Best Buy Still Boggling Customers with In-Store Kiosk

Best Buy took a PR hit last year after it was discovered their in-store kiosks operated on an internal website that looked identical to the real thing, save for higher prices on some items. Best Buy claimed they never intended to mislead customers, and that it might be time to change the intranet site's appearance from the real BestBuy.com. Fast forward to today and complaints of deceptive tactics are ringing anew, as reported in the LA Times. The renewed PR hit comes at a particularly bad time, as former CompUSA faithful will look for new outlets to spend their tech dollars.

Quarterlife Disappoints

Touted as the first television-quality production for the web, the online drama series Quarterlife has failed to attract a significant viewer base. The 36-part series debuted on MySpace before later spreading to YouTube, but some episodes have received less than 100,000 combined video views. With the future of the series still uncertain, season one will live on in the living room thanks to NBC, who will begin airing episodes in one-hour increments starting this February.

Online Site Reunites Gloves with Owners

With the launch of www.onecoldhand-nyc.com, there now remains a glimmer of hope for New Yorkers suffering from one-handed frostbite after losing a glove in the winter weather. Good Netizens who pick up the abadoned article can post a picture along with the location of where the glove was found. A similar site for Pittsburghans (Pittsburgh-ians?) launched last month.

Apple Shares Hit $200

For the first time ever, shares of Apple Inc. hit $200 today, capping a stellar year that saw strong iPod sales and the introduction of the iPhone. Previously this year, shares had been as 'low' as $76.77 before the iPhone debuted. Caris & Co. analyst Shebly Seyrafi also notes that "Apple's component costs are benefiting from declines in NAND flash memory prices."

In-Game Ads to Send Anti Drinking and Driving Message

Scotland's getting in the in-game advertising business, but of a different sort. Rather than try to sell products, the Scottish government said they would pay to insert ads discouraging gamers from drinking and driving. As part of the $20K trial project, said ads will appear on virtual billboards on several XBox titles, including Need for Speed: Carbon, Project Gotham Racing 4, and NBA Live. Scotland estimates that 73 percent of Britain's 15-to-24- year-olds have access to a gaming console at home.