Rebecca Day

Financial returns on the Nook e-reader and digital content platform “may be greater than we originally thought in our one- to three-year models,” Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said Tuesday in the company’s fiscal Q2 earnings webcast. The company predicts an annualized run-rate of $400 million for digital content when the fiscal year ends in April, Lynch said, noting that “selling digital content through the Nook bookstore is the fastest growing business we've ever launched at BN.”

Consumers on average are willing to allocate $87.20 for the 3D feature in TVs, according to a report by DisplaySearch, which doesn’t bode well for success of more expensive passive-eyewear solutions that could improve the comfort level of 3D TV viewing. That $90 premium is a long way from the current $500 delta between 2D and 3D LCD TVs that DisplaySearch cited. But getting the cost down is key to 3D becoming mainstream and creating a market base for more content. While the ultimate goal is auto-stereoscopic 3D that will eliminate the need for glasses altogether, that solution is far down the road, DisplaySearch said. In the interim, manufacturers will debate the merits of two 3D technologies in an effort to balance consumer comfort, cost and picture quality.

Panasonic on Wednesday will begin selling the much-awaited Blu-ray 3D version of Avatar as part of a bundle promotion called the “3D Ultimate” pack that also includes two pairs of Panasonic’s second-generation rechargeable 3D glasses, Henry Hauser, vice president of merchandising, told Consumer Electronics Daily.

Cyber Monday presented an interesting collection of electronics steal deals, inventory blowouts, bundles and free shipping, Consumer Electronics Daily found as we perused websites Monday for advertised specials. Going after aggressive shoppers, Target scraped 99 cents off an already-slashed Hewlett-Packard all-in-one printer, bringing it to $29 even. In video, Target used pricing on little-known brands to lure e-shoppers. Sale items included a Sceptre 19-inch LED LCD TV marked down $69, to $149, with free shipping. An Aiptek HD camcorder with 47.5 MB storage and 5x optical zoom went into carts at $119, down from $179. Target broke the $300 barrier on a 32-inch TV with a Vizio 720p 60Hz-model discounted $58, to $299. Savvy shoppers would have done their homework and shopped elsewhere for a Samsung 26-inch LN26C350 that Target pitched at $429. Wal-Mart offered it for $386 and J&R for $299, both with free shipping.

Social media tools are reshaping how consumers will shop on Black Friday 2010 and in the future. The Huffington Post said Wednesday that with the increasing popularity of social media sites Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and Groupon, this year’s Black Friday is “the most social media-savvy to date.”

Sharp announced Tuesday that it’s sponsoring a video wall at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum preview site at 20 Vesey St. in Manhattan. The wall, made up of nine Sharp PN-V601 60-inch professional LCD monitors, will be on view to the public, showing footage detailing progress of the museum and memorial until Sept. 11, 2011, when it will be moved for permanent installation at the National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels and Sharp Electronics CEO Kozo Takahashi unveiled the display at the preview site, a 2,000-square-foot storefront said to have hosted more than 1.3 million visitors since opening in summer 2009. Takahashi said the 9/11 attacks were an “international event” and Japan lost 25 citizens in the Trade Center bombings. Sharp is donating $1 million to the museum and will provide additional audio and video equipment including projectors, a “next-gen” video wall and capacitive-touch touchscreens, said Mike Marusic, associate vice president of Sharp’s Imaging and Information Company. Using the touchscreens, visitors will be able to search for victims of the 9/11 and 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attacks and locate their names at the memorial, Bloomberg said. According to Marusic, Sharp is the exclusive provider of video displays for the museum now, but a timetable for the sponsorship isn’t set.

Flat-panel TVs will be a top draw for Black Friday this year, presenting an “interesting phenomenon,” according to Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for The NPD Group. “We've always seen really low-priced things do well,” he told Consumer Electronics Daily, but this year TVs have helped “turn that aside.” Historically, the leading product for Black Friday features “a lot of money off” on low-priced goods, he said. “Now we're seeing stuff at $300, $400 and $500 being a great deal and Black Friday doorbuster products,” he said.

Consumers using cellphones to shop for deals will account for $127 billion of the $447 billion in U.S. holiday spending that the National Retail Federation projects this year, said a report by IDC Retail Insights. IDC surveyed more than 1,000 consumers over age 19 in September to find out how growing familiarity with mobile and social media commerce will play out this shopping season.

The report card is in and 3D TV has received a grade of “D” from 6th Ave. Electronics, Vice President of Store Operations Tom Galanis told attendees at the “3DTV 2011: What’s Next” event in New York Thursday. The industry “could have done a better job” launching 3D, Galanis said in a keynote, by standardizing active-shutter 3D glasses so they work across TV brands and selling 3D as a feature rather than as a separate category. “It should have been presented to consumers that they were buying a higher performance set that was capable of 3D,” he said. Lack of content also affected the ability to present a complete package to consumers.

Absence of a sound business model still plagues 3D TV as the nascent technology approaches the six-month milestone since ESPN launched ESPN 3D. At the “3DTV 2011: What’s Next?” event in New York Thursday, video content and service providers cited the increased costs associated with developing 3D content with a lack of advertising support, sponsorships and subscription fees to help recoup those costs.