Reporters Notebook

June 26, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

The high-definition disc format war may be over, but the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) apparently is still defending its turf from the ghost of its dead and moldering rival.

On Thursday, the group issued a response to a recent Harris Interactive poll that found “lukewarm” demand for HD movie disc players in general, while showing stronger sales for the gone-but-not-forgotten HD DVD format than for Blu-ray Disc players in recent months.

Representatives from Harris had not returned requests for comment as this was posted.

June 22, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Despite the pleading of a popular ’70s Paul Simon song, Kodak announced Monday that it is taking your Kodachrome away.

The photo giant said that after fading sales and the shuttering of processing labs capable of handling the 74-year-old color film stock, it expects to run out of the final rolls by early this fall.

The one-time king of color film so revolutionized the business of its day it became ingrained in American culture, and was used by the top professional photographers to capture some of the world’s most memorable images.

May 14, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

More indications that LCD TV price increases might be on the way: In a recent blog I reported that display industry analysts had confirmed that LCD panel manufacturers had been raising prices to TV makers by a couple of dollars per panel on mostly smaller screen (sub-40-inch) product since January. 

Those same analysts also offered the common opinion that those price increases were very unlikely to carry through to the street-level, because prices just don’t go up on most consumer electronics products in the United States — especially TVs. 

(Shortly thereafter, some retailers reported that a few secondary TV brands were in fact asking modest price increases on sm...Read More

May 11, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (6)

Fans of GPS technology might want to think long and hard before giving thanks for the driving convenience and business opportunities this technology has afforded them in recent years.

According to privacy advocates, the technology could one day soon be used (abused?) by potential Big Brother government types, courtesy of taxpayer dollars, for all sorts of nefarious purposes right here at home. The danger begins upon completion of the 2010 Census (coming your way March 1, 2010), which for the first time is gathering the coordinates of 135 million U.S. front doors, using GPS technology.

As ...Read More

April 22, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Direct-to-home satellite-TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network have teamed up to fight for changes to the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) — which is up for renewal shortly — that would benefit many local TV service subscribers of both services.

But broadcasters are fighting to keep the legislation the way it is, saying the changes could take local eyeballs away from the nearest stations and ruin their ratings calculations and profitability.