CEA says Consumer Electronics reach $173 billion in 2008

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The consumer electronics industry will see overall shipment revenues top $173 billion in the United States in 2008, according to new data released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

The semi-annual U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecast shows CE shipment revenues will grow by 7.3 percent this year, reaching more than $183 billion by 2009. Read more

Posted on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:51:28 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Coby Electronics Introduces New HD Radio Receivers

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Coby electronics has announced a pair of new portable, cordless HD Radio receivers. Coby says that the pair of receivers is value priced and allows users to receiver HD2 and HD3 broadcasts as well as FM and AM radio stations.

HD Radio stations are free and often broadcast alongside standard FM broadcasts by radio stations across the country. The two new receivers include the HDR-700 Portable HD Radio System and the HDR-650 Component HD Radio Receiver. Read more

Posted on Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:43:51 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

NPD Says Consumer Electronics Sales Rebounding

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Along with the slow economy in the US came slow sales of all sorts of consumer goods including electronics. According to the NPD Group consumer electronics sales rebounded to some degree in May. NPD says that sales in May 2008 were up more than 7% in total compared to May of 2007.

The growth in sales was attributed to six top money generating categories. The categories include (in order) notebook computers sold $794.6 million, LCD TVs sold $792.4 million, digital point and shoot cameras sold $310.4 million, portable digital players sold $250 million, ink jet cartridges sold $274.4 million and desktop computers sold $244.4 million. Read more

Posted on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:00:49 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Study Says Printed Electronics Market to be Worth $300 billion in next 20 years

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According to Research and Market over the next 20 years printed electronics will be a $300 billion market. The largest segment of this printed electronics business will be for transistors and memory according to the report.

The first products based on printed transistors and memory is to be sold this year the report says. There are 150 companies cited in the report that are working to make printed electronics happen. Read more

Posted on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:12:32 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

CEA Says American’s Spend $1400 on Electronics Annually

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The CEA association, the group behind the annual CES convention, released a study today showing that American’s spend about $1400 each year on consumer electronics. That amount represents an increase of $120 more than American’s spent last year.

The items helping to drive this growth in consumer spending are cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, laptops and more. CEA says that a device performing more than one function is why the average number of electronic devices slipped from 25 products in 2007 to 24 products in 2008. Read more

Posted on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:43:44 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Mitsubishi Electronics Announces 500 Series Projectors

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Mitsubishi announced today that it was releasing a new line of projectors called the 500 family that makes use of the new TI DDP 2230 DMD chip with DLP and BrilliantColor. The series includes four projectors.

Three of the projectors share the same resolution of 1024 x 768. The XD500U has 2200 lumens, the XD510U has 2600 lumens and the XD520U has 3000 lumens. The fourth projector has a lower resolution of 800 x 600 and is called the SD510U with 2200 lumens. All three projectors are scheduled to ship this month starting at $995. Read more

Posted on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:55:43 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

USPS Offers Free Electronics Recycling Through the Mail

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The USPS announced that it will be offering free electronics recycling via a mail in service. The program has been launched in 1,500 post offices across the country as a pilot program to try and get consumers to recycle electronics and ink cartridges rather than throwing them into landfills.

The program is called “Mail Back” and allows people to send back all sorts of items including BlackBerry’s, MP3 players, ink cartridges, PDAs, digital cameras and other items with no postage fees. Postage fees are covered by Clover Technologies Group who receives the returned electronics and gear and recycles the products. Read more

Posted on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:24:08 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Blu-ray has won, Electronics Companies get to work now

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For some reason it does not feel like a historic day, but it kind of is. The HD format war is over and HD DVD is history. Now the way is free for the high definition revolution the consumer electronics industry has beem talking about for years now.

Blu-ray disc is now the standard for high definition video on disc media. One of the prominent companies that have to do something very fast is Microsoft. The Xbox 360 with its HD DVD drive looks pretty silly now. Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:42:04 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

STMicroelectronics New CMOS Sensor Makes Camera Phones Smaller

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STMicroelectronics introduces the smallest single-chip camera sensor for mobile applications today. The CMOS sensor provides a 2 megapixel mobile-phone camera sensor with low space requirements.

The sensor is called the VD6725 and is a 1.5 inch optical-format image sensor with a 1600 x 1200 pixel array. The sensor is designed to fit into camera phones under 6x6x3.8 mm. Read more

Posted on Fri, 8 Feb 2008 08:33:52 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Wilson Electronics Promises Less Dropped Calls

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If you are like me and use a cellular phone and don’t have a landline at all you may have noticed the tendency to get dropped calls in some areas when you are inside buildings. A company called Wilson electronics has a new device called SignalBoost that promises to end dropped calls.

The device is an in-building dual-band cellular amplifier with ten times more power than your cellular phone. The device promises to increase your cellular signal by 10 to 15 times for both voice and data service. Read more

Posted on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:13:24 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Consumer Electronics Association says DTV has 50% Reach

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The CEA association says that the U.S. has reached a critical junction in the adoption of digital TVs. According to them, digital TVs are now in 50% of American homes.

"I am proud to announce our nation has hit this digital milestone. With 50 percent of U.S. homes able to experience the reality of digital television, we have crossed a critical threshold," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. "2008 will continue to demonstrate the growth and success of DTV, with nearly 32 million units forecasted to ship. Consumers are particularly keen to add HDTV to their homes, with high definition expected to account for 79 percent of total DTV shipments in the U.S. in 2008." Read more

Posted on Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:31:32 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Samsung stops selling Consumer Electronics in Japan

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Samsung decided to stop selling consumer electronics in Japan.

Samsung did sell LCD TVs, mp3 players, and DVD players in Japan, but only online and at some retailers. Samsungs' consumer electronics sales only accounted for 1% of total sales in Japan. The major business for Samsung in Japan is semiconductors and LCD panels. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Dice Electronics iTPA-220 Apple iPod Dock Review

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Our partner Digital Trends published a review of the Dice Electronics iTPA-220 Apple iPod Dock.

Quote from the review: "Dice Electronics has recently announced that they're entering into the plentiful market of iPod-dock speaker systems. Their new product, the iTPA-220, is a vacuum tube enhanced iPod speaker system that offers two 20 watt channels of sound. Read more

Posted on Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Dual Electronics Offers Two New HD Radio Car Stereos Under $150

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Dual electronics is now offering car stereos that wrap AM FM, CD, and HD Radio built-in. This new radio allows users to listen to free HD Radio without needing a separate module. Dual says that as of September 2007 there are more than 1500 HD Radio stations in the country.

Dual’s new XHD6425 and XHD6420 head units are both priced at under $150 in retail stores. The radios have common functions that radio users are used like scan and seek. A HD Radio only seek is also included. Read more

Posted on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:52:48 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

DICE Electronics iTPA-220 iPod Tube Amplifier

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DICE Electronics is launching a new iPod tube amplifier system aimed at audiophiles in September for a not so high-end price of $299. The amp will charge your iPod as you play it so you are never out of power.

A video output is included for the iPod Video and the amp has an auxiliary input for additional audio devices like your computer or other MP3 player. Read more

Posted on Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:16:27 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Liz Claiborne Designs Electronics Accessories for Best Buy

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Liz Claiborne and Best Buy have teamed up to bring a line of consumer electronic accessories to Best Buy exclusively. The full line will be available in 250 Best buy stores across the country in October as well as being available online.

The line will include bags and cases for laptops, phones, cameras and MP3 players. A business tote will also be part of the collection. The bags will be in leather with different finishes like jacquard and patent. Read more

Posted on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 09:59:51 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

LG Electronics on a Role in the United States

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LG Electronics says that sales are on the way to exceed $10 billion in revenues in North America for the full year.

Michael Ahn, president and chief executive of LG Electronics North American Headquarters, said the company's strong emphasis on design and innovation are positioning LG as "one of the fastest-growing premium brands in mobile phones, digital appliances and consumer electronics in the United States today." Read more

Posted on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 04:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Apple iPhone appears on major Electronics Retailer in Germany

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I am a bit baffled by this news. Media Markt a major electronics retailer in Germany that belongs to the Metro Group has elaborate advertising for the Apple iPhone on its site.

Under the tagline "Touching is Believing" Media Markt shows the main features of the iPhone. The description says that the sale starts end of this year.

What is baffling me is that Media Markt seems to be sure that they will be selling the iPhone in their stores. They do already sell mobile phones from different carriers. Read more

Posted on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 01:32:12 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Universal Electronics NevoSL Review

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RemoteShoppe reviews the NevoSL universal remote from Universal Electronics.

Quote from the review:
"The first step in programming any new remote is to add your home theater’s devices. In NevoStudio 2.0 you just click the “Add Device” icon and a wizard comes up with several choices. Read more

Posted on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

sE Electronics New sE2200A USB Mic

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sE Electronics has a new USB powered mic slated to hit the shelves early next year. sE claims to have improved the nature of the USB 2.0 microphones by including active electronics inside the mic to control the power flow for less noise.

The mic has a low cut filter, 10dB pad and comes with a rugged aluminum shock mount and flight case to protect the mic during transit. Impedance is less than or equal to 200 Ohms and the mic can be used without a PC with standard connectivity making it more flexible than many USB only mics. Read more

Posted on Fri, 8 Dec 2006 10:00:00 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Klegg Electronics 40'' LCD TV w/ built-in Media Center Computer

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I always wanted to put a media center computer in my living room, but never did because of the limited space I have with all the other gadgets in the entertainment center. Klegg Electronics has the solution to my problems with their KLM-4010 LCD TV that has a medic center PC built in.

The TV itself is a 40” model with a 3000:1 contrast ratio, 500 cd/m2 brightness and a native resolution of 1366 x 768. It can display HDTV resolutions of 480i, 576i, 720p and 1080i. Inputs include HDMI, DVI, component, S-Video, SPDIF, RF and composite inputs. Read more

Posted on Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:45:51 CST | by Shane McGlaun