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The California Energy Commission (CEC) delayed a vote on setting new energy-efficiency standards for TVs in the state, planning to now address the issue at its Nov. 18 business meeting. The Commission is considering proposed sales restriction for energy-hogging TVs that will be imposed in two tiers, in January 2011 and January 2013, though the first phase of restrictions will not include TVs larger than 58 inches. Click here to read the proposed energy requirements. The proposal has generated much controversy, pitting the environmental advocates… View this story
Displays • Flat Panel • HDTV • LCD • Plasma • Industry • Manufacturers • Dealers • Retailers • Green Technology • Info and Answers • Product News

Wal-Mart is now offering home installation services for TVs, home theaters and PCs. The big-box retailer, which expressed interest in the installation market in June 2008, has partnered with N.E.W. Customer Service Companies Inc., which has a network of 11,000 certified installers who will perform the in-home services. According to Reuters, the support service will be available in time for the holiday shopping season and is a direct challenge to Best Buy. Wal-Mart will charge $99 for basic TV installations and $129 for basic PC… View this story
Retailers • Home Theater • Product News

Forty-three percent of working consumers will be spending less money during the 2009 holiday shopping season than in 2008, according to a WorkPlace Media study. The survey polled 1,100 working Americans, who are clearly trying to balance holiday fun and fiscal responsibility. Consumers are also looking to simplify their holiday shopping, the study finds. Fifty-six percent say they will purchase between one and five gift cards, while 33 percent say they will buy more than six gift cards. According to the study, the six most… View this story
Retailers • Product News

Do you bask in your home theater? Have you gone through upgrade after upgrade in your quest to improve your theater? Maybe it can use even more upgrades? Online theater products and accessories retailer HTmarket.com has the contest for you. It’s opened up the “Great Home Theater Review Contest” that should be right up your alley, especially if you can rub a few words together to describe some of your theater gear. You don’t (or didn’t) even have to buy the products from HTmarket.com. The… View this story
Retailers • Product News

The area around Boston University used to be a hi-fi hotbed. BU students, Boston College students, faculty, personnel from nearby hospitals and affluent residents from Boston’s Back Bay, Brookline and Newton would flock to Tweeter, Electra City, Goodwin’s High End and Spearit Sound. They’d listen to some Blue Oyster Cult or Grand Funk Railroad or maybe Weather Report before hauling away a pair of 4-foot speakers in the backseat of a Buick Riviera. Those stores moved to suburban locations (Goodwins in nearby Waltham and Spearit… View this story
Installers • Dealers • Retailers • Product News

The fight over proposed sales restrictions of energy hogging TVs in California is raging on, with both sides making impassioned cases before the California Energy Commission (CEC) in a public hearing yesterday, Oct. 13. The CEC has proposed limiting the sales of TVs in the state to only those that meet energy-efficiency standards, starting in 2011 and with a second, stricter tier of requirements in 2013. Trade groups such as the Consumer Electronic Association (CEA) and the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) oppose… View this story
Displays • LCD • Plasma • Industry • Manufacturers • Installers • Dealers • Retailers • Power Management • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Think your old and outdated technology is scary? Can you tell a good Halloween story out of its terrifying existence? Best Buy wants to see your pictures and hear your tales of technology horror for its October-themed “Scary Technology” contest. The mega retailer is holding the contest from now until October 26, 2009, and announcing the winners on October 31, 2009. Your entry requires the submission of an original photo from your home (or friend’s home) of some ‘terrifying technology’ to share, along with a… View this story
Retailers • Product News

Technology companies placed in four of the top five spots in Newsweek’s survey of the greenest top 500 corporations in the United States. That’s great news, though a few of the top green dogs may be no surprise: Hewlett-Packard and Dell, ranked number one and two, respectively, have had strong environmental and recycling policies in place for years. Some of the other rankings in the survey may surprise you. Microsoft beat out Apple, and Yahoo topped Google. AT&T and Apple failed to break into the… View this story
Industry • Manufacturers • Retailers • Green Technology • Info and Answers

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has decided not to propose restricting the sale of TVs with screen sizes larger than 58 inches that do not meet energy efficiency standards. The CEC’s proposal to restrict the sale of TVs that don’t meet energy efficiency standards has been met with resistance from groups that say the move will effectively ban the sale of most big-screen and plasma-based TVs. The final proposal from the CEC has been posted and omits sales restrictions of televisions with screens in excess… View this story
Displays • LCD • Plasma • Industry • Manufacturers • Retailers • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Blockbuster will close up to 960 stores by the end of 2010, leaving it with about 20 percent fewer stores in the United States. It’s not a surprise. It’s a sign of the times. About 18 percent of Blockbuster’s stores aren’t making money and 47 percent are only mildly profitable, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The once dominant movie rental chain, which had already closed 276 stores as of mid-August 2009, has seen intense competition lately. Netflix seems to be… View this story
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The California Energy Commission (CEC) still plans to vote on a controversial television energy use requirement that could restrict the sale of inefficient TVs in the state, starting in 2011. Opponents to the plan, led by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), say the restrictions would effectively ban the sale of plasma-based TVs and many large-screen LCD TVs. The CEC says the mandates will save Californians $18 to nearly $30 per year per television in energy costs. The CEA says it will cost the state $50… View this story
Displays • LCD • Plasma • Industry • Manufacturers • Retailers • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Remember the good ol’ days when you could get all your favorite films on DVD for $15 the week they were released? Remember heading out to your local big-box store on Tuesday afternoon during your lunch hour to pick up great discs like Braveheart and Gladiator? Remember how Blu-ray built up hopes and dreams of high-definition physical media only to pull you crashing back down to earth with high disc prices ... and then kick your dog and marry your high-school sweetheart just for good… View this story
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