Sales of Yahoo Connected TVs appear to have hit the mid-point of the 5-7 million units that were forecast for year-end 2010 (CED Sept 20 p1). Through Jan. 25, 6 million Yahoo Connected TVs had been sold since the platform debuted in 2009, CEO Carol Bartz said on a conference call.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Demand from electric vehicles and increasing use of solar panels will be major drivers of smart grids and residential energy management systems over the next few years, said Andres Carvallo, chief strategy officer of Grid Net, a Dallas-based company that’s developed what it calls a “universal smart grid operating system.” Carvallo keynoted Tuesday at the Parks Associate’s Smart Energy Summit.

President Barack Obama set a goal of getting wireless broadband to 98 percent of Americans by 2016. In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, he emphasized the importance of building infrastructure and promoting innovation. Obama’s remarks picked up on many themes in the National Broadband Plan that the FCC sent Congress in March 2010.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Significant opportunities are said to await Internet service providers as smart grid deployment expands and consumers have the option to monitor and manage their home energy usage. While utilities wrestle with new models of interacting with consumers in a two-way environment, giving consumers control in what has been a decidedly one-way relationship, telcos and cable companies are hoping to grab a bit of the smart grid action.

Consumer demand for digital cameras, especially point-and-shoot models, “declined significantly” for Kodak in Q4, CEO Antonio Perez said in an earnings call. That was “a steeper decline than we anticipated or experienced in the prior three quarters,” he said. Digital camera revenue also was hurt by “increased pricing pressures as consumers opted for cameras at the lower price points,” said Chief Financial Officer Antoinette McCorvey.

E-readers like Barnes & Noble’s Nook are getting some of the credit for a revival in magazine industry revenue, industry officials said. But there remain some issues about reading magazines and newspapers on e-readers, they said. “There are issues to work out on the readability side,” said Scott Havens, vice president of digital strategy and operations for Atlantic Media. Reading a magazine on the 7-inch screen is “not as good of an experience and not as pleasant as print so it is not an ideal platform quite yet,” he said.

The voluntary Energy Star program has resulted in “optimal public policy benefits” in advancing energy efficiency in the consumer electronics market, the CEA said. But the EPA’s recent “unilateral decision” to institute third-party testing and certification for Energy Star has “dramatically” increased” costs for the industry, the group said, responding to the proposal to eliminate funding for the Energy Star program in the Spending Reduction Act unveiled by the House Republican Study Committee. The CEA and environmental groups said the program has widespread support among stakeholders and is well-received by consumers.

AUSTIN, Tex. -- Finding ways to monetize residential energy management remains a key challenge facing utilities, technology and software companies, broadband providers and appliance makers, officials said, as consumers have pushed back on smart meter deployments from utilities in the home, where available, and shown a general unwillingness to translate concerns about energy usage to their wallets. A key thread for the residential energy world, said Stuart Sikes, president of Parks Associates at its Smart Energy Summit is, “We don’t know what consumer interest is."

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) criticized the Video Game Health Labeling Act proposed Monday by Reps. Joe Baca, D-Calif., and Frank Wolf, R-Va., calling the bill “a solution in search of a problem.” The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) also knocked the bill, saying Baca introduced the same bill in the prior Congress and “no action was taken” on it.

Samsung and LG Display lowered LCD factory utilization rates to mid-80 percent in late 2010, from 90 percent in November, to stave off growing inventory, Corning Vice Chairman James Flaws said in a conference call.