Reporters Notebook
TWICE reporters give you a deeper look into their areas of expertise.
Shack, Rattle and Roll
Retail has been rumbling all month long on rumors of a RadioShack buyout and Blockbuster going bust. Actually, the video-rental chain’s insolvency is more than mere speculation. As TWICE previously reported, Blockbuster concedes in its latest 10-K that Chapter 11 is likely, due to competition from other DVD and digital delivery services. Indeed, as The Motley Fool points out, the word ...... Read More
Comments (0)Super Bowl CE Commercials Review
By now I’m pretty sure everyone has hit YouTube to take another look at their favorite Super Bowl commercials from last night. But for the millions, or thousands or half a dozen people, who are interested in just the spots featuring CE products, I put together a short list for your viewing pleasure along with some commentary. You can click on the links below or see them in the video module ...... Read More
Comments (0)Popcorn Makers And Blu-ray Players
ShopRite has begun selling consumer electronics through its own online store, as evidenced by an email offer I received this morning from them. The site, www.shopritedelivers.com, has a fairly diverse selection of CE, including Canon digital cameras, Apple iPods, Garmin and TomTom GPS systems, Nintendo’s DSi, and even a Memorex Blu-ray player. It looks like the site is managed by a company ...... Read More
Comments (0)CE Could Suffer From Scuttling NASA Missions
According to reports from newspapers out of Florida this week, President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget, which will be submitted to Congress on Monday, will propose abandoning NASA’s program to return U.S. astronauts to the moon by the end of the decade, as established under Project Constellation. Other NASA observers have speculated that Obama’s plan is not to scuttle the country ...... Read More
Comments (0)Apples and Obamas
President Obama is Making a Huge Mistake. No, I’m not talking about healthcare reform or Afghanistan. The president should have given Steve Jobs over at Apple a call and arranged to have Apple’s latest product, the iSlate, iTablet or iWhatever, announced during tonight’s State of the Union Address. Apple will announce its newest device at a press conference this afternoon, whi ...... Read More
Comments (1)Cellphone Makers Play Hardball
Wonder what might be behind the spate of patent-infringement complaints lodged by cellphone makers before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)? The patent-infringement allegations might indeed have merit, but the complaining companies might be more willing to take their case to the federal government nowadays to take advantage of either 1. rising protectionist sentiment by lawmakers or 2. ...... Read More
Comments (0)Texting Finds Higher Cause In Haiti
This month texting has been elevated from a tween obsession to a life-saving service. According to the State Department, the campaign that allows mobile phone users to donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting “Haiti” to 90999 has surpassed $25 million, making it the largest mobile donation effort to date. While we all support 3D TV and other exciting entertainment technologies, it ...... Read More
Comments (0)Now Lady Gaga Knows What We Go Through Every Year
The running joke around the TWICE Daily newsroom at CES was how Lady Gaga seemed to be everywhere at this year’s show. Monster Cable trotted her out to show their Gaga earbuds, and then Polaroid named her creative director for a new line of cameras. So how did Ms. Gaga enjoy her first CES? Well, according to Entertainment Weekly, she had to cancel her concert in Indiana on Thursday due to e ...... Read More
Comments (2)No 3D For Me
When I previewed the 3D TV demos at International CES, I had a hard time getting excited about the technology because I found the whole experience uncomfortable. My eyes had trouble focusing on the 3D images, and I always took the glasses off before the demo had completed. Since I have a host of vision problems, I assumed I was the only one. But according to an article by Rafe Needleman on CNN.com ...... Read More
Comments (3)Win $100,000 at CES!
Victorinox Swiss Army will be running a contest at International CES that challenges attendees to break into or bypass its data encryption and fingerprint-authentication technology. The technology is present on the company’s Presentation Master and Secure USB flash drives, and the first person to successfully break the technology will win $100,000. From the company: “The Victorinox C ...... Read More
Comments (0)Ghosts Of Trade Shows Past
I have attended about 130 trade shows and association gatherings over the years, not including events hosted by suppliers for their dealers. During that time, I’ve seen Las Vegas transform itself from a shabby, sordid city into a gleaming, sordid metropolis, wondered why New Orleans never sent taxis to its convention center when a show closed for the day, and took many extended stays. I whe ...... Read More
Comments (0)The Price Was Right
A notable news item slipped through the cracks this week amid the healthcare reform fracas and pre-holiday hubbub. Sol Price, founder of Price Club and father of the wholesale club channel, died of natural causes on Monday at the age of 93. Bronx-born Price, son of a labor organizer and clothing factory owner, was a San Diego lawyer when he entered retail in 1954 with the creation of FedMart, a me ...... Read More
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