Bose Thursday took the wraps off a wireless portable audio speaker system designed to work with smartphones and tablets. A company spokesman cited the 2 billion iTunes songs downloaded worldwide last year and the 400 million smartphones, tablets and laptops sold as potential pairing partners for the speakers, which operate over Bluetooth in a 30-foot range. He also noted the range of Internet radio streaming services available on portable devices. “People have all this content on their portable devices,” a spokesman said, “but they need something else to be able to share it."
Polk Audio became the latest company to join the headphone fray Tuesday evening when it launched a line of sports headphones. The line of four sports models is the beginning of a major push into the general headphone category, CEO Jim Minarik said. “More people listen to music through headphones than any other way,” he told us, saying the 30-year-old company “needs to be in this space.” Within 5-7 years, Polk’s headphone business will be as big as its loudspeaker business, Minarik said.
IDC raised its forecast for worldwide e-reader and tablet sales for second half 2011 after Q2 performance passed expectations by 9 million units. Worldwide media tablet shipments rose by 88.9 percent sequentially in Q2 and 303.8 percent year over year, to 13.6 million units, IDC said. For the year, IDC now expects 62.5 million units to ship, up from a previous forecast of 53.5 million units, it said.
IDC raised its forecast for worldwide e-reader and tablet sales for second half 2011 after Q2 performance passed expectations by 9 million units. Worldwide media tablet shipments rose by 88.9 percent sequentially in Q2 and 303.8 percent year over year, to 13.6 million units, IDC said. For the year, IDC now expects 62.5 million units to ship, up from a previous forecast of 53.5 million units, it said.
Panasonic’s email to Club Panasonic members Monday touting sale prices that were below minimum advertised prices from several of its retailers for four Viera TVs (CED Sept 12 p4) contained erroneous information, said Judah Zeigler, director of commerce for Panasonic. Zeigler told Consumer Electronics Daily: “Unfortunately, the email that was sent to our Club Panasonic members contained incorrect pricing information.” Panasonic planned to correct the pricing Tuesday in “another email to our Club Panasonic members about this error,” he said. Zeigler said the error occurred “when the email was being coded for transmission to our members.” The actual prices on the four models listed in the email “are higher than the prices that were shown, and Panasonic sincerely apologizes,” he said. Zeigler said Club Panasonic members “always enjoy exclusive offers not made available to the general public.” In compliance with Panasonic’s Minimum Advertised Price Policy, “the only way for Club Panasonic members to see these prices is to be logged in to the Club Panasonic store and to place the item in their shopping cart,” he said. “Without doing this, a Club Panasonic member will instead of a price see the message ’see price in cart,'” he said. Shoppers can always remove the item from the cart, he added. “This is not to say that the prices that were in the email were correct,” he added. “They were not, and the prices that are being offered to Club Panasonic members are higher than those that were shown,” he said. The growth of Panasonic’s e-commerce business is an “important component of Panasonic’s overall market strategy,” Zeigler said. “However, Panasonic is committed to achieving this growth in a manner that is complementary to our authorized channel partners, and therefore we are committed to consistent and complete compliance with the Panasonic MAP policy,” he said. Some prices shown in the original email to members were roughly 10 percent lower than prices for the same products at high-volume retailers, we found. Although the email information was wrong, the website prices were always correct, so no customers could order at the erroneous bargain prices.
MAHWAH, N.J. -- Denon will begin selling direct to consumers via its website in early October, Jim Caudill, CEO of D&M Holdings, told Consumer Electronics Daily at D&M’s headquarters Tuesday where the company held press briefings about its recent organizational changes. The move is in response to changes in the way consumers shop for electronics, Caudill said, and mirrors a direct-to-consumer website that sister brand Boston Acoustics has in place for its speaker line.
Panasonic sent an email to Club Panasonic members Monday, extending a sale offering up to 40 percent off select Viera TVs -- including a 3D plasma model and LED-based LCD TV -- until Saturday. Included is the 60-inch ST30 model, cut by $1,260 to $1,340, with two pairs of 3D glasses thrown in. The 50-inch GT30 plasma was sliced to $1,105, a $795 discount, the email said, and the 50-inch S30 plasma TV was chopped from $1,099 to $634, it said. A 42-inch LED-based LCD E3 TV is $557, down from $950, Panasonic said. Club Panasonic is a free service consumers can sign up for to receive news on products and special offers. The sale prices came in under promotional prices of Panasonic dealer websites we viewed. Amazon’s and B&H Photo’s price for the 60-inch ST30 was $1,506, compared with Club Panasonic’s $1,340. B&H ran its price, after requiring consumers to add the TV to their shopping cart and log in, with the disclaimer: “This Item has a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) restriction set by the Manufacturer/Distributor that limits how we can display our selling price. The price above is our actual selling price.” Panasonic’s $1,104 price for the 50-inch GT30 undercuts the $1,199 price posted at Best Buy, Sears, Buy.com and Crutchfield. Club Panasonic is selling the 50-inch S30 for $634, compared with Abt Electronics’ $797 price, and Best Buy has the 42-inch Viera E3 LED TV at $699, compared with Panasonic’s $557.
Trying to make the still-novel concept of remote monitoring more attractive to custom installers, cloud-based monitoring company ihiji launched at CEDIA what it bills as the industry’s lowest cost remote appliance. The $200 INV-APP-500 enables integrators to “further reduce remote servicing costs while simultaneously increasing system reliability, earning recurring revenue and maximizing operating efficiencies,” it said. Monthly monitoring costs start at $120, allowing dealers to offer a combined first-year hardware/software package for $320, which, the company said, a dealer can recoup by “avoiding just one truck roll."
INDIANAPOLIS -- The HDBaseT Alliance announced the release of the Power Over HDBaseT (POH) Addendum to the HDBaseT 1.0 spec at CEDIA and demonstrated working prototypes of the technology at its booth on the show floor. Prototypes incorporating the power capability included a Sony DA6400ES AV receiver, specially outfitted with an HDBaseT connector, said Dana Zelitzki, head of business development for the alliance.
ESPN will begin airing Monday Night Football in 3D beginning in 2014, a company spokesman confirmed Wednesday, following the announcement of ESPN’s eight-year contract extension with the NFL, which includes 3D distribution rights. The multiplatform agreement also includes expanded NFL studio programming (beginning this week), highlight rights for TV and ESPN.com, the Pro Bowl, the NFL Draft, 3D rights, and enhanced international rights, ESPN said. The package of NFL rights supports ESPN’s “best available screen” strategy with NFL programs on TV, online and on mobile devices via authentication and digital rights, ESPN said. Rights also include simulcast network coverage of ESPN’s MNF and NFL studio programs on tablets through ESPN’s WatchESPN App, ESPN said. The agreement is international as well, including Super Bowl rights, for 30 million households in 144 countries including Brazil, the Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Israel, Australia-New Zealand and Europe, ESPN said.