Attention all eco inventors, green design visionaries, and gadget geeks! We’re excited to announce Greener Gadgets 2009! Registration is now open for the return of this provocative conference, which will take place on February 27th, 2009 in NYC. Like last year’s inaugural Greener Gadgets event, the 2009 conference will convene some of the world’s leaders in green tech to explore the sustainable side of the consumer electronics industry. This year’s event is shaping up to be better than ever, with a star-studded lineup of speakers and another exciting design competition, and Inhabitat will be posed at the center of...
The consumer electronics industry, like every other industry, is worried about its prospects for 2009. A shrinking economy, vanishing jobs and an imploding financial system cast long shadows over the coming year. But there are few bright spots on the horizon for CE manufacturers, according the Consumer Electronics Association, mainly involving green technology, next-generation input methods such as multi-touch screens and motion sensors and embedded internet access. Consumer electronics claims to be "the only industry that has a growth rate of over seven percent" despite the economic climate, possibly because some of its products can replace other, more expensive entertainment...
Two pieces of chip news indicate the recession is indeed going to put a damper on the consumer electronics industry. In its quarterly filing with the SEC today, Intel explained that the uncertain economic climate means its revenue guidance for the fourth quarter, even at the high end, would be “an increase that is at the lower end of our seasonal trends.” And yesterday two foundries reported that semiconductor firms were cutting back on orders. Intel plans to update investors on Dec. 4 after a few weeks of sales, but so far the chipmaker is seeing its customers worry about...
If as Sony goes, so goes the rest of the consumer electronics industry, it's totally screwed. They've just issued a grimtastic revision of their earnings forecast: Yearly profit outlook slashed by 38 percent from its July forecast of $2.4 billion to just $1.5 billion, and one Tokyo analyst says that "this is just the beginning of a big earnings collapse," in which Sony stands a "good chance" of losing money this year. Part of their crappy outlook is thanks to a stronger yen, which makes exports more expensive, and its equity investments, but obviously the hard blow is coming from...
It looks like consumers in Chicago and Denver will have the privilege of being the first to get their hands on Panasonic's new tru2way-enabled VIERA HDTVs. Basically, true2way is a new type of CableCARD that will deliver interactive features to cable subscribers without the need for a cable box. Panasonic has plans to sell the new VIERA HDTVs starting in late October at Abt Electronics, Ultimate Electronics, and Circuit City stores. Offerings inlcude 42-inch class and 50-inch class sizes with a built-in tru2way cable receiver. The TH-42PZ80Q and TH-50PZ80Q are both extensions of the VIERA PZ80 series and they will...
Nintendo is releasing a new portable gaming console dubbed the DSi that features more multimedia features, but specs that fall well short of the consumer electronics industry norm. The biggest changes to the popular handheld gaming system are a pair of 0.3-megapixel cameras, a slightly larger screen, music playback and game downloads and web browsing via Wi-Fi all in a thinner form factor, Telegraph reports. Plans call for the refreshed gaming device to be released in Japan next month for about $180 and then other parts of the world in the second half of next year. Other features include a...
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Transportation While the world waits to see the first Android cellphone revealed in New York later today, others are hard at work extending the reach of the open-source OS beyond just handsets. John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer at Wind River Systems says, "We're starting to see Android get designed in on devices that extend way beyond the phone--things that might go in the automobile or things that might go in the home." Bruggeman then collects his wits and adds, "I don't want to pre-announce any design wins, I think you'll see them in 2009. I would...
Quite a legacy Philip Schoonover built over at Circuit City, eh? He announces his resignation as chairman and CEO and, bang, the company’s stock spikes almost 10 percent in extended trading. Seems leaving Circuit City was the best thing Schoonover has done for the struggling consumer electronics retailer since he accepted the CEO gig in 2006. He’ll be replaced by board member James Marcum, who’s been brought in to clean up after Schoonover and his two years of losses. “Circuit City has a long history of being a leader in the consumer electronics industry,” said Marcum. “It is my mission...
A funny thing happened when LG Electronics began selling its Zenith digital converter box in January: People couldn't figure out the remote control. The boxes enable analog television sets to receive digital signals from broadcasters. But some people who bought them didn't realize that they should first remove the protective plastic wrap from the AA battery than came with the device. This alone accounted for 10% of the 27,000 converter-related calls the Korean company received between January and the end of August. Although that's a tiny fraction of the 1 million customers who purchased the device in that time period,...
Blu-ray will be obselete in five years. That’s not exactly the endorsement the consumer electronics industry needs as it heads into the holiday shopping season. But it’s the one that Andy Griffiths, director of consumer electronics at Samsung UK, has given it. In an interview with Pocket-lint, Griffiths said longevity isn’t one of Blu-ray’s strong suits. “I think it [Blu-ray] has 5 years left,” he predicted. “I certainly wouldn’t give it 10.” Not the sort of proclamation you’d expect from A Blu-ray backer, but then Samsung’s always been one to hedge its bets. For a time, the company backed both...
TechForward is an innovative company whose buyback plans help to green up the consumer electronics industry by ensuring buyers that they’re going to get something back for their gadgets down the road. Last week EcoGeek spoke with founders Jade Van Doren and Marc Lebovitz to find out more. There are a lot of electronics buy back programs out there. However, TechForward does something unique. They guarantee a certain price that someone will get for their gadget when they’re ready to upgrade to something new. So the guesswork on what you might get for something is gone –...
Forget HD. In its perpetual quest to provide bigger and better entertainment (and to sell new gear), the consumer electronics industry is pushing 3D televisions. But first it needs to figure how to deliver the 3D tech and what types of standards need to be set so the experience is the same as that of 3D movies. The Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California said it has formed a 3D working group to solve some of these issues, and plans to make an announcement regarding the group in the coming days. The effort, chaired by a representative...
Apple executives continue to refer to their Apple TV set-top box business as a "hobby" -- which is a polite word for "failure". Time for that to change: If Steve Jobs wants to make a serious run at owning our living room's "digital hub", then Apple TV needs a serious overhaul, ASAP. Why now? Because even though the industry is still nascent, the Internet-connected living room is becoming more of a realistic proposition. And the market is quickly getting more crowded. Yesterday, LG announced it would begin selling a Blu-ray player in September that can play Netflix (NFLX) streaming movies...
