Active shutter alliance has green dreams, Bluetooth

Since the debut of the first 3D TVs using active shutter glasses, concerns have been raised regarding the incompatibility among different companies’ glasses; these have been compounded by different means of synchronizing them to sets. Some companies have tried to work around this particular hurdle. Mitsubishi, for example, designed its 3D LaserVue sets to be compatible with Samsung glasses. Last week, though, leading active-shutter TV brands Sony, Samsung and Panasonic — along with technology provider XPAND 3D — announced that they would create a “Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative,” to be based on Bluetooth. This commitment to work together should help retailers more successfully market products aftermarket active shutter glasses, as well as solidify the role of Bluetooth in the television category. (The latter development might also have implications for future remote controls.) Read more »

It’s Time For an Upgrade

Hot on the heels of the opening of the 8th Microsoft store comes news that Sony has opened a new concept Sony Style location in the Century City mall in Los Angeles. While, unfortunately, I haven’t been able to visit yet, Sony offers this nice walkthrough on its blog site.
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Death to Discounts?

“Death to Discounts” a recent Wall Street Journal article about the designer clothing business, got me thinking about the continuing decline in CD sales. According to the article, clothing designer Eileen Fisher is rethinking the way her clothes are sold:

“In department stores these days, Eileen Fisher clothes ‘get marked down before they even have a chance to sell,’ she told me recently. Perhaps it no longer makes sense to give Saks, Bloomingdales and other department stores so much control over the brand, she posited. She has asked her staff to consider a new model: renting department-store space in order to control prices and inventory.”

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