Consumer Electronics Daily News

Sirius XM Satellite Radio Officially Debuts

Combined Company Has Over 18.5 Million Subscribers, Annualized Second Quarter Revenue Exceeding $2.4 Billion

SIRIUS Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio have completed their merger, resulting in the nation’s largest satellite radio company. The new company plans to change its corporate name to Sirius XM Radio Inc. The combined company’s stock will continue to be traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SIRI.

SIRIUS XM Radio begins day one with over 18.5 million subscribers, making it the second-largest radio company, based upon revenue, in the country; and, based upon subscribers, the second largest subscription media business in the U.S. With under 10 percent penetration of the home and car market, the opportunity for continued growth is significant.

“I am delighted to announce the completion of this exciting merger between SIRIUS and XM,” says Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS XM Radio. “We have worked diligently to close this transaction and we look forward to integrating our best-in-class management teams and operations so we can begin delivering on our promise of more choices and lower prices for subscribers.”

XM shareholders will receive 4.6 shares of SIRIUS common stock for each share of XM.

SIRIUS XM Radio broadcasts more than 300 channels of programming, including exclusive radio offerings from Howard Stern, Oprah, Opie & Anthony and Martha Stewart, among others. SIRIUS XM Radio will offer these expanded options to consumers through arrangements with the world’s leading automakers and its relationships with nationwide retailers.

“One of the most exciting benefits of this transaction is the ability to offer subscribers the option of expanding their subscriptions to include the Best of Both services. Given the respective popularity of exclusive programming on both SIRIUS and XM, we expect many subscribers will upgrade their current subscription,” says Karmazin.

As promised when the merger was first announced, existing radios will continue to work and every subscriber has the option of maintaining their current service package.

For more information, visit www.siriusradio.com.

CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 08 Details Education Sessions

CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2008 today announced its education session lineup that showcases the pervasive use of mobile technologies for both work and play. The agenda features more than 200 industry leaders participating in panel discussions and interactive sessions, which will provide practical information on how to launch, manage and market new mobile services for enterprise, entertainment and marketing applications.

"The industry is no longer about just coming together to talk about mobile technologies," says Mark Desautels, Vice President, Wireless Internet Development for CTIA. "Now, we're all about showcasing mobile technology in action. Industry leaders are attending CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment to both see and share how mobility has impacted everything we do - from enterprise applications, to location-based services, to user-generated mobile content, to mobile marketing campaigns that work."

The CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment education sessions are divided into five tracks: mobile enterprise, entertainment, Web 2.0, marketing and policy outlook. Submissions were received by more than 1,000 executives for the 200 speaking slots. The complete CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment educational sessions and daily schedule can be viewed at: http://wirelessit.com/info/ed_sessions.cfm

ABI: Home Network Technologies Will Coexist, Not Compete

Consumer electronics products no longer exist in a vacuum: increasingly they are linked to each other via a number of short-range radio technologies. CE vendors, faced with a series of overlapping use-cases, network areas, standards and technologies, need to understand the applications best suited to each, and how they relate to each other.

Fortunately, short-range networking technologies are settling into more or less clearly defined roles, and will by and large coexist and complement each other rather than competing. "Technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB, 60 GHz and ZigBee will not compete within the home," says ABI Research Senior Analyst Douglas McEuen, "but will be used in coordination, overlapping and coexisting for full wireless network coverage."

There are a few competitive counter-trends worth noting. Recently, Intel and OZMO Devices announced a program that uses standard Wi-Fi protocols to handle PAN tasks such as syncing notebooks with various PC peripherals and wireless consumer electronics. The RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics) industry consortium has been formed recently to develop a new protocol for radio frequency remote controls that would compete with Bluetooth to replace IR remote controls for audiovisual equipment. However, these are the exceptions that prove the rule.

A new ABI report, Short-Range Wireless in the Home Networking Environment, describes the landscape and examines the opportunities in the home networking market environment for the short-range wireless technologies. For more information, or to obtain a complete copy of the report, click here.

Panasonic Absorbs Battery Subsidiary

Panasonic announced that its Board of Directors has decided that the company will absorb Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., Ltd. (MBI), a wholly-owned subsidiary. The merger is expected to take effect on October 1.

In accordance with the company's ongoing corporate name change, MBI will be reborn as Energy Company, an internal divisional company of Panasonic Corporation.

The move is part of larger efforts to maintain leadership in the primary and rechargeable battery markets as deman shifts to manganese batters and amid soaring demands for lithium-ion rechargeable technologies.

"Under these growing market conditions, through this merger, MBI will utilize companywide management resources and schemes, promote human resources development by a broad exchange of personnels, and reinforce its development structure both in Japan and overseas. Thus, MBI will strive to strengthen its battery business globally, and accelerate its growth strategies toward realization of the GP3 plan," the company said in a statement today.

For more information, visit www.panasonic.com.

PENTAX Introduces Budget, 10 MP Optio E60

PENTAX Imaging Company has announced the PENTAX Optio E60 compact digital camera. With 10.1 megapixels, the PENTAX Optio E60 offers both new and experienced digital users beautiful high-resolution images and a variety of easy-to-use features at a budget price.

This latest member of the PENTAX Optio E series is newly equipped with an optical 3X zoom lens featuring a wide angle of view (equivalent to 32mm to 96mm in 35mm format) that is perfect for group shots in narrow settings, landscapes and architecture. In addition, the Optio E60 features a variety of modes including Auto Picture, Face Recognition, High Sensitivity Digital Shake Reduction and a Green mode that sets exposure, sensitivity and other parameters with just a touch of a button for the newest of digital users.

The PENTAX Optio E60 also is a fine travel companion compatible with easy-to-find AA batteries, World Time and Date Imprint functions, and an Image Recovery function to retrieve accidentally-erased, once-in-a-lifetime pics.

The PENTAX Optio E60 will be available in October for under 140.

LG, Funai Sign On To Tru2way

CableLabs® announced today that LG Electronics and Funai Electric have signed the multi-industry tru2way™ MOU. The MOU signators now include major consumer electronics manufactures -– Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, LG Electronics, Funai (which trades products in the United States under the brand names Philips, Magnavox,  Sylvania, and Emerson); Digeo and ADB; chip maker Intel; and, the nation’s top six cable providers -– Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision, Charter and Bright House Networks.

Tru2way technology allows consumers to receive interactive cable services, including video-on-demand, voting and polling, games and e-commerce in integrated retail DTVs without the need for a separate set-top box.

The MOU represents joint cable operator and retail manufacture support and endorsement of the tru2way technology platform developed by CableLabs for delivering two-way interactive digital cable video services. The tru2way platform uses an upgradable middleware solution that allows for, and encourages, innovation from both cable and retail device manufacturers. Thus, retail consumers that purchase digital cable ready devices will be able to receive innovative interactive cable services now and in the future.

“We really are pleased with the public support of the tru2way platform by so many major companies in the consumer electronics, information technology, content, cable industries; it is really all coming together,” says Dr. Richard R. Green, President and CEO of CableLabs.

For more information about Tru2way or CableLabs,  visit www.cablelabs.com.

Rock On: Best Buy to Sell Musical Instruments

Nation's Largest CE Retailer Adding Guitars, Drums, Recording Equipment and Other Musical Equipment to Supplant Slowing CD Sales

Moving from Guitar Hero to real guitars? Best Buy is still the place to go once you've exhausted your fill of music-mimicking video games, with word this week that the CE retailer will make a bold move into the musical instrument retail market in the coming year.

Best Buy is reportedly readying the debut of more than 75 full-fledged music centers inside of current retail locations. The retailer plans to dedicated about 2,500 square feet of space in these stores to musical instruments -- including more than 1,000 different instruments from manufacturers such as Fender, Gibson and Roland, CRN Business reports.

Expected to open before years' end, the dedicated retail space will include demo rooms, recording inventory and expert sales staff to help new and experienced rockers find the gear they seek.

The company is currently testing music centers in Minnesota, Los Angeles and Chicago. With the debut of the 75 to 85 expanded music centers before the end of 2008, Best Buy will immediately jump into the role of the nation's second-largest music retailer behind Guitar Center.

For more information, click here.

Motorola Reportedly Reorganizing to Focus on Growth

Reuters is reporting that Motorola Inc. is poised to split its home and networks mobility businesses into three separate units to better focus growth potential in the coming months.

Broadband home, broadband access and cellular technology divisions will all arise out of the home and networks mobility business, Motorola reports, each focused on various aspects of the company's voice, data and video delivery services business.

The soon-to-be split unit had revenues of about $2.4 billion in the first quarter of this year, Reuters reports, and Motorola says the upcoming changes will hopefully result in quicker growth among all three of the new channels.

For more information, click here.

Samsung's Q1 Ultra Now Available with HSDPA, Vista Business

Samsung Electronics America is now shipping two new ultra mobile personal computers (UMPC) -- both spec'd to match up against con. The Q1U-CMXP, a Q1 ultra mobile model with integrated HSDPA 3G cellular modem and the Q1UP-V, a Q1 Ultra Premium featuring Vista Business, join Samsung's current line of UMPC's. Available nationwide at a suggested list price of $1,499 for the Q1U-CMXP and $1,449 for the Q1UP-V, these ultra mobile solutions are ideal for mobile professionals in a variety of vertical markets and environments, as well as the general consumer who is looking to stay productive or entertained commuting to and from work or even on vacation.

The Q1U-CMXP maximizes connectivity with integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, 10/100 BaseTX, and an integrated HSDPA 3G cellular modem supporting the AT&T Broadband Connect network. With unsurpassed wired and wireless connection options, the Q1U-CMXP provides ubiquitous communications regardless of one's location via the AT&T nationwide cellular network. In addition, the model boasts the same specifications as the industry standard Q1 Ultra XP model launched in May of 2007.

For more information, visit www.samsung.com.

EDGE Announces Distribution Partnership with Straight Wire

The EDGE Distributors Group -- a rapidly growing service-oriented group of 15 independently owned regional distributors catering primarily to custom install and residential systems integrators -- today announced an agreement to distribute Straight Wire custom installation audio/video cables and connectors.

Available immediately from The EDGE Distributors Group are Straight Wire's new Push Prong series of re-usable, solder-less RCA connectors and matching Silver 23 series of single, double and triple co-joined UL-rated cables. Also available through the group are Straight Wire’s ConX, Select and Super HDMI cables; Super Quad and Super Twin Speaker cables; and Power and DVA RG-6 cables.

Mike Hench, president of The EDGE Distributors Group says, “The EDGE Group is excited to be working with Straight Wire. Straight Wire has a history of offering no-nonsense products of the highest quality at fair prices. And that fits right in with our strategy of offering great value and support to our customers.”

Straight Wire president Steven Hill says, “We are thrilled to have our new line distributed through The EDGE Distributors Group. Straight Wire has been working quite successfully with several members of the group for more than five years and we welcome the opportunity to expand our EDGE relationships. The EDGE Group's focus on the custom channel, combined with their industry knowledge and support, attracts the quality, motivated dealers that we are targeting.”

According to Hill, Straight Wire has been in existence for more than 25 years.