TWICE News

• E-tail Gaming Sales Grew 159% In Q2
  
  By Alan Wolf, August 3, 2007
  Reston, Va. – Video gaming was the fastest-growing category within the online retail channel during the second quarter of 2007.
  
• Maxell Resumes X Game Sponsorship
  
  By John Laposky, August 3, 2007
  Fair Lawn, N.J. — Maxell Corporation of America for the second consecutive year is sponsoring ESPN’s X Games 13 in Los Angeles, Calif., which began yesterday.
  
• Toshiba To Launch 3rd Gen HD DVD Players
  
  By Greg Tarr, August 3, 2007
  Wayne, N.J. – Toshiba will launch in October a third generation line of HD DVD players, consisting of three models with retails running from $299 to $499.
  
• Electronics Expo To Open Seventh Store
  
  By Alan Wolf, August 3, 2007
  Union, N.J. — Electronics Expo, the New Jersey specialty A/V chain, will open its seventh store during the fourth quarter.
  
• Spiderman Coming To Blu-ray
  
  By Greg Tarr, August 3, 2007
  Culver City, Calif. – “Spider-Man 3” will swoop into retail stores in multiple DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions starting Oct. 30, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment said Friday.
  
• Iogear Ships 4-Port HDMI Switch
  
  By John Laposky, August 3, 2007
  Irvine, Calif – Iogear has expanded its line of HDMI offerings, adding the 4-Port Automatic HDMI Switch.
  
• Key Digital Debuts Red Iguana HDMI Brand
  
  By John Laposky, August 3, 2007
  Mount Vernon. N.Y. — Key Digital Systems has introduced its Red Iguana line of HDMI 1.3 cables.
  
• AQUOS Sports Promos Expanded
  
  By Greg Tarr, August 3, 2007
  San Bernardino County, Calif. — Sharp and 3M continue to expand their sports-related promotional activities behind Aquos LCD TVs by inking a title sponsorship with California Speedway for the Fall NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Race.
  
• Bowers & Wilkins' Zeppelin Docks, iPod Sound Explodes
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, August 3, 2007
  Worthing, U.K. – High-end speaker maker Bowers & Wilkins unveiled its first iPod speaker system/dock, which borrows design elements from the company’s high-end speakers to deliver what the company called “audiophile-grade” quality.
  
• Sony Issues Digital Camera Recall
  
  By Greg Scoblete, August 2, 2007
  San Diego - Sony announced a worldwide recall on the Cyber-shot T5 today.
  
• 8x8 Posts First Profitable Quarter
  
  By Greg Scoblete, August 2, 2007
  Santa Clara, Calif. – VoIP provider 8x8 said today that it enjoyed its first positive quarter since launching is Packet8 service in 2002.
  
• Solo Shows New Shock-Absorbing Rolling Bags
  
  By John Laposky, August 2, 2007
  Hauppauge, N.Y. — Solo will begin shipping the first two models in a line of rolling notebook computer cases with a new shock-absorbing technology.
  
• Analyst Hears No DRM Death Knell
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, August 2, 2007
  Scottsdale, Ariz. — Apple, MusicGiants, and eMusic are offering downloads of select songs free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions, but don’t expect DRM to die or simply fade away, contends market research company In-Stat.
  
• Verbatim Intros Mini Blu-ray Discs
  
  By John Laposky, August 2, 2007
  New York — Verbatim and Imation announced the shipping of the first wave of Mini Blu-ray recordable/rewriteable (BD-R/RE) media to reach the consumer market.
  
• Kodak Posts Q2 Sales Loss
  
  By Greg Scoblete, August 2, 2007
  Rochester, N.Y. — Kodak reported a second-quarter sales loss of $173 million.
  
• Study: DVRs Are A Cable Weapon
  
  By Greg Tarr, August 2, 2007
  Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. — DVRs installed into cable-served TV households (TVHHs) recently grew beyond the number of those in satellite-served homes, according to a new study released by market research firm, The Carmel Group.
  
• PNY Intros 4-In-1 SD Bundle
  
  By TWICE Staff, August 2, 2007
  Parsippany, N.J.— Flash-memory vendor PNY said it would ship a four-in-one flash-memory bundle aimed at SD card devices this month.
  
• Almo, Warrantech Bow Warranty Program
  
  By Colleen Bohen, August 2, 2007
  Philadelphia — Almo is offering RepairMaster Warranty plans to its dealers via a new partnership with Warrantech.
  
• Hitachi Debuts First Blu-ray Camcorder
  
  By Greg Scoblete, August 2, 2007
    San Diego. — Making good on a pledge made last year, Hitachi introduced the first camcorder capable of recording directly to Blu-ray discs.
  
• Q2 LCD Grows As Plasma Slows
  
  By Greg Tarr, August 2, 2007
  Austin, Texas — The NPD Group’s DisplaySearch company said worldwide LCD TV panel shipments rose a record 32 percent quarter-to-quarter and 65 percent year-to-year to 19.6 million panels in the second quarter of 2007.