Consumer Electronics Daily News

CompUSA, PayPal Partner For eCommerce

CompUSA is now accepting PayPal as a way to pay for purchases on the company's revamped CompUSA.com Web site. CompUSA is the latest in the Systemax family of brands to offer PayPal,  which also includes TigerDirect.com and TigerDirect.ca.

"PayPal has been a strategic partner to our eCommerce operations," says Gilbert Fiorentino, President of Systemax's Technology Products segment. "Consistently delivering new customers to our Web sites is a key benefit of PayPal. The addition of PayPal to the CompUSA Web site is a logical extension to our shopping cart."

The revamped Web site offers computers, electronics and accessories for consumer, business, government and educational customers through the CompUSA.com, CompUSABusiness.com and CompUSAGovEd.com.

To help celebrate the launch of PayPal on the Web site, CompUSA is offering $20 cash-back to shoppers who use PayPal as their payment method on purchases over $200 for a limited time. For more information, visit www.compusa.com.

Best Buy Adds New Infinity System to Mobile Audio Selection

Best Buy will begin stocking and selling a new line of advanced Infinity Kappa automotive loudspeakers featuring Plus One woofer cones, a true four-ohm, high-output design and an optimized QT merge to provide the full, rich sound that is the Kappa signature.

The Kappa line of premium automotive speakers has long been one of the most recognized and admired in the world, and adds to Best Buy's already large supply of Infinity systems.

"The Infinity Kappa Series provides a premium assortment of speakers -- an assortment that the Best Buy consumer desires," says Rob Cummins, Merchandise Leader of Mobile Electronics for Best Buy.

Kappa loudspeakers are available now. Products are expected to range in price from $119.95 to $249.95, and will ship to quality retail outlets worldwide.

For more information about Infinity Systems, visit www.harman.com.

CEA, RadioShack Team Up for North Texas DTV Awareness Campaign

The Consumer Electronics Association, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and RadioShack presented an informational session on the digital television transition today at RadioShack’s flagship StoreOne in Fort Worth. Members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and area senior citizen groups learned how they could still watch their favorite TV programs once full-power television broadcasting switches to digital on February 17, 2009. 

“Thanks to the outstanding efforts of the North Texas news media, people are well aware that the digital transition is coming. CEA’s message to over-the-air viewers is: Don’t wait. Start enjoying the benefits of digital television today,” says Megan Pollock, CEA’s Senior Communications Manager. “Learn what your options are and then get connected now to enjoy DTV’s superior sound and picture quality.”

For more information, visit www.dtv2009.gov.

Garmin Bringing Mobile TV to GPS Devices

Silicon & Software Systems (S3) today announced that their onHandTV Mobile TV software has been licensed by GPS solutions provider Garmin Ltd. The software provides Garmin's nuvi 900T navigator with digital television functionality. The navigator is co-branded with wireless carrier 3 Italia for deployment in their DVB-H network and will be available in July 2008 in Italy.

"Garmin, as the global leader in portable consumer navigation products, is one of S3's most coveted customers and I am proud to add them to our list of onHandTV licensees", says John Maguire, General Manager, Consumer Mobile, S3. "S3 is at the forefront of enabling enriched TV services on multiple devices and we believe that portable navigation systems offer a compelling personal TV experience to consumers. We are at a critical tipping point in the industry where new business models and converged services are changing the way we consume TV and location-aware TV products will have a significant part to play in the future", concluded Maguire.

S3's Consumer Mobile group delivers broadcast and streaming mobile TV products and services to broadcasters, cellular operators and OEMs in the cellular, PNDs and laptop markets. The company offers a range of products from key Mobile TV components to complete turnkey solutions.

For more information, visit www.s3group.com.

SRS Debuts CS Headphone Technology

SRS Labs Inc. is now offering SRS CS Headphone™ technology which can enable dormant surround sound in mobile video and streaming media applications, making a home theater-like user experience from mobile video applications a possibility. SRS CS Headphone is now available for license to wireless service providers, streaming media providers and mobile device makers.

According to SRS, CS Headphone is deeply rooted in the company’s successful Circle Surround decoder technology which is featured in leading automobile surround systems and A/V receivers. Building on SRS’ 2008 CES Innovations Award winning headphone technology, SRS Headphone 360™, SRS CS Headphone is highly optimized for low power mobile devices, and utilizes only the two-channel stereo or surround encoded audio delivered over mobile devices.

CS Headphone takes the stereo or surround encoded two-channel audio and first processes it using an ultra-low-power Circle Surround decoder to create 5.1 highly accurate channels. The audio is then fed into SRS’ Headphone 360 rendering technology. The end result is the accurate placement of 5.1 channels of natural sounding audio around the listeners head — through standard stereo earphones or headphones. No special hardware or headphone design required.

For more information, visit www.srslabs.com.

HRM: Blu-ray Disc Sales Top 9 Million

More than 9 million Blu-ray movie titles have been sold since the format's release, according to a new report from HMR Research. Moreover, more than 3 million of that total are from sales in 2008.

HMR estimates that the current sales rate puts Blu-ray sales on track for more than 15 million this year. Analysts cite a number of factors for the brisk 2008 sales, though most include Blu-ray's triumph over HD DVD, as well as plethora of quality titles in the wake of this year's Oscar Awards for spurring sales.

Take for example No Country For Old Men. The Oscar-winning film sold more than 68,000 copies in its first week in Blu-ray format. Prior to the new year, first-week sales for typical Blu-ray and HD DVD new releases was between 10,000 and 30,000 copies.

For more information, click here.

Sub-$1,000 Blu-ray Laptop Now Available from Dell

Dell is celebrating the victory of Blu-ray in the next-generation DVD format wars by offering customers a Blu-ray laptop for under a $1,000. Available through www.dell.com, the Inspiron 1525 with optional Blu-ray disc playback starts at $879.

The award-winning Inspiron 1525 laptop features a 15.4-inch high definition wide aspect display with 720p resolution. It also includes an HDMI port for easy connectivity to high resolution displays and HDTVs. The Blu-ray player disc drive is fully backwards compatible, and will play as well as burn traditional DVDs and CDs. Consumers can also chose a Blu-ray burner drive.

Like all Dell consumer laptops, the Inspiron 1525 features Dell MediaDirect technology which provides one button instant access to media files, even if the system is powered off or in hibernate. Optional accessories for a great movie watching experience include a slim travel power adapter ($80), Dell travel remote control (IR) that slips into the ExpressCard slot ($22), and Creative noise-isolation earphones ($25).

For more information, visit www.dell.com/inspiron.

Samsung, AT&T; Announce the Access

Samsung Telecommunications America is now offering the Access, the company's first device to support AT&T Mobile TV, a mobile television service featuring high-quality programming.

The Access is a bar-style phone with a black finish and large 2.3" landscape display comparable to DVD quality, ideal for viewing multimedia content, and exceptional television reception without the need for external antenna. AT&T Mobile TV is easily accessible to users with a one-touch button which brings them directly to full-length television content and sporting events from top networks, including programming from leading entertainment brands CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, MTV, NBC 2GO, NBC News2Go and Nickelodeon. AT&T Mobile TV will also feature two exclusive channels, which will be announced soon.

The Access also features dual-band 3G connectivity and quad-band GSM technology, which allows AT&T customers to make calls in more than 200 countries and download data in more than 145.

For more information, visit www.att.com/wireless or www.samsungwireless.com.

CE Retailer hhgregg Enters Florida Market

Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer hhgregg is headed to the beach, and not for vacation. The retailer officially announced its entrance into the Florida market today with the grand opening of two stores -- one in Jacksonville and another in Daytona Beach.

hhgregg now operates stores in nine different states, and the growing retailer's new Jacksonville and Daytona Beach stores represent its 90th and 91st locations, respectively.

A chainwide grand opening celebration and sale will be going on through Saturday, with festivities to observe its launch into Florida.

"Our expansion into Florida demonstrates hhgregg's continued strong and controlled growth strategy of breaking into new markets with multiple locations, as we'll continue to open additional retail locations across the Sunshine State," says hhgregg Chairman and CEO, Jerry Throgmartin. "We look forward to serving and exceeding the needs of our Florida patrons by providing a superior customer purchase experience through our expert sales associates, new store designs, competitive prices and convenient delivery services."

hhgregg is a specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home appliances, mattresses and related services operating under the names hhgregg and Fine Lines. hhgregg currently operates stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee.

For more information, visit www.hhgregg.com.

AMD Unleashes Power-Sipping Quad-Core

The Energy-Efficient Processor Is The World's First 65-Watt Quad-Core For Desktops

The world's first energy-efficient desktop quad-core processor, the AMD Phenom X4 9100e quad-core processor, is now available. Designed for more powerful multimedia and resource-intensive applications, the processor offers true multi-core architecture operating at a maximum of 65-watts.

By coupling an AMD Phenom X4 9100e with an AMD 780 series chipset, AMD offers an efficient PC platform that plays Blu-ray movies and delivers a rich computing experience for casual gamers and multimedia enthusiasts. The company says the processor gives consumers extensive multi-tasking capabilities like creating digital content while checking and writing e-mails and simultaneously downloading music files off the Web. AMD Phenom X4 9100e and AMD 780 series based PCs are ideal for consumers and business customers looking for cool, quiet, energy-efficient PCs.

For more information, visit www.amd.com.