Being a buyer for walmart.com I've always been asked to blog about the internet as well as products and walmart.com

I want to tell you about the Free Hug Story.

 I'll first ask that you watch this video: www.youtube.com/watch
 "Free Hugs Campaign -Official Page (music by Sick Puppies.net)
I'll note this video has over 43 million views..

Secondly I ask that you read this history behind the video which can be found here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_hugs#Historyhe

"Juan Mann" story is one that is many like others. Social Networking and sharing your life with friends, family, networks and even the whole world is now a part of our daily lives. Whether you're "Tweeting" or updating your Facebook,  Myspace or others pages your sharing information that information digitally with freinds, family or even the whole world.

Broadband/High Speed Internet has made online a part of our daily lives. No matter if you read news, sports, email, social networking or even pay bills online;  the internet has become a large part of our lives in just a few years. Even mobile phones are changing the way we go online and putting that option in the palm of our hands.

Here is some stats i'd like to share:

Broadband Internet (Cable/DSL Modem or High Speed Internet): Has over 349,980,000 world wide users. USA is 2nd with over 66 million total Subscribers. This does not account for those that have use dial up services.

Online Videos: Youtube had over 5.5billion total streams in the month of April 2009. With Hulu  growing 490% to 373 million.

Internet Searches: There was 8,608,488,000 searches in the month of April 2009. With Google Leading the pack at 5.5 trillion 

 That means there is 332.1 searches done for every second in the world. (Just do the math, or do a search.

Ask yourself this, How much time do you spend onlin in a week? Don't forget to count the time you spent getting to this site, reading this blog, and even watching the video in the link. Feel free to comment on your time spent online (This is a family site) and how its changed your life!
 

Before I hop into this post, I wanted to acknowledge a note I received from a reader and assure them that I will gather my thoughts regarding Microsoft Surface and post on that in the coming weeks.  Thank you for the good idea for a post.

Alexander Graham Bell, the father of telecommunications, once said “Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the co-operation of many minds.”  While our in-store "re-invention" cannot compare to the original invention of Mr. Bell, the improvements we are currently undergoing in the mobile phone category are the result of many months of research and direct input from our customers.  With those insights in hand, we have made several changes that we believe will delight our customers.

The first change is the in-store designation.  We have found that our current name of Connection Center was descriptive of our services, however, was a bit vague to our customers.  Now you will begin to see our new wireless phone area highlighted with the logo below.  Along with the updated look, we are also striving to provide better clarity around the services we offer, such as activating phones, transferring existing phone numbers from carrier to carrier, and attaching text messaging or web plans. 

Another major change is in helping navigate our products in store.  Since Walmart offers plans and phones from all of the major service providers, we know that making the decision can be complex.  We understand that the carrier brand is the most important factor in filtering the wireless assortment.  As you can see our wireless area will now have bold brand statements, utilizing each brand color, logo, iconic phone, and even a headline feature for each carrier.

The final major improvement is regarding the number of phone options we carry in-store.  Customers have told us that they like the ability to compare multiple carriers in one location, but would like more product choices.  I am happy to say we are expanding our line-up across the country on the carriers that are most important to our customers.  Although we are expanding our assortment, it is still our top priority to offer only the best phones, so that customers don’t need to spend time sorting through every device produced.  I like use the analogy that some retail outlets offer the “box set”, but we offer the “greatest hits.”  To provide an example, Walmart will now offer the Blackberry Bold (AT&T), Blackberry Storm (Verizon), T-Mobile G1 (T-Mobile),  and a multitude of high-end smart phones in a majority of our Walmart Wireless locations.

Even with all of these changes, our focus on “saving people money so they can live better” is at the core of this business.  Our prices are outstanding on all phones, the prices never require a mail-in rebate, and our prices are good for both new customers and existing customers that are eligible for an upgrade.

I invite you to stop by, check out our changes, and provide your thoughts.  With the continued cooperation of our many minds we will continue to improve this area to better serve your needs.

As cool and popular as TV’s have become, we felt they deserved their own blog so we could really tell you what’s going on with them in the next few weeks and months. We have updates for you on brands, technology, and the in store shopping experience. Our goal this year is to offer the best quality TV's at affordable prices in a simple shopping environment.

So on brands and sizes, you’ll see us really expand how many items we carry from Sony, Samsung, and Sharp.   You’ll also notice that we are going to carry more TV’s that are 40” and larger. As the prices have come down, we’ve taken notice that the customer is seeing the value in those sizes and we responded by adding more of them for the customer to choose from. Better price, bigger TV, and great brands to choose from? Sounds like a win/win/win to me!

Now, let’s talk the techie stuff… so everyone knows about 1080p right? We are really making a stand with 1080p in our new assortment. 100% of our LCD TV assortment that’s 37” and above will be 1080p this year! We are also going to be launching 120 hertz TV’s to offer the most current technology to our customers. 45% of our 40” and larger TV’s will be 120 hertz technology! New technology at great prices will really give our customers the best of both worlds this year.

Finally, we are changing the in store shopping experience to provide a clean and simple environment for our customers to select their TV. A large amount of our stores will roll out a new TV wall with wood grain that will really draw some attention to the awesome TV’s we are going to carry. Take a look and let us know your thoughts!

As you can see, we have lots of changes happening in TV’s this year. Hope you are all happy with them and enjoy your new options and shopping experience! Would love to hear your feedback!

It seems like everyone is going crazy about personlized products these days!  Everywhere I look, it seems like there are more and more ways to show your own sense of style and unique personality.  I have struggled with this a bit when it came to my cell phone.  I have a great Samsung device, that I bought right here at Walmart, but didn't really like the idea of protecting that nice, pretty screen with a case that seems like it was kind of made for a guy.  For my husband, it's great!  Looks professional and keeps his phone conveniently on his belt.  I was looking for something that would give me all the protection of his case, but that fit into my purse and has a little bit of me in it! 

I found it and it's PINK...and purple, blue, and even red soon!  It's a Body Glove Clutch case.  The case is universal, so almost any phone fits, but even better, it protects your precious investment that connects you to anyone and anything!!  What would any of us do anymore without having that link to the world in the palm of our hand!  I'm lovin' mine and it's so affordable (9.96), I am changing out the colors every so often just to have a little fun!  After all, I carry the standard black leather purse most days, so it jazzes things up a bit!

So, gas prices are better than we have seen in the recent past, but if you're like me, you are always looking for ways to save a little money at the pump.  Now there is one more tool to help you in the quest!  The Garmin Nuvi 205 has the really cool feature called ecoroute.  It helps you save money and gas everyday by sending you on the most fuel-efficient routes.  It determines your route by using speed limit data, number of stops, fuel consumption info, and a bit more to come up with the best way to get to your destination.  The proof is really in the results.  You can see the amount of fuel used and even your carbon footprint upon arrival!

You even get rated while you are driving!  Your score will move up and down based on how many times you slam on your breaks or accellerate quickly, so it's kind of like a game.  It will even save your scores so that you can work to improve over time!

I always thought the only driving game out there was in the arcade, but now it's in my car with the Nuvi 205!  I am still trying to get that perfect score, but I know I am saving a little extra for my family everyday!