The Federal Aviation Administration gave its long-awaited go-ahead Thursday for travelers to use iPads, Kindles and other non-connected portable electronic devices (PEDs) during all aspects of flight and not just above 10,000 feet. But implementation won’t be instant and is at the discretion of individual airlines. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., urged caution. CEA, CTIA and other industry groups called for a change in U.S. policy last year in filings at the FAA (CD Nov 2/12 p9). A PED Aviation Rulemaking Committee filed a report at the FAA recommending the change (CD Oct 2 p13).
Integrated Device Technology (IDT) shipped $1 million in orders in fiscal Q3 for Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) receivers and transmitters and landed its first design win with a handset supplier, IDT interim CEO Jeffrey McCreary said on an earnings call.
Starting Friday, Wii U owners who own a Wii Balance Board accessory and have access to a broadband Internet connection will be able to download a free trial version of the new fitness title Wii Fit U from the Nintendo eShop, said Nintendo of America. The trial software will be the full version of the title, which will cost $59.99 in packaged form, and be available through Jan. 31, Nintendo said Monday. The trial will work for 31 days after the title is first played, it said. Any trial participant who buys a $19.99 Fit Meter accessory and syncs it to the game will be able to continue playing Wii Fit U after the trial period ends, it said. A new Wii U bundle, meanwhile, will ship Nov. 15 at $299.99 that Nintendo said includes the Basic console in white, Activision’s Skylanders Swap Force starter pack that includes the game, a Portal of Power accessory, three Skylanders toy figures, a collector poster, trading cards and sticker sheets, and a copy of the Nintendo Land game disc, said Nintendo.
Now that January’s deal has soured for Funai to acquire the rest of the Philips CE business for just over $200 million in cash (CED Jan 30 p4), speculation turns to what may become of the Philips-Funai licensing agreement to market Philips-branded CE products in North America when it expires in two years. Philips on Friday abruptly scrapped January’s agreement, alleging that Funai breached the pact when it “refused to take the necessary steps to enable completion of the transaction and the transfer of the business.” Philips also said it will take legal action “to recover damages caused by Funai.” Philips will investigate other opportunities for the AV and accessories businesses that were to have been transferred to Funai, while continuing to run them “within Philips operating with a significantly lower cost structure, as a standalone entity called WOOX Innovations,” it said. Funai CEO Tomonori Hayashi denied the allegations in a statement Monday. “We respected the agreement with Philips and feel that there is no grounds for breach,” he said. Both companies said their spat won’t affect their existing North American licensing deal, which already has been renewed once and runs through the end of 2015. But TPV, majority owner of the TP Vision joint venture with Philips to market Philips-brand TVs in most markets of the world, has made no secret of its ambitions to take over the North American TV business once the Funai licensing deal expires (CED Nov 2/11 p1). Last year, TP Vision’s CEO, in an interview at the Berlin IFA show with Consumer Electronics Daily, wouldn’t rule out making a play for the Philips TV business in North America after 2015. “Anything is possible for the future, but at this moment, our focus is on the markets we play in,” CEO Maarten de Vries said (CED Sept 5/12 p1). The acrimony between Philips and Funai is a stark departure from the January 2012 CES, when Philips announced that it was so “pleased with the progress Funai has made” since landing the five-year North American licensing agreement in 2008 that it decided a year early to renew the pact for two years (CED Jan 10/12 p9). In his statement Monday, Hayashi made mention of Funai’s “long and prosperous relationship with Philips” and that it and looks forward to “continuing that” with the North American licensing pact. Philips made no such mention.
CBP released the agenda for the Nov. 15 meeting with the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) in Washington, D.C. CBP also said the meeting will be available online and registration is available (here).
World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators and ministers must conclude negotiations in the coming days on customs cooperation and other unresolved issues docketed for the Bali ministerial round in December, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo told the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee on Oct 25. “Trade-offs and commonalities are becoming more evident," he said. "We need to move rapidly to reach final agreement on these issues,” said Azevêdo. “The second type of work is in those areas where we have made great progress in identifying conceptual landing zones, where divergence was still very wide just 10 days ago. Now we need to accelerate our work by translating this progress into text and locking it in.” Azevêdo has repeatedly targeted the end of October for resolution on all issues (see 13101008).
Nintendo of America will start selling a new Wii U Deluxe Set Nov. 1 at $299.99 that it said Wednesday will include the 32-GB Deluxe version of the console and two Nintendo games, New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U, on one disc. The same version of the console is now being sold at the same price with just the game Nintendo Land and as part of a limited edition bundle including the Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, also at $299.99. The new Deluxe Set will replace the existing bundle that includes Nintendo Land, said Nintendo. Consumers will still be able to buy Nintendo Land separately in stores and as a download in the Nintendo eShop at a new, lower price of $29.99, also starting Nov. 1, it said. The game costs $59.99 now. The existing limited-edition Wii U Deluxe bundle that comes with a download code for The Wind Waker HD, as well as a GamePad controller with art inspired by The Legend of Zelda series and a download code for a digital copy of Hyrule Historia, will remain available at $299.99 “while supplies last,” it said. Separately, although the older Wii console was “discontinued” in Japan, the company said there’s “no change in the status” of the Wii in the U.S., where it will remain available for purchase this holiday season. It wasn’t clear whether Wii production stopped entirely for all regions and if Nintendo will merely be selling through whatever units were already produced through year-end in markets outside of Japan. Nintendo of America didn’t immediately comment.
Best Key will file a challenge with the Court of International Trade over a CBP ruling that the textile company says the agency is using to revise its definition of "metalized" yarns, said John Peterson, a lawyer with Neville Peterson that is representing Best Key. CBP published two notices of revocation of rulings and treatment regarding "Johnny Collar" pullovers and polyester monofilament yarn in the Oct. 2 issue of the CustomsBulletin (Vol. 47, No. 41). CBP made the rulings despite claims from Best Key that agency laboratory personnel inappropriately disregarded previous ruling precedent (see 13061418).
Shenzhen ACTO Digital Video Technology is making a run at the U.S. market with ASK Proxima front projectors, seeking to cash in on the brand it acquired from InFocus three years ago, Sam Malik, vice president and general manager-sales and marketing, told us. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi is withdrawing from the segment.
The administration decision to continue to permit grazing, mining, logging, and oil and gas extraction on public lands, amid the on-going government shutdown, is illegal and environmentally degrading, said the Center for Biological Diversity in an Oct. 15 letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. The shutdown continues to furlough regulatory enforcement personnel that protect lands and wildlife, read the letter. The Department of the Interior is also violating the following clauses of the Anti-Deficiency Act through permitting extracting activities to continue.