Published reports were overblown when they said thousands of U.K. 3DS consumers wanted refunds after they developed nausea or headaches when using the autostereoscopic 3D system, said Nintendo U.K. Calling the reports “incorrect,” Nintendo U.K. said in a written statement: “The number of calls and emails with queries on Nintendo 3DS is in fact well below the rate experienced during past hardware launches and having spoken with our retail partners there are only a handful of people who have actually gone into stores to request a refund."

Semiconductor shortages related to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami will push 2011 world semiconductor revenue higher than originally forecast, IHS iSuppli said. In a report released Tuesday, the firm raised its projection to 7 percent from the 5.8 percent it offered in February. Revenue will reach $325.2 billion, rather than $320.1 billion, as shortages lead to higher prices for key DRAM devices, IHS said. The prices had been expected to drop 10.6 percent for the year. DRAM revenue is now predicted to decline 4 percent, IHS said.

Panasonic’s “Experience Amazing” road show, which kicked off Monday at Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal, is funded by a part of a $100 million 2011 marketing budget the company allocated to continue an effort to boost awareness of the Viera TV and Lumix camera brands in the U.S., company executives said.

Multiple bidders emerged Monday as Blockbuster’s bankruptcy auction got under way with a goal of completing a deal by Thursday, a spokesman for the chain said. With liquidators among those bidding for Blockbuster, some offers appeared aimed at shutting the stores, while preserving digital assets and a kiosk rental business that NCR operates under license with Blockbuster.

Using IP-delivered streams of video, instead of gateway adapters, for pay-TV companies to let CE devices access their programming may be a better way for the FCC to proceed on AllVid, said a consensus of pay-TV executives we canvassed. Analysts weren’t so sure.

GameStop has “no plans whatsoever” to offer movie streaming as part of the cloud-based game streaming service planned for a national 2012 launch in the U.S. (CED April 4 p1), GameStop President Tony Bartel told reporters in a Monday briefing. The retail chain has no intention to compete with Netflix, which offers movie streams via videogame consoles and various other Internet-connected devices, Bartel said. Netflix has said it didn’t plan to offer games.

Dish Networks’ bid to buy Blockbuster during a bankruptcy court auction Monday, may give the satellite service the missing piece -- content -- for an over-the-top product it seeks, Wells Fargo analyst Stephen Bisson said.

Sparing few superlatives, an IHS iSuppli analyst on Friday declared that the record quake and tsunami that struck northern Japan March 11 was “the most the significant event to hit the electronic supply chain in the history of the semiconductor industry.” Citing previous quakes that struck semiconductor production centers the past several decades, “none were as broad in scope or impacted as many suppliers as this disaster has,” Dale Ford, senior vice president of market intelligence at IHS iSuppli, said on a webcast.

GameStop plans to nationally launch a game streaming service in 2012 in the U.S., President Tony Bartel said Friday at its first “Investor Day,” webcast from Southlake, Texas, after the chain said it bought streaming technology company Spawn Labs for an undisclosed price. There will first be a private beta test in an unspecified “limited geographical setting,” and that will be followed by a national private beta test with its PowerUp Rewards loyalty program members, he said. Both tests will be done this year, he said. Planned are a subscription service for PowerUp members and a “try-before-you-buy” option, he said.

Makers of set-top boxes that stream online video to TVs are taking a close look at adding ATSC receivers to their devices and may unveil new hybrid ATSC-online video products soon, industry executives said. Some devices could be announced as soon as the NAB show April 9-14 in Las Vegas , said Doug Wills, vice president at Minerva networks, an IPTV middleware company. Adding over-the-air TV reception capability to online video devices presents new challenges, such as reception problems and software integration hurdles, executives said.