Home Electronics Industry News -- March 2002
NOTE: This page is an archive for previously posted news stories from March 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.
03/31/02
DMCA Catches A Counterfeiter
For those of you that like to make copies of commercially distributed DVDs and VHS tape movies to give to friends, check out this story from Video Business.
03/30/02
HDNet And MLB Announce Full Season Of High-Definition Broadcasts
On the heals of its successful HDTV broadcasts of the Winter Olympics, HDNet has contracted with Major League Baseball to broadcast 80 games this coming season in full 1080i High Definition.
03/29/02
Canadian Audio Report
CES is only one of many consumer electronics trade shows around the world. Recently, Canada's Festival Son & Image, showcasing innovative audio products, was held in Montreal with rousing success. Find out all about interesting audio products displayed at the show as reported by Stereophile.
03/28/02
Sirius Accelerates National Rollout Plans
The satellite radio war heats up as Sirius pushes up its national rollout plans.
03/27/02
New Line Reveals A Trilogy Of Rings Videos
If you haven't jumped into the DVD craze yet, perhaps the upcoming release of Lord Of The Rings on DVD may just entice you.
03/26/02
Samsung And Warner Home Video Announce Father's Day DVD Promotion
Samsung will promote their new line-up of DVD players later this Spring as it teams with Warner Bros to give away selected Warner Bros DVD movie titles with purchase of any one of several new DVD players.
03/25/02
Sony Creating Exclusive CE Line For Target
As a testament to Target's dominant force in big-box retail, Sony has just inked an agreement with the popular retailer to make an inexpensive lineup of consumer electronics products.
03/24/02
Chains Promoting Used DVDs For Sale
The idea of buying used DVDs gains strength as Blockbuster rolls out a new used DVD promotion for consumers.
03/23/02
'01 Rear Projection Swings To Digital
Despite delays and controversy amongst broadcasters and the cable industry over the DTV adoption schedule, sales of DTV-compatible projection TVs continue to surge past their analog counterparts.
03/22/02
Pinnacle Sees Big Growth Ahead For Video Editing In The Home
With the proliferation of camcorders, VCRs, PC/MAC CD and DVD-writers, video editing is becoming more commonplace in consumer households. With that in mind, Pinnacle Systems unveils several products for the family videographer.
03/21/02
Broadcasters Seek Waivers To May 1 DTV Deadline
Although the complete turnover to DTV is still a few years away, over 200 broadcasters will miss the May 2002 deadline for all TV stations to begin broadcasting a DTV signal, along with their current analog offerings.
03/20/02
Surround Sound All Around
Surround sound was once something that could only be experienced in movie theaters. However, with advances in surround sound technology and the manufacturing of affordable surround sound-based products is making surround sound commonplace in U.S. households. For a complete report, check out the above article by Stereophile Guide To Home Theater.
03/19/02
Comcast To Debut HDTV In Major Markets By End Of 2002
While most cable companies are lagging in bringing HDTV access on their cable systems, Comcast has been pioneering in this area. In addition to its current HDTV cable offerings in Philadelphia, Comcast plans to expand its HD-cable compatibility to other systems in Maryland, Detroit, Michigan, and Indianapolis, this year and other regions next year.
03/18/02
Despite The Odds, 2002 International CES Was A Home Run
The results are in and despite three major hurdles: The change to a weekday schedule, a general economic slowdown in the CE industry, and the effects of Sept. 11th on travel, CES 2002 was still a smashing success.
03/17/02
Recordable-DVD Buyers Cry Foul
Despite great promise, format compatibility issues continue to plague recordable DVD as illustrated in this article concerning DVD writers made by Hewlett Packard.
03/16/02
SONICblue Licenses Patented Technology To Thomson Multimedia
In order to accelerate the availability of DVD/VCR combination decks, SONICblue is allowing Thomson (RCA) to use its patented Go-Video dual deck technology.
03/15/02
Lawsuit Looms In DVD Royalty Fight
A war between East and West is brewing in the world of DVD as the EU and major DVD patent holders begin to take action against Chinese DVD player manufacturers that aren't paying patent royalties on their DVD players.
03/14/02
A First Glimpse At D-VHS® D-Theater™
While the consumer market seems to be grabbing up DVDs, D-VHS is slowly staking out its own turf. For a preview of what to expect from pre-recorded D-VHS programming, check out the above sneak review of the D-VHS D-Theater version of the hit movie U571 by Widescreen Review.
03/13/02
The Trouble With DTV
DTV appears to rolling along for now, but will it become stalled? For a report on the progress of the DTV conversion, check out the above report from Stereophile Guide To Home Theater.
03/12/02
Surround Sources Grow On Disc, On Air
Broadcasters are jumping on the home theater bandwagon as more and more programs are being broadcast with surround sound. In addition, most digital TV broadcasts contain dolby digital 5.1 soundtracks. This, combined with the growing number of dolby digital and DTS encoded DVDs, is reassuring to manufacturers of the latest generation AV receivers.
03/11/02
Things Not Looking Up For Satellite TV Merger
Concerns over a potential monopoly and increased regulatory responsibility from the government are being expressed by several lawmakers as the Senate Committee on Anti-Trust considers the EchoStar/DirecTV merger.
03/10/02
Kmart To Close 284 Stores, Cut 22k Employees
Long a favorite shopping spot for budget-minded consumers, K-Mart is facing the realities of competition from other big-box retailers as it begins restructing following its Chapter 11 filing.
03/09/02
Best Buy To Exclusively Sell New TiVo Digital Video Recorder
TiVo forges an alliance with Best Buy, that gives the number 1 CE retailer exclusive selling rights to its new TiVo Series 2 PVR. Selling for a price of $399, the TiVo series 2 has the capacity to record 60 hours of video programming on its internal hard drive.
03/08/02
Marantz, Denon To Merge
Two popular AV component companies, Marantz and Denon, will combine into a single holding company to be called D&M Holdings, while still maintaining their own brand identities and product lines.
03/07/02
Samsung Offers New Line Of DynaFlat Direct-View HDTV Monitors
Samsung continues its leadership in direct-view HDTV-upgradable televisions with the announcement of its new Dynaflat DTV product line for 2002.
03/06/02
House Cool To Copy Protection
With the entertainment conglomerates trying to force their hand on the CE manufacturers with the insistence that all transmission, playback, and recording products include some type of anti-copying technology. However, it seems that the U.S. Congress is not so inclined to throw in their total support in this area. For more on this confusion, check out the above report from WIRED.
03/05/02
800.com Short Circuited
One of oldest and most popular E-tailers, 800.com, folds amidst a harsh economic climate despite amassing a large list of authorized vendors and award-winning web-site content.
03/04/02
Hitachi To Spin Off Display Operation
Due to falling prices and reduced profits for traditional picture tubes, Hitachi will cease making traditional CRTs and establish a new subsidiary to produce higher-tech (and higher profit) displays such as TFT and LCD screens. For more details, check out the above report from EE Times.
03/03/02
Nakamichi Seeks Bankruptcy Protection
Nakamichi, famed manufacturer of audiophilie quality audio cassette decks and, more recently, Soundspace audiosystems, has come on hard times as it files for bankruptcy protection in Japanese court.
03/02/02
TIVO Sets Price Increase For April 1
TIVO's announced price increase is definitely not an "April Fools" joke as the company seeks a more realistic road to profitability.
03/01/02
Aiwa To Become Sony Subsidiary
After years as an independent affiliate of Sony, Aiwa will now be officially absorbed in the Sony infrastructure as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
For more News Stories check out my Home Electronics Industry News Archives.
