Business and Industry News

Chinese make a splash with new hi-fi offerings

Chinese audio manufacturers are slashing prices on many of their high-fidelity audio offerings, while also increasing the quality and reputations of their products. "Chinese gear was once associated with a lack of quality. That can really no longer be applied. They're making some really good equipment," audio-store-owner Kurt Heartsong said. San Francisco Chronicle (2/19)

Games far from being a man's world

Women are outplaying their younger male counterparts on video games, with women over the age of 18 making up 30% of the game-playing population, vs. 23% for boys 17 or younger, according to the Entertainment Software Association. What's more, women 25 and older last year purchased the majority of games sold for mobile phones, market researcher Telephia reports. Chicago Tribune (free registration) (2/20)
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XM, Sirius plan merger

The proposed $11.4 billion merger between XM Satellite Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio would create a combined company headed by Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, with XM's Gary Parsons serving as chairman. The deal faces serious regulatory hurdles because of threatened opposition by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and because of a 1997 FCC rule that expressly prohibits one company from holding both satellite licenses. The Washington Post (2/20)
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TV world bids farewell to remote founder

When Robert Adler co-founded the Zenith Space Command remote control in 1956, chances are he didn't expect generations of couch potatoes to be forever indebted to the device. This past Thursday, Adler passed away at the age of 93, a spokesman at Zenith Electronics Corp. said. Boston Herald/Associated Press (2/19)
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Daylight-saving switch expected to cause consumer headaches

The government's decision to extend daylight-saving hours this year has some in the consumer electronics world preparing for inconveniences. Products that aren't connected to networks will most likely need to have their times manually corrected, although most modern computers and devices aren't expected to have problems. Portland Press Herald (Maine) (2/20)
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Will cell phones become the "brand in your hand"?

Marketers agree the potential is there for mobile phones to become a major ad medium, but providers still have concerns about violating subscribers' privacy and annoying them with unwanted sales pitches. "We're calling the phone 'the brand in your hand' -- you're never more than a foot away from it, 24 hours a day," said Fareena Sultan, associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University's College of Business Administration. The Boston Globe (2/20)
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Consumers ask what HD discs can do for them

The ongoing format debate between Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs has both consumers and experts asking if it's necessary. The blase attitude toward making a definitive choice between the two formats is most readily attributed to the pervasiveness of the standard DVD format and the fact that the technology is only 10 years old.