ZENS added the PuK wireless charger, a Qi-based inductive charger designed to be built into furniture for living and working environments. Applications include desks, counters and bedside tables for use in offices, hotels, restaurants, kitchens and homes worldwide, the company said. Installations can be built-on or built-in to existing or new furniture, the company said. The ZENS PuK has seven induction coils that continually detect a device’s signal so that a charging phone doesn’t have to be placed in a precise location but can be “freely positioned,” ZENS said. Foreign Object Detection software automatically shuts down the charging process if metal comes between the Qi phone and the charger, ZENS said, preventing objects from absorbing energy from the wireless power supply field and creating a heat hazard.

Home Depot is investigating a possible breach exposing customer credit card information, it confirmed to us after security reporter Brian Krebs initially reported Tuesday that a batch of stolen credit cards for sale might be linked back to Home Depot (http://bit.ly/1qlYRAZ). “I can confirm we are looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate,” a Home Depot spokeswoman said. “If we confirm that a breach has occurred, we will make sure customers are notified immediately.” Krebs reported those behind the allegedly stolen credit card info, which went up for sale Tuesday morning, might be the same group that was responsible for the data breach at Target (CED Dec 23 p1). Home Depot operates about 2,200 stores in the U.S., according to its Securities and Exchange Commission filings (http://bit.ly/1pFr1HZ).

Lenovo is using this week’s IFA show in Berlin to introduce the TAB S8, its first 8-inch Intel-powered Android tablet, the company said in a webinar briefing last week. The tablet features an Intel Atom Quad-Core 1.83-GHz processor, in-plane-switching LCD infinity screen (1920 x 1200) and dual front-facing speakers with Dolby audio, the company said. At 0.31 inches thick and weighing 10.5 ounces, the TAB S8 is “super-thin and super-light,” said Andrew Barrow, Lenovo director-worldwide consumer product marketing. Its infinity glass “gives you a very clear view of the screen and the actual images you're looking at,” Barrow said. The display also has “a very wide viewing angle,” and a “super-slim bezel gives you the maximum picture it can for the size of the device,” he said. Lenovo has used infinity glass screens on its laptops to “eliminate gaudy frames surrounding your actual display area by stretching the display area to the very edge” of the frame, the company said in a “glossary of terms” on its website (http://lnv.gy/1qNUcaQ). “Multiple colors” and “a range of options” will accompany the TAB S8, which starts shipping this month at $199, he said. Lenovo remains the world’s biggest PC supplier, and has outperformed the PC industry “21 quarters in a row,” said Ray Gorman, Lenovo executive director-external communications. “Even in a tough market, we've grown our market share to 19.4 percent worldwide, and 12.5 percent in North America.” PCs “are still our core,” though “more and more we're becoming a competitor in the tablet and growing smartphone space,” Gorman said. “We now sell more smartphones and tablets than we do PCs.” Last quarter, Lenovo became the world’s third-biggest tablet supplier, “and we're currently the world’s fourth-largest smartphone supplier,” he said. “Just last quarter, we became the number one smartphone company in China for the first time ever, and we're shifting our focus beyond China to other markets.” Of Lenovo’s pending acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google for $2.91 billion (CED Jan 31 p3), “this deal will make us the number three global smartphone provider,” Gorman said. “We're on track to close this deal, and we're excited to bring Motorola-branded products to new markets going forward.”

Samsung will use this week’s IFA show in Berlin to showcase the world’s first soundbar to match the curvature of its 55- and 65-inch curved TVs, the company said Monday. The soundbar can easily be installed under the TV, replacing the TV stand, without the need to drill separate holes into the wall, it said. It’s crafted with a brushed aluminum finish that complements that of the Samsung curved TVs and has “8.1-channel support,” it said. Its “amped-up mid- and low-range capabilities” make for better sound quality and minimal distortion, it said. The soundbar can be controlled through Samsung TV remotes and by connecting the soundbar to the Samsung TV wirelessly via the “TV SoundConnect” function on the TV, it said. Pricing and availability weren’t disclosed.

The FCC should grant cable operators that use TiVo set-top boxes a waiver of the requirement that they must include “an industry-standard, interactive, and recordable home networking interface,” the company said in a waiver petition (http://bit.ly/1vJGlFR) posted Tuesday in docket 97-80. TiVo had successfully sought an extension for the deadline for set-tops to fulfill that requirement because the Digital Living Network Alliance had not released industry standards for the boxes on time (CED April 7 p8). “TiVo could not anticipate the precise outcomes of the DLNA process or the timing and content of published specifications, and had to develop its own home networking solution in order to maintain its role in providing innovative solutions to retail consumers,” TiVo’s petition said. If TiVo has to change its technology to fit the DLNA standard, it could “hinder TiVo’s ability to compete on both a retail and a wholesale level,” the company said. If the FCC takes the position that the home networking requirement was invalidated by the EchoStar decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, TiVo said, its petition would be moot.

Fitbit is the early leader in the adoption statistics for digital fitness trackers, with nearly 40 percent of the market, Parks Associates said Friday. Parks canvassed 5,000 U.S. broadband homes during Q2 and found Fitbit adoption was far ahead of its closest competitors Samsung (14 percent), Nike+ Sensor (14 percent) and Nike Fuelband (8 percent). “Slightly more than 6 percent of U.S. broadband households have a digital pedometer or fitness tracker, so this market is still in the early stages of adoption,” Parks said. “Fitbit’s early success highlights several key factors for success in this market, including fashionable design, integration with mobile devices, and a variety of model options."

IDC downgraded its worldwide forecast for tablets and 2-in-1 mobile devices after a second consecutive quarter of “softer-than-expected demand” (http://bit.ly/1B0NmlW). The forecast is now for a growth rate of 6.5 percent to 233.1 million shipments, nearly half the 12.1 percent growth rate previously predicted, it said Friday. While tablet growth in mature markets including North America and Western Europe will be flat this year, “a good appetite” remains for tablets in other markets, where a 12 percent growth rate is forecast, said analyst Jean Philippe Bouchard. Average selling prices (ASPs) are expected to stabilize at $373 in mature markets this year due to a shift to larger screen sizes and cellular-enabled tablets, while ASPs in the rest of the world are forecast to decline 10 percent to $302. As an example of evolving tablet usage, IDC cited a built-in option of voice calling over cellular networks in tablets for the Asia-Pacific market (excluding Japan) that drove 25 percent growth in Q2. The trend, IDC said, suggests that users in that region are looking for a single device that handles voice communication and media consumption needs. “For some that single device is a tablet and not a smartphone,” IDC said. The rest of the world is expected to account for the majority of tablet shipments in coming years, said analyst Jitesh Ubrani, but medium- to large-sized tablets in North America and Western Europe will “still produce significant revenues,” he said.

The White House plans to nominate Danny Marti as U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator were generally welcomed in statements issued Thursday and Friday after the announcement. Marti is managing partner of the Kilpatrick Townsend firm, it said. “We ... hope for speedy confirmation,” said Mitch Glazier, RIAA senior executive vice president, in a statement Thursday. “We ... urge Congress to move quickly to confirm his nomination to this important position,” said Kim Harris, NBCUniversal general counsel. “Danny’s impressive record of commitment to enforcing IP rights in the Internet age makes him a particularly strong choice,” said MPAA CEO Chris Dodd (http://bit.ly/1zRsPxO). NCTA looks forward to working with Marti, it said (http://bit.ly/Z0k3lS). So does the Information Technology Industry Council, said CEO Dean Garfield (http://bit.ly/VVr0lY).

CEDIA will observe its 25th anniversary at its September Expo in Denver. The association plans an anniversary celebration as part of the Expo, giving special recognition to founding members, it said. CEDIA has grown “from just a small group of 50 visionaries to more than 3,500 professional member companies, representing 22,000 professionals,” said Don Gilpin, executive director.

Integra will use third-party ceiling-mounted speakers for the height channels and Cabasse speakers for the conventional surround channels in its Dolby Atmos demonstration at the upcoming CEDIA Expo in Denver, Paul Wasek, national marketing and product planning manager at Onkyo USA, told Consumer Electronics Daily. Integra began distributing and marketing the French manufacturer’s speakers in the U.S. earlier this year. Integra will also show its new 2014 Atmos-equipped AV receivers -- the DTR-50.6, DTR-60.6 and DTR-70.6 and the DHC-80.6 preamp/processor -- all THX-certified with support for HDMI 2.0, 4K/60Hz and HDCP 2.2 copy protection, the company said. The Integra lineup supports HDBaseT connectivity, which lets HDMI audio and video signals be transmitted via a single CAT 5e/6 cable over much longer distances than with conventional HDMI cables, Wasek said. The HDBaseT and HDMI output ports in the new Integra models can be assigned for either main or second zone configuration, the company said. The Integra DHC-80.6 AV preamp processor and DTR-70.6 and DTR-60.6 AV receivers will be available in October at suggested retail prices of $3,200, $2,800 and $2,300, while the DTR-50.6 is currently shipping at $1,700, it said.