Sony To Buy LCD TV Panels From Rival Sharp
February 24, 2008
New York (dbTechno) - Sony is planning to begin to buy LCD TV panels from their biggest rival, Sharp. The reports are stating that they are going to buy the LCD TV panels from Sharp to meet with consumer demand, and will begin the new venture in April.
Sony is currently in the middle of joint-venture with Samsung. Read more
Microsoft Drops Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Price To $129.99
February 6, 2008
New York (dbTechno) - Microsoft has officially dropped the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from $179.99 to $129.99.
The new price will go into effect immediately in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Read more
Toshiba Getting Aggressive With HD DVD Players
January 14, 2008
Washington (dbTechno) - Toshiba is trying to keep the HD DVD format alive in the wake of the announcement that Warner Bros. would exclusively support the Blu-ray format. Toshiba is getting more aggressive with pricing as they have cut the price of three models of their HD DVD players.
Their entry-level HD DVD player model, the HD-A3 will now retail for $149.99, while the HD-A30 will retail for $199.99, and the HD-A35 will retail for $299.99. Read more
Sony PS3 Makes Up Majority of Blu-ray Player Sales
January 11, 2008
Las Vegas (dbTechno) - The Blu-ray Disc Association has revealed that there are now 3.5 million Blu-ray players in homes that have been sold to date, and 3 million of those are Sony PS3 gaming consoles.
The announcement from the Blu-ray disc association came at CES 2008 in Las Vegas. Spokespersons for the Blu-ray Disc Association came out and stated that there are 3.5 million Blu-ray players which have been sold to date. Read more
Intel Hit With Antitrust Subpoenas In New York
January 10, 2008
New York (dbTechno) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has sent subpoenas to Intel as he continues to investigate possible violations of state and federal antitrust laws by Intel Corp.
Intel Corp. is the largest manufacturer of computer microprocessors in the world and is facing quite a bit of trouble due to this antitrust investigation. The subpoenas handed down to the company seek out information in regards to the accusation that Intel coerced customers to avoid rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc from getting into computers. Read more
Panasonic Reveals 150-Inch Plasma TV
January 10, 2008
Las Vegas (dbTechno) - Panasonic, along with parent company Matsushita Electric, has revealed a 150-inch plasma TV at CES 2008, the biggest plasma TV in the world!
The 150-inch plasma TV is measured diagonally and comes out to being about a 12 1/2 foot TV. At least year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the 103-inch plasma TV was introduced. That miniature thing cannot compare to the incredible showcase that this 150-inch behemoth displays though. Read more
Bill Gates Makes Final Speech At CES
January 7, 2008
Las Vegas (dbTechno) - This year at CES 2008 marked the final time that Bill Gates was going to take to the stage to kick off the highly-anticipated Consumer Electronics Show, but it is clear that tech enthusiasts are not going to see any letdown from Microsoft in the future, even without Bill Gates.
Gates took to the stage to talk a great deal about the software of Microsoft. He also talked about many other consumer electronics, solidifying Microsoft’s push to take on the consumer-electronics industry and continue to conquer it.
Robert Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division at Microsoft, took the stage to announce that Microsoft sold $3.5 billion game consoles through November. This number was $1 billion more than Americans spent on the Nintendo Wii, and $2 billion more than the Sony PS3.
Microsoft touted this year as the biggest year ever for Xbox.
The software-giant also announced new partnerships with Walt Disney, ABC, and MGM to bring brand new content to the Xbox 360 console in the form of TV shows, movies, and much more.
Bach also touched on the Zune stating that the new Zune multimedia devices are “doing well.”
The focus was still on Bill Gates though who in July will turn over day-to-day duties at the Redmond, Washington company to Steven Ballmer.
Gates stated that “The transition is doing well.” He stated that the next decade will be about making digital devices easier to use.
Lenovo Brings New Idea To Laptops
January 3, 2008
Boston (dbTechno) - Lenovo Group is launching a brand new line of notebooks with a new notebook line called the IdeaPad, which i sure to spark new life in the laptop world.
The new product line is bringing style to the world of notebooks as the new Lenovo IdeaPad notebooks will come with various colored aluminum-alloy cases as well as new features which will be more geared towards gamers and fans of gadgets.
Lenovo is trying to compete with the likes of Apple and Hewlett-Packard with these new notebooks as they want to sell PCs directly to consumers in the U.S. and developed countries.
John Spooner, senior analyst at Technology Business Research in Hampton, N.H. stated that “Everybody’s got a glossy black notebook that’s super thin and super light, and the question is, what do they do next?”
Lenovo is hoping that they know what consumers want next from notebooks, and that is style. The new notebooks will have nice cases, colors, features, as well as some halo lighting to truly add style to what has been for years, a bland market in terms of making cool tech products.
Vice president of global consumer marketing for Lenovo, Craig Merrigan, stated “The notebook market is getting more like cars. The car you drive reflects on you, and notebooks are becoming more of a form of self-expression.”
SanDisk USB Flash Drives Gets Online Backup
January 3, 2008
Washington (dbTechno) - SanDisk Corp. has unveiled a new USB flash drive which has a new feature which will automatically copy all of the files to an online backup service.
This automatic backup to an online form of storage will take place whenever the USB flash drive is connected to a PC with an internet connection.
The brand new SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus flash drive is going to retail at $59.99 for the 4GB model and will go on sale in March.
The online backup service is going to cost $29.99 per year. The first six months of the service are going to be offered completely free of charge to customers.
The way in which it will work is that the files will be copied directly to Tel Aviv-based BelnSync Ltd’s onlin ebackup service.
The service will store up to 4GB of data for each product, meaning the amount of storage will coincide with the size of the USB flash drive. It will work as of right now with Windows only, no love for Mac or Linux users.
Electronic Passports Cause Concerns
January 2, 2008
Boston (dbTechno) - The announcement of the federal government to offer passport cards with electronic data chips to U.S. citizens going between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean is causing a lot of concern.
Many are concerned about the security and privacy issues which these electronic passports put forth.
The new electronic passports are supposed to be an alternative to traditional passports and are expected to cut down on wait times at land and sea border checkpoints. The cards can be read from up to 20 feet in line while they wait so that by the time they get up to the line they will have been already checked through by the radio frequency identification signals.
Ann Barrett of passport services stated “As people are approaching a port of inspection, they can show the card to the reader, and by the time they get to the inspector, all the information will have been verified and they can be waved on through.”
Many though are nervous about the card as Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology stated “The government is fundamentally weakening border security and privacy for passport holders in order to get people through the lines faster.”
The thought is that the cards could be intercepted by people and altered due to faulty security on them. This could cause havoc and truly weaken border security.
