Consumer Electronics Daily News

SiriusXM Introduces the Lynx Portable Radio

Sirius XM Radio today introduced the SiriusXM Lynx Portable Radio, the first SiriusXM 2.0 radio that offers new features and receives an expanded channel lineup via satellite and Internet.

Lynx is the most advanced radio ever from SiriusXM, able to receive the new expanded SiriusXM 2.0 channel lineup of commercial-free music, sports, and comedy that includes SiriusXM Latino, a new suite of Spanish-language programming. Lynx is built with a flexible architecture which allows for new features and capabilities to be added through software updates. 

"Lynx gives subscribers the expanded SiriusXM 2.0 content lineup and advanced features, enabling time shifting and storage of content, offering listeners more control over the programming they subscribe to," said Jim Meyer, President, Operations and Sales, SiriusXM.  "Lynx will offer even more options to manage our exclusive and expertly curated content through future software updates." 

SiriusXM 2.0 is a major upgrade and evolution of SiriusXM's satellite and Internet delivered service that will ultimately span hardware, software, audio, and data services. 

Lynx gives subscribers more control over how they listen to SiriusXM satellite radio, allowing them to start a song from the beginning when tuning to a Favorite music channel or store broadcast content to listen to later.  Subscribers can also restart their favorite content while connected to SiriusXM Internet Radio via Wi-Fi®.  Subscribers can control their listening experience easily using the large touch screen display.   Lynx can stream SiriusXM content to Bluetooth® stereo speakers, headphones, vehicle stereo systems or optional accessories for the home, vehicle or portable use.  Lynx is based on the Android operating system and is fully updatable via a Wi-Fi connection.

SiriusXM Lynx is available now at shop.siriusxm.com or crutchfield.com at an MSRP of $249.99.  Lynx will be available soon at retail stores nationwide. 

Lynx offers key SiriusXM 2.0 features for satellite radio when docked with the optional Lynx LV1 Vehicle Kit or Lynx LH1 Home Kit, including:

• Tune Start™: Automatically starts the currently playing song from the beginning so listeners will hear the whole song when tuning to any of their satellite radio music channels saved as a Favorite channel.
• Radio Replays: Subscribers can build a library of up to 200 hours of programming from their Favorite satellite radio channels which are automatically recorded to allow for playback anywhere.
• Pause, Rewind and Replay: Listeners can replay up to 30 minutes of live SiriusXM content on the currently tuned channel, and also access replay content on 5 favorite preset channels currently displayed.
• Featured Favorites™:  A dynamic set of presets that can be automatically added as favorite channels, allowing users to easily discover new and specialty programming.
• Show Finder™: An easy-to-use electronic programming guide offering a complete list of what's on over the next 7 days by channel, with the ability to set reminder alerts when favorite shows are being broadcast.

Lynx also offers SiriusXM 2.0 features for listening to SiriusXM Internet Radio via Wi-Fi networks at home, office or accessible hotspot, including:

• Start Now allows subscribers to go back 5 hours to select and listen to previously broadcast programming.
• View program information, album art and read artist bios.
• Rewind to hear programming again or skip forward to hear what's playing next.
• Pause live radio and pick up right where the listener left off
• Access to Show Finder™, the electronic programming guide.

The SiriusXM Lynx LV1 Vehicle Kit gives subscribers everything needed to listen to satellite radio in the vehicle.  Drivers and passengers can browse and quickly tune channels with a convenient rotary control knob.  An Aux-In Cable is included to facilitate audio connection in vehicles that have audio systems with an auxiliary input connection.  The LV1 can also connect to Bluetooth Audio-enabled systems, or through the vehicles existing radio using SiriusXM's PowerConnect transmitter. The vehicle kit also charges Lynx while docked.  The Lynx vehicle kit is available at an MSRP of $69.99. 

The SiriusXM Lynx LH1 Home Kit gives subscribers everything needed to listen to SiriusXM satellite radio or Internet radio in the home or office.  Subscribers can connect to a home audio system with easy, do-it-yourself set up and stream SiriusXM from Lynx to the home kit with Bluetooth.  The Lynx home kit is available at an MSRP of $69.99. 

Lynx receives the new array of channels, added to the already ground-breaking and award-winning SiriusXM programming lineup. The expanded channel selection includes new commercial-free music  plus new sports and comedy channels including channels created with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ESPN SportsCenter, and Upright Citizens Brigade, as well as Carlin's Corner featuring albums, concerts and comedy from the archives of the legendary George Carlin.

SiriusXM Lynx also receives the full SiriusXM Latino channel lineup.  SiriusXM Latino is the most comprehensive Latin programming lineup available to radio listeners, including exclusive commercial-free music channels and a wide variety of music genres, including tropical, salsa, merengue, Latin pop hits, Latin hip-hop, Latin rock classics and more.

Listeners will also get 24/7 news and talk from RadioFormula Mexico, the leading radio broadcaster from Mexico; sexy, smart, refined and exclusive adult programming showcasing Latin talent on Playboy Radio en Espanol; and Spanish-language coverage of world-class professional sports on multiple Deportes en Vivo channels. SiriusXM Latino will also include Cristina Radio from iconic talk show host Cristina Saralegui, and featuring lifestyle, health and family programming for Latinas. Cristina Radio, produced by National Latino Broadcasting, is launching in the coming months.

Morning Round-Up for December 30, 2011

Headlines

• Online service provider and web registrar GoDaddy has belatedly changed position on SOPA, after an online campaign convinced tens of thousands of people to drop their services in protest of the company's support for the controversial anti-piracy legislation ... including one of the site's larger clients, Wikipedia.
• "German phone company Deutsche Telekom AG and a Hungarian unit will pay more than $95 million to settle U.S. criminal and civil probes into the bribery of government officials in Macedonia and Montenegro."
• Josh Lowensohn informs us that "Chinese Internet company Alibaba is investing in new lobbying power in the U.S., a move that syncs up with its reported plans to make a serious bid for Yahoo."
• "Among all online purchases made on Christmas Day, 7 percent were done through an iPad and 6.4 percent through an iPhone, giving iOS devices 13.4 percent of all online purchases that day," writes Lance Whitney.

Cellphones

• Verizon is in damage-control mode, after a string of outages on its 4G network.
• Steven Musil writes, "Samsung is still the biggest maker of mobile phones, but Apple is gaining ground, according to data released today by market researcher ComScore." Of course, Apple's growing strength doesn't mean that Samsung is growing weaker, by any means. Witness for example, the strong sales for the latter's Galaxy Note.

Technology and the Law

• "Three appeals court judges unanimously upheld a controversial federal law on Thursday—one that grants immunity to phone companies that give government officials access to users' online communications." Kate Freeman has the details.
• A Florida appeals court has ruled that RipoffReport.com is immune from legal reprisals after a user of the site wrote "an admittedly defamatory posting [...] about a person who operated a Florida corporation providing addiction treatment services."

Security

• Following a recent attack on the security think tank Stratfor, hacker group Anonymous have now breached the defenses of SpecialForces.com, which sells military gear.
• Stefan Krempl brings word: "At the 28th Chaos Communication Congress (28C3) in Berlin, security researchers have demonstrated a new technique for attacking GSM mobile phones."
• "Researchers at Kaspersky Lab are claiming to have found proof that the writers of the Stuxnet and Duqu malware are one and the same, and are warning of at least three new families of advanced malware potentially in circulation," reports Iain Thomson.

Hardware

• According to a report by Timon Singh, Russia and China are teaming up to build the world's largest lithium-ion battery plant.

Cool Technology

• "Amoeboid yellow slime mold might seem an unlikely network architect, but scientists say the monocellular mass could be a key to designing highly sophisticated biocomputers."

E-Waste Environmental Crisis is Being Mitigated by Strong Growth in Electronics Recycling and Reuse

As the adoption of consumer electronics, mobile phones, and computer equipment continues to increase around the world, the business and environmental challenges associated with electronic device disposition at end-of-life (EOL) grow greater and greater. According to a new report from Pike Research, as devices become obsolete and are replaced, the total volume and weight of EOL electronics, which is known as e-scrap, will more than double in the next 15 years, rising from 676 million cubic feet (and 6.0 million tons) in 2010 to 1,465 million cubic feet (and 14.9 million tons) by 2025. This trend will place increasing pressure on industry players, governments, and advocacy groups to find new ways to expand electronics recycling and reuse. E-scrap that is not recycled, reused, or stored becomes e-waste and is buried, incinerated, or dumped, representing a significant environmental hazard.

During the same forecast period, Pike Research anticipates that the electronics recycling movement will make strong progress, and the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that electronics recycling and reuse will rise from 122 million cubic feet (and 1.1 million tons) per year in 2010 to 789 million cubic feet (and 7.9 million tons) annually by 2025. By the early 2020s, the firm expects that recycling and reuse activity will surpass the annual volume and weight of electronic devices that become e-waste, and thus will play a large part in mitigating the e-waste crisis. However, these promising trends will still not be enough to solve the entire problem, as Pike Research anticipates that the total volume of e-waste in landfills will continue increasing throughout the period.

“Electronics recycling and reuse is expanding at a significant rate,” says industry analyst Bob Boggio. “The growth in responsible disposition of obsolete electronics is being driven both by environmental legislation around the world as well as the sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of leading electronics manufacturers and service providers.”

However, Boggio adds that unwanted electronic equipment is still easily and inexpensively sent to landfill burial rather than being directed toward reuse or recycling. Trans-boundary shipments of e-waste from developed countries to developing countries continue, and the informal recovery of components and materials in developing countries remain a concern for human health and the environment. Boggio states that the gap may be narrowed in the coming years if national and regional governments modify their legislative mandates to close perceived loopholes and increase e-scrap diversion rates.

Pike Research’s report, “Electronics Recycling and E-Waste Issues”, provides a detailed analysis of e-scrap issues facing the electronics industry over the coming years, including an assessment of market and economic factors, legislative issues, environmental concerns, and the strategies of key industry players. The study includes market forecasts through 2025 for unit sales of electronics by category, along with volume and weight of total e-scrap generated as well as the ultimate disposition through recycling, reuse, storage, and e-waste. Also included are detailed interview responses from state environmental management agencies, OEMs and service providers, and e-waste processing companies. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website.

2011 is the Best Holiday Ever for Kindle

Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that 2011 was the best holiday ever for the Kindle family as customers purchased millions of Kindle Fires and millions of Kindle e-readers. Authors also continue to benefit from the success of Kindle — the #1 and #4 best-selling Kindle books released in 2011 were both published independently by their authors using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

“We are grateful to our customers worldwide for making this the best holiday ever for Kindle,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. “And in a huge milestone for independent publishing, we’d also like to congratulate Darcie Chan, the author of ‘The Mill River Recluse,’ and Chris Culver, the author of ‘The Abbey,’ for writing two of the best-selling Kindle books of the year.”

More Kindle holiday facts:

• Throughout December, customers purchased well over 1 million Kindle devices per week.
• The new Kindle family held the top three spots on the Amazon.com best seller charts – #1: Kindle Fire, #2: Kindle Touch, #3: Kindle.
• Kindle Fire is the #1 best-selling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 13 weeks ago.
• Kindle is also the best-selling product on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es and Amazon.it this holiday season.
• Gifting of Kindle books was up 175 percent between this Black Friday and Christmas Day compared to the same period in 2010.
• Christmas Day was the biggest day ever for Kindle book downloads.
• Kindle Fire is the best-selling product on Amazon.com’s mobile website and across all of Amazon.com’s mobile applications.

Additional Kindle Direct Publishing successes include:

• December’s #1 best-selling Kindle Direct Publishing book “Wife by Wednesday” was also the #5 overall best-selling Kindle book in December and has appeared on both the USA Today and Wall Street Journal best seller lists. Author Catherine Bybee was formerly an emergency room registered nurse, and has now left her job to focus on writing full-time.
• In 2011, KDP and CreateSpace author CJ Lyons reached #2 on the Amazon best seller list, #2 on the New York Times best seller list, and #4 on the USA Today best seller list. As a former pediatric ER doctor, CJ has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels, and she quit her job in medicine after 17 years to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time novelist. Her latest work includes “Face to Face” and “Hot Water.”

Businesses Selling on Amazon

2011 was also a record-breaking holiday season for businesses that sell on Amazon. Third-party sellers experienced record holiday growth: the number of sellers who exceeded $5,000 in sales during the holiday season increased 44 percent year-over-year. For the year, businesses on Amazon sold hundreds of millions of units worth billions of dollars worldwide.

Scharf Industries, an office supplies and electronics provider, increased its sales on Amazon by over 500 percent this holiday season compared with last holiday season.

“We greatly value the cooperation that we have developed with Amazon,” said Andrew D. Scharf, CMO of Scharf Industries. “They have provided us with the tools necessary to grow our business in a rapid and efficient manner.”

Ken Reiss, the owner of Reiss Innovations, LLC, started with one Amazon Webstore, selling five to 10 mouse pads for the year. Six years later he has a successful eCommerce business, selling through multiple Amazon Webstores. Just this year alone, Reiss saw a 21 percent increase in sales compared with the holiday season last year. He has also increased the number of product listings by 50 percent over 2010 and recently extended his business to Canada.

According to Reiss, one of the most beneficial aspects of his relationship with Amazon is that “It allows me to scale in efficiency. I can devote my time to building vendor relations and growing my inventory, rather than worrying about logistical aspects, such as shipping products.” Reiss currently stores 90 percent of his inventory in Amazon’s warehouses, up from 75 percent last year.

Morning Round-Up for December 29, 2011

Headlines

• Mike Lennon: "In a rare move, Microsoft is breaking its normal procedures and will issue an emergency out-of-band security update on Thursday to address a recently disclosed vulnerability that affects various Web platforms industry-wide."
• "Seven Asian companies have come to a US$553 million settlement with several U.S. states in connection with charges of fixing prices of LCD (liquid crystal display) screens, thus pushing up the prices of computers, television sets and other electronics in which the panels were used." John Ribeiro has the story.
• "An Italian regulator has fined Apple €900,000 ($1.17m) for trying to sell a two-year extended warranty when customers were entitled to such a thing for free under Italian law," reports Bill Ray.

Cellphones

• Phone manufacturer HTC has announced: "We have heard your voice and starting now, we will allow our bootloader to be unlocked for 2011 models going forward."
• "Verizon has confirmed to us that it's adding the $2 convenience fee for paying your bill online or over the phone, and has posted a blurb in its News Center detailing the options available to someone who wants to avoid it," writes Paul Miller.

 

LG's new flatscreen.

Hardware

• LG Electronics will debut an 84-inch 3D flatscreen television at CES 2012.
• According to John Paczkowski, "Sony's new PlayStation Vita isn't selling quite as well as it did when it first launched."

Software

• A report claims that Linux Mint has overtaken Ubuntu to become the most popular distribution of Linux operating systems.

Sustainability Efforts Ramp Up for 2012 International CES

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, owner and producer of the 2012 International CES®, today announced the adoption of several new sustainability practices at the 2012 CES, the world’s largest technology tradeshow, to be held in Las Vegas January 10-13.

New this year, attendee badge holders are made from repurposed vinyl show banners from last year’s show, and CEA will collect those badge holders at the end of the 2012 CES to recycle them again. Furthermore, CES general services contractor Global Experience Specialists (GES) will produce signs using a reusable, recyclable kraft paper honeycomb material. CEA will also seek to collect even more magnetic, vinyl and cardboard show signs for repurposing through a partnership with Repurpose America, a local nonprofit focusing on tradeshow recycling.

Last Year, Repurpose America collected roughly 18,000 pounds of magnetic signs from the 2011 CES, nearly 15,000 square feet of vinyl banners and more than 150 foam boards. In addition, CEA worked with contractors to recycle 289.6 tons of the solid waste generated at CES and increased the event’s recycle rate from 68 percent to 77 percent, several points higher than the average recycle rate of trade shows held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Our green and recycling efforts at the 2012 International CES are unprecedented for the largest annual event in the western hemisphere, covering more than 1.8 million square feet and welcoming more than140,000  attendees,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO. “We’ve worked hard to ensure that we are using the latest and greatest sustainability practices in producing CES.”

Along with the greening of the International CES, CEA also supports local green nonprofits. Last year, CEA gave $75,000 to Green Chips, a local Las Vegas charity supporting solar power installations. That money was used to install solar panels at a Las Vegas non-profit facility, resulting in substantial savings that allowed the organization to devote more money to serve those in need. CEA plans to make another donation benefiting Las Vegas and the environment at the 2012 International CES.

The International CES also allows  attendees to reduce their carbon footprint by gathering in one location. With each attendee reporting an average of 12 business meetings per CES, CES participants collectively avoid more than 960 million miles in business trips that they otherwise would have to take. As a result of attending CES and consolidating trips, the estimated net savings in travel is more than 549 million miles.

For more information on sustainable materials used at the 2012 International CES and other information on the greening of CES, please go to: www.CESweb.org/green.

McAfee Labs 2012 Threat Predictions Include High-Profile Industrial Attacks, Cyberwarfare Demonstrations and New Hacktivist Targets

McAfee today unveiled its 2012 Threat Predictions report, outlining the top threats that McAfee foresees for the coming year. The list indicates that emerging threats from 2011 are on track to become the major players for cyberactivity in 2012, including mobile banking, “legal” spam and virtual currency. McAfee Labs also predicts that attacks involving political motivation or notoriety will also make headlines, including high-profile industrial attacks, cyberwarfare demonstrations and hacktivist attacks targeting public figures.

“Many of the threats that will become prominent in 2012 have already been looming under the radar in 2011,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. “Over the past year, the general public has become more aware of some of these risks, such as threats to critical infrastructure or the impact of hacktivism as they gain international media attention. In the meantime, we continue to see cybercriminals improving their toolkits and malware and are ready to make a significant impact in 2012.”

McAfee Labs Threat Predictions for 2012:

Industrial Attacks: Cybercriminals Target Utilities

Water, electricity, oil and gas are essential to people’s everyday lives, yet many industrial systems are not prepared for cyberattacks. Many of the environments where SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems are deployed don’t have stringent security practices. As with recent incidents directed at water utilities in the United States, attackers will continue to leverage this lack of preparedness, if only for blackmail or extortion in 2012.

Advertisers Will “Legalize” Spam

McAfee Labs has seen a drop in global spam volumes in the past two years. However, legitimate advertisers are picking up where the spammers left off, using the same spamming techniques, such as purchasing email lists of users who have “consented” to receive advertising or purchasing customer databases from companies going out of business. McAfee Labs expects to see this “legal” spam and the technique known as “snowshoe spamming” to continue to grow at a faster rate than illegal phishing and confidence scams.

Mobile Threats: Attackers will bypass PCs

2011 has seen the largest levels in mobile malware history. In 2012, McAfee Labs expects for mobile attackers to improve on their skill set and move toward mobile banking attacks. Techniques previously dedicated for online banking, such as stealing from victims while they are still logged on while making it appear that transactions are coming from the legitimate user, will now target mobile banking users. McAfee Labs expects attackers will bypass PCs and go straight after mobile banking apps, as more and more users handle their finances on mobile devices.

Embedded Hardware: The Promised Land for sophisticated hackers

Embedded systems are designed for a specific control function within a larger system and are commonly used in automotive, medical devices, GPS devices, routers, digital cameras and printers. McAfee Labs expects to see proofs-of-concept codes exploiting embedded systems to become more effective in 2012 and beyond. This will require malware that attacks at the hardware layer, and will enable attacks to gain greater control and maintain long-term access to the system and its data. Sophisticated hackers will then have complete control over hardware.

Hacktivism: Joining forces online and on the front lines

McAfee Labs predicts that in 2012, either the “true” Anonymous group will reinvent itself, or die out. Additionally, those leading the digital disruptions will join forces with physical demonstrators, and will target public figures such as politicians, industry leaders, judges and law enforcement, more than ever before.

Virtual Currency: A cybercriminal payment plan

Virtual currency, sometimes called cybercurrency, has become a popular way for people to exchange money online. These online “wallets” are not encrypted and the transactions are public, making them an attractive target for cybercriminals. McAfee Labs expects to see this threat evolve into spam, data theft, tools, support networks and other associated services dedicated to solely exploiting virtual currencies, in order to steal money from unsuspecting victims or to spread malware.

Cyberwar: Flexing its muscles

Countries are vulnerable due to massive dependence on computer systems and a cyberdefense that primarily defends only government and military networks. Many countries realize the crippling potential of cyberattacks against critical infrastructure, such as water, gas and power, and how difficult it is to defend against them. McAfee Labs expects to see countries demonstrate their cyberwar capabilities in 2012, in order to send a message.

Rogue Certificates: Untrustworthy and undetectable

Organizations and individuals tend to trust digitally signed certificates; however, recent threats such as Stuxnet and Duqu used rogue certificates to evade detection. McAfee Labs expects to see the production and circulation of fake rogue certificates increase in 2012. Wide-scale targeting of certificate authorities and the broader use of fraudulent digital certificates will affect key infrastructure and secure browsing and transactions, as well as host-based technologies such as whitelisting and application control.

Tomorrow’s internet looks more like yesterday’s internet

DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) are meant to protect a client computer from inadvertently communicating with a host as a result of a “man-in-the-middle” attack. Such an attack redirects the traffic from the intended server (Web page, email, etc.) to another server. Governing bodies around the globe are taking greater interest in establishing “rules of the road” for Internet traffic, and McAfee Labs expects to see more and more instances in which future solutions are hampered by legislative issues.

Advances in Operating Systems Moves Hackers “Down and Out”

New security features baked into the core of the operating system will cause hackers to find alternate entryways: down into the hardware and out of the operating system. Attacking hardware and firmware is not easy, but success allows attackers to create persistent malware in network cards, hard drives and even system BIOS (Basic Input Output System). McAfee Labs expects to see more effort put into hardware and firmware exploits and their related real-world attacks through 2012.

For a full copy of the 2012 Threat Predictions report from McAfee Labs, please visit: http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/reports/rp-threat-predictions-2012.pdf

Amazon Soars; Netflix Plummets in ForeSee Holiday Study

Customer experience analytics firm ForeSee today released the results of their annual Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index, showing that after seven years spent jockeying for first place in the Index, Amazon and Netflix are headed in divergent directions.

Amazon climbed two points to score 88 on the study's 100-point scale, registering the highest score from any retailer in 14 consecutive studies. Meanwhile, Netflix's well-publicized blunders caused its customer satisfaction to plummet by seven points and 8% to 79. After years of being separated by a point or two, Amazon and Netflix, which are increasingly in direct competition as Amazon expands into streaming video and rentals, are now separated by nine points in terms of satisfaction, a gulf that may be too wide for Netflix to overcome anytime soon.

Today's report provides the first scientific quantification of customers' experience with Netflix since its missteps earlier this year. With its satisfaction decline, Netflix has gone from satisfaction superstar to merely average, matching the Index's aggregate score of 79 (up one point from 78 in the 2010 holiday shopping season). Netflix saw scores drop in every single element of the website that ForeSee measures, including site content, site functionality, merchandise, and prices.

"Netflix totally misread its customer base and is paying the price, damaging its brand among both consumers and investors," said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee. "Raising prices by 60% and splitting the baby into separate DVD and streaming services totally undermines Netflix's cost and convenience advantages. Customer satisfaction is predictive, which means that Netflix's financial woes may be just beginning."

"Meanwhile, Amazon may have started as an online bookstore, but it now competes in almost every significant retail category and it is setting the bar very high for any company selling online," continued Freed. "E-retailers have consistently upped their game since we first started measuring holiday satisfaction in 2005, but Amazon is still the 800-pound gorilla of retail, and it just keeps getting better. It's tough for a smaller retailer to compete with this level of dedication to providing an excellent customer experience."

Since 2005, the average customer satisfaction score for the Index has increased from 74 to 79. A score of 80 has always been the standard for excellence; given the causal relationship between satisfaction and financial success, it is not surprising that most of the sites receiving the top 40 largest revenues according to Internet Retailer also have very high satisfaction scores. Any retailer scoring below average risks eroding loyalty, recommendations, sales, and market share to competitors who score higher, so even the Top 40 need to improve to stay at the top of the heap. If satisfaction drops significantly, a revenue drop is likely to follow.

The report includes individual satisfaction scores for the 40 top e-retailers (see chart below) for the past seven years, allowing for comparisons over time and between companies:

• Next to Netflix, both Gap.com (down 6% to 73) and Overstock.com (down 5% to 72) have the largest declines in satisfaction, leaving them with scores at the bottom of the Index.
• On the other end of the spectrum, the largest gains in satisfaction go to TigerDirect.com (up 8% to 79) and JC Penney (up 6% to 83), which named Ron Johnson, former head of Apple's retail operations, as CEO this year.
• Price matters less: American consumers were less price sensitive during the 2011 holiday shopping season than they were last year
• Nearly 20 years of research coming from both academia and the private sector indicates that increasing customer satisfaction is one of the most powerful things a retailer can do in any channel to increase sales, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth recommendations. The report quantifies the impact of satisfaction on these desirable customer behaviors.

http://www.foreseeresults.com/news-events/press-releases/us-e-retailer-winners-and-losers-holiday-season-2011-foresee.shtml

"Customer satisfaction is a leading indicator of consumer spending, and the bump in the Index is good news for online retailers," said Freed. "Unemployment is down, consumer confidence is up, and holiday retail sales are up from last year. Improved customer satisfaction suggests the good news may continue into the new year."

Consumer Reports: Top Treadmills and Ellipticals

Can't squeeze into your jeans? Not happy with what you see in the mirror? For consumers whose New Year's resolution is to eliminate unwanted inches and pounds, Consumer Reports has the skinny on shopping for home exercise machines such as treadmills and ellipticals.

The report also includes results from an online survey of more than 3,000 Consumer Reports readers who shared their diet strategies.  Overall, 23 percent of the 2,680 dieters who were following a diet plan said they concurrently used an app.  The survey also revealed that 69 percent of readers had  followed their own diet and exercise regimen.  But when it comes to commercial diets, there is one standout.  Of those who subscribed to at least one commercial diet plan in the past three years, 88 percent said they'd tried either Weight Watchers or Weight Watchers online.

Consumer Reports put 35 treadmills and 18 elliptical exercisers through the paces (click here to see how they test). The top-rated non-folding treadmill, the Precor 9.31, costs a cool $4,000 and offers excellent construction. But consumers on tighter budgets can find solid choices in the non-folding Sole S77 at $1,900 and the folding ProForm Performance 600 and Horizon T202, both $800.  All three are Consumer Reports Best Buys.

The top-scoring elliptical, the Octane Fitness Q37ci, costs $3,100 and is solidly built, has four heart-rate programs, comes with a chest-strap heart-rate monitor, and earned very high marks for safety.  If you don't need the heart rate monitoring and can forgo certain other features, Consumer Reports recommends the Octane Fitness Q37c for $500 less.   

Consumer Reports also tested 10 regular pedometers, three GPS watches, and three cell phone apps that claim to measure steps and distance through your phone's movements.  CR identifies the Sportline Step & Distance SB4202 ($5), a conventional pedometer available at Walmart, as a Best Buy. Consumer Reports also recommends the Mio Trace Acc-Tek ($30) and the Omron GOsmart Pocket HJ-112 ($30). As for cell-phone apps, CR named the Accupedo pedometer widget (for Android) at $4 and the Pedometer Pro GPS+ (for iPhone) at $3 Best Buys.

And, in a first for Consumer Reports, the magazine is sharing Ratings data from subscribers who have purchased home exercise machines.  Owners of 1,302 elliptical machines and 1,891 treadmills reported on overall satisfaction and problems they experienced with the most common brands.  Owners were highly satisfied with their purchases overall, but there were brand differences.  Sole was the top-rated treadmill brand, while ProForm rated lower than all other elliptical brands.  Among elliptical exercisers, ProForm received more complaints than other brands about being difficult to adjust to the needs of different users and having a poor range of workout options.  NordicTrack scored substantially worse than the other brands for being bulky and difficult to set up. There were no differences among treadmill brands in the rate of problems.

 

CES SuperSession: A Global Perspective on Retail Features Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn

Join Best Buy's Brian Dunn and CEA's Gary Shapiro for a candid one-on-one about the current state of retail and what new strategic areas retailers are examining. We'll take a look at how 2011 holiday sales turned out, discuss Internet sales tax, leadership, international expansion and more. Find out what retailers are doing to stay on top in this unpredictable climate and what products and services are giving Best Buy a competitive edge.

Mark your calendar and plan to attend this free session!

A Global Perspective on Retail
3-4 p.m. January 11, 2012
LVCC, North Hall N255-257