TWICE News

Russound Honing Strategy For Powerline-Network Audio
Newmarket, N.H. — Russound is dropping plans for one powerline-network multi-room-audio system to concentrate on another powerline-network audio system that it contends offers more at a lower price.

CinemaNow Expands Distribution Through Canadian Partner
Novato, Calif. — Sonic Solutions and Zip.ca have teamed up to provide Roxio CinemaNow digital movie downloads to Canadian consumers, the companies said Thursday.

Appliance Shipments Continue To Nosedive
Washington — Unit shipments of major appliances fell more than 17 percent in May, marking the sixth consecutive month of double-digit declines in factory sales.

HD Radio Alliance Readies Q3 Campaign
Orlando — The HD Digital Radio Alliance heads into the third quarter with a new consumer ad campaign that continues to emphasize HD Radio’s sound quality and promote the availability of the first portable HD Radios later on in the quarter.

AT&T iPhone App Sets DVRs
Dallas — AT&T U-verse TV customers can now program their digital video recorder from their iPhone.

Sanus Launches Mobile App
St. Paul, Minn. — Sanus Systems announced it has launched a mobile Web site application.

Buzz Aldrin To Keynote CEDIA Event
Indianapolis — Former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin will deliver the keynote speech at the annual CEDIA membership breakfast on Friday, Sept. 11, during the 2009 CEDIA Expo.

ADI Launches IP Point Roadshow
Melville, N.Y. — ADI has launched a training series to help educate dealers on the emerging IP market to help increase their offering and win new business.

ITC Rules Against Sharp In Samsung Patent Spat
Washington — The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Wednesday issued an exclusion order against Sharp after it was found to have violated an LCD technology patent held by Samsung Electronics.

Fujifilm Taps Methane From Landfill For S.C. Plant Needs
Valhalla, N.Y. — Fujifilm Thursday said it has started tapping methane gas generated in a landfill to power approximately 40 percent of its primary U.S. manufacturing complex in Greenwood, S.C.

Verizon Expands Worldphone Lineup
Basking Ridge, N.J. — Verizon Wireless continues to expand its selection of worldphones with the introduction of HTC’s $49.99 Ozone, a smartphone based on the Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard OS.

Reuters: XM Sells $525M in Notes
New York. — XM Satellite Radio, now a subsidiary of Sirius XM, has sold $525.75 million of four-year, senior-secured notes instead of the $350 million originally planned, reported Reuters, quoting IFR, a Thomson Reuters service.

iPort Upgrades In-Wall iPod Docks
San Clemente, Calif. – iPort upgraded its series of in-wall iPod docking/charging stations with three new models priced at a suggested $200, $400 and $800. All integrate with custom-installed multiroom-A/V systems.

Garmin Fixes PND Glitch
Olathe, Kan. — Garmin said it corrected a firmware problem announced Wednesday in some of its high-end portable GPS devices and has released a firmware update to correct the glitch which caused the devices to shut down or fail to acquire a GPS signal.

Pentax Unveils Element-Resistant Optio W80
Golden, Colo. — Pentax unveiled Wednesday its latest elements-resistant point-and-shoot digital camera model, the Optio W80.

HTC Readies Another U.S. Android Offering
London — HTC will offer its Android-based Hero touchscreen phone in North America, but the company didn’t say if U.S. carrier T-Mobile World will offer the unit.

Traffic-Ticket Alerts Offered For PNDs
Harrisburg, Pa. — Phantom Alert is selling a software download for portable GPS devices that warns users of any of the 5,000 or more traffic cameras that can issue traffic tickets via the mail.

AT&T/TeleNav iPhone App Launches
Dallas — AT&T Navigator, offering turn-by-turn directions, is now available on the Apple App Store as a download for the iPhone or iPod Touch for $9.99/month, announced AT&T.

SanDisk Debuts ‘Fastest’ 32GB SDHC Card
Sydney, Australia — SanDisk announced what it’s calling the “world’s fastest” 32GB SDHC card, with read and write speeds said to be 30MBps.

Dunn Succeeds Anderson At Best Buy
Minneapolis — Brian Dunn formally succeeded Brad Anderson as CEO of Best Buy during its annual meeting Tuesday morning, and pointed to product connectivity as the company’s next major growth engine.