TWICE News

• Theater Xtreme Plans New Franchise
  
  By Colleen Bohen, July 27, 2007
  Newark, Del. — Theater Xtreme has approved its first California franchise location in Roseville, Calif., for Cinema Works. It is expected to open in December.
  
• D&M Dips Into Red In Q1, Expects H1, Full-Year Profits
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, July 27, 2007
  Kawasaki, Japan — D&M Holdings dipped into the red in its first fiscal quarter ended June but stuck to earlier forecasts calling for first-half and full-year profits and full-year revenues approaching $1 billion.
  
• Toshiba Reports Q1 Profit Growth
  
  By TWICE Staff, July 27, 2007
  Tokyo — Toshiba reported a five-fold net profit growth in its first quarter (April-June period), resulting largely from semiconductors and special profits from the sale of real estate and a stake in a Japanese music-content venture to EMI Group.
  
• Denon Expands Networked Audio, Unveils Its First 2 Blu-ray Players
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, July 27, 2007
    UPDATE! Jersey City, N.J. — Denon announced a broad product launch here at a national dealer/rep show, where the D&M Holdings brand unveiled its first two Blu-ray Disc players, an expanded networked audio selection, and its first five A/V receivers that decode all standard and optional surround-sound formats approved for use on Blu-ray and HD DVD discs.
  
• Fujifilm Q1 Profits See Strong Growth
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 27, 2007
  Tokyo — Fujifilm saw net income in its first quarter, ended June 1, hit $343 million, up 751 percent from the year-ago quarter.
  
• Cobra Q2 Sales Flat, Losses Narrow
  
  By Amy Gilroy, July 27, 2007
  Chicago — Cobra Electronics reported essentially flat sales and a narrowing operating loss for the second quarter, ended June 30.
  
• Fujifilm Fall Digicams Feature 18x Zoom, Face Detection 2.0
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 27, 2007
  Valhalla, N.Y. – Fujifilm will ship five new digital cameras in September, debuting a new version of its face detection technology as well as the company’s first 12-megapixel camera and first model with an 18x optical zoom lens.
  
• TeleBlend Snaps Up SunRocket VoIP Access
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 27, 2007
  Oakland, Calif. — Broadband phone company TeleBlend has acquired “limited strategic assets” from now-defunct provider SunRocket.
  
• Office Depot Q2 N.A. Sales Up Slightly
  
  By Doug Olenick, July 27, 2007
  Delray Beach, Fla. — Office Depot second quarter North American retail sales were up 1 percent to $1.5 billion, but the retailer reported comp-store sales were down 5 percent.
  
• Digital Prints, Camera Unit Sales Up In May
  
  By Greg Scoblete, July 27, 2007
  Jackson, Mich. — The imaging industry continued to grow in both digital print volume and digital camera sales in May, according to the Photo Marketing Association and The NPD Group.
  
• Sony Profit Doubles In Q2, Despite TV, PS3 Struggles
  
  By John Laposky, July 27, 2007
  Tokyo — Sony cited solid sales of consumer electronics and the success of “Spiderman 3” as it reported a $551.5 million profit for its fiscal first quarter, more than double last year’s Q1 profit. Sales were up 13.3 percent to $16.4 billion
  
• 'Close Encounters' Of The Blu-ray Kind
  
  By Greg Tarr, July 26, 2007
  Culver City, Calif. - Steven Spielberg’s classic UFO adventure “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” will be released in a 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition in the Blu-ray Disc and DVD formats Nov. 13, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment said Thursday.
  
• The Gigabeat Goes On At Toshiba
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, July 26, 2007
  Irvine, Calif. — Toshiba’s gigabeats are back, but this time through the Toshiba group that markets portable computers, computer accessories, PocketPCs and business projectors.
  
• Toshiba Unveils 32GB USB Drive
  
  By TWICE Staff, July 26, 2007
  Irvine, Calif. — Toshiba will ship a 32GB USB flash drive to dealers by the end of the year.
  
• XM Salutes Panero, Offers Merger Optimism
  
  By Amy Gilroy, July 26, 2007
  Washington — XM CEO Hugh Panero offered reasons for his recently announced plans to leave the company in early August in an XM Satellite Radio earnings call today.
  
• Xbox HD DVD Gets Price Cut
  
  By Greg Tarr, July 26, 2007
  San Diego — Microsoft cut the price on its HD DVD add-on drive for the Xbox 360 video game console by $20, to $179, the company announced at the Comic-Con International 2007 show Wednesday.
  
• Logitech Debuts Comfort Wave Keyboards
  
  by Lisa Johnston, July 26, 2007
  Fremont, Calif. — Logitech today announced two keyboards that feature that company’s Comfort Wave design.
  
• Matsushita Posts Gains In Q1
  
  By TWICE Staff, July 26, 2007
  Osaka, Japan — Matsushita Electric Industrial saw global consolidated group sales of $18.21 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, ended June 30, an 8 percent increase from the same period the previous year.
  
• XM Net Subs Down, Net Loss Narrows
  
  By Amy Gilroy, July 26, 2007
  Washington — XM Satellite Radio announced a narrower net loss and higher revenue for the second quarter, citing record gains in automotive subscribers.
  
• Sony Software Ships
  
  By Doug Olenick, July 26, 2007
  New York — Sony Creative Software has started shipping four new versions of its audio/video editing and music creation software.