Canadian govt. cleared Best Buy’s purchase of Future Shop, Best Buy said Wed. It said it expected all conditions of takeover bid to be cleared by Oct. 31 expiration date. Best Buy bid would pay $17 per share (Canadian) for all issued and outstanding Future Shop common shares.
Action figure toy maker AnJon signed licensing agreement with Dragon’s Lair and distribution agreement with software maker Digital Leisure. Deals will allow AnJon to make games of characters including Dirk the Daring and new characters that players will encounter in new Dragon’s Lair 3D videogame shipping next year from Digital Leisure.
Previously undisclosed aspect of Superbit DVDs from Sony’s Columbia TriStar Home Video (CTHE)entails embellished soundtrack, we have learned. Although not mentioned in studio’s publicity materials or technical backgrounder packaged with discs, Superbit DVD’s have pushed Dolby Digital 5.1 surround to 448 kbps data rate that’s maximum current DVD players can resolve -- up from 348 kbps that’s standard for conventional DVDs and for DTV broadcast sound. Result is audibly clearer nuances in special effects and ambient sounds against foreground dialog and audio. For example, in addition to hearing automobile traffic in background “surround” channels, extra audio bits enable viewer to discern direction of cars. Meanwhile, DTS soundtrack on Superbit DVDs remains at “standard” 750 kbps, Sony spokesman told us. DTS surround format is capable of “full” 1.5 Mbps data rate, but that seldom is implemented even theatrically and can’t be handled by processors in current and legacy DVD players. Spokesman said Sony/CTHE had “prioritized” Superbit DVDs for better video, doubling video transfer rate to 6-8 Mbps from conventional DVD’s 3-4 Mbps by shedding value-added features. In doing so, companies still were able to boost Dolby Digital spec but left DTS soundtrack unchanged in belief that its quality already was highest attainable with current DVD players.
James Palumbo, currently Sony Electronics senior vp for external affairs, joins Aiwa America Nov. 1 as pres.-CEO, succeeding Hideki Tafuku, who returns to Aiwa hq in Tokyo… Newly elected to CEA executive board: Uniden Pres. Al Silverberg to serve as at-large member; Mitsubishi Vp-Mktg. Bob Perry; Terk Technologies Pres. Neil Terk and Yamaha Vp-Sales Steve Caldero become chmn. of CEA Video, Accessories and Audio Divs., respectively; Audiovox Chmn.-CEO John Shalam elected chmn., Wireless Communications Div., having been in that post on interim basis since earlier this year… Shelly Keel joins Sony Digital Authoring Services as mgr.-mkt. development, based in Grand Rapids… Napster CEO Konrad Hilbers to give opening keynote at Webnoize 2001 conference Oct. 29, Century Plaza Hotel, L.A.
Teac set Nov. 7 availability date for pocket-sized CD/MP3 player ($129.99) that accepts 8 cm CD-R discs. Company said “mini CD-R” media was more practical and less expensive than solid-state flash memory on “cost-per-megabyte” basis. Teac line has been expanded to include 10-pack of 8 cm CD-R discs in silim jewel cases for $12.99.
“Tech Center” has been opened at Alpine Web site (www.alpine1.com), billed as 24-hour marketing and product resource for authorized Alpine dealers. First-time registration requires password available from Alpine sales reps. Tech Center has owner’s manuals, technical White Papers, product photos, frequently asked questions, marketing materials such as product literature, sales guides, newsletters.
Kodak will cut additional 3,500-4,000 jobs this quarter worldwide as part of continuing cost-reduction effort, company said Wed. as it reported decreased sales and profit for 3rd quarter. Company said that by year-end it would “have completed or initiated cost actions that will result in total employment reduction in the range of 6,500 to 7,500.” Kodak said revenue dropped 8% to $3.3 billion from $3.6 billion same quarter year ago as profit fell to $96 million (33? per share) from $418 million ($1.36). CEO Daniel Carp blamed weakened sales on “economic downturn [that] intensified,” adding “all signs suggest the weakness will continue into next year.” But he said: “I am pleased that in these challenging times, Kodak generated strong cash flow by reducing inventories and restraining capital expenditures. This allowed us to pare debt and positions Kodak to benefit once the economic rebound begins.” Imaging sector has been hit hard by economic slowdown. Earlier this month, competitor Polaroid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it attempted to restructure $950 million in debt.
Pegasus Communications and DirecTV, whose acrimonious split over programming distribution pact triggered series of lawsuits, reached agreement on new seamless marketing deal, SEC filing said. New pact “preserves” Pegasus’s right to sell premium services Cinemax, HBO, Showtime and The Movie Channel to its customers, filing said. DirecTV sells services from several of its satellite frequencies, filing said. Also part of revised pact is sports programming and local TV channels. Pegasus will continue to retain 10-20% of revenue tied to those programming packages and be responsible for sales, marketing, billing and customer services, it said. DirecTV has right to terminate agreement on 90 days’ notice.
Monthly service fee for personal video recorders (PVRs) should be eliminated as annual sales increase to millions of units from current 200,000-300,000, officials told video-on- demand conference in N.Y. Wed.
Autosound industry was represented at Window’s XP preview Wed. in N.Y. when Aiwa America announced first car stereo CD/receiver to use Microsoft’s Windows Media Audio (WMA) for playback CDs with compressed music files. Company last year was first to introduce car decks with MP3 playback, which also is incorporated in new CDC-MA01 that ships next month at $349.95. Using WMA or MP3 compression, consumers can transfer several hours of music from PCs to blank CDs for mobile playback. Despite greater compression ratio that makes WMA files just 1/3 size of MP3 files, Microsoft has said audio quality is same. Other features of top-shelf CDC-MA01 include 4-channel amp at 50 w per channel, motorized front panel that flips down and away to expose CD slot -- and retracts to disguise player with plain black panel when car’s ignition is turned off. It also has front panel input jack for other music sources, such as cassette player or flash-memory portable. Soundfield-shaping processor adjusts stereo imaging for driver’s position at touch of single button. Aiwa package also includes steering-wheel-mounted wireless remote control for in-dash player.