Audio News for April 26, 2013

by | Apr 26, 2013 | Audio News

Responsible Electronics Recycling Increase – A new report from the Consumer Electronics Association shows a 27% increase in responsible recycling of electronics in 2012. 585 million pounds of electronics were recycled last year by CE companies in the eCycling Leadership Initiative. As of this month, there are over 8000 responsible recycling locations available to consumers nationwide,including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The Initiative board has set goals to increase the amount of responsibly recycled electronics to a billion pounds by 2016.

Samsung and Best Buy Kick Off Experience Shops – A Manhattan launch event this week started the program of the installation of in-store Samsung boutiques in Best Buy stores across the country. Samsung’s consumer electronic president noted that the advent of digitally-converged hybrid products and changing ways consumers use them, has caused retailers to market and merchandise these devices in new and different ways. Virtually all Best Buy stores will have the Experience Shops by early June.

Kaleidescape Offers HD Video Downloads – Home video server resource Kaleidescape has launched the Blu-ray quality component of its online video store. Movies can now be downloaded from the store with special features and bonus content, plus the same audio and video quality as the Blu-ray disc versions. This will be the first service of its kind to offer movies with the bonus features plus full Blu-ray quality. The service is also compatible with the UltraViolet digital content locker system, and a special feature allows users to jump to their favorite songs in a Blu-ray or DVD concert or musical. Download times per movie title vary, and can run from about 90 minutes to several hours to complete. Pricing ranges from $10-$20, and higher for new releases and special editions. Users’ players must be M-class in order to support downloading of HD content, otherwise only DVD-quality versions may be downloaded. Kaleidescape offers a single manageable library for viewing existing disc and download collections, and includes Rotten Tomatoes’ movie ratings and reviews.

RadioShack to Update Brand and Stores – After announcing a $43 million loss of the first quarter, RadioShack’s CEO said they would have new TV spots, social media blurbs and newspaper inserts under the theme “Let’s Play.” In stores, there will be a new focus on private-label brands and products differentiating RadioShack from its competitors. Stores will be remodeled, and will include more interactive demos and power-brand displays grouping products by brand rather than category. Sales staff will be reinstructed to sell “the whole store” rather than just focusing on mobile phone sales.

CEA Report on Mobile Product Use – The 15th Annual Household CE Ownership and Market Potential Study showed for the first time that the top four items that had the maximum household penetration rates were all mobile products requiring wireless spectrum.  So, look for more government auctioning off of the spectrum on which TV stations currently broadcast in order to fill the needs of the growing wireless community. Not at all good for those dependent on OTA (Over The Air) reception of TV, which was the original idea behind the American commercial broadcast system.

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