“Alpha” versions of a core development kit for mp3 Surround will be available this week, executives of system licensors Thomson and Germany’s Fraunhofer Institut told reporters Tues. With mp3 Surround software development kits already available in the “beta” stage, a slim possibility remains that the first consumer products incorporating mp3 functionality could be available in late 2005, but they are more likely in 2006, they said.
If Blockbuster -- as it has stated -- needs to spend $400 million to meet its goal of achieving 2 million online DVD subscribers within a year and reaching profitability, a 3rd market entrant such as Amazon probably will need to spend even more just to break even, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told a quarterly conference call. “So while the barriers to become a major player are not insurmountable, they are quite large and growing,” Hastings said. He said that indicates “the likely case is online rental becomes a 2-firm market over the coming years.”
Panasonic has joined the high-level talks with Sony and Toshiba aimed at unifying the Blu-ray and HD DVD systems and averting an all-out format war, Consumer Electronics Daily has learned from sources familiar with the discussions.
Sales and profit performance in wireless products that fell below expectations in “core” stores was a key factor in RadioShack’s report Tues. of lower net profit vs. a year ago. Net income fell 24% to $55 million (34 cents per share) on a 3% total sales increase, but same- store sales were down 1%.
Broadcasters Mon. used harsh language to repudiate a CEA petition at the FCC to revise the DTV tuner mandate compliance schedule on 25-26” TV sets. NAB branded the CEA petition a “delay plan” whose only purpose was to sell more analog TVs at the expense of digital.
Philips reported a 79% decline in first-quarter net income on a significantly lower contribution from unconsolidated companies such as LG.Philips LCD, where losses exceeded 34 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of 215 million.
CEA has downgraded its 2005 projections on DTV product shipments to 15 million units from 20 million because the earlier forecast overestimated “the full-year effect” of the FCC’s DTV tuner mandate and its potential to invigorate DTV sales, the Assn. said Fri.
Three elaborate “books” comprise the Version 0.9 draft specification released Thurs. after months of delay on the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), the copy protection guts of the next-generation HD DVD system and possibly also Blu-ray.
“Productive negotiations” continue as partisans debate the FCC’s inquiry (99-325) into whether content protections are needed to thwart widespread piracy of music transmitted over emerging IBOC digital radio services, senior RIAA executives have told new FCC Chmn. Martin, an ex parte filing disclosed.
Seven in 10 consumers polled by CEA plan to buy a CableCARD-ready HDTV set as their next TV, CEA said Mon. at the NCTA show in San Francisco, where it sought to promote cable industry CableCARD support. “It’s the beginning of the end for the DTV transition, and with 70% of U.S. households relying on cable for their primary TV signal, support from the cable industry for these plug-&- play sets is paramount,” said CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro. He said cable must join CE in promoting the sets and “the necessary CableCARD. Beyond that, the CableCARD must be made readily available to consumers by cable operators at an affordable cost.” CEA said 3 million CableCARD-ready HDTV sets will be shipped this year, building on the installed base of one million shipped through year-end 2004. By cable’s latest estimates, only 31,000 CableCARDs had been installed in consumers’ homes (CED March 21 p2). But the numbers should keep rising as more CableCARD-ready sets reach the market. Under stringent new reporting rules incorporated into the FCC’s extension of the integration ban by a year, the 6 largest cable operators must file status reports on CableCARD “deployment and support” as of Aug. 1, and every 90 days thereafter.