TWICE News

• Clean Machine Service Available On Amazon
  
  By TWICE Staff, December 2, 2008
  Far Hills, N.J. — Clean Machine has made its PC Concierge subscription-based security service available at Amazon.com.
  
• MERA Offers Convention ‘Scholarships’
  
  By Amy Gilroy, December 2, 2008
  The Mobile Enhancement Retailers Association (MERA) will offer scholarships to help retailers attend the KnowledgeFest 2009 trade event.
  
• NAB, CBS Outernet Expand DTV Outreach
  
  By Greg Tarr, December 2, 2008
  New York — As the analog TV cutoff countdown clock races to the appointed Feb. 17, 2009 deadline date, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and partners have expanded their PSA's to out-of-home video network platforms.
  
• Microsoft: Xbox 360 Topped PS3 On Black Fri.
  
  By Greg Tarr, December 2, 2008
  Redmond, Wash. — Microsoft said Tuesday sales of its Xbox 360 video game console out sold Sony’s rival PlayStation3 three-to-one over the Black Friday sales weekend in the United States.
  
• Tweeter Shuts All Stores
  
  By Alan Wolf, December 2, 2008
  Canton, Mass. — Tweeter terminated its corporate staff yesterday afternoon and shuttered all of its remaining stores this morning, days before a planned weekend shutdown.
  
• Nokia Launches Touchscreen Smartphone
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, December 2, 2008
  New York — Nokia announced a first-half 2009 overseas launch of what it called its most powerful 3G cellphone to date, the N97 multimedia computer with touchscreen, hard QWERTY keyboard and 32GB of embedded memory.
  
• Sling Media Launches Sling.com Site
  
  By Greg Tarr, December 2, 2008
  Foster City, Calif. — EchoStar’s Sling Media officially launched its new Web site, Sling.com, offering a variety of Sling box features and socialization options for the Sling-user community.
  
• Sears: Q3 Net Loss, Lower Sales
  
  By Steve Smith, December 2, 2008
  Hoffman Estates, Ill. — Sears Holdings reported a net loss of $146 million, a $900 million drop in total revenues and a comp-store sales drop of 10.6 percent for its fiscal third quarter, ended Nov. 1
  
• Consumer Electronics Sales Surge On Black Friday
  
  By Alan Wolf, December 1, 2008
  Updated! New York — Consumer Electronic dealers largely stuck to plan the day after Thanksgiving and avoided the deep margin-drubbing discounting of years past.
  
• Alpine Reduces GPS Price
  
  By Amy Gilroy, December 1, 2008
  Torrance, Calif. — Alpine Electronics reduced the price of its PND-K3 portable GPS device with Bluetooth to $349 from a suggested retail of $550.
  
• PMA Pushes Photo Books
  
  By TWICE Staff, December 1, 2008
  Jackson, Mich. — PMA has launched a Web site designed to educate consumers about photo books.
  
• Sharp Decks Grand Central With Aquos Cheer
  
  By Greg Tarr, December 1, 2008
  New York — Sharp kicked off the holiday season Monday by unveiling “the Aquos Experience” display as part of the Kaleidoscope Light Show taking place in Grand Central Terminal, here.
  
• Good OS Intros Quick-Starting OS
  
  By Alan Wolf, December 1, 2008
  Paris — Good OS has announced “Cloud,” a new operating system that boots into a browser with Google, Yahoo! and Live in seconds, and optionally boots into Windows, said the company.
  
• Black Friday Consumer Electronics Sales Brisk
  
  By Alan Wolf, December 1, 2008
  New York — Despite fears of a promotional free-for-all on Black Friday, CE dealers largely stuck to plan the day after Thanksgiving and avoided the deep margin-drubbing discounting of past years.
  
• LG Blu-ray Player To Get Netflix HD Upgrade
  
  By Greg Tarr, December 1, 2008
  Englewood Cliffs, N.J. — LG Electronics said its LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc player will receive an upgrade to the Netflix high-definition instant-streaming capability in early December.
  
• Nikon Intros D3X d-SLR
  
  By TWICE Staff, December 1, 2008
  Melville, N.Y. — Nikon said it would ship a successor to its high-end D3 d-SLR — the D3X — to dealers in December.
  
• New Bluetooth Kits Debut With Speech Capability
  
  By Amy Gilroy, December 1, 2008
  New York — High-tech speech recognition, expected to become a hot feature in mobile electronics, is now offered on Bluetooth kits from Parrot and Funkwerk Americas.
  
• Survey: Internet Radio Listenership Gaining
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, December 1, 2008
  Somerville, N.J. — Internet radio listening is gaining in popularity, increasing the market potential for home audio products incorporating Internet radio streaming, an Edison Media Research study implies.
  
• Step-Up Phones Hit The Market
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, December 1, 2008
  New York — Wireless carriers and handset vendors are testing consumers’ appetite for step-up products during the current economic slowdown with the launch of multiple new smartphones, touchscreen phones and TV phones.
  
• Eclipse Intros All-Digital Car Video
  
  By Amy Gilroy, December 1, 2008
  Eclipse will introduce at International CES a new top-of-the-line A/V-navigation unit with a digital screen that can process the signal for digital media without analog circuitry for a clearer picture. The AVN726E, however, does not offer HDTV reception. The unit is also one of the first car radios to offer iTunes tagging on HD Radio (joining models from Dual and Alpi...