It “certainly didn’t help” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) unsuccessful bid for a third term that he signed a “cocktail napkin agreement” for Foxconn to build a $10 billion LCD display fab in the state, reported the Fortune Data Sheet Wednesday. Voter enthusiasm for the Foxconn project “turned to indignation as public expenses required to support the plant ballooned -- and Foxconn’s ambitions seemed to shrivel,” it said. Scott’s defeat to Democrat Tony Evers Tuesday by 31,000 votes “highlights the peril of playing the China card,” it said.

Munich-based lighting company Osram will focus on digitalization and future markets in fiscal 2019, said Tuesday's earnings release. Company revenue grew 2 percent this fiscal year to $4.7 billion. The company cited uncertainties, mostly in automotive, including “existing and imminent trade barriers,” that limit visibility. Negotiations for the sale of its U.S. service business, Sylvania Lighting Solutions, are progressing, Osram said. The German company will focus on intelligent digital lighting management systems, cloud and IoT solutions.

Sony sold 2.8 million TVs globally in Q2 ended Sept. 30, an 8 percent increase sequentially from Q1, but a 12.5 percent decrease from Q2 a year earlier, said the company Tuesday. Sony left unchanged its July forecast in which it said it expects to sell 11.5 million TVs in the fiscal year ending March 31, which would be a 7 percent decline from a year earlier. Monetary sales in Sony’s core Home Entertainment & Sound segment fell 9 percent in the quarter to 274.9 billion yen ($2.4 billion), as Sony sacrificed TV unit-sales gains for “profitability,” said the company. Operating income in the sector remained flat at 24.5 billion yen ($217.2 million), “as profitability improvements resulting from a shift to high value-added models were offset by the impact of foreign exchange rates and lower sales,” it said.

The number of daily active users of Google Home devices grew more than five times in the past year, said Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Alphabet's Thursday earnings call. Google Assistant continues to gain traction, on the company’s strength in machine learning and search, YouTube and Google Maps, he said. Assistant has expanded to 20 languages and 76 countries, said Pichai, and it can understand and speak more than one language at a time. He cited launches of the first Google Home smart displays in the quarter from JBL and Lenovo. Revenue of Google parent Alphabet grew 21 percent in Q3 ended Sept. 30 to $33.7 billion, and net income rose to $9.2 billion from $6.7 billion in the year-ago quarter, it said. Revenue fell short of Wedbush Securities’ projected $34.29 billion, but analyst Michael Pachter maintained an outperform rating on the stock in a Friday investor note, saying the revenue shortfall suggests increasing competition. Google shares dipped 1.8 percent Friday, closing at $1,083.75.

If elected Wisconsin governor, Democratic nominee Tony Evers would hold Foxconn’s “feet to the fire on many things” to ensure “they’re the best corporate citizens possible,” he told WisconsinEye. Gov. Scott Walker (R), who's seeking a third term and helped negotiate the contract offering Foxconn $3 billion in cash incentives to build a display fab in southeast Wisconsin (see 1711130014), hasn’t held Foxconn “to any accountability” to hire women and minorities for the project, said Evers, state superintendent of public instruction. “We’re going to renegotiate that part” of the contract, he said. “That is critical to the state.” Evers also will seek Foxconn assurances that the 7 million gallons of water it extracts from Lake Michigan to operate the plant “won’t go back in in a way that’s detrimental” to the state’s entire eastern shore, he said. “Those were basic things that were left on the table in this rush to subsidize a foreign country.” Evers thinks Foxconn’s leaders “do want to be good corporate citizens” but have never been asked to, he said. Foxconn and Walker representatives didn’t comment.

Brookstone recalled 164,000 wireless speakers after 12 reports of the speakers overheating and catching fire, said the Consumer Product Safety Commission Friday. Five reports of property damage totaled $2,000, it said. Brookstone said consumers should stop using the recalled speakers and properly dispose of the lithium-ion battery packs. The Big Blue Party indoor/outdoor wireless speakers were sold nationwide, including at Ace Hardware, Bloomingdale's, Bon-Ton, Brookstone, Macy’s and Patriot stores, on the Home Shopping Network and online at Amazon.com, Brookstone.com, RueLaLa.com, Wayfair.com, Zulily.com and other websites, December 2013 through August 2018 for about $200, said CPSC. PlastoForm Industries in China manufactured the speakers. Brookstone has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; consumers should contact Omni Management Group about a possible refund, said CPSC.

Kodak partnered with AMB Media to launch a consumer-direct service for transferring analog media and photos into digitized viewing and listening options. The Kodak Digitizing Box builds on the “trust and recognition” of the Kodak brand, sending a prepaid box to customers for media they want converted, said the company. The content is sent back on thumb drives, DVDs or digital downloads in an updated version of a yellow Kodak envelope. Customers can track the process of the order via a barcode. Prices start at $69 for a three-piece box, which Kodak gave by example as one tape, one film reel and one set of 25 photos. Media converted include 8mm and 16mm film, nine types of videotapes, 35mm slides and prints, audio cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes.

Hammacher Schlemmer added two Atari Home Arcade systems ($399) to its catalog, saying the cabinets, with 17-inch flat-screen displays, bring "the excitement and nostalgia of classic 1980s arcade play into your home." The LCD screens display pre-installed games' graphics and colors, supported by a 3-watt powered speaker providing sound effects, it said. Games on the larger console include Asteroids, Tempest, Major Havoc and Lunar Lander; the Centipede model includes Crystal Castles, Millipede and Missile Command. They are designed for users ages 14 and older.

Screen Innovations announced a sales and distribution partnership with Control4 for its high-end projection screens and motorized window shades. The screen company will make standard size screens available in Control4's online store, it said. Screen Innovations said at CEDIA its first window shades are shipping, following a yearlong delay after launch (see 1809190019).

Rendering a “premium TV experience without the premium price” of a pay-TV subscription is the positioning behind TiVo’s 4K-capable Bolt OTA DVR that combines over-the-air reception through an HD antenna with streaming capability via an onboard modem, said the company Thursday. TiVo designed the product to resonate with the 25 percent of pay TV homes that describe themselves as “cord-cutter intenders” -- those that are weighing dropping their cable or satellite subscriptions for budgetary reasons, said the company. “Cord cutter regretters have already moved to using only internet TV services, including streaming apps, but are now rethinking their decision based on missing programming choices and inferior viewing experiences,” it said. The Bolt “helps these customers regain a premium TV experience without needing to re-subscribe to a pay-TV service that charges them for channels they don’t want, or requires them to rent set-top boxes,” it said. The product becomes available for sale Friday at $249, plus a $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annual service fee. "The new device and plan provides consumers with significant hardware and performance updates, including 4K, dual and mobile streams plus popular, fan-favorite TiVo features like SkipMode and OnePass," emailed a TiVo spokeswoman Thursday when we asked what consumers get for their monthly or yearly service fees.