Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, Apple, Blackberry, Google, iPhone, Mobile phone, Motorola, NPD Group
Last quarter, mobile phone sales in the U.S. dropped 15 percent to 32 million units, according to market research firm NPD Group.
But in hard times, the strongest brands also take share. And that is exactly what Apple did. The 6.9 million iPhones it sold last quarter catapulted the $200 device into the top spot among all cell phones, even beating out the much cheaper and still-popular Motorola Razr. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/11/10/the-iphone-is-now-the-best-selling-phone-in-the-us 11/10)
Nokia’s Vertu unit will issue three more models of its sleek Ferrari-branded handsets, the ultra-high-end line whose designs and materials are inspired by the famous sports car: Vertu puts the same leather and stitching on the phones that are in the cars. “The new Vertu Ascent Ti Ferrari editions are the definitive automotive-inspired handsets — bold, balanced and with the unmistakable character of the Prancing Horse,” said Frank Nuovo, chief of design for Vertu. cellular-news (U.K.) (11/9)
When it comes to charging for mobile apps, payments usually have to go through either the carriers or one of the emerging mobile app platforms such as Apple or Google’s Android. The problem with charging for an iPhone app through iTunes is that Apple takes 30 percent. A startup called Billing Revolution wants to charge about one tenth as much for a seamless, mobile one-click shopping experience. Already available on other phones, Billing Revolution is announcing availability today for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android apps. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/11/10/billing-revolution-brings-one-click-payments-to-iphone-blackberry-and-iphone-apps 11/10)
Following American Airlines’ launch of Wi-Fi service on long-haul flights, Delta Air Lines plans to offer “the most extensive Wi-Fi network in the sky” beginning next year. Delta will roll out Aircell’s Gogo Inflight Internet in both first-class and economy cabins on hundreds of aircraft. Air Canada also plans to add the service on U.S. routes starting in the spring. FoxNews.com/LiveScience (11/5)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Activision, Guitar Hero World Tour, Logitech, Microsoft, NPD Group, PlayStation 2, Playstation 3, Windows
TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft announced earnings
class=”snap_preview_icon”> yesterday for the third quarter. Overall revenues for the quarter came in at $15 billion, growing a decent 9 percent annually. But its net profits of $4.37 billion rose only 1.9 percent. As usual, Microsoft’s stability came from is Windows client, server, and Office businesses. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/23/microsofts-chugs-along-in-the-third-quarter-but-its-online-business-is-sucking-wind 10/23)
Just in time for the holidays, Logitech will begin offering in December a premiere edition of its wireless guitar controller, which will be compatible with all “Guitar Hero” games on PlayStation 3 and “Guitar Hero World Tour” for PlayStation 2. The faux instrument, which will retail for $250, has a wooden neck, rosewood fingerboard and metal frets for extra authenticity. Digital Trends (10/23)
Slumps in its major divisions cost Samsung in the third quarter even though revenue rose 15% from a year earlier as the company reported its worst quarter for net income in three years. The company’s largest profit center, its semiconductor business, performed poorly and profits also tightened on its cell phone and flat-panel units as Samsung’s investor-relations chief warned of “even more challenging” days ahead in the fourth quarter. 
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (10/24) , The Wall Street Journal (10/24)
Retail consumer-electronics sales fell only a slighter amount last month than a year earlier, according to The NPD Group, which said flat-panel TVs, D-SLR cameras and notebook computers enjoyed solid growth in September. NPD Group said that the 2% drop in sales was an encouraging sign to the CE industry and that high-ticket items were continuing to support the industry. TWICE (10/23)
An MIT project is testing an in-car sensor technology that would help curtail traffic delays by improving the timeliness of receiving real-time data. The CarTel project, which uses a Wi-Fi network to transport the information to an MIT Web server, has installed sensors on 50 cars in the Boston area. Popular Science (10/23)
Multitaskers take note: AVerMedia has introduced the AVerTV Hybrid TVBox 11, a device that, among other things, allows users to watch their favorite HDTV shows on a computer monitor while working on other tasks. The system can go into picture-within-a-picture mode, be viewed in various sizes, pause live TV and set parental controls. Electronista (10/23)
Audi of America has announced that beginning in the 2011 model year, HD Radio will be standard equipment in many of its vehicles. TWICE (10/23) , Radio Ink (10/22)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Microsoft, Nintendo, NPD Group, Playstation 3, Sony Computer Entertainment, Video game, Wii, XBox
Sales of non-PC-based video games declined 7% year-over-year in September, the first such drop since March 2006 as game console sales remained flat compared with a year ago, according to The NPD Group, which cited the lack of a hit title comparable to last year’s “Halo 3″ as the primary factor. Among the consoles, sales for Nintendo‘s Wii grew 37% to 687,000 units while Sony’s PlayStation 3 sales doubled to 232,000 and Microsoft‘s Xbox — lacking the exclusive “Halo 3″ — fell 34% to 347,000. InformationWeek (10/17) , The New York Times (10/17)
In what could be seen as validation of the medium, the deep-pocketed Obama campaign purchased a series of in-game ads that will be featured in swing states embedded within 18 different games offered through the Xbox Live service including the Criterion Games‘ Burnout Paradise. The ads will appear as banners or billboards encouraging players to register to vote, directing them to the campaign’s website VoteForChange.com. (Cynopsis 10/20)
The latest firmware update to Sony’s PSP console has ignited development, according to a Sony executive who said giving PSP users the ability to download content offered application writers more options. “It gives publishers and developers much more scope in relation to the types of games they can release,” said Zeno Colaco, vice president of publisher and developer relations for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. GameDaily BIZ (10/17)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Blu-ray Disc, Consumer electronics, DVD, HD DVD, NPD Group, Playstation 3, PlayStation Home, Sony
TECHNOLOGY
Life with PlayStation is now available
for your PS3. The service, which can be downloaded by selecting the Folding@Home icon in the PS3’s dashboard, lets gamers view real-time news, weather and relating info right from their TV. Visually it’s quite impressive, with a focus on ease of use and simple data display. This is not, however, Playstation Home, Sony’s PS3-based free virtual world that will allow players to socialize in a Second-Life-like environment. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/09/18/life-with-playstation-goes-live-news-weather-fancy-graphics-right-from-your-ps3 9/18)
The computer maker claimed more than 10% of the North American market for notebooks in the second quarter, up from 6.6% a year earlier. During the same period, all other notebook manufacturers reported level or declining sales. CNET (9/17)
TNS Retail Forward has forecast a 4% spike in consumer-electronics holiday sales thanks to the demand for digital TVs. Overall retail sales for the fourth quarter are expected to hit a mere 1.5%, the worst since 1991. TWICE (9/17)
In-Stat reports the Blu-ray format has emerged victorious in its battle against HD DVD as sales of Blu-ray players and recorders pick up. Nonetheless, the format may continue to face competition from movie downloads and price resistance from consumers. CNET (9/17)
The new AQUOS LC-65GX5 is the largest of Sharp’s GX5 HDTV models. The Internet-compatible TV is set to hit shelves in Japan late next month. Electronista (9/17)
New research indicates that U.S. consumers spend 81% of their entertainment budgets on DVD rentals and purchases, while only 0.5% goes to renting or buying videos over the Internet. The study, from NPD Group, also said that of that 81%, buying TV shows on DVD accounts for 11%. Multichannel News (9/17)
Technology is worming its way into the race for the White House in a variety of ways this week. First a short-lived brouhaha erupted over the McCain’s campaign’s latest gaffe – an assertion from the senator’s top economic advisor that the former Commerce Committee member actually helped create the BlackBerry. Then former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, a senior McCain adviser once on the VP short list, answered “no” on KTRS Radio in St. Louis to the question of whether or not Sarah Palin had the experience to run a major company. Finally allegations that Ms. Palin is using her personal Yahoo email account to conduct state business proved to be too much of a temptation for hackers. Assailants posted a number of her personal emails on WikiLeaks and Gawker yesterday. So winds the campaign trail in the digital age. (Cynopsis 9/18)
CTAM launched a minisite on tru2way explaining how it was developed, what it enables, whom it effects and how it can be best utilized. (Cynopsis 9/18)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Bed Bath & Beyond, CableLabs, Consumer electronics, Liquid crystal display, NPD Group, Single-lens reflex camera, SLR, Television
TECHNOLOGY
Improved margins and lower marketing costs helped TiVo post a quarterly profit, which has happened just two other times in the company’s 11-year history, and it is the first time the company has posted a profit in back-to-back reporting periods. The company said Wednesday that revenue grew 4%, although its subscriber totals dropped because of increased competition from built-in DVRs placed in cable and satellite set-tops. The New York Times/Associated Press (8/27)
Hollywood studios have given wirelessHD technology a big thumbs-up, basically allowing content to be sent via wirelessHD signals without concerns about piracy. The digital-rights-management technology came out of a partnership between the studios and the cable TV industry’s CableLabs, a R&D think tank. PC Magazine (8/27)
Nikon’s new single-lens reflex camera, the D90, will, according to the company, represent a first for the industry: It will be able to shoot video. The camera is expected to hit store shelves in September and retail for about $1,300. “This is a game-changing product,” said Chris Chute, an analyst at researcher IDC. “The one thing that’s really been missing from the SLR market has been the ability to record high-quality video.” USA TODAY (8/26)
The shaky economy and the lack of a new breakthrough product will limit growth in sales of consumer-electronics products to 1% to 3% this holiday season and in 2009, according to The NPD Group. Key products are reaching maturation levels, said analyst Steve Baker in a speech at Fall RetailVision 2008, where the CEA issued a survey indicating CE sales were shifting to more non-traditional outlets. The survey revealed that 25% of respondents would be up for making a CE purchase at Starbucks, 20% at Ikea, 40% at Bed Bath & Beyond and nearly 60% at Home Depot. TWICE (8/27)
HAI will showcase a pair of new portable touch-screen devices next week, the OmniTouch 8P and OmniTouch 10P home-automation controls, with the model numbers denoting their screen size, the company announced. They both carry TFT Active Matrix LCD screens with Wi-Fi, among other features, and are expected to ship in late 2008. CEPro.com (8/27)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, Apple, Google, HTC, iPhone 3G, NPD Group, Palm, T-Mobile USA
The FCC posted documents Monday approving the first cell phone based on Google‘s Android operating system for the U.S. Deutsche Telekom confirmed rumors that T-Mobile USA will roll out the first Android device with an HTC-manufactured handset dubbed Dream. infoSynch World (8/18) , The New York Times (8/18)
Palm as just released their much anticipated – and leaked – Treo Pro, a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional device with a touchscreen and UMTS/HSDPA GSM networking. The phone also includes G.P.S. and improved WiFi handling for better and easier WiFi hand-off. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/20/palm-releases-treo-pro 8/20)
Apple has released a software update that is meant to improve the performance of its new iPhone 3G, which has been the subject of numerous customer complaints related to everything from dropped calls to poor connectivity. An Apple spokeswoman declined to say exactly what part of the $199 device the update is designed to improve. The Boston Globe/Associated Press (8/19)
Even though consumers paid more for mobile phones in the second quarter — average selling price was up 14% year-over-year at $84 — sales of mobile devices in the U.S. dipped to 28 million units, according to The NPD Group. On the global front, however, growth is predicted to continue, with ABI Research estimating worldwide sales growth of 13% this year. Network World/IDG News Service (8/19) , CNET (8/19)
Business road warriors have driven wireless data card usage to record numbers over the past year in the U.S., according to Nielsen Mobile. More than 13 million PC users now connect to the internet using wireless cellular network cards, with 55% of these devices having been acquired in the past 12 months. (Cynopsis 8/20)
Cox Communications positioned itself as a major player in the wireless-phone market when President Patrick Esser announced at a conference that the cable provider was developing a mobile device that will integrate the company’s full suite of services and make its content and applications portable. Cox Wireless spent more than $304 million earlier this year in the government’s wireless-spectrum auction. PC Magazine (8/19)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, NPD Group, Playstation 3, Video game, Wii, Xbox 360
The NPD Group reports that video game sales for July were up 28%, with total sales for the year standing 35% above last year at nearly $9.5 billion. Nintendo sold 555,000 Wii consoles last month, moving more units than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 combined. Variety (8/14)
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