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

More than 100 million cell phones get thrown away every year in USA alone. And in Europe?

Now a San Diego-based start-up, EcoATM, launches a self-serve e-cycling station to electronically inspects phones, determine secondary market value, and provide in-store payment (if the handset has monetary value). Consumers can choose to dump the device to a recycle bin for recycling if the EcoATM determines value is nil.

At a trial run, on its first day, consumers tossed 23 phones into EcoATM's recycle bin. Next day, $100 in phones came in, including a perfect BlackBerry Curve.

EcoATMs should soon be able to recognize other gadgets (think MP3 players, digital cameras, notebooks, printers, and storage devices).The machines use a camera-based system to to determine a device's approximate value by detecting signs of wear such as damaged screens, missing keys, and scratches.

The company will install kiosks at CE retailers in San Diego, Texas, Washington State, and Vermont this quarter.

Go EcoATM

Business this year is holding up as expected, says Carphone Warehouse. They are increasingly "confident” of plans to de-merge Best Buy Europe from TalkTalk by end of March 2010.

In March 2009,TalkTalk became Britain's fastest growing home phone and broadband specialist. In July 2009, the acquisition of Tiscali UK made TalkTalk Group the biggest provider of broadband to British homes.

Best Buy Europe remains fully on course to open its first “Big Box” stores in Spring 2010 and finalising further store openings later next year.

Go TalkTalk timeline

Designed by FROG and made by HTC, Qualcomm launches a handheld TV device under its new FLO brand.

Qualcomm has spent hundreds of millions of dollars building its own U.S.broadcast network (and recruiting content) for its FLO TV. FLO's own TV service will feed the device with up to 20 channels of content (NBC, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central etc.)

Leading US carriers will sell FLO, and Qualcomm signed Audiovox to bring FLO TV into cars. Qualcomm also wants separate attachable Wi-Fi models to FLO TV-enable devices like iPhone.

International growth will also be needed for Qualcomm’s FLO TV chip production to scale. So experts think FLO may be coming our way in Europe in 2010…

Designed by FROG and made by HTC, Qualcomm launches a handheld TV device under its new FLO brand.

Qualcomm has spent hundreds of millions of dollars building its own U.S.broadcast network (and recruiting content) for its FLO TV. FLO's own TV service will feed the device with up to 20 channels of content (NBC, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central etc.)

Leading US carriers will sell FLO, and Qualcomm signed Audiovox to bring FLO TV into cars. Qualcomm also wants separate attachable Wi-Fi models to FLO TV-enable devices like iPhone.

International growth will also be needed for Qualcomm’s FLO TV chip production to scale. So experts think FLO may be coming our way in Europe in 2010…