On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Retail consultancy FITCH reveals the three "shopper mindstates" driving the future of retail all over the world-- "Dreaming," "Exploring" and "Locating."

The results come from a global survey polling 7250 people in 7 major markets, the UK, USA, Russia, UAE, Brazil, India and China.

First off, FITCH explains the 3 mindstates as such:

• Dreaming: shopper actively looks for new ideas and inspirations, skipping between categories and brands in order to either learn or find inspiration.
• Exploring: shopper has a specific purchase intent (within a categor) but is open to suggestions and influences.
• Locating: shopper is looking for a specific brand, product or service.

No, Google has still not given up on the Chromebook concept-- not when it reveals the "new Samsung Chromebook," a slim-and-light number aiming to attract customers not with power but with a low price.

The cloud-powered laptop costs $250.

However the New Samsung Chromebook is a downgrade from the Series 5 550 launched back in June 2012-- it carries a Samsung Exynox dual-core ARM processor (essentially a smartphone processor), 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage (together with 100GB of online storage). On the other hand the 550 has an Intel Core processor and 4GB of RAM.

Further changes include a thinner and lighter (2cm, 1.1kg) design, an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 display, x2 USB ports and an HDMI port (instead of DisplayPort++).

What remains is Chrome OS, the cloud-based take on PC operating systems. Thanks to various updates, the OS now has improved offline capabilities and "seamless" integration with Android devices.

Will customers go for cheaper Chromebooks? Google will sell the laptop on the online Google Play store, as well as select retailers in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK.

Go Introducing the New Chromebook

Back in November 2011 OpCapita bought Comet for "an aggregate consideration of £2." Now the Financial Times reports the turnaround specialist already considers a sale of the UK CE chain.

"People familiar with the situation" say OpCapita recently received unsolicited approaches to buy Comet from UK and overseas retailers. No official OpCapita statement is yet available.

OpCapita not only acquired Comet for less than your morning cappuccino, but also received a dowry from former owners Kesa worth a tidy £50 million. Kesa also kept the liability of paying out the Comet Benefit Pension Scheme.

Comet stores in the UK total 240 (after the sale of 60 outlets), and OpCapita slashed staff numbers from 8500 to 7000.

Go OpCapita Considers Sale of Comet (FT.com)

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) decides on a name for so-called "4K" TVs-- "Ultra High-Definition" (or "Ultra HD") a name letting consumers (and retailers!) know exactly what TVs they are buying.

The CEA 4K Working Group also lists the minimum specifications required for the Ultra HD standard. These include 3840 x 2160 resolution, 8 million active pixels and at least 16:9 aspect ratio.

Products carrying Ultra HD labelling will also have at least one digital input capable of carrying native 4K video without the need for up-converting.

"This new terminology and the recommended attributes will help consumers navigate the marketplace to find the TV that best meets their needs," CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro remarks.

In theory from now on vendors will use "Ultra HD" as an umbrella term for 4K offerings-- even if Sony recently announced it will market its products as "4K UHD." Either way expect the CEA to push the new format name from CES 2013 onwards.

Go CE Industry Announces Ultra High-Definition