While trial versions of online stores have been operating in Britain, Germany and South Korea for about five months, the US opening is seen as the beginning of Microsoft’s online push.

As well as software downloads of its popular programs, users can purchase products such as keyboards, mice and Xbox consoles.

“This is the first online store where you can purchase Microsoft products straight from the source,” a Microsoft announcement said.

The company has already offered programs and applications via downloads through its Windows Marketplace site, but on a much smaller scale. Marketplace will now be replaced by the Microsoft Store.

In a blog post, Microsoft senior program manager Trevin Chow said the move will help computer owners who do not own CD or DVD drives.

“In a world where lighter weight laptops, such as netbooks, are becoming more common, ESD (electronic software download) makes things easier when an optical drive isn’t easily accessible. By extending ESD to Microsoft software, we’re able to increase convenience across the board for a variety of customers.”

Chow also says the store will help reduce carbon emissions, saying, “think of the savings of gasoline in shipping products, driving back and forth in your car to a retail store, or even the plastic manufactured and used for the CD jewel cases”.

More online country stores will be launched in the next 12 months, although details are yet to be released.

On most retailer websites, the product information is little more than a paragraph. The problem is that most consumers want more information than that; so they leave one etailer site for another, getting the same information website after website. This isn’t good for the brand or the etailer.

WebCollage’s Power Product Pages take manufacturer/brand product information from the manufacturer’s website and seamlessly inserts it into participating etailing websites, giving consumers more information and less aggravation.

Here is how the program works: A consumer visiting a site which carries Sony Bravia television sets would click on a ‘Product Information’ button to do their research. Which staying on the etailing site, the window offers information gathered from the manufacturer website.

“The impact is for a typical brand to see an increase between 6% and 16% in online sales by having this additional information available,” said Jed Alpert, Vice President of Marketing, WebCollage. For most etailing sites, Power Product Pages can be ready to go within about 24 hours because the information is pre-configured. “There is a shift [in online marketing] toward programs that can prove themselves rather than focusing on general messages.”

The manufacturer’s information is syndicated throughout the WebCollage space so that there is little delay between new brands or etailers signing on and additional product information being shown to consumers.

According to WebCollage, consumers are staying on-site longer because of the increased product information available. Their research shows that consumers, on average, are spending three minutes per page to watch videos, read product details and gain more information.

“This is a way for the brand to engage and for the retailers to convert,” said Mr. Alpert.

“We don’t have enough boutiques across the globe to retail these exclusive products. And we don’t want to sell them through the watch and jewellery stores as they are more mass channels,” added Babin.

The company has already designed memory sticks, external hardware and other techno-accessories for men. “These accessories are made with advanced technology from the TAG Heuer stables and we are currently testing these products,” he added.

In India, TAG Heuer retails in 24 cities, through 74 outlets. The company sold around 11,000 watches last year.

iZ3D’s gaming display products are now being offered nationwide in Fry’s Electronics Incorporated and Micro Center stores, specialty retail superstores renowned for merchandising innovative consumer electronics products and technology breakthroughs. In addition to the physical store locations, both retail chains are offering the iZ3D monitor through online store destinations, joining Staples Online, NewEgg, Amazon, Critical Buy,and other e-tailers.

“The move to retail is another milestone in our pursuit of bringing 3D to the home market,” stated Thomas Striegler, CEO of iZ3D Inc. “Seeing games displayed with our 3D monitor startles the imagination and shatters memories of bad 3D from 1950s theatrical effects and headache prone shutterglasses,” he adds.

In the past year, iZ3D has had growing success selling its monitor exclusively online. Since consumers lack experience with this new technology, seeing it proves a critical part of the purchasing decision.iZ3D faces the same challenges as the television industry as it educated consumers to shift from black and white to color, or standard to high definition. “You have to see it to understand it the first time, and selling our 3D monitor though retail represents an inflection point for the emerging 3D industry,” said Striegler.

Store locations in California, Arizona, and Nevada began offering the product in mid-December. The monitor solution will be available at all store locations by January 9, 2009, after which iZ3D will begin sponsoring in-store try-and-buy demo days. Consumers can easily find a listing of store locations and get information on iZ3D’s products and special offers at www.3drulez.com.

In recent month’s iZ3D has made headlines as it introduced the first 3Dmonitors with custom painted designs from Smooth Creations, released itsnew industry-standard-setting 3D display driver, announced channel distribution partnerships with Ingram Micro and D&H Distributing Company,made 3D monitors significantly more affordable, and announced a partnership with AMD which included an ATI 3DLP driver and $50 rebate offer for ATIRadeon(TM) graphics card customers.

The iZ3D 3D monitor solution includes:

– 22-inch wide screen 3D/2D keyboard switchable LCD monitor– 3 pairs of passive polarized 3D glasses (5 other models are available online)– iZ3D Stereoscopic 3D and Anaglyph 3D software drivers (other drivers are available online)– Power and video cables– Quick-start guide– Free membership into iZ3D’s upcoming 3D gaming network

Monitor specifications are:

– 22-inch wide screen LCD– 1680 x 1050 resolution– Up to 170-degree 3D viewing angle– 5ms response time– 700:1 contrast ratio– 16.7-million colors– 300 nits

The solution is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Vistaoperating systems, games written for DirectX 8, 9, (and soon 10), and requires a graphics card with 2 video outputs (VGA, DVI, or HDMI). Most games written in the last six years are already designed for 3D, but have lacked, until now, a way of displaying them properly. Games that have beentested by iZ3D, MTBS, and customer testers can be found at www.3drulez.com.

Availability and Pricing

The iZ3D 22-inch monitor has a new manufacturers suggested resale price of$399.00 and is currently available at Fry’s and Micro Centers as well as online stores including www.staples.com, www.newegg.com, www.amazon.com,www.pcmall.com, www.criticalbuy.com, www.iz3d.com, and other onlineshopping sites.

The iZ3D Version 1.09 Driver is available at www.iz3d.com. The standard iZ3D S-3D output and anaglyph output are included with the purchase of an iZ3D monitor. The exclusive ATI 3D DLP output is free to AMD customers. All other drivers can be purchased at $49.99 per output.

Both Sears and Kmart customers can now conveniently experience these innovative and best-in-class, multi-channel purchase opportunities in stores and online. As more and more new multi-channel capabilities are made available, the ShopYourWay banner will help identify the many choices for Sears and Kmart customers.

ShopYourWay provides the best of what Sears and Kmart offer – great prices everyday and one of the largest assortment of brands, products and services of any store online or offline through Sears.com and Kmart.com, Sears2go, Web to Store, Store to Web, 1-800-4-MY-HOME and in-store visits. Its expanded selection of jewelry, apparel, electronics, tool, shoes and power lawn & garden equipment are now always available on Sears.com or Kmart.com.

“ShopYourWay revolves around the lives of our customers,” said Richard Gerstein, Sears Holdings Corporation’s senior vice president, marketing. “By letting their schedules determine the way they shop, our customers can take advantage of making purchases in-store, online, over the phone and with mobile capabilities.

ShopYourWay empowers our customers to manage their lives by providing them with unique services, expanded selections and the best prices.”

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