Rebecca Day

Elgato and Mobile Content Venture’s Dyle Mobile DTV platform are looking to ride the smartphone and tablet wave with Elgato’s linear TV module and Dyle’s mobile DTV service, Salil Dalvi, senior vice president and general manager of digital distribution for NBC Universal and co-general manager of MCV’s Dyle Mobile DTV, told Consumer Electronics Daily during a press tour in New York.

PC news and Windows 8 barely registered a blip on the radar during HP’s Q4 earnings call Tuesday with CEO Meg Whitman’s revelation that the company is taking an $8.8 billion charge related to the purchase of software company Autonomy, which HP says engaged in activities to “inflate the underlying financial metrics of the company” prior its sale to HP. Of the $8.8 billion noncash write-down, more than $5 billion is related to “accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and misrepresentations,” according to HP Chief Financial Officer Catherine Lesjak.

All eyes are on Walmart this week as various Black Friday issues loom for the world’s largest retailer. From the retail side, Walmart’s incursion into Thanksgiving evening for Black Friday sales will be scrutinized, and its guaranteed availability of selected doorbusters mark a new spin on Black Friday specials.

As the amount of quality TV content grows along with the number of ways consumers can access it, the traditional cable model is at risk, panelists said at the Future of TV conference in New York Friday. Panelists debated whether there’s a “breaking point” for consumers determining how much they're willing to pay for bundled packaging that offers too many niche channels in a digital world where they can easily find the content they want to view.

With low-ticket soundbar systems comprising 75 percent of Boston Acoustics’ U.S. revenue, the company is hoping to boost sales of its higher margin products through a renewed commitment to the specialty channel for high-end products and in-store demo kiosks for a mid-priced system, company executives said Thursday at a New York press event.

Staples will expand its slate of tablets, smartphones and accessories as part of a multi-tiered effort to accelerate growth, reshape the company and better meet the needs of customers, CEO Ron Sargent said on the company’s Q3 earnings call Wednesday. “Customers who once only needed paper, ink and toner now need tablets, smartphones and technology accessories,” Sargent said. Customers who shop in Staples stores also want the convenience of mobile shopping and fast delivery, he said. The company plans to boost its stock of online SKUs -- 98 percent of which arrive via free shipping -- to 100,000 by year end, he said.

Silicon Image is on track to sample “multiple key mobile OEMs” next month with its latest 60 GHz WirelessHD chipsets, said Tim Vehling, general manager-wireless business, at the company’s investor day in New York Tuesday. Product demos incorporating the mobile 60 GHz chipsets will follow at CES in January, Vehling said, and more will follow at Barcelona World Congress in February. Assuming Silicon Image can convert some of the key OEMs to “real product designs and multiple models,” the company expects to have “a revenue ramp” for mobile WirelessHD products in second half 2013, he said.

DTS and Dolby continue to bet heavily on the mobile business to offset market weakness in PCs, Blu-ray and home AV revenue, the companies said on earnings calls Thursday. DTS stock sank 28.2 percent Friday closing at $14.80 after the company reported a loss of $19.1 million for Q3 compared to a profit of $2.9 million in Q3 2011, and competitor Dolby was down 4 percent closing at $32.74 as both companies were hit by the economic climate, a slowdown in PC sales and a cautious spending environment, they said.

Walmart has pushed Black Friday solidly up against pumpkin pie and the start of the Jets-Patriots football game Thanksgiving night, announcing Thursday that doors will open for its first Black Friday “event” at 8 p.m. on Nov. 22 -- Thanksgiving evening.

With 16 days until Black Friday, Best Buy released its Black Friday promotions Wednesday, according to TGI Black Friday, an e-commerce app sponsored by Dealcatcher and Transmogrify that sent the deals to shoppers Wednesday afternoon. Like last year, Best Buy will open at midnight Nov. 23, the day following Thanksgiving. The retailer’s deal list includes 293 items led by 53 DVDs, 51 videogames, 19 digital cameras, 17 phones, 17 TVs, 17 home AV products, 14 tablets, 13 appliances, 13 laptops, 11 products in the “hardware” category and 10 MP3 players, according to TGI Black Friday. Other bargains will be found in memory cards, software, hard drives, flash drives, memory, monitors, GPS handhelds, networking products, printers, camcorders and car audio, according to the app.