Protag launched a tracking device called the Duet that allows users to keep track of their belongings using Bluetooth low energy. Users download the Protag app from the Google Play or Apple stores, create an account, pair the Duet with a smartphone and attach the Duet to an item such as a wallet, keys or purse, the company said Wednesday. Once the Duet is separated from the paired phone by more than 33 feet, its alarm goes off and an alert is sent to the phone, notifying the user that the belonging was left behind, the company said. The Protag app keeps track of up to 10 Duet-tagged items. The app remembers the last known GPS location for each Duet and enables users to view the location on a map, designate names for each Duet, associate a particular ring to each device and use radar for items that are harder to locate up to 100 feet away, the company said. Radar lets users know, within a 30-meter range, if they're getting nearer or farther from the Duet they are looking for, it said. Users can also locate a paired smartphone by pressing a button on a Duet, it said. Protag is taking pre-orders for the Duet, which will begin shipping at the end of October. Devices sell for $29.99 each; in two-packs for $56.99; four-packs for $112.99; and six-packs for $169.99, the company said.
Monster added on-ear models to its iSport series of wireless headphones. The iSport Freedom phones use AptX Bluetooth and provide phone call connectivity with up to 30 hours of music and talk on a single charge, the company said. Buttons were positioned on the ear cups to make operation of phone and music playback features simple and intuitive, the company said. Monster also supplied the Freedom with a 3.5mm ControlTalk Universal microphone cable for hardwired use with smartphones to give users the option of a wireless or wired connection, it said. The headphones are available at Best Buy and Target for $249, the company said.
The National Retail Federation forecasts that holiday selling season sales will jump 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion, higher than 2013’s actual 3.1 percent increase during that same time frame, the group said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1uwJRlv). The forecast includes retail sales in the months of November and December, excluding car, gas and restaurant sales, it said. Holiday sales on average have grown 2.9 percent annually over the past 10 years, including 2014’s estimates, and are expected to be about 19.2 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales of $3.2 trillion, NRF said. This would be the first time since 2011 that holiday sales jumped higher than 4 percent, it said. It gave no projected breakout of CE sales, but said electronics and appliance stores drew 22.5 percent of their total 2013 revenue from sales in November and December. Total tech spending during the holidays will increase 2.5 percent, up from 0.9 percent growth in 2013, to a record $33.76 billion for the season, CEA has said (CED Oct 7 p4). “While expectations for sales growth are upbeat, it goes without saying there still remains some uneasiness and anxiety among consumers when it comes to their purchase decisions,” NRF said. “The lagging economic recovery, though improving, is still top of mind for many Americans.”
The International Trade Commission voted to open an investigation into a complaint that Samsung smartphones and tablets and the Samsung and Qualcomm processors built into those devices infringe Nvidia patents, the ITC said Monday (http://1.usa.gov/ZPS8Wk). Nvidia filed the complaint Sept. 4, seeking an exclusion order and a cease and desist order, the commission said. The complaint named Samsung Electronics America and its Korean parent as respondents, along with Samsung Telecommunications America, of Richardson, Texas; Samsung Semiconductor, of San Jose; and Qualcomm. Samsung corporate declined comment Tuesday. The opening of the investigation “is just the next step in the ITC procedure,” Qualcomm spokeswoman Yelena Tebcherani said in a Tuesday email, without commenting on the merits of the Nvidia complaint.
DTS announced a worldwide strategic alliance with LG to incorporate the DTS-HD decoder in LG home entertainment products including 4K TVs, sound bars, AV receivers and digital media players. DTS emphasized support for streaming in its Tuesday announcement, saying the DTS-HD decoder was designed “from the ground up” to support streaming media and over-the-top content delivered in multiple profiles of the DTS-HD codec. It also said the decoder was designed to be compatible with disc-based media, including Blu-ray and DVD. The agreement marks a “significant expansion in delivering DTS’ premium audio to more LG products and more customers worldwide,” said Jea Yoo, president, DTS Korea. Yoo said DTS looks forward to “working together in bringing to market next-generation products.” The announcement didn’t reference DTS’s Play-Fi multiroom wireless audio technology. LG is part of the Qualcomm AllSeen Alliance whose AllPlay platform allows for interoperability with compatible products, including the Monster SoundStage wireless multiroom audio speakers that will begin shipping this month (see separate report in this issue). DTS didn’t immediately respond to questions.
With surveys showing that three out of four drivers believe hands-free technology is safe to use, “Americans may be surprised to learn that these popular new vehicle features may actually increase mental distraction,” the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1nc22fb). New research it commissioned suggests developers “can improve the safety of their products by making them less complicated, more accurate and generally easier to use,” it said. “While manufacturers continue their efforts to develop and refine systems that reduce distractions, AAA encourages drivers to minimize cognitive distraction by limiting the use of most voice-based technologies.” Using specialized equipment designed to measure reaction times, University of Utah researchers “evaluated and ranked common voice-activated interactions based on the level of cognitive distraction generated,” it said. The research team used a five-category rating system, similar to the scale used for ranking hurricanes’ strength, it said. It found the accuracy of voice recognition software “significantly influences the rate of distraction,” it said. Systems with low accuracy and reliability generated a high level (category 3) of distraction, it said. Composing text messages and emails using in-vehicle technologies (category 3) was more distracting than using these systems to listen to messages (category 2), it said. “The quality of the systems’ voice had no impact on distraction levels -- listening to a natural or synthetic voice both rated as a category 2 level of distraction."
Headphones, earbuds and tablets are expected to be the most popular CE devices consumers give during the upcoming holiday season, said CEA’s “21st Annual CE Holiday Purchase Patterns Study.” Twenty-seven percent of respondents planned to give headphones, followed closely at 26 percent each for earbuds and tablets, notebook computers at 25 percent, TVs at 24 percent and smartphones at 23 percent, said CEA, which predicts the 2014 holiday season will post the highest levels of CE spending since tracking began in 1994. Total tech spending during the holidays will increase 2.5 percent, up from 0.9 percent growth in 2013, to a record $33.76 billion for the season, CEA said. Consumers are “decidedly more optimistic about holiday spending on tech this year versus last year,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA senior director-research, citing a stronger macroeconomic environment leading consumers to show a “strong inclination to shop.” Expected growth in CE spending corresponds with projected growth in overall spending for the season, he said. Top tech wish list items are tablets, notebook PCs, TVs, smartphones and videogame consoles, CEA said. One in five consumers planned to buy a gift from emerging product categories including fitness devices (10 percent), smart home devices (9 percent) or a smart watch (8 percent), CEA said. For the first time, more than half of consumers are expected to buy CE products online this holiday season, up from 45 percent last year, although 77 percent of consumers said they're likely to buy tech gifts from a brick-and-mortar location, it said. Some 67 percent of consumers who plan to buy CE products are likely to use a mobile device to help them shop, CEA said. More consumers plan to shop early this year, but most will still wait to finish shopping later in the season, when they feel the best deals are available, CEA said. The study was done by telephone with 1,008 U.S. adults, Sept. 5-9, by Opinion Research Corp. The margin of sampling error at 95 percent confidence for aggregate results is +/- 3.1 percent, CEA said.
Hewlett-Packard plans to break into two separate publicly traded companies, splitting its PC and printer businesses from the enterprise segment, it said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/Z915ZF). Under the plan, HP President Meg Whitman will be CEO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, which will comprise servers, storage, networking, converged systems, services and software, along with the OpenStack Helion cloud platform. Dion Weisler will be president and CEO of HP Inc., overseeing the personal systems and printing businesses, it said. The split is expected to be final by the end of fiscal 2015 -- Oct. 30 2015, and current HP shareholders will own shares of both companies, said the release. HP Inc. will invest in growth markets including 3D printing and “new computing experiences,” HP said. Weisler called the announcement “a defining moment in our industry as customers are looking for innovation to enable workforces that are more mobile, connected and productive while at the same time allowing a seamless experience across work and play."
Lexar memory products were the Deal of the Day at Amazon Monday at discounts of up to 89 percent off the suggested retail price. The deeper discounts applied to USB flash drives including the 64 GB Lexar JumpDrive TwistTurn drive, down to $19 from $99, and the 32 GB version to $9 from $89. Prices for the JumpDrive S73 line were $8 (down from $39) for a 16 GB version, $11 (down from $79) for 32 GB and $21 (down from $149) for 64 GB. In microSD cards, prices ranged from $7 for 16 GB (down from $13) to $29 (down from $44) for 64 GB, we found. SD cards ranged from $9 for 16 GB to $24 for 64 GB, down from $15 and $56.
Conn’s is exploring “a full range of strategic alternatives” to increase shareholder value including a sale of the company, slowing the frequency of store openings and separating its retail and credit businesses, the retailer said Monday. In addition to CE, Conn’s shopping categories include home appliances and furniture and mattresses. It said operating performance has “improved significantly” over the past four fiscal years as a result of “expansion, consolidation and remodeling of the store base, improved assortment of furniture and mattresses,” along with increased penetration in appliances. While looking at alternatives, Conn’s is still on track with plans for new store openings and penetration of new geographic markets, said CEO Theodore Wright. Conn’s operates stores in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. In the most recent quarter, Conn’s had revenue of $288 million, compared with $224 million in the year-ago quarter, while net income fell to $17.6 million from $19.1 million. TV sales were up 16 percent on a same-store basis, while gaming hardware sales were up 500 percent and home theater sales up 37 percent, Conn’s said. Computer sales grew 56 percent, as tablet sales fell by 28 percent, it said.