Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) unveiled Tuesday two new low-cost Chromebooks that will make the Google laptop platform much more competitive against the low-end Windows laptop space.

The two Chromebooks are from Hisense (SHA:600060) and Haier (HKG:1169),two China-based OEM/ODMs known best for providing budget electronics to specific retailers. Both Chromebooks are priced at $149 and are powered by the quad-core Rockchip RK3288 SoC clocked at 1.8GHz.

Each laptop is virtually identical with 11.6-inch LED-backlit display, 2GB of DDR3L SDRAM, 16GB of eMMC flash storage, and a 720p webcam. The only difference between the two is battery life.

First up is the Hisense Chromebook, which will be exclusively sold at Walmart (NYSE: WMT). It promises 8.5 hours of battery life. It’s 0.6 inches thick and weighs 3.3 pounds.

The Haier Chromebook 11, an exclusive to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), has 10 hours of promised battery life.

What’s in a Rockchip?

Rockchip is probably best known for its deal with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to bring x86 to the next-generation of cheap tablets for the Chinese market.

Aside from that Rockchip is a fairly run-of-the-mill low-end ARM (LON: ARM) manufacturer that would one day like to challenge the incumbents such as Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) and MediaTek (TPE: 2454).

The Rockchip RK3288 has four 1.8 GHz ARM Cortex A17 cores and a quad-core ARM Mali T760 GPU.

Benchmarks on the RK3288 are scant, but one from January from a firm called CNX Software shows that its around 18% faster in Antutu than an Intel Atom Z3735F.

Chromebook on a stick

The other Rockchip RK3288 powered Chrome device is the Chromebit, and HDMI dongle that brings full Chromebox (a set-top Chrome computer) to a dongle. It’s powered by a Rockchip 3288 SoC, has 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and 802.11ac connectivity.

One obvious use case for the Chromebit is presentations. Instead of trying to get one’s laptop connected to the venue’s projector, someone could just plug in the Chromebit into the projector’s HDMI port.

Pricing of the Chromebit will be less than $100.

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Mota, a successful company founded 15 years ago, is hawking a Kickstarter project aimed at GoPro owners. GoPro’s stock price isn’t affecting Mota’s enthusiasm for developing an accessory for the adventuresome camera wearer. The already established company wants you to help it develop a wireless battery charger for the GroPro Hero cameras. The new product would allow you to recharge your camera without removing it from its housing.

You probably are already familiar with Mota founded by Michael and Kevin Faro. The company makes imaginative products for mass marketing in wearables, portable power, and playful flying objects, such as drones and helicopters. Don’t forget its SmartPhone Anti-Lost Companion  that fits on a key ring. Already known for its external power battery the MOTA 4,000mAh power block which includes 5 different USB cable connections for Apple 30-pin, Apple Lightning, Micro USB, Mini USB, and Sony PSP, Mota is looking to connect to GoPro.

Kevin Faro, co-founder of Mota, discusses its proposed product

GoPro itself sells extra batteries and battery chargers. You wouldn’t want to be caught near the summit of Kilimanjaro with a dead battery in the video camera that is capturing your treacherous ascent. However, that extra battery you plan to replace a depleted one with requires you to open the device, risking dropping the battery in the snow or fouling the inside of the equipment with greasy fingers that just changed the spark plugs in your motorcycle right before the big race.

Mota GoPro’s battery charger is designed for action in the field.

You might ask why an established company is using Kickstarter to raise money for a new product. You could say they are doing test marketing. The company explains their reasoning in its FAQ’s. They need to make new tooling for the new design. “That’s a significant cost that we can’t justify unless we know there’s significant demand. Your backing will show us you want us to manufacture it.”

The wireless receiver technology that makes the Mota Wireless Charger compatible with Hero 3 and Hero 4 batteries has a pending patent.

As a reward for backing the Mota Wireless Charger for GoPro, you can get one at “a very special pre-release price”. Yesterday, Mota launched their Kickstarter project. Today, as this article is being written, two more backers have signed on, bringing the total to 65 for $4055 pledged. The goal is $15,000 by January 7, 2015, so if you are interested, don’t get caught up in Christmas Shopping and forget to pledge.

The intended release date is March/April 2015 when assembly, batch testing, complete and Reward fulfillments begin. In the meantime, you can buy completed Mota products at several retailers, including TigerDirect, Newegg, Walmart, Staples, and Best Buy.

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If you were hoping to save $100 on an Apple iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi-Gold with its 9.7 inch Retina display, 8MP iSight camera, and 64GB of storage, you’re too late. Best Buy has posted it as Sold Out on line. It was priced at $499.99. It’s still available at Fry`s for full price.

Apple iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi-Gold is selling out fast.

If you are willing to settle for a 7.9 inch LED display and a 5MP iSight camera and only 16GB of storage, you can save $75 at Best Buy on the Apple iPad mini with Wi-Fi – 16GB, Space Gray/Black.
Not wanting to restrict bargain shoppers to a single day, Walmart has been having Cyber Week. They are offering a slightly better discount amount of $79 for the same tablet.

Best Buy and Walmart sell the Apple Mini iPad 16GB for $249.99 and $219.99 respectively.

Now here is the curious part: Walmart is quoting the list price as $299.00 which they are discounting to $219.99. Best Buy shows only their regular price is $249.99 or refurbished for $10 less. Now you decide which is the “best buy.” Seems like a simple mathematical problem at first glance. But Oh No. Let’s look closely. The Devil is in the Details. Both have the same Model Number: #MF432LL/A. Both tablets carry the same exact name with the only exception being the color. Best Buy lists Apple iPad mini with Wi-Fi-16GB, Space Gray/Black. Walmart has Apple iPad mini 16GB Wi-Fi, Space Gray or White. You can do your own comparisons from the data taken directly from their respective websites.

Amazon offers several choices on the same tablet: New from $229.99, Used from $203.95, and Refurbished from $199.99. Clicking on the Used or on the Refurbished category, you come to NYC Electronic Warehouse Storefront. A search of their site did not find the refurbished model. It must have been sold leaving Amazon out of sync with their reseller. Radio Shack offers what they refer to as Refreshed for $229.99 with free shipping.

The Apple Store itself is selling the tablet, Space Gray or Silver “beginning at” $249. . Extras they suggest you add to your purchase include: Lightening to USB camera adapter for $29, an Apple Wireless keyboard for $69, or Apple EarPods with remote and mic for $29. It is ready to ship in one day and you might have in store pick up possible. However, the site warns: “Quantities are limited and availability can change quickly. Items will not be reserved for in-store pick up until you’ve completed checkout.”

As a bonus, Apple offers 6, 12, or 18 months special financing. And they’ll laser engrave up to two lines on the back of your iPad for free. If you click that it’s a gift, you can add an Apple Gift Package for another $5 and a free gift message. One more plus, you can Live Chat with a specialist before purchase. Apple is the only company offering Chat help.

Best Buy provides free shipping if you want it by December 11. If you want it sooner, you’ll pay an escalating shipping fee. The company offers a 1-year Protection Plan from the Geek Squad for $49.99. They say “We Fix It Or Replace It” covering a No-Lemon Policy, Normal Wear & Tear, Power Surges, Screen Issues.

Walmart offers a 2-year Care Plan for $47, but they don’t try to sell you additional accessories other than a $25 savings if you open a Walmart credit card. The Plan indicates: “Drop, Spill and Cracked Screen Problems – We’ll repair or replace it. We cover 100% of the repair costs. There are no deductibles or hidden fees.” Hummm, so you should look for Catch 22’s when considering a protection plan.

A quick look at other on-line retailers showed that Target offers the tablet for $249. MacMall will save you $5 at $244. PC Connection wants you to login or call for pricing. MicroCenter an Authorized Apple Reseller is listing the tablet at $229, but you have to search their site for your local store and drive to the brick and mortar building, because they don’t offer shipping. And purchases are restricted to one tablet per household. Of course, there’s always eBay hawking a new tablet for $299.99 with a money back guarantee.

So, the old adage “Buyer Beware” holds true on Cyber Monday as at any time of the year. Don’t get enamored by a low price. Check out the details. If it sounds too good to be true … it’s worth making comparisons.

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ecoATM, a division of Outerwall who is also the parent company of Redbox and Coinstar (Nasdaq: OUTR), has a nationwide network of 1,510 automated electronics recycling kiosks located in shopping malls and stores. The kiosk will take your old phones, tablets, and MP3 players and turn them into cash on the spot.

Last week at Pepcom-SF, BSN* spoke with Juli Spaventa who demoed a unit for us. The kiosk requires only a few steps to recycle your device.

ecoATM kiosk at Pepcom-SF

You simply follow the on-screen prompts and insert a valid government-issued ID. ecoATM uses a state-of-the-art ID scanner and AssureTec Reader validation software that not only photographs the ID but validates its authenticity by examining the ID for holograms, watermarks, or other specific authentication methods used in all 50 states. Spaventa said they have 29 patents on their one-of-a-kind kiosk. Fake ID’s may get you into the nightclub, but they won’t get you cash for a stolen phone.

After your ID is validated, an ecoATM’s security person checks to see you match the ID by watching you from the web cameras in the kiosk. All this only takes a couple of minutes. If the technician cannot confirm you are the person in the ID you presented, then game over – the transaction is canceled.

Assuming your face matches your ID, the kiosk dispenses a tracking decal to put on your device. After affixing the decal, you put your device into the kiosk and it scans your device’s condition and compares it with a database to make an offer based on the market value and current condition. At that time, you can accept ecoATM’s offer or it will return your device out of the kiosk. If you accept the offer, you must use the thumb print reader which keeps the thumb scan as part of your security information. Then your cash is available just like a bank ATM.

We decided to check out a kiosk at a local mall. While there, we noticed another benefit – no-cost charging station on one side of the kiosk. A man was just starting the process of recycling his older iPhone for cash. We asked him if we could follow along.

Alan inserts his valid California ID

Alan applies decal to his old iPhone

When the man, who simply identified himself as Alan, was finished and had his cash, he said: “This is way better than having it lay around in a drawer”.

Some law enforcement agencies have been quoted in past articles about ecoATM saying it is too easy for a crook to get cash for a stolen phone. So we contacted ecoATM’s HQ about that. They called back and responded to our query. Their spokesperson confirmed that the transaction we watched followed their standard security verification processes. The spokesperson said that less than 1 percent of the phones recycled by ecoATM are proven to be stolen. Many of the stolen recycled phones end up being returned and the crook caught like this story from San Francisco. She also explained another aspect of their kiosk for customers who might be wary of presenting personal information. We were told that only law enforcement can get a print out of any specific transaction with the person’s information and the information about the device that was recycled.

A few law enforcement agencies have acted like they want the kiosks removed because of the potential for fraud. They didn’t react that way to Target, Home Depot, or Walmart when millions of their credit card numbers were compromised. Could it be because ecoATM is a new company, law enforcement is trying to hold them to a double standard when compared to big box stores?

ecoATM can prove there is a second life for 75 percent of all devices collected. For the remaining 25 percent, ecoATM partners with R2 certified e-waste reclamation facilities to ensure that those materials are responsibly reused and recycled. ecoATM holds Responsible Recycling (R2) and ISO14001 certifications, confirming the company’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of electronics recycling, as well as ISO27001 certification for information and personal data security. ecoATM’s tracking system is much better than using Craigslist or a questionable phone reseller to recycle your devices.

The ecoATM spokesperson told BSN* that a Forrester Research study said 57 percent of American device owners have an idle phone laying around their home, yet only 22 percent of those owners say they have previously recycled cellphones they no longer use. The company has already collected more than three million devices. The collection of all those devices enabled the recovery or reuse of 879,000 pounds of recyclable materials that’s nearly enough plastics, metals and potentially toxic materials to equal the weight of two Boeing 747-400 series airplanes.

ecoATM does recommend that everybody write down the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) or Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID) number of their device. MEID is a form of ESN (Electronic Serial Number). Normally they are hidden below or under your device’s battery. This location will help you find those numbers.

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