Canon Drops Nukes In Camera Price War: $180 PowerShot A590 IS, A580 and A470 Surprisingly Capable [Digital Cameras]

Sur le même thème que "Canon Drops Nukes In Camera Price War: $180 PowerShot A590 IS, A580 and A470 Surprisingly Capable [Digital Cameras]"

Manufacturers’ Cooperation Doesn’t Stop TV Price Wars

Will collaboration among the manufacturers of flat-panel displays lead to slower price declines for high-definition L.C.D. televisions? Hitachi, Canon and Panasonic announced Tuesday that they were going to share the costs of development and production of flat-panel displays. Last week, Toshiba and Sharp announced a collaboration. Samsung and Sony already share costs on production of flat panels. As the manufacturers build the so-called Generation 9 and Generation 10 plants that can more efficiently produce panels needed for the 50-inch and larger HDTVs, the manufacturers’ lower costs result in lower prices. So far, the efforts to share the considerable costs of building next-generation plants that can produce panels in larger sizes hasn’t resulted in efforts to slow the price declines. Instead, the opposite has happened. Even though Sony and Samsung share production of panels that go into 40-inch and other LCD TVs, the two companies have engaged in a fierce price war this year over 40-inch TVs. [lien] [EN]

Samsung Fires First Shots in Flat-Panel Price War [Dealzmodo]

An alert AVS forum member posted a cryptic note entitled "Samsung first to lower prices!" I wondered if maybe the member wasn't referring to the Dealzmodo-tastic flat-panel price war that HD Guru Gary Merson predicted. Sure enough, when I cross checked Samsung's most recent MAP pricing on the 5 Series LCDs (a.k.a. 550) with their list prices on Best Buy's website, I could totally spot the $200 price drops that were discussed on AVS. But if the price war is really on, other prices will be dropping. I am only one man, while you, dear readers, are the Giz army—if you spot any other noteworthy MAP or MSRP price drops on TVs now or in the coming days, comment here, or send a note to our tips line. I smell blood, but unlike on Alien Vs. Predator, no matter who wins this war, humanity wins too. [AVS Forum; Best Buy] [lien] [EN]

Fearing Wireless Price War, Analysts Cut Estimates on Telcos

Eric Savitz (Barron's) submits: Fearing a price war is shaping up in the wireless sector, the Street is dumping telco shares.Complete Story » [lien] [EN]

Sprint to start price war with $60 unlimited calls?

Sprint is poised to fire the first shot in what may be a price war for unlimited cellphone calling, say analyst reports. UBS researcher John Hodulik believes that the provider is likely to offer an unlimited plan that would cost at most $80 per mont... [lien] [EN]

Sprint Drops Samsung Instinct Price Again: Now $129 After Rebate [Dealzmodo]

Sprint is trying to set some kind of sales record with its exclusive Samsung Instinct: The fun little don't-call-it-an-iPhone feature phone goes on sale June 20 priced at $129 after a $100 mail-in rebate. A week ago, we reported that the price had fallen from $299 to $199. Honestly, I can safely say there's no good reason NOT to buy one of these things if you plan on sticking with Sprint for two or more years. But with phone subsidies this high, one wonders how many years Sprint itself can stick around. (Press release with details on plans, accessories and features below.) AWARD-WINNING SAMSUNG INSTINCT™ AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FROM SPRINT ON JUNE 20 FOR JUST $129.99 Revolutionary device offers industry-leading combination of full touch-screen functionality and fast network speeds with live TV, stereo Bluetooth, GPS with turn-by-turn navigation and one-touch access to favorites OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – June 18, 2008 – Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced pricing for Instinct, a new wireless device that offers consumers an industry-leading user experience by combining full touch-screen functionality with the fast speeds available on the largest national mobile broadband network. When the device launches on June 20, it will cost just $129.99 with a two-year contract after a $100 mail-in rebate. Customers will be able to purchase Instinct through Sprint retail stores, Web (www.sprint.com) and telesales (1-800-SPRINT1.) Best Buy is Sprint's exclusive retail partner for Instinct from June 20 – August 28. In order for customers to experience the full capabilities of the device, Instinct must be activated on a pricing plan offering unlimited data. Customers can choose from Everything plans for individuals starting at just $69.99 per month for 450 voice minutes or Talk/Message/Data Share plans for families starting at $129.99 per month for 1500 voice minutes to share between two lines. Instinct complements Sprint's signature Simply Everything Plan offering both unlimited nationwide voice and data services for just $99.99 per month. The Simply Everything Plan offers premium services, including GPS navigation, email, web surfing, Sprint Music Premier and Sprint TV Premier, while letting customers easily budget for phone expenses. Instinct was recently named “Best in Show” in the third annual Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Award competition in April at CTIA Wireless 2008. Instinct was also honored as “Most Innovative Product at CTIA Wireless 2008” by the editors of LAPTOP, a leading mobile technology magazine. CNET also recognized Instinct as the “Best Cell Phone” in its annual Cream of the Crop CTIA 2008 awards. The innovative device speeds up the user experience like no other touch-screen phone and brings the customer's most-used applications and contacts within a single finger tap. Instinct has a high-tech look with large, vibrant touch-screen featuring localized tactile feedback, called haptics, which transform the virtual QWERTY keypad and other screen interactions into a sensory experience. The device also offers a Speech to Action button providing many functions using speech activation for calling, texting, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news, weather and search. As Sprint's first EV-DO Rev A consumer-centric device, Instinct provides the ability to quickly browse the Web, access business or personal e-mail, share pictures, listen to commercial-free radio and more at broadband speeds. Instinct also provides smooth access to GPS applications including Sprint Navigation, with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions and one-click traffic rerouting as well as Live Search for Sprint, powered by Microsoft, providing easy access to directory information on-the-go, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access. Instinct boasts many advanced features including Visual Voicemail, allowing users to listen to messages in their order of preference and manage them with a simple tap of the screen. This device also provides support for corporate and consumer (POP3 and IMAP) email, multitasking capabilities that allow the user to play music in background mode while surfing the Internet, texting or playing games, a 2.0 megapixel camera with camcorder and expandable microSD memory of up to 8GB. Additional features include advanced stereo Bluetooth® 2.0, SMS voice and text messaging with threaded text, picture caller ID and Sprint Mobile Sync. Instinct comes with everything the user needs to enjoy the device's full capabilities right out of the box. Contents include a 2GB microSD™ card that can hold approximately 2,000 songs from Sprint Music Store, two standard 1,000 mAh batteries offering up to 5.75 hours of continuous talk time each, battery-charging sleeve, travel charger, USB cable, 3.5mm headphones with built-in microphone, and carry case with stylus. Customers can access the latest information on Instinct at www.instinctthephone.com. About Sprint Nextel Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving nearly 53 million customers at the end of the first quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com. [Sprint Instinct] [lien] [EN]

Cisco Vs. Netgear: Price War in Home Networking?

Eric Savitz (Barron's) submits: Cisco (CSCO) has decided to use price as a competitive weapon in the market for residential and small office/home office networking hardware, RBC Capital’s Mark Sue asserts this morning. And he thinks that’s causing some problems for Netgear (NTGR). “Unit growth for wireless [802.11]N devices, residential routers and other SOHO networking gear remains strong,” Sue writes.Complete Story » [lien] [EN]

Glitch Drops Google Stock Price $200 in Four Minutes, Wiping Out $62 Billion [Oops]

At probably like the worst time ever for your stock to plummet harder than a meteor on a collision course with Bruce Willis, a glitch knocked $200 off of Google's stock price—that's half—in the span of four minutes as the markets were closing today. $62 billion. Erased. In four minutes. The glitch has been fixed, bringing it back to the correct price of $407, but some trades actually did go through at the bargain basement price. While they'll be repealed, it shows you that it's so crazy out there even computers are going nuts right now. [TechCrunch] Read More: EA Waiting to Release Android Games Until It Can Charge for Them , Why Android Will Soon Kick Ass , Motorola Building a Huge Development Team for Android, With 350 Humanoids , T-Mobile G1 Sold Out, Pre-order Ends [lien] [EN]

Drop in Gas Price = $300B Savings

Mark J. Perry submits:   The cheapest gas in the country can be found in Kansas City for as low as $1.39 per gallon, and the average retail price for gas is now down to $1.98 per gallon. Without the high-priced states of Alaska ($2.95) and Hawaii ($2.89), the national average for the other 48 states is down to $1.94 per gallon. Using real gas prices from the EIA (in November 2008 dollars), the chart above (click to enlarge) shows how today's gas prices compare to past prices. The last time real gas prices (national average) were as low as $1.98 per gallon was almost five years ago in February of 2004, and the last time real gas prices (national average) were as low as $1.39 per gallon (current Kansas City low price) was almost seven years ago in February of 2002 (see chart above). Gas prices in Kansas City are within 18 cents per gallon of the lowest-ever real gas price of $1.21 per gallon in February of 1999.Complete Story » [lien] [EN]

Canon gives Rebel XS camera US pricing

Canon this morning supplied US launch info for the Rebel XS. Already announced in detail, Canon's first truly entry-level digital SLR will sell primarily as a kit version with the image-stabilized 18-55mm, f/3.5-5.6 EF-S lens bundled with the camera... [lien] [EN]

Canon ships 100 millionth digital compact camera

Canon will celebrate the recent shipment of its 100 millionth compact digital camera by releasing a special edition in the near future. Canon's first compact digital was the PowerShot 600 introduced in 1996. Over 100 different models have been deli... [lien] [EN]

MS drops Vista retail price to spur sales

Microsoft late yesterday said it would drop the price of retail copies of Windows Vista, timing the drop with the release of Service Pack 1 for the OS. The cuts will take effect worldwide and will be largest for the top-end Vista Ultimate edition, r... [lien] [EN]

Microsoft makes Euro X360 price drop official

Microsoft has quickly confirmed existing rumors and today officially dropped European prices for the Xbox 360. The base Xbox 360 Arcade system now costs �160 in the UK and €200 in Europe, making the system less expensive than the already low-cost Ni... [lien] [EN]

EA Extends T2 Share Purchase Deadline, Drops Share Price

Electronic Arts announced this morning that it is extending its tender offer for outstanding shares of Take Two stock until May 16th. The original offer was set to expire at midnight tonight. As expected, EA also reduced its offer price from $26 per share to $25.74 to reflect the economic impact of the huge compensation package awarded to Strauss Zelnick and his team at last evening’s Take Two shareholders meeting. From EA’s press release: EA continues to believe that the offer price is full and fair, and that a transaction between Take-Two and EA is the most compelling combination financially, strategically and operationally for all parties. As of 5:00 p.m., EDT, on April 17, 2008, 6,432,787 shares of Take-Two had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the tender offer. UPDATE: Bloomberg has more on the EA-T2 situation, including a recap of last night’s meeting. Next Generation has news of an angry T2 shareholder who is suing the company over its rejection of the EA bid. And from Reuters comes word that U.S. District Court Judge Shirley Wohl Kram has ruled that, in yet another shareholder suit, plaintiffs failed to show a linkage between the 2005 Hot Coffee scandal and a subsequent, precipitous drop in the price of T2 shares. UPDATE 2: Take Two has issued a response to EA’s new price & deadline: The minuscule number of shares tendered [to EA, 8.3% of total outstanding shares], as well as the strong vote in favor of the proposals presented at our annual meeting, offer indisputable evidence that our stockholders regard our efforts to enhance Take-Two's stockholder value as superior to the EA offer. …Take-Two's Board of Directors has maintained from the beginning, and continues to believe, that EA's proposal undervalues our Company.  It undervalued the company at $26 per share, and it certainly undervalues Take-Two at $25.74. This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 8:26 am and is filed under Video Game Industry/Economics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [lien] [EN]

Bush Ends Executive Ban on Off-Shore Drilling and Oil Prices Drop 7% in two trading sessions

[Posted by WLS] June 20, 2008 — USA Today: Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign released remarks he plans to make at the start of a news conference in Jacksonville, Fla. in just a few minutes. The lead: Unlike Republican John McCain, he will preserve the federal ban on off-shore oil drilling. In the advance remarks, Obama tweaks McCain. “In what is becoming a bit of a regular occurrence in this campaign, Senator McCain once had a different position on offshore drilling,” Obama says. “And it's clear why he did –- it would have long-term consequences for our coastlines but no short-term benefits since it would take ten years to get any oil.” Obama says that “offshore drilling would not lower gas prices today. It would not lower gas prices this summer. It would not lower gas prices this year. In fact, President Bush's own Energy Department says that we won't see a drop of oil from this proposal until 2017. It will take a generation to reach full production. And even then, the effect on gas prices will be minimal at best. July 15, 2008: President Bush rescinds Executive Order banning offshore drilling. Price of oil at close on July 14 — $145.18. Price of oil at close on July 16 — $134.60. “Crude-oil futures tumbled $4.14 to $134.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, bringing the contract’s loss to $10.58 over the past two sessions - the biggest two-day drop in crude prices since January 1991. Crude has lost $10.58 over the last two sessions, the biggest two-day price drop since January, 1991. It’s now 8.6% lower than the $147.27 record high hit last Thursday. Earlier in the session, futures slumped $6.74 to an intraday low of $132, the lowest for a front-month contract since June 12.” Yes, I understand there was an unexpected rise in oil and gas inventories reported today, and that spooked traders into thinking that a significant decrease in demand may be beginning to make itself known. But, there is not mistaking the fact that commodities markets price NEWS into their trading, not just the number of barrels that come out of the ground on any given day. So much for Obama’s understanding of futures trading in commodities. – WLS [lien] [EN]

‘Ask AP’ Writer Fails to Note Quick Retail Response to Oil-Price Drop

“Ask AP” is “a weekly Q&A column where Associated Press journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.” Not surprisingly, given the deteriorating quality of their reporting, the journalists questioned sometimes give less than perfect responses. One such example came last Friday from Adam Schreck, AP’s Energy Writer, at the end of a week when oil prices plummeted over 10% from their peak. Reader Joseph Patterson from St. Louis asked Schreck this question: I understand, to some degree, the raising of gasoline prices when the price of a barrel of oil increases. What I can’t understand is why we never see a significant drop in prices at the pump when the price of oil drops. Oh, there may be a penny less here or there, but nothing like the increases you see when oil prices go up. Why is that? Schreck had the opportunity to correct Patterson’s false premise that “we never see a significant drop in prices at the pump.” But instead, he told Patterson that: The cost of oil does indeed affect what we pay at the pump, but the process of getting it from the well to your gas tank takes time. Prices take a while to catch up. ….. As much as gasoline prices have climbed, the refiners and retailers would like to have raised them even more to cover their costs - but falling U.S. demand has made that impossible. And so, with an eye on their bottom line, they’re not likely to lower their prices all that quickly - even with oil prices declining sharply. Sorry to burst your price bubble, Mr. Schreck, but prices did respond to the decline in the barrel price, and quickly. On Tuesday, I wrote that: Cincy (Greater Cincinnati) gas prices are down about 4% from a week ago, and (not pictured) more like 5% from 8-9 days ago: All 15 low-end listings at the site (CincyGasPrices.com) are $3.78 or lower. Visiting that site again at 10 p.m., I’ve found that prices have plummeted even further in the past 60 or so hours (the chart is dynamic and may not have the same readings when viewed): All 15 low-end listings at CincyGasPrices.com are currently at $3.69 or lower. In fact, if you look at the site’s overall price chart beginning on Sunday, July 13, you’ll see that the price drop correlates pretty nicely, after about a 24-48 hour delay, with the drop in the barrel price of crude, which closed at $145.08 on Friday, July 11: Considering the fixed costs of retail operations and fuel delivery, the 6% or so price drop is a pretty darned quick reaction to a 13-14% drop in crude prices. Imagine that. What Shreck and questioner Patterson don’t understand is that as much as retailers and refiners would like to keep their prices sticky in a falling-crude environment, competition greatly limits their ability to do so. Patterson’s ignorance is unfortunately understandable, because journalists like Schreck have been misreporting from ignorance such as that just demonstrated in his “Ask AP” answer for all too many years. Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org. ___________________________________ UPDATE, 10:30 a.m.: The average price has dropped another 1.5 cents this morning. [lien] [EN]

Oil Prices Drop, Sadly [Gas Prices]

The price of oil dropped $2.19 today, to $117.91, spurring a stock market and dollar rally. Sounds like good news. Except that it's dropping because the market thinks more people won't be able to afford to drive their cars as much. Who's up for a "staycation?" Oil Prices Tumble Again; Stock Markets Surge [NYT] (Photo: hanapbuhay) [lien] [EN]

120GB HDD price drop to $149, still too spendy

Filed under: News, Peripherals Looking to increase the size of your hard drive? You know, swap your Xbox 360's measly 20GB or 60GB hard drive for a whopping 120GB of storage goodness all without having to tap into your 401K? Well, you're sorta in luck, because GameDaily was able to probe Microsoft enough to learn that the 360's standalone 120GB HDD has officially dropped its retail price to $149. That's a $30 price drop from its original $179 price tag. That said, we don't have to tell you that $149 for a 120GB HDD is very spendy and, as GameDaily was keen to point out, you could technically plop down an extra $50 and buy a brand new 360 Arcade. True, you wouldn't get any additional storage capacity with the Arcade, but you'd have a 512MB 256MB memory card and a backup just in case your primary console decides to ring out. � Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments [lien] [EN]

Analyst: Sony Worried Over 360 Price Cuts [Price Drops]

With Microsoft dropping Xbox 360 prices by a substantial chunk of change in Europe this Friday, you have to wonder how Sony is taking the news. While Strategy Analytics analyst David Mercer doesn't see the price of the PlayStation 3 dropping before the end of the year, he does believe Sony is going to be paying close attention to their day-to-day sales numbers from here on out. "Sony will be nervous that the PS3's recent sales surge may fizzle out now that the premium Xbox 360 undercuts the PS3 by GBP 40, and the cheapest Xbox model is almost half the price of the PS3," commented principle analyst David Mercer.I can imagine this is certainly true, but things will get a lot less worrisome once June 12th rolls about. Nothing spurs momentum than the game that millions bought your console for in the first place! Sony "nervous" following Xbox 360 price cut [GamesIndustry.biz] [lien] [EN]

10 Confessions Of A Ritz Camera Salesperson [Insiders]

A Ritz camera salesperson writes in to give you the skinny on scanning, digital prints, and which memory cards are just a ripoff. I have been working for Ritz Camera/Proex for about three years now and it's really starting to get on my nerves, but I thought I'd share some of the ways they screw you over as a customer and potential employee. 1. The E.S.P. or Extended Service Plan- This plan is alright. You pay quite a bit for security. The only good thing about it is if you do drop your camera they will cover your negligence. Only problem is, is that depending on where you bring the camera in the U.S. most likely for any repair out of Ritz/Proex it will take about 2 months to get your camera back and thats the quickest. 2. Prices- We have price matching, but it has to be the exact same product, the other store must have it in stock, and we have to call the other store to make sure that the customer isn't lying. Then we call a district manager and half the time they don't answer so you stand there and stare at the customer until they leave and go buy it at the other store. Not to mention cameras are a much better deal online all the time, any time. 3. Memory Cards- They try and make us sell you "Ritz" memory cards before Sandisk or Panasonic. They are all the same. Ritz claims theirs are "faster," but they are the EXACT SAME CARD. You're already dishing out 300$ for a camera, get the cheapest card that will hold the most. 4. Products- As employees we are required to push at least 4 products on you. While I refuse to do it and stick close to the finishing lab, everyone else has to. Most of the time they will tell you that they are a certain price only to find when you get to the register that the price is higher. This is because you must have our Image Rewards Card. 5. Image Rewards Card- Claims it uses a system that collects "money back," but I have yet to see that come up from frequent customers. For 16$ this lovely little piece of plastic can be yours. Unless you are doing actual 35mm film this card isn't worth it. It literally takes pennies off digital prints. You have to do tons of digital prints in order to get your monies worth. 6. Prints- We have what is called Big Print You which is the "New Digital Standard!" It's a bunch of crap. You are paying ten extra cents for half an inch of paper. It's not worth it. Take the time and make 4x6's. 4x6's still fit in albums and frames. Big Print You fits in some, but you have a small selection. 7. Scanning- Scanning is 2.50$ per print. Ridiculous! Most of the time I don't charge it and just say I forgot. Everyone else normally does it. 2.50 a scan, and you can only scan one at a time with a maximum of ten then the software makes to start another ten. It takes forever. By a cheap scanner and you'll save a ton of money if you think you need to scan a bunch of photos. 8. Demo Cameras- We sell them to you and you don't even know it. Everyone's grubby hands have probably been on your camera. It's probably been dropped at some point, not to mention the boxes we get shipments in from UPS look like they've been kicked all the way from the home office to our store. We sell demo cameras at no discount, we just clean them up and put them in a box. Then we are told to lie to you and tell you it's brand new. 9. Employees- Be prepared for a job that offers no movements in pay. They have a company policy that allows you to take quizzes that your manager and service manager have to sign off on then give to your district manager that then gets you a small raise. Most of our employees have finished these, got them signed, and turned them in. We all still get 8$/hr. The district manager claims he "never got them." I've heard this same excuse has been used with other stores too with different district managers. Also there are "Sales Incentives" that are supposed to be your commission. These are pennies and on like 5 things in the store. Most of the time it's all taken away in taxes. 10. One Hour Photo- Yeah right. Half the time our machines break down because they are about as old as I am and the company is too cheap to fix them. So with the new "One Hour or It's Free" deal we have now, we can just say that the machine is broke and that voids the deal. I'll just give you your prints free. If there is a chance that our machine is working alright, in reality we can probably get your prints done in about 15-30 minutes unless you have a ton of them. Also ordering your prints online saves you time in a mall and the smell of fish that the printer gives off. So do that. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) [lien] [EN]