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Contest: Win an HDTV, speakers that soften loud TV commercials

October 22nd, 2009, 4:47 pm by

SRS Labs giving away HDTVs, speakers.If you’ve been wanting to get your hands on a gadget that softens overly loud commercials, now’s your chance to get one for free — just tell your annoyingly loud TV commercial story in 500 words or less.

The contest is sponsored by Santa Ana-based SRS Labs, which I wrote about earlier this month. Its TruVolume technology has popped up in a few TVs and sound systems. It automatically lowers the volume of TV commercials. Read about my experience and watch the video at “SRS Labs’ gadget could end annoyingly loud TV commercials.”

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For long-time readers, you may remember that I used to offer a round-up of contests that awarded geeky prizes. This is definitely one of them. Plus, since it takes some effort, there could be few entries. Hmm… should I bring this feature back?

Ian Hamilton, who writes for the Irvine Business blog has the  contest scoop in his recent post, “Hate loud commercials? Write a story about it and win.” The prize is Vizio’s new sound bar, a $199 $350 speaker with TruVolume built in. SRS has three of them up for grabs.

For even less time and effort, you could win a Samsung HDTV with TruVolume. Just watch a silly commercial and vote at www.srslabs.com/truvolume. SRS is giving away a 22-inch, 32-inch and 40-inch Samsung HDTV to the lucky voters.

Good luck!

Posted in: Audio • Video & TV • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Contest alert: Canon looking for pop stars. Know any?

November 5th, 2008, 2:00 pm by

In this new age when anyone can be a pop star, anyone, apparently, can also start a contest to find America’s next star.

Canon U.S.A., the digital camera/scanner/printer company, just announced its version: the “So you want to be a pop star?” contest.

Let’s start with the prizes. Three finalists will get a trip to New York City, a pair of tickets to a local radio station’s holiday concert, a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital Elph camera, makeovers, singing and dancing lessons and a meet and greet with “international pop star” Leona Lewis (Leona who? Oh.) The ultimate winner will also get $5,000.

But to even get a chance to be a finalist, you’ll have to invest some time and money into creating a 30-second video showing why you should be selected as a finalist. Submit it to powershot.com. The contest will accept entries until Nov. 30.  Three finalists will be selected and each will get to create a more professional 60- to 90-second video. Then it really becomes a popularity contest where the public votes on a favorite. The winner will be announced Jan. 5.

Now, whether those folks will actually become pop stars, that’s a whole other contest called reality sinks in.

Related contests/deals stories:

  • RadioShack offers gift cards for your old electronics
  • Free Wi-Fi for iPhone users is back, really!
  • 1 PC, multiple users, plus headlines that will save you money
  • Cox wants to give back to O.C.’s women-owned businesses
  • Avery giving away royalty-free art
  • Hulu.com offering LIVE presidential debates tonight
  • Alt+Save Weekend: Save money, win stuff this week

    • Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • • | Comments Off

    Cox wants to give back to O.C.’s women-owned businesses

    October 15th, 2008, 7:03 am by

    Cox Communications, which services a good portion of OC’s southern and central cable TV customers, has $21,000 worth of goodies up for grabs for an enterprising women entrepreuneur. 

    The company’s “Digital Growth Contest” will award the lucky lady a year of fiber-based data and voice services from Cox Business (valued at up to $12,000), and a 30-second TV commercial to air on top cable channels like CNN and CNBC for 6 weeks (valued at $9,100).

    The contest is co-sponsored by Ladies Who Launch and organized by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing.

    How to enter?  Read the rest of this entry »

    Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

    Alt+Save Weekend: Save money, win stuff this week

    September 28th, 2008, 8:14 am by

    Deals and freebies

    Welcome to the weekly deals report…

    * Apple giveaway: Dotster is giving more stuff away. But it’s much better than a year’s worth of doman registration, which is only worth about $8.75/year. The freebie this time is four $500 Apple gift cards. That’s enough to buy the biggest iPod Touch and 100 songs.

    There are two ways for a chance to win: Buy a domain from the company or mail in an entry. The latter requires mailing in a 3×5-inch card hand-written with your name, address and phone number and “Dotster Apple Gift Card Giveaway.” Mail it by Oct. 29. Here are the rules.

    * Free museum admission: If you bank at Bank of America, you can get free admission to a bunch of museums on the first Friday’s of the month. In Orange County, only two museums are participating but they are pretty good ones: The Discovery Science Center and the Laguna Art Museum. Los Angeles includes LACMA, while San Diego includes the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Just bring any Bank of America card to get inside. Details at www.bankofamerica.com/museums

    * Help Google help people contest: Google’s Project 10 to the 100: Submit an idea that can change the world. Semifinalists’ ideas will be voted on. Google has committed $10 million to implement ideas. Submit by Oct. 20, 2008. (One snarky take on the contest: “Google’s charity, At your expense” at Information Week.)

    Headlines that can save you money: Read the rest of this entry »

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    Find free-shipping online, bid on gift cards, and weekly contests

    August 3rd, 2008, 9:29 am by

    Alt+Save: Deals and freebiesI never quite understood the attraction of bidding on someone else’s unused gift card and winning it for just a few dollars less than it’s worth. Seems like too much trouble.

    But, apparently, people do it. And it’s popular enough so I thought I’d mention this new site, which is still in the testing mode, according to the company.

    Buy-Discount-Gift-cards.com

    The folks behind coupon-hunting site DealLocker.com have slurped gift card auctions at eBay and put them in one convenient spot on the web, at buy-discount-gift-cards.com. However, finding a deal isn’t a given. For example, I spotted a $25 gift card to Best Buy on Friday. The 11 bids had pushed the price to $22.09. Plus, there was a $0.96-cent charge for shipping the card. Saving $1.95 doesn’t seem worth it. But, again, some people like this stuff so I’m just sharing…

    Also from DealLocker, it officially launched FreeShippingOn.com, a site that collects free-shipping coupon codes for a bunch of online stores. I mentioned this before, but now it’s official. Also new to the site: It’s added free shipping coupons from 500 stores, plus a search tool to find real-time freeshipping deals on Amazon and eBay.

    Contests

    An Area-51 Alienware computer (valued at $3,479)  goes to the winner of WeGame’s Machinima contest. All you have to do to enter is create a 1-10 minute video featuring any video game you want plus your own creative touch. Read the rules HERE. Contest ends Aug. 31, 2008.

    Hey students: Help your school win $100,000 in Samsung Electronics merchandise plus another $100,000 in software from Microsoft in Samsung’s Hope for Education contest. Just write a 100-word essay answering this question: “How has technology educated you on helping the environment and how or why has it changed your behavior to be more environmentally friendly?” And then fill out the blanks on this site. Contest ends Aug. 31.

    Recent money-saving posts:

    Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • • • • • | Comments Off

    Win an extreme PC, trip to DC or Wi-Fi radio

    July 27th, 2008, 3:24 am by

    Alt+Save: Deals and freebiesBecause I’ve run out of time, I’ve just got three contests for readers to enter this week. Of course, you could always check the archive for recently mentioned contests that I’m sure are still taking entries…)So this is what a hydro copper waterblock looks like!

    If you hear of others, or have one to promote, let me know by sending me an e-mail. Thanks!

    PC MODDING: If you can think of a clever way to promote hydro copper waterblocks, here’s a chance to win a souped-up gaming machine from one of the better-known companies in the PC modding business. EVGA, based in Brea, is hosting a Mods Rigs competition and is searching for creative video entries showcasing one of five products. Grand prize: iBUYPower Extreme Gaming Rig, which includes 4 GBs of DDR3 RAM, Intel quad-core processor, Blu-ray drive and, of course, an EVGA GTX-280 Video Card. Details here.

    The Ultimate Spore Creature Creator Contest

    MORE SPORE: With the computer game, “Spore,” less than two months away, it’s been getting a ton of coverage, especially on our new gaming blog here, here and here. The makers of “Spore” are also doing their part to drum up excitement and its “Spore Creature Creator Dance Off Contest” awards the winner a trip to Washington D.C. to visit the Smithsonian Institute.  Just download the free “Spore Creature Creator,” create a creature, then get it to dance and upload a video to YouTube.  Ten finalists will be chosen by Aug. 18 and released to the YouTube community for voting. Top vote getter wins. Details HERE or watch the details.Phoenix Wi-Fi Internet radio

    TUNE IN TO WI-FI: Win a $199 Phoenix Wi-Fi radio. Chances are good because the radio’s manufacturer, Com One, plans to give one away every week through Thanksgiving. Just hand over your e-mail on this page each week. Winners are drawn each Monday at 11 a.m. EST.

    Don’t miss another Alt+Save ‘Free+Win+Deals’ post. Get all posts related to this topic by e-mail. Just sign up HERE.

    Recent contest posts:

    Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • • • • • | Comments Off

    Best of free iPhone Apps plus contests

    July 20th, 2008, 1:24 am by

    Alt+Save: Deals and freebiesLots of news in the deals sector of technology. Microsoft cut the Xbox price to $299, from $350. A new $350 model, out next month, will include a 60 GB hard drive. … Another price cut comes fromthe Ooma internet-based phone service. It’s now $250, from an earlier $400, and it’s available at Best Buy.  … AT&T hinted that it will soon offer all iPhone owners free Wi-Fi at AT&T’s 17,000 hotspots before yanking the deal off the web …

    But most of the free news this week comes from the iPhone’s Ap store, which, says Apple, offers 25 percent for free and 90 percent below $10.

    Here are some iPhone Apps roundups:Apple iPhone Apps

    Samsung Instinct

    Contests

    Win an HDTV  – and that’s second prize in Quizno’s Las Vegas Dream Weekend Giveaway. Grand prize is a trip to Vegas for the winner and nine friends (air + hotel). Besides the TV, second place also gets a $500 gift card to Quizno’s.Deadline: Oct. 1, 2008. Enter HERE.

    Write a clever haiku, win a Samsung Instinct from CrunchGear. It’s a weekly contest with the next one taking entries until noon on Tuesday, July 22. This week’s haiku should focus on sight and be tweeted to UseYourInstinct. (A haiku, by the way, is a short 3-line poem, consisting of 5 syllables, 7 syllables and 5 syllables. More details and rules HERE.

    Don’t miss another Alt+Save ‘Free+Win+Deals’ post. Get all posts related to this topic by e-mail. Just sign up HERE.

    Past iPhone posts:

    Posted in: iPhone • • • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

    6 ways to win a free iPhone

    July 17th, 2008, 11:33 am by

    Most of us didn’t wait in line to buy the new 3G iPhone last week. And most of us still don’t own one. But if someone just handed you an iPhone for free, would you take it?

    If so, you may want to enter these contests I tracked down from sites giving an iPhone away for free:

    1. Win a 3G iPhoneLEAVE COMMENT: The Boy Genius Report: Win your choice of either a 16GB black or white iPhone by leaving a comment at “Win a 3G iPhone.” One comment per person and enter by this Sunday, July 20, 11:59 p.m. EST.
    2. SIGN UP: Register at the Stormwater, the journal for stormwater professionals, for a chance to win a 16 GB iPhone (or $500 for your favorite non-profit).  Enter HERE by Sept. 30.
    3. REFER FRIENDS: Sign up and then tell your friends about ProjectLocker Lite, a tool to help groups manage projects. Just make sure that when friends sign up that they enter your e-mail address into the “Referral Source” field at the bottom of the page. The person with the most referrals by midnight Aug. 31 wins! Details HERE.
    4. SHOOT VIDEO: Submit a “MeToday” video at video-sharing site Viddler.com to win an iPhone on July 30. Details HERE. Don’t forget to read the rules, which the site emphasizes multiple times.
    5. SHARE E-MAILS: A slimy way to win an iPhone: Share the e-mails of three friends with CouponChief and you just may get your phone. Details HERE. The site is giving away iPhones every other day through September 1.
    6. PITCH IDEA: More challenging is the ‘Elevator Pitch’ contest by VenturePort.org. To win this phone, you’ll need to produce a 90-second video pitching a great business idea. Then upload it to YouTube and join VenturePort’s YouTube group (so far, only 8 members!). Then e-mail the company at contests@ventureport.org with “VenturePORT Elevator Pitch Contest” in the subject line. A few more rules are listed HERE. Contest ends Sept. 30, 2008. Bonus: All entries get a $5 Starbucks gift card. (Hmmm … is an iPhone worth publicizing your best business idea?)

    If you have others, post in comments below and I’ll continue to keep an eye out.

    Past 3G iPhone coverage for the bargain hunter:

    Posted in: iPhone • • • • • | 3 Comments »

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