Democratic lawmakers at a hearing Thursday questioned DirecTV’s opposition to the FCC’s proposal for universal video gateway devices. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., wanted to know what it would take to assuage DirecTV’s concerns about the FCC’s plans. DirecTV is worried the FCC’s proposal would put it at a disadvantage against cable operators, because satellite TV services can’t rely on a two-way network to offer new services, testified Eric Shanks, the company’s executive vice president of entertainment. All its on-screen features must be built into the box, he said. DirecTV is also concerned that third-party devices could strip away the distributor’s services, he said.

The EPA signaled this week that it’s moving on a top-tier “Super Star” program that would recognize the top 5 percent of energy efficient products. As a first step, the agency wants to get “any existing data and information to best understand the marketplace and consumer preferences,” EPA said in a Monday letter to stakeholders.

Corning increased its forecast for 2010 world LCD TV sales to 177 million units, from 171 million units predicted earlier this year, because of strong consumer demand in China, Japan and the U.S., company officials said on an earnings call. Sales were 145 million units in 2009, the company said.

STANFORD, Calif. -- TV white spaces represent a great chance to develop all kinds of other opportunistic broadband uses of spectrum -- in other bands, licensed and unlicensed, and abroad, a Google executive said. The company is eager for the FCC to certify devices and allow the work to go ahead, Larry Alder, co-leader of Google’s alternative-access group, said late Tuesday.

The emergence of 3D TVs and increased sales of LED-backlit LCD models will help stabilize average selling prices (ASPs) this year as unit sales rise 6-8 percent, retail executives said Wednesday at the Barclays conference in New York.

The EcoDisc suffered another setback when a U.S. court dismissed the company’s antitrust suit against the DVD Forum and its licensing arm last week. It was the latest legal reverse for non-standard, half-thickness discs in the U.S. (CED Aug 20 p14). But, court documents showed there’s still an option for green discs that fall within DVD standards.

A suit filed Tuesday against Activision Blizzard and its Activision Publishing division in California Superior Court, Los Angeles, by a group of current and former employees at its Infinity Ward development studio who are seeking $75 million-$125 million in unpaid bonuses was “without merit,” the publisher said Wednesday.

The proliferation of electronic devices worldwide and the need to curb the energy they use is coming into focus in Congress. A bill introduced by Rep. Michael Honda, D-Calif., with backing from a Silicon Valley coalition called the Smart Electronics Initiative, would require the EPA and the Department of Energy to assess the “cost-effective integration of smart electronics technologies and capabilities in all products” being weighed for “potential designation” as Energy Star products.

Japanese government “eco-points” subsidies to buyers of green CE products there put Sharp’s bottom-line back in the black in fiscal 2009, compared with the red-ink recorded in the year-ago period. The subsidies coincided with Sharp’s introduction of LED-backlit LCD TVs, LED home-lighting, other low power-consumption products and boosted production of solar-energy panels for mobile devices and residential use, the company said Tuesday. Sales were better in Japan than elsewhere. “Though sales of Blu-ray Disc recorders and LCD TVs for the Japanese market were strong, sales of LCD TVs for overseas markets declined,” Sharp said.

As TV retail prices continue to fall, rent-to-own (RTO) chains are adding larger sizes of sets, cutting into the technology gap that once existed between rental and retail, Aaron Rents and Rent-a-Center (RAC) executives said on separate earnings calls. While RTO chains once typically lagged 18 months behind the introduction of new CE technology at retail, they're now getting quicker access to products driven by customer demand, the executives said.