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NPD: HD Disc Launch Slower Than Expected

Among those who currently own HDTVs, 52 percent are familiar with the availability of high-definition DVD players, but only 11 percent expressed strong intentions to buy one in the next six months, according to a new survey from The NPD Group.

• Panasonic Offers Green Donation Promo
• Sony Ending ImageStation
• FHP To Halt PDP Production At 2nd Plant
• Canon Adds 2 REALiS LCoS Projectors

In response to Ultimate Electronics Entering White-Goods Business, George Whalin, retail consultant:

"In a recent visit to an Ultimate Electroics store in the Denver area, I was surprised by the limited selection of merchandise. Maybe appliances will help them fill the space in their stores but, it probably won't help them distinguish their stores from their larger competitors. After failing in their previous incarnation Ultimate has chosen to go after consumers with a 'we offer the lowest business model.' This will be very difficult to sustain with competitors like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and others better able to offer lower prices."

In response to: Wal-Mart Updates Tagline With Lifestyle-Conscious Message, Jon Osborne:

"Save Money, Live Better. Unless you work for us. Or you worked for another retailer we put out of business. Or a competitor who had to cut your hours so they could try to compete. Or a supplier who laid you off so that they could get cheap goods from China."

Reporter's Notebook: Joseph Palenchar, Amar Bose's Half-Century Obsession

"I learned two things," Dr. Bose said. "Published specs did not reflect reality," and second, "If a product met the specs, the sound was not improved." Specifications, he would eventually conclude, "are not an indicator of performance" because "of the human element of what makes sound more accurate."

Reporter's Notebook: Doug Olenick, Here Comes The Sun

Solar-power for your computer is here.

Granted, this contraption from the Advanced Energy Group, the Solar PowerPACII, weighs 86 pounds and needs to be wheeled around on a handcart, but the concept seems to be proven enough so that Dell, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard are reselling these devices. And to those who say the device is impractical, I just want everyone to remember how big cellphones and their batteries were in the early 1990s and then compare it to what is now clipped to your belt.