Home Electronics Industry News -- February 2002

NOTE: This page is an archive for previously posted news stories from February 2002 - Since most of the links are now inactive, they have been removed. However, the headlines and summaries are still posted to historically document the news headlines from the dates listed.

02/28/02
Tweeter Expects 9% Q2 Comp-Store Drop
Despite aggressive expansion over the past year and sales growth in its California stores, Tweeter expects a slow second quarter overall.

02/27/02
Schulze Steps Down As Best Buy CEO
Best Buy marks another milestone as Richard Schultze, the company's original founder turns over the reigns of the Nation's largest CE retailer to long-time associate Brad Anderson.

02/26/02
More HDTV Sports To Air
Sears and CBS ink a deal to broadcast a portion of the NCAA Basketball playoffs in full 1080i High Definition. For more details, check out the above report from Guide To Home Theater.

02/25/02
Warner Driving Down DVD Prices
While most movie studios are pricing DVDs for the rental market, Warner is pushing lower prices on its DVDs for the direct sale market. For more information on this difference in marketing philosiphy, check out the above report by Guide To Home Theater.

02/24/02
Pure Audiophile Is Born
What's old is new again with the debut of Pure Audiophile, an independent record label specializing in new and remastered recordings on vinyl. For more info, check out the above report by Stereophile.

02/23/02
SONY Unveils 2002 Consumer Product Line
Sony presents an overview of its 2002 product line, including an all WEGA TV lineup, including some with built-in memory stick slots, new progressive scan DVD players, and a new line of digital imaging products.

02/22/02
Philips SACD Productions To Use SLS International Loudspeakers
In order to present its SACD technology in the strongest possible light, Philips has contracted to use SLS International loudspeakers in its recording studios and for SACD dealer demostrations. For more details on this alliance, check out the above report from High Fidelity Review.

02/21/02
DVD Faction Has An Answer To D-VHS
In an effort to nip the potential threat of D-VHS in the bud, several manufacturers, including Pioneer, Hitachi, and Philips, are planning to move quick to bring Blue laser high definition DVD recording to market.

02/20/02
Let the HDTV Rain
One of the stumbling blocks in getting HDTV broadcasts into conusmers' homes is that cable systems do not have the bandwidth capacity to transfer HDTV signals. However, with some new and innovative technology, this could soon change. For more details, check out the above report from Stereophile Guide To Home Theater.

02/19/02
What Comes Next After The Olympics For HDTV?
HDNet's current broadcast of the 2002 Winter Olympics has received praise from the industry and consumers alike, but what about the future of HDTV? To find out what lies ahead, check out the above report Audio Revolution.

02/18/02
Philips Demands Stop To Illegal DVD Players
Philips, the designated administrator of DVD technology patents for itself, Sony, and Pioneer, is planning to take action against unlicensed DVD player makers in China.

02/17/02
Aussie Watchdog Joins Regional Coding Battle
Region coding of DVDs and Playstation games is creating quite a controversy downunder as consumer and government forces take on industry region coding practices.

02/16/02
Philips Q4 CE Sales Decline 19%
Times are tough for Dutch-based Royal Philips Eletronics as their consumer electronics division suffers a deep decline in the 4th quarter.

02/15/02
Sirius Satellite Launched Today
After much delay, Sirius finally joins XM as one of two nationwide satellite radio services.

02/14/02
XM And DirecTV To Jointly Promote Satellite Radio
XM satellite radio taps into the satellite TV customer base to promote its service.

02/13/02
High-End, Mainstream Speakers Ready To Roll
JBL, B&W, Mission, Legacy, Morel, and other manufacturers layout their new loudspeaker products for the coming year.

02/12/02
Accurate Imaging Technologies, New High-End Video Company, Announces Launch
A new company debuts with plans to make an impact on high-end solutions for the increasing home theater market.

02/11/02
Vialta Pumps $10 Million Into Artisan
Vialta, maker of the ViDVD multi-function DVD player, will invest into Artisan Entertaiment. The arrangement secures Vialta a library of programming for its upcoming ViMagazine concept. Owners of Vialta's DVD players will receive a monthly magazine on DVD with up to 14 hours of films and other additional programming.

02/10/02
CBS Sports To Broadcast In HDTV
Despite FOX's desertion of HDTV, CBS continues its committment to High Definintion by broadcasting the Feb 10th Ohio State-Michigan State Basketball game in full 1080i HD 16x9 format. More events are also scheduled.

02/09/02
HDNet's Olympic Broadcast Schedule
Beginning today, key events of the 2002 Winter Olympics are being broadcast in full 1080i HDTV.

Macrovision Inks Multi-Year Copy Protection Contract With Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
For those of you who insist on trying to copy commercially pre-recorded DVDs and VHS movies will be disappointed that anti-copy encoding won't end anytime soon.

02/08/02
Zenith Supplying HDTVs For Olympics
For those attending the Winter Olynmpics in Salt Lake City, you may find as many Plasma and HDTVs as atheletes as Zenith plans to place its HDTV products in key spots.

02/07/02
Henry Kloss Dies At 72
Acoustic Research, KLH, Kloss Video, and Cambridge Sound Works are all brands founded by audio pioneer Henry Kloss. At the age of 72, the inventor of the acoustic suspension speaker and the first to market a projection TV for consumers, has passed away.

02/06/02
HDTV's Last Stand?
The decision by FOX not to broadcast the Superbowl in HDTV is creating quite a stir amongst both viewers and industry professionals. Will FOX's decision to back away from HDTV start a trend by other networks away from the high-quality format?

02/05/02
DLP Lighting Up The HT Market
It seems that DLP (Digital Light Processing) is becoming a more viable option for home theater fans as a new generation of low cost, high resolution, compact video projectors are reaching the market. For more details, check out the above report from Stereophile Guide To Home Theater.

02/04/02
Philips Burning on Protection
Philips continues to take on the record industry on the issue of CD copy protection. By tampering with the CD encoding process, Philips claims that the record makers are tampering with CD standards establish by both Philips and Sony in 1980.

02/03/02
New Volvo XC90 Includes Dolby Surround Pro Logic II...
For those of you that want to take surround sound on the road, Dolby and Volvo announce the incorporation of Dolby Pro Logic II in the new Volvo XC90 SUV. For more details, check out the above report from Dolby Labs.

02/02/02
Multiple Awards For New Plus Piano HE-3100 Home Theatre Projector
Video projection for the common man is finally a reality as the PLUS Piano DLP projector rakes in a host of innovation awards, and its $2,999 price doesn't hurt either.

02/01/02
SonicBlue Out To Win Mass Market Favor
While recordable DVD formats battle it out, PVR advocates SonicBlue, TIVO, and Ultimate TV, which market video recorders that use hard disk technology, try to claim stake to their own consumer territory.

For additional News Stories check out my Home Electronics Industry News Archives.