TWICE News

• Bell’O Bows Mounts ‘For Dummies’
  
  By Colleen Bohen, March 15, 2007
  Morganville, N.J. — Bell’O International is launching a line of “For Dummies”-branded all-in-one flat-panel TV wall-mount kits, the result of a partnership with Wiley Publishing.
  
• Garmin Intros Lower-Priced Nuvis
  
  By Amy Gilroy, March 15, 2007
  Hannover, Germany — Garmin expanded its high-end nuvi line of portable GPS receivers, adding lower-cost and mid-priced models.
  
• Kodak Realigns Management
  
  By Greg Scoblete, March 15, 2007
  Rochester, N.Y. — Kodak will create a Chief Operating Office as it looks to push forward its latest realignment.
  
• Installer Poll Puts DirecTV On Top
  
  By Greg Tarr, March 15, 2007
  El Segundo, Calif. — DirecTV said it was voted the No. 1 multichannel video service provider among cable and satellite TV services in a recent poll of professional installers conducted by the Alliance Consulting Group.
  
• Samsung To Offer D/A TV Converter
  
  By Greg Tarr, March 14, 2007
  Ridgefield Park, N.J. — Samsung joined the ranks of manufacturers announcing plans to market digital-to-analog TV converters that will qualify for $40 coupons under rules adopted by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration this week.
  
• Russound Taps The Top, Adds Media Server
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, March 14, 2007
  Newmarket, N.H. —Russound will step farther up into the high end of the multiroom audio business with the summertime launch of its E Series, which includes a 12-source, eight-zone controller/amplifier and the company’s first A/V media server.
  
• DBL’s Chiarelli To Give Keynote At Monster Conference
  
  By TWICE Staff, March 14, 2007
  Scottsdale, Ariz. — Henry Chiarelli, DBL Distributing’s chief merchandising officer, is set to deliver the keynote address at Monster Cable’s annual International Distributor Conference in San Francisco on March 21.
  
• More Vendors Add Digital Frames As Market Balloons
  
  By Greg Scoblete, March 14, 2007
  Las Vegas — Befitting the explosive category growth of 2006, several digital frame manufacturers hit the PMA show, here, last week to debut more models.
  
• Thomson To Show Watermarking For STBs
  
  By Greg Tarr, March 14, 2007
  Burbank, Calif. — Thomson said it will introduce at the upcoming CEBIT 2007 and NAB 2007 shows a new forensic watermarking solution for set-top boxes (STBs), called NexGuard.
  
• HTSA Looks To More Categories To Expand Profits
  
  By Colleen Bohen, March 14, 2007
  Savannah, Ga. — Richard Glikes, executive director of the Home Theater Specialists Association (HTSA), pinpointed five categories, including furniture, control and automation, networking, audio and lighting, in which he sees significant profit potential for the group’s traditionally video-centric dealers.
  
• NPD: Illegal Downloads Outpacing Legal Downloads
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, March 14, 2007
  Port Washington, N.Y. — Legal music downloads are gaining in popularity, yet they were outnumbered by their illegal counterparts by a 10:1 margin in 2006, an NPD Group survey of consumers found.
  
• Vonage Intros Motorola Router, New Rates
  
  By Greg Scoblete, March 14, 2007
  Holmdel, N.J. — Vonage will offer a new Motorola router on its Web-site and slash international calling rates to several countries.
  
• Lenses Take Center Stage As D-SLR Momentum Builds
  
  By Greg Scoblete, March 14, 2007
  Las Vegas — Building out an assortment of optics for the burgeoning digital SLR market was the order of the day for Panasonic and Pentax at the Photo Marketing Association show.
  
• Monster’s Accessory Cables Beat AppleTV To Market
  
  by John Laposky, March 14, 2007
  Brisbane, Calif. — Monster has begun shipping a line of high-performance cables designed specifically for Apple TV, the forthcoming device that streams movies and other media to a TV from a Mac or PC.
  
• SanDisk Reveals 32GB SSD For Notebooks
  
  By Doug Olenick, March 14, 2007
  Milipitas, Calif. — San Disk has introduced a 32GB solid state drive (SSD) for the portable computer market as a replacement for a mainstream notebook’s traditional hard drive.
  
• Fast Flash Debuts At PMA
  
  By Greg Tarr, March 13, 2007
  Las Vegas — Flash-memory manufacturers felt the need for speed at the PMA show last week, debuting several high-capacity memory cards to keep pace with higher resolution, higher performance digicams.
  
• Panasonic Adds 3 Front PJTVs
  
  By Greg Tarr, March 13, 2007
  Secaucus, N.J. — Panasonic Projector Systems, a unit of Panasonic North America, will unveil three new LCD projectors at the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA) Expo in Orlando, Fla., on March 15.
  
• Velocity Micro Boosts Customer Care Effort
  
  By Doug Olenick, March 13, 2007
  Richmond, Va. — High-end PC maker Velocity Micro has introduced a new level of customer care modeled after the attention guests receive at an upscale hotel.
  
• GalleryPlayer Appoints Execs
  
  By Greg Tarr, March 13, 2007
  Seattle — GalleryPlayer, a developer of HD still image content for HDTV displays, made several key executive appointments, including the addition of Kevin Akeroyd as its new CEO and long-time industry veteran Marty Levine as business development and sales VP; Paul Brownlow was promoted to founder and chief technology officer.
  
• Deltathree To Offer VoIP Service For Panasonic Phone
  
  By Greg Scoblete, March 13, 2007
  Secaucus, N.J. — Panasonic will use deltathree’s new “joip” VoIP service for a line of VoIP phones.