Best Buy to Sell Motorbikes, No Kidding
Finally an idea with wheels: Best Buy will stock a $12000 electric motorcycle in select West Coast stores. The Enertia uses six lithium-phosphate battery modules (about 3 hours to charge). The bike is road legal with a max speed of 53 miles per hour and a 45-mile range.
Will Zeebo Be the 4th Gaming Platform?
Forget cheap laptops… let’s provide the developing world with some really affordable game consoles. Qualcomm now funds a start-up (Zeebo) with its $199 console (on sale in Brazil next month at 1/5th the price of competitors.) Plug Zeebo into a TV and it plays right out of the box, consuming only 1 watt of power, 20X-100X less than other consoles. Tectoy (the other Zeebo backer) will build the console (for Brazil) around the Qualcomm MSM chip set used in mobile phones. By using BREW, Qualcomm's application development platform, Zeebo gets an instant base of developers and games (from the handset industry) that owners can buy via wireless.
Could the new console could be the iPod of gaming--a cheaper, ubiquitous technology (by borrowing from mobile industry) that disrupts an older market locked into mature technology?
Zeebo will target Latin America, Asia and E. Europe. (800 million consumers will enter the middle class in next 10 years in the countries known as BRIC.) Zeebo is looking for distribution and manufacturing partners in these markets.
Medialine "Checks In" to Hotel Market
Medialine 2000T is for small and medium size hotels that prefer a competitive TV.
The 2000T is a small size 20”/51cm (diagonal) LCD TV with Hotel OSD mode to block standard TV settings and minimize volume settings.
The Medialine 2000T Hotel TV also features a hybrid integrated tuner : both DVBT digital terrestrial TV tuner with CI slot and PAL-SECAM European analog tuner.
To maximize convenience and guest experience, this model features a built-in USB 2.0 port and embedded mediaplayer software. The hotel guest can play pictures, MP3 files and video files by using his own USB stick or USB device.
The 2000T offers an abundance of connectivity: RCA, SCART, Svideo and HDMI port. It also features a VGA-port to hook up a netbook or notebook.
Back to the Future: Vinyl Records Rebound
In 2008, consumers bought 1.88 million vinyl albums in USA, more than in any other year since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking LP sales in 1991. And Nielson may be under-reporting because many online and independent retail shops aren't counted.
Nirvana, Van Morrison, Cream, Guns 'N Roses and Metallica have all recently put out new releases or re-released classic albums on new vinyl. LPs have made such a comeback that Amazon recently introduced a vinyl-only store and increased its selection to 150,000 titles across 20 genres.
Why the vinyl rebound? Sure, some audiophiles insist vinyl records offer better sound quality but we treated them like Luddites. But are they right?
Apparently, yes…they are right. Many buyers insist the new vinyl (heavier than old LPs) demonstrates sound superiority over CDs. But vinyl record sales have skyrocketed not just because of a “warm sound.” New buyers are discovering the value of owning albums, with their cover art and large liner notes. Call it a fad or a new generation of audiophiles but it’s not Gen X or Baby Boomers buying—it’s 13- to 24-year-olds rediscovering the value of record collections.
And it's not just the vinyl that's selling—you need a turntable and cartridges to play them. Angelis Labor will be unveiling at CES its Gabriel Turntable for $27,000 and $64,000.
Bosch Divest Blaupunkt
Bosch sells off their Blaupunkt car stereo unit. Blaupunkt’s aftermarket and audio components business becomes an independent company, while Bosch continues in OEM car electronics.
Proud new owner is Aurelius Group, a German holding company specializing in buying up medium-sized companies in throes of restructuring. Blaupunkt is at CES and will show "the first Internet car radio” (potential competitor to satellite radio, but needs an Internet-enabled phone to receive audio streams.)
Go Blaupunkt
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