TWICE News

• New DigiCams Focus On Speed Of Operation
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 23, 2004
  New York — As megapixel jockeying has receded, a bit, into background noise in digital camera marketing, other performance specs, notably battery life, LCD size and speed of operation have come to the fore. Three camera vendors made introductions last week, emphasizing just these specs.
  
• LG Execs Say Networks Key To Future
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, July 23, 2004
  Seoul, South Korea — Looking for market share gains in its multimedia, IT, appliance and mobile phone businesses, LG Electronics is moving to mold itself a new upscale image using digital innovation and networking across its broad product range.
  
• 1,000 Radio Stations To Offer HD Radio
  
  By Amy Gilroy, July 23, 2004
  San Antonio — Clear Channel Communications announced it will aggressively roll out HD Radio through 1,000 of its radio stations as part of an overall effort to upgrade technology throughout the radio stations.
  
• More HD Games Offered On Sunday Ticket
  
  By Greg Tarr, July 23, 2004
  El Segundo, Calif. — DirecTV announced it will offer five times the number of NFL games delivered in high-definition through its NFL Sunday Ticket package in the upcoming season.
  
• Best Buy Rolling Out Gateway PCs
  
  By Doug Olenick and Alan Wolf, July 23, 2004
  Poway, Calif. — Gateway released its much anticipated retail plan on July 22, which has the direct PC seller adding Best Buy as an outside retailer.
  
• New Vendors Hitting Retail VoIP Market
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 22, 2004
  New York — Following the successful retail penetration of VoIP start-up Vonage, several VoIP equipment and service providers are angling for shelf space with competitive offerings.
  
• HP To Ship Dual Format, Layer DVD Burner
  
  By Doug Olenick, July 22, 2004
  New York — Hewlett-Packard reported that it has solved the backward-compatibility issues with its first dual-format/dual layer DVD burner, and it will start shipping units by late July with a $99 suggested retail price.
  
• Canon Updates Printer, Scanner Lines
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 22, 2004
  Lake Success, N.Y. — Canon made sweeping updates to its photo printer and scanner line last week with three new scanners and four new printers.
  
• Sears Domestic Stores Segment Product Sales Slide
  
  By Jeff Malester, July 22, 2004
  Hoffman Estates, Ill. — Sears reported a decline in second-quarter U.S. store merchandise sales and services for its domestic segment, down to $7.7 billion from $7.9 billion last year, but the chain was encouraged by the performance of projection TV and digital camera sales.
  
• Office Depot Q2 N.A. Retail Segment Sales Rise 5%
  
  By Jeff Malester, July 22, 2004
  Delray Beach, Fla. — Office Depot said second quarter sales in this segment increased 5 percent, hitting $1.34 billion, up from $1.28 billion in the year-ago period, despite a drop in momentum in its North American retail division in June and July.
  
• Thomson Consumer Products Segment Sales Flat
  
  By Jeff Malester, July 22, 2004
  Paris — The consumer industry and consumer solutions business segment at Thomson recorded essentially flat revenue in the second quarter, compared to the second three months of 2003, coming in at about $1.3 billion.
  
• Sirius Q2 Subs Rise 37%; Sales Up, But Loss Widens
  
  By Jeff Malester, July 22, 2004
  New York — Satellite radio provider Sirius added 128,678 subscribers in the second quarter, hitting a total of 480,341, a 37 percent increase over the first quarter and more than triple the additions of the second quarter in 2003. During the three months, Sirius added 81,185 subscribers from the retail channel, also more than triple the number added in the second quarter of 2003.
  
• Sirius Launches 1st Branded Model
  
  By Amy Gilroy, July 21, 2004
  New York — Sirius announced today it will deliver the first Sirius branded plug-and-play product this fall.
  
• AT&T Launches W-CDMA Handsets
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, July 21, 2004
  Redmond, Wash. — AT&T Wireless launched commercial third-generation (3G) W-CDMA service in four markets in the 1.9MHz band and began selling a pair of hybrid W-CDMA/GSM phones from Motorola and Nokia at $299 each and a $149 Lucent/Novatel PC Card through its direct distribution channels, including AT&T-branded stores and enterprise sales.
  
• Scientific Atlanta Launches HD Promo Site
  
  By Greg Tarr, July 21, 2004
  Atlanta, Ga. — Scientific-Atlanta, the cable TV equipment manufacturing giant, announced it has launched an online “high-definition training camp” designed to help consumers prepare to experience upcoming high-profile sporting events, such as the Olympics, World Series and NFL games, in high definition.
  
• Golden Joins Hartford Computer Group
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 21, 2004
  Chicago — The Hartford Computer Group has tapped Former Polaroid and World Wide Licenses executive Stephen Golden to re-launch the Argus brand in digital cameras as the division’s marketing VP.
  
• THX Changes Staff, Expands Mission
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, July 21, 2004
  San Rafael, Calif. – THX made 10 key staff appointments in recent months as part of a strategic shift to expand its mission to include the development of key technologies, said president Joseph Lias.
  
• Panasonic Unveils Five New Lumix Cameras
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 21, 2004
  New York — Hailing it as “the most aggressive” digital camera launch in the company’s history, Panasonic introduced five new Lumix digital cameras, including three models with 12x optical zooms.
  
• Motorola Cell Segment Sales Increase 67%
  
  By Jeff Malester, July 21, 2004
  Schaumburg, Ill. — Success of Motorola’s new handsets lineup pole-vaulted the company’s second-quarter personal communications segment sales by 67 percent, climbing to $3.9 billion from $2.3 billion in the year-ago period.
  
• Whirlpool Q2 Sales Increase 9.2%
  
  By Jeff Malester, July 21, 2004
  Benton Harbor, Mich. — Ongoing strong momentum in Whirlpool’s North American business, as well as strong demand in all markets, helped the major appliance maker post a 9.2 percent increase in second quarter sales, hitting $3.3 billion, up from nearly $3 billion in the year-ago period.