Consumer Electronics Daily News

CSAV Implements Dealer Authorization Program

Chief/Sanus Audio Visual has launched a new Dealer Authorization Program to ensure that distributor sale of Sanus Systems product occurs only to authorized dealers and re-sellers.

CSAV will require its distribution partners to sign a contract indicating that they will sell Sanus products only to companies who meet customer service and marketing criteria set forth by CSAV. Unauthorized dealers will not be able to offer customers Sanus warranty support or service.

“The Dealer Authorization Program strives to ensure that our customers get world class support and service from our dealer network, and ultimately will also protect our distributors, full service dealers and the Sanus brand,” says Sanus Systems General Manager, Jim Wolford. “We need to guarantee that our end users are getting the highest-quality products from authorized dealers who can provide customer service, professional installation assistance and warranty service.”

Sanus Systems designs and builds a broad variety of audio video mounts, furnishings and accessories that will satisfy even the most demanding audio/video enthusiast or interior designer. Today Sanus offers more than 300 products, including home theater units, TV stands, audio racks, wall mounts and speaker supports. For more information about the new dealer program, visit www.sanus.com.

CEA Seeks More Input on Upgrade Friendly Cars

The Consumer Electronics Association' is again looking for input from aftermarket mobile electronics installers on the Top 10 Most Upgrade Friendly Vehicles for consumer electronics product installation.

Results from previous incarnations of the survey can be found online at http://spmembers.ce.org in the 2007 Aftermarket CE Vehicle Installation Report. Installers interested in taking part in the survey, which is used for research purposes only, are encouraged to contact CEA Market Research Analyst Jessice Boothe at 703-907-4343 or jboothe@ce.org.

Participants in the quarterly survey are eligible to win a $500 American Express give card, and can review up to five vehicles each quarter.

Apple Reports Notebook Battery Problems

Apple Inc. is acknowledging that reported problems with MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook batteries are indeed occuring and the company has released a software update to improve battery performance.

The computer maker reiterated Friday that the batteries are no a safety risk, but rather have been plagued with reports that affected batteries will not charge when the computer is plugged into an outlet.

"The factors causing the performance issues do not present a safety risk," the company said in a statement. "You may continue to use your current battery."

This battery update should be run on all MacBook and MacBook Pro computers and extra batteries that were purchased between February 2006 and April 2007. The company also plans to replace eligible batteries free of charge.

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Court Dismisses Garmin, TomTom Patent Suit

GPS maker Garmin Ltd., has been forced to halt its patent-infringement suit against rival TomTom NV, after a U.S. District Court judge in Wisconsin ruled that infringement had not occured.

The decision comes after a lengthy court battle between the to two manufacturers, which included a string of legal claims and counterclaims of patent infringement.

Judge Barbara Crabb said that Garmin could not pursue several of the remaining infringement claims against TomTom, and at the same time that latter company's patents had not be infringed by the former.

The dispute first arose more than a year ago when U.S.-based Gamin alleged that Netherlands-based TomTom was illegally using five navigation-related patents. That suit led to a counter by TomTom that Garmin was in fact the patent violator, infringing on three additional patents acquired by TomTom in early 2006.

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Entertainment Industry Debates DRM

The Digital Rights Management Conference wrapped up this week with a robust debate among leaders in the entertainment industry acknowledging the significant role digital rights management (DRM) technology in the distribution and use of digital entertainment, but looking to assuage challenges it presents and the most appropriate ways to use it to benefit consumers, artists and business equally.

The conference included a variety of differing opinions from a panel of industry insiders, entertainers and technology legal experts from international entertainment companies and organizations.

"Digital rights management technology is a classic disruptive technology as the media industry transforms from analog to digital," says Mitch Singer, Chief Technology Officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment. "It was originally used to prevent theft, but to stay that course is not an option. Rather, we need to move from DRM as a don't copy policy to DRM as a way to create more consumer choice and develop markets that are even better than free."

"We're seeing a bit of a revolution with technology because now the artist can be a copyright owner and negotiate their own distribution deals, and this is one of the great benefits of copyright law today," says Steven Page, singer and guitarist for the band Barenaked Ladies. "In the end, it is the marketplace that should drive what happens."

The issue of rights management is tangible as the growth of digital media coincides with a growth in copyright litigation. According to data from LexisNexis CourtLink, lawsuits filed over copyright infringement have gone up an average of 20 percent a year over the past five years and suits filed in California represent the largest component of that growth with 15 percent of all copyrights cases nationally filed in the state.

JBL Takes Top Honors at IASCA Spring Break

JBL's MS-8-equipped BMW 325i took top honors in the IASCA ISQC and MECA SQ Extreme classes and earned the MECA PHAT SQ award for highest sound quality score of the event at the 2007 Spring Break Nationals, held March 23-24.

The BMW's system, built by Harman Consumer Group's Gary Biggs, includes the JBL MS-8 OE-integration digital signal processor (DSP) connected to the BMW's I-Drive factory-installed head unit, a trunk full of JBL's Power Series amplifiers and a pair of JBL W12GTi woofers.

"This thing rocks," Biggs says. "The installation was almost too easy. I remember looking up after it was done and thinking to myself, Is that it? Plus, with less than an hour of tuning, the system had the highest sound quality scores in both IASCA and MECA."

The JBL MS-8 includes a display, a wireless remote control, a binaural microphone, a setup CD and an eight-channel amplifier/preamplifier that can be connected to any car's existing head unit via speaker- or line-level inputs. The DSP provides signal summing and conditioning that can reconstruct a flat full-bandwidth stereo signal if the radio does not provide one. At the heart of the MS-8 is a new and proprietary equalization algorithm that makes achieving contest-winning sound quality a snap.

JBL's MS-8 will be available in the fall of 2007 at authorized JBL Car Audio retailers worldwide.

For more information, visit www.harman.com.

PlayStation Guru Kuturagi Steps Down as Sony Games CEO

Ken Kuturagi, the creative force behind Sony's rise to dominance in the video game market, and creator of the PlayStation 1, 2 and 3 consoles, has announced plans to retire from his position as CEO of Sony's game division. He is being replaced by Kazuo Hirai, current President and group Chief Operating Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment.

“I am happy to graduate from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. after introducing four platforms to the PlayStation family,” Kutaragi said in a statement. “It has been an exciting experience to change the world of computer entertainment by marrying cutting edge technologies with creative minds from all over the world. I'm looking forward to building on this vision in my next endeavors.”

While Sony executives have spent the day praising Kuturagi for his genius in the video game market, the move is a reaction to the less-than-stellar early performance of the PS3, which debuted last November. While Sony dominated the last generation of video game consoles with its PlayStation 2, the newer incarnation of the console has been criticized for its high price and sales have lagged far behind rival Nintendo, which launched the Wii console at the same time last year.

Kuturagi is seen as the driving force behind the PS3's powerful technology package, which includes a Blu-ray player and cutting-edge Cell processor unit. Technology stumbles pushed the release of the PS3 back by nearly a year, giving the rival Microsoft Xbox 360 a 12-month head-start to market.

Kuturagi will stay on at Sony as Senior Technology Adviser for the gaming unit, and likely still have a significant impact on the development of future incarnations of the PlayStation.

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Configurable Auto Displays Grow More Popular With Automakers

While the mobile electronics aftermarket has fully embraced -- and is thriving on -- the versatility of configurable dashboard displays for everything from navigation systems to audio equipment, the availability of more applications for drivers has led to a shortage of dashboard space for information.

Vehicle manufacturers have wrestled with the problem for years, carefully analyzing where and how to best position warning lights, status/information indicators, navigation equipment and entertainment details. The emerging solution -- a single configurable display on which any number of varied pieces of information can be presented -- is one that will create an even bigger boost for the aftermarket.

The reason is two-fold. First, with the factory-installed display already in place, ME retailers and installers will have an easier time providing seamless integration of updated electronic equipment such as a premium navigation or sound system. Second, as more and more drivers become accustomed to in-dash displays as standard equipment, they'll gravitate in greater numbers to aftermarket equipment distinguishing itself above and beyond the factory-installed equipment.

According to ABI Research, the world market for configurable driver instrument displays is expected to grow to about $1.75 billion by 2012. Tier One suppliers such as Denso, Siemens VDO and Visteon will capitalize on this market if they can develop attractive, configurable solutions for their OEM customers without needing a cost increase.

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Toshiba Plans to Sell 3 Million HD DVD Players By March 2008

Toshiba Corp. said today it has set a sales goal of 3 million HD DVD players by the end of this fiscal year, March 2008. If successful, the goal would mark a 12-fold increase over the the 250,000 units sold in the fiscal year that ended last month.

While HD DVD has outpaced its rival Blu-ray in standalone hardware sales, Sony and Blu-ray backers have touted recent disc sales figures -- with the latter hitting 1 million sold since its launch last year -- as well as overall hardware adoption (including Blu-ray packing PlayStation 3 consoles) as a clear sign that consumers are choosing Blu-ray over HD DVD.

Regardless of its lag in disc sales, Toshiba says it will reach its 3 million unit goal with a significant expansion into new markets in the coming months, as well as continued price cuts and expanded software titles. In addition offering the lowest priced standalone HD player on the market (the $499 Toshiba HDA20) and lowest priced add-on drive (Microsoft's HD DVD add-on player for the Xbox 360), HD DVDs are also expanding into new territories in South America, Southeast Asia and Russia.

Nintendo Revises Sales Goals for Dominant Wii, DS Software

With the popularity of their latest console, Wii, fueling a resurgence for the casual video game market, Nintendo Co. Ltd., announced a revision to its sales goal for the Wii and DS handheld console software today -- 300 million units.

The company has seen posted earnings jump 77 percent over last year, a huge increase that comes as a direct result of the one-two punch from its successful Wii launch and ever-increasing DS handheld console sales.

The Wii has been selling out of stores internationally since its launch last November, moving more than 5.84 million since its debut. Nintendo has sold more than 40 million DS units since launching 2004, and is expected to move another 22 million this year, The Associated Press reports.

While the company did not give a time-frame for its completion of 300 million software sales, company President Satoru Iwata called it a "mid-term target," at a press conference earlier today.

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