Following on from the announcement of the proposed deal between Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse‘s retail operation, we thought this was such a significant deal, we’d carry an analysis piece on it.
Europe
Best Warehouse: Best Buy / Carphone Warehouse Deal: Analysis
Best Buy / Carphone Warehouse Joint Venture: Best Warehouse
Best Buy, the US consumer electronics retail giant, is intending to buy 50% of Carphone Warehouse’s retail operation for £1.1 Billion.Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse have known each other for a while, as CW have been selling mobile phones in concessions within Best Buy’s shops in the US over the last two years.
“Europe’s thinnest TV” Heading To Comet
One of the clear upcoming trends for TV manufacturers is to try and persuade you to change your current flat screen (if you’ve taken the plunge already) to an even thinner TV.While we were at IFA last year, we were stunned by the ultra thin TV shown by Sharp, which came in at a crazy 20mm, at its thinnest point – it was only 29mm at its thickest!
Parents Access Web More Than Kid Free Couples
Parents are far more likely to be regularly accessing the Internet than childless adults, according to new research.The study, by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), also claimed that the online activities of parents is influenced by the age of their offspring.
The EIAA Digital Families report confirmed the ruddy obvious – that people with kids generally stay at home more than adults without genetic luggage – and that for parents the Internet is a nifty resource for information and entertainment when you’re stuck in the house.
(more…)EU Permits In Flight Annoyance
After being told for years that making a mobile call on a plane was likely to send the aircraft plummeting to the ground in flames, EU’s regulators have cleared the way for passengers to enjoy loud earfuls of, “HELLO? I’M ON THE PLANE!”
(more…)Wickd T-Shirts: Get Connected To
In a world where we’re all becoming more spied upon by many organisations including, but not limited to, governments and supermarkets – why not volunteer more information to your fellow humans instead.Dutch techno-fashion label Wickd, have a line of clothing, primarily T-shirts, each of which have a unique circular code graphic — they using ShotCodes — on them.
En-Twyn: Powerline In A Power Socket!
You know the dilemma. You need a network at home. You find WiFi doesn’t cut it and CAT-5 cabling is a major pain to install.En-Twyn, a company from London, have a prototype unit showing at CeBit on the Intellon stand (it uses the latest generation of Intellon Powerline chips).
What makes their En-Compass product different is that all of the electronics are incorporated into the back of the socket. It fits into a standard mains back box and you don’t see anything hanging out of the front.
Warner Drop DRM On 7Digital
Warner Music is making its music catalogue available on music service 7digital in MP3 format, without no content protection.Having a peruse of the 7digial site, we see that they’re also banging out albums for £5/€6.99 — for a limited period — which for a track-filled album like Hatful of Hollow by the Smiths can be had for 31p per track against the 79p normally paid.
LG Viewty Shifts 310,000 In A Month
It may not have enjoyed the hyperbolic pre-release press frenzy of the iPhone, but it seems that LG Electronics’ Viewty phone has turned into a big European seller, with the company reporting that 310,000 units have been shifted since the phone’s European launch, just five weeks ago.The company claims that around 6,300 LG Viewty mobiles were sold daily in western Europe (UK, France and Germany), with sales expected to take another hike with the recent release of the handset in the Asian and Middle East market.
(more…)Opera Take A Double EU Pop At Internet Explorer
Multi-platform Web browser company Opera have filed a complaint with the European Commission citing Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.The approach is two pronged – abuse of Microsoft’s dominant position in tying its browser to the Windows operating system and, second, hindering interoperability by not following accepted Web standards.
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Best Buy, the US consumer electronics retail giant, is intending to buy 50% of Carphone Warehouse’s retail operation for £1.1 Billion.
One of the clear upcoming trends for TV manufacturers is to try and persuade you to change your current flat screen (if you’ve taken the plunge already) to an even thinner TV.
Parents are far more likely to be regularly accessing the Internet than childless adults, according to new research.
After being told for years that making a mobile call on a plane was likely to send the aircraft plummeting to the ground in flames, EU’s regulators have cleared the way for passengers to enjoy loud earfuls of, “HELLO? I’M ON THE PLANE!”
In a world where we’re all becoming more spied upon by many organisations including, but not limited to, governments and supermarkets – why not volunteer more information to your fellow humans instead.
You know the dilemma. You need a network at home. You find WiFi doesn’t cut it and CAT-5 cabling is a major pain to install.
Warner Music is making its music catalogue available on music service 7digital in MP3 format, without no content protection.
It may not have enjoyed the hyperbolic pre-release press frenzy of the iPhone, but it seems that LG Electronics’ Viewty phone has turned into a big European seller, with the company reporting that 310,000 units have been shifted since the phone’s European launch, just five weeks ago.
Multi-platform Web browser company Opera have filed a complaint with the European Commission citing Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.