enough for all of that. As Tam Hanna so bluntly put it, the “autofocus system of the E-520 is the worst [he had] ever seen on a digital camera.” Of course, we suppose it could grow on him with time, but just look at the shots in the read link and you’ll probably agree that said scenario isn’t very likely.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

LG’s stylish Secret has been out of the closest for a good while now, but there’s just nothing like a flurry of high-resolution shots straight from the show floor to drum up interest. The admittedly elegant slider is strutting its stuff over in Singapore, and we must say, that carbon fiber bod and 5-megapixel camera sure look delicious here on the other side of the world. Check the read link for a few more photos, and head on past the break for a hands-on video.

Continue reading LG’s Secret spotted and handled at CommunicAsia

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

When Dell’s long-awaited Latitude XT finally hit the scenes, many were captivated by the idea of a daylight viewable screen on such a portable rig. Up until now, however, there’s been little analysis over which was actually superior. Granted, we aren’t saying that you can’t disagree firmly with GottaBeMobile’s assessment, but after checking each out for an extended period of time, Rob Bushway actually concluded that the LED-based machine was preferable. Aside from coming in a few ounces lighter, the LED-equipped unit didn’t seem to perform noticeably worse than the DLV counterpart, and even battery life was practically the same for each. Don’t take our word for it, though — check out the entire writeup (video included) in the read link below.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops

Look out, Alienware — your fancy new Area-51 ALX has a carnivore hot on its trail. The Acer Aspire Predator, which was officially unveiled yesterday, has already found its way into the loving arms of Bit-Tech. Over there, folks were able to spend a good bit of time with the rig, snap a smattering of photos and dish out some initial impressions. There’s some pretty interesting tidbits to be had (for example, every single part possesses its own bar code, the motherboard is a customized MSI nForce 780i SLI, etc.), so be sure and tap the read link to get their view on how this beast will likely shake out.

[Thanks, Daren]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Far from being the first at-home biofuel kit we’ve seen, E-Fuel is hoping to target consumers with a hankering for fueling up their vehicle with homegrown goodness. The Micro Fueler claims to be the first backyard Ethanol brewer made specifically for use at one’s abode, and according to the outfit’s CEO, the premise behind it is quite simple. By mixing water, sugar and yeast, individuals can receive E100 Ethanol in a matter of hours. More specifically, it’s noted that a gallon of fuel can be derived from ten gallons of sugar, and while that may not sound like the most efficient conversion rate in the world, the company is quick to point out that costs can be lowered via federal, state and local credits along with carbon trading coupons. Those eager to start fueling up before they even leave the house can order one now for $9,995, though we’re told not to expect shipments until Q4.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Home Entertainment

We’ve been waiting to get our hands on the SlingCatcher ever since it was announced at CES in 2007 (and re-announced at this past CES) but it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer — Gregg Wilkes, Sling’s VP of sales, has said the product won’t be released this quarter as scheduled, but rather sometime later this year. Sling hasn’t made this announcement publicly, though: Gregg simply emailed a would-be customer his apologies, saying Sling was committed to providing a “compelling and enjoyable user experience and value proposition,” and that the SlingCatcher is still being refined. He also mentioned that Sling’s recent acquisition by EchoStar has gummed up the works a bit, but that “all indications point” to a SlingCatcher release in 2008. So reassuring considering the product is already a year late. We talked to our friends at Sling and while they wouldn’t comment directly on the contents of the email, they did say the SlingCatcher will only be released when the company “is confident it’s designed to our high standards.” Yep, that’s a delay. Full email exchange after the break.

[Thanks, Christopher]

Continue reading SlingCatcher delayed again, this time until “sometime in 2008″

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Original post by Nilay Patel

I’ve come across some pretty disgusting tech products before (finger-shaped nose hair trimmer, humping dog flash drives, and more), and the new Hamburger Phone adds to the growing non-edible list. This cheesy meat phone lets you make and receive calls and redial. It features an LED in-use indicator and switchable tone/pulse button, and measures 4.0 by 4.0 by 2.3 inches. These buns come at a hefty price, though, selling for $133 on BimBamBanana.com.

Original post by Jen the Weird Hunter

Ever wanted to prank one of your co-workers? The Phantom Keystroker is your big chance to do so. It resembles a circuit board, but it’s really a device of destruction. Well, it can destroy an unsuspecting co-worker’s day anyway.

Here’s how it works: Attach the Phantom Keystroker to any free USB port on the victim of your choice’s computer. The Keystroker is said to emulate a keyboard and mouse and will perform random mouse movements and type out unusual text and phrases on his or her computer. This is the point when your victim will start freaking out and probably call IT.

You control whether you want the device to randomly type weird phrases, perform annoying mouse movements, or both, thanks to the “Jumper” setting. The Phantom Keystroker is compatible with any OS and sells for $24.99 on ThinkGeek.com.

Original post by Jen the Weird Hunter