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The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has vowed to pursue legal and legislation solutions to yesterday’s decision by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to impose energy-efficiency requirements on TVs sold in the state. The standards require that new televisions sold in California consume 33 percent less electricity by 2011 and 49 percent less electricity by 2013. The standards affect only those TVs with a screen size 58 inches or smaller. For example, a 42-inch screen would consume 183 watts or less by 2011 and 115 watts… View this story
Displays • LCD • Plasma • Industry • Manufacturers • Dealers • Retailers • Green Technology • Info and Answers

CE retailers are banking on the day after Thanksgiving being not black, but Blu Friday. Blu-ray player prices are being slashed and blockbuster titles on Blu-ray will be going for $8 - $13. The cost of entry is dropping to where the average consumer can finally justify putting some HD content on that plasma or LCD. Best Buy, now running its own Deal of the Day leading up to the Holidays, is offering the LG BD370 player for a low $129 with free shipping, today… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • Industry • Retailers • Deals • Product News

Zip Express Installation has scored another win for its home entertainment and networking installation business. The company has partnered with Shopko, a $2 billion regional retailer of everything from pharmaceuticals to optical services to home entertainment gear. Shopko, headquartered in Green Bay, Wis., has 136 stores in 13 states throughout the Midwest, Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions. With the deal, Zip strengthens its furniture assembly and regular old “white glove” delivery offerings in its roster of services. Furniture assembly starts at $130. Shopko customers can… View this story
Computer Systems • Computers • Displays • Flat Panel • HDTV • Furniture • Industry • Installers • Retailers • Info and Answers

The California Energy Commission (CEC) today voted to enact restrictions on the sales of energy-hogging TVs up to 58 inches in screen size. The new restrictions will limit the sales of TVs in the state to only those that meet energy requirements, starting in 2011. A second, stricter phase of requirements is slated to go into effect in 2013, and could include restrictions on sets larger than 58 inches in size. The vote by the CEC culminates a months-long battle fought contentiously by the Consumer… View this story
Displays • LCD • Plasma • Industry • Manufacturers • Dealers • Retailers • Green Technology • Info and Answers • Product News

The Tweeter brand is up for grabs. The Canton, Mass.-based specialty electronics retailer that once had nearly 200 locations across the U.S. shut its doors in Dec. 2008. However, it’s possible that its brand soon will be back from the dead. Atlanta-based liquidator Apto Solutions is accepting bids for Tweeter’s intellectual property, including its name and URLs, according to Christopher Re, VP of business development for Apto. All bids are due by Nov. 30, 2009, says Re, who is handling the bidding process. “Then a… View this story
Industry • Retailers • Info and Answers

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