The FCC National Broadband Plan will likely recommend proceedings on how to implement set-top boxes as broadband gateways, said several FCC and industry officials. Technical details of what the plan will recommend remain sparse and the broadband task force appears to still be deliberating on how to proceed once the full plan is made public next month. FCC officials also said spectrum plans are still being worked out.
TV makers are urging the EPA to clarify quickly whether they would be required, as part of the revised Energy Star specification, to let consumers know that activating the download acquisition mode (DAM) feature in the TV would increase the power consumed by the devices. The issue was raised on a conference call last week to discuss a DAM test procedure (GED Feb 12 p1) developed by Rovi Corp. DAM refers to the power used when the TV is downloading channel listing information for the electronic program guide when the device is “not producing a sound or picture."
LONDON -- It looks like the CE industry will have to live with the term “LED TV” to describe LCD TVs that use energy-efficient LEDs to illuminate the screen, instead of older cold-cathode fluorescent lighting. Samsung, the company that started the “LED TV” ball rolling, isn’t backing down despite official censure on its use in the U.K. (CED Aug 19 p1). And now, Toshiba’s latest TVs for Europe introduced here last week seem to add a new layer of confusion.
MUNICH -- The gloves came off and hard facts on Panasonic’s 3D plans and positions came out in briefings that followed the company’s announcement that it will ship its first 3D products in spring (CED Feb 17 p3). Those products will include a 50-inch plasma TV that ships in May, followed by a 65-inch set in July, and a Blu-ray 3D player whose delivery and price weren’t disclosed.
Online retailer Newegg engaged in “rampant” violations of California wage and hour laws and “blatantly illegal” hiring and firing practices that discriminate against non-Chinese employees, a former director of internal auditing at the company alleged in a new lawsuit.
The California Energy Commission declined to respond to criticism from the CE industry on a letter that CEC Chairman Karen Douglas wrote lawmakers in Washington state urging adoption of TV energy limits similar to California’s. “If it isn’t illegal, it certainly seems improper,” said one CE executive. Douglas said in the letter, a copy of which we obtained, that she “encourages Washington and other states to follow the lead of California,” because TV standards will “not only save energy and lower energy costs, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote grid reliability."
LAS VEGAS -- Disney’s only stereoscopic 3D games to date have been G-Force and Toy Story Mania, which used anaglyph red/blue glasses, but the company intends to support more advanced 3D technology like those that use active shutter glasses in future games, Graham Hopper, executive vice president and general manager of Disney Interactive Studios said at a news briefing during the Design Innovate Communicate Entertain (D.I.C.E.) Summit here Wednesday night. “3D is big for the Walt Disney Company in general, so we definitely will” be looking at the other types of 3D technology, he said.
Increased credit requirements for DirecTV subscribers helped bring down subscriber growth below company expectations in Q4 of 2009, the company said during a conference call Thursday. The company gained 119,000 subscribers in the quarter, down from 136,000 in Q3. Despite the slowed growth in subscriber additions, the company can rely on a higher quality of subscriber as it rolls out new products, like multi-room viewing, it said.
Google’s track record raises questions about how serious the company is about building a high-speed broadband testbed, NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow said on an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators scheduled to air this weekend. Google’s announcement of the testbed has the strong support of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. McSlarrow also cautioned that it’s difficult to predict how the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit will rule in Comcast v. FCC, argued in January.
RANCHO BERNARDO, Calif. -- The increase in 3D movies scheduled for release in theaters this year only to 20 from 17 in 2009 implies that the studios are cautious “about producing a film and having no place to play it,” Sony Pictures Technologies President Chris Cookson told reporters at Sony Electronics’ headquarters Tuesday.