Maingear Shifts Into A New Gear

11/09/09 UNION, N.J.— Maingear last week introduced the Shift, a high-performance PC that the company is calling the everyday supercomputer. The Shift takes Maingear’s normal high-end production qualities to the next level and includes a new cooling system, advanced customer support and a three-year warranty, said company founder and president Wallace Santos. The bui..... ...Read More »

HES Outlines Battle Plans For Q4

11/09/09 Anaheim, Calif.— Home Entertainment Source (HES) is bracing for a bitterly competitive holiday season by planning aggressive dealer promotions before, during and after Black Friday. The spot promotions are designed to drive traffic into member stores, where the half-billion-dollar buying group’s A/V specialty dealers are adept at up-selling customers and attaching h..... ...Read More »

LG Taps UL To Confirm Ratings For CE, Majaps

11/09/09 ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J.— LG Electronics USA has enlisted UL Environment, a subsidiary of Underwriters Laboratories, to evaluate the manufacturer’s water- and energy-consumption claims for its major appliance and CE products. LG is the first CE/majap vendor to enroll in the lab’s Environmental Claims Validation program, which is designed to provide manufacturers..... ...Read More »

Asian CE Makers Offer Glimmers Of Hope

11/09/09 NEW YORK— Eight leading Asian consumer electronics manufacturers reported quarterly results in the past two weeks that showed, in varying degrees, glimmers of an economic recovery. Some manufacturers showed improved performance in the quarter while others readjusted their fiscal year forecast to reflect an improved outlook. Samsung had the most bullish repo..... ...Read More »

Best Buy, Sonic Solutions Team On CinemaNow Offering

11/09/09 MINNEAPOLIS— Best Buy and Sonic Solutions, owner of online entertainment content resource Roxio CinemaNow, have formed a partnership through which Best Buy will sell, market and promote Roxio CinemaNow video-streaming services in packages with broadband services and various connected devices. Still to be determined, said Ryan Pirozzi, Best Buy digital video director, is t..... ...Read More »

Walmart Holds Week-Long Sale On CE Products

11/09/09 BENTONVILLE, ARK.— Walmart is getting a head start on its holiday promotions with a week-long CE sales event that began on Saturday. The promotion is the first of several planned CE sales events leading up to the holidays, the retailer said. The first “rollback” sale features a 42-inch Sharp 1080p/120Hz LCD TV for $498, a $298 Hewlett-Packard notebook,..... ...Read More »

Distributors Expect Holiday Sales Growth

10/26/09 NEW YORK — Consumer demand, product availability, the possibility of deeper price cuts and which categories may drive economically battered consumers into retail stores are four issues on the minds of the industry as we enter the fourth quarter. TWICE contacted a panel of top CE distributors via email earlier this month and gathered their opinions on these issues for a vi..... ...Read More »

SMPTE Assures Smooth Path To Home 3-D TV

09/28/09 Universal City, Calif.— The Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers is crafting a set of standards that will help to ensure the many disparate approaches to 3-D high-definition video will soon be compatible with a wide range of next-generation TV displays. Speaking before a recent 3-D Entertainment Summit co-hosted by TWICE sister publication Variety, Peter Lu..... ...Read More »

Sony PS3 sales jump on price cut

09/24/09 By Franklin Paul NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sales of the PlayStation 3 video game console jumped in the weeks after a $100 price cut last month, and strong demand could lead to empty shelves at retail, a Sony Corp executive said on Wednesday. "We are up about 300 ...Read More »

Sony PS3 sales jump on price cut, exec says

09/24/09 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sales of the PlayStation 3 video game console jumped in the weeks after a $100 price cut last month, and strong demand could lead to empty s ...Read More »

THX Adds Blu-ray, 'Big Room’ Standards

09/21/09 ATLANTA— Professional and home-theater standards developer THX revealed at CEDIA Expo, held here earlier this month, that it has added a new set of performance criteria for Blu-ray Disc players. The first two Blu-ray Disc players to earn the THX stamp are Lexicon’s first Blu-ray Disc player (BD-30), which makes its debut at the show prior to shipping in November, an..... ...Read More »