Daily Marauder

TECHNOLOGY

Consumer-electronics stores such as Best Buy and RadioShack are reporting a surprising trend: Sales are through the roof for converter boxes that enable analog TVs to keep working after the digital-television transition. Analysts observe that, with the economy still in tumult, many Americans would rather spend about $50 on a converter box than buy a brand-new digital model. The Wall Street Journal (10/28)

Consumer-electronics retailers such as Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart have cut prices on Blu-ray disc players to less than $230. The cost of the new-format players, once as high as $400, have gone down due to slow uptake by U.S. consumers: “We have a job to do in explaining to customers why Blu-ray is important,” said Mike Mohan, the senior vice president of consumer electronics at Best Buy. ClipSyndicate/WISH-TV (Indianapolis) (10/27) , The Wall Street Journal (10/28)

Lagging retail prices, higher material expenses and a strong yen compared with the U.S. dollar all conspired to send Japanese manufacturer Panasonic’s profit 16% lower in its fiscal second quarter, which ran from July to September. Overall, the company said electronics sales were strong, namely in the categories of flat-panel TVs and DVD recorders. The Seattle Times/The Associated Press (10/28)

Members of the AV Science Forum selected the Samsung LN46A650 as their favorite liquid-crystal-display television in the 42- to 50-inch range in a recent survey by the Electronic House Web site. Survey participants also selected eight other models — with a total of five coming from Samsung — that deserve to be on Santa’s list this holiday season. ElectronicHouse.com (10/27)

Hitachi has added a 3LCD projector to its menu of high-tech devices for home or office. The CP-WX410 puts the “wide” in widescreen projector, with a 16:10 aspect ratio and optical zoom. The unit, which includes an anti-theft mechanism and closed captioning, features Quick Start and Instant Off functions to make setup easier. ElectronicHouse.com (10/27)