Black Friday pricing or not, CE discounts are holding up as some of the best deals around, according to a price check from The People History website, which features the average cost of everyday products over the years. In 1960, the average cost of a new house was $12,700 and a new car cost an average $2,600. But a “modern, Danish-style” 23-inch black-and-white TV listed for $219.95, equivalent to $1,691.71 today, according to the inflation calendar from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today a Haier Chinese-style 24-inch LCD flat-panel 1080p TV costs $215. A new Polaroid Land Camera cost $93.45 the year JFK was elected, or $718.75 in 2012 currency, while a ‘60s-era Polaroid 250 Auto Land camera listed for $49 last week on eBay. That $94 camera budget from 1960 would today buy a 14-megapixel, 4x optical zoon Canon point-and-shoot model at B&H Photo with money left over for a 2GB “film” card that can hold 1900 5MB pics. A $49.95 adding machine in 1960 would cost $384.57 in 2012 dollars. Today, you can buy a handheld Aurora calculator from Amazon for under $5, or save your money altogether and use the calculator app on your iPad. Gasoline hasn’t fared so well. The 25-cent-per-gallon price in 1960 would be $1.92 on the debit card today, but the median price for a gallon of regular in the New York area Friday was $3.69, according to GasBuddy.com.
The U.S. Supreme Court won’t allow cameras into oral arguments about the national healthcare law, the court said Friday. The court has never allowed reporters to bring cameras or tape recorders inside the court, and won’t make an exception for the March 26-28 case, it said. However, SCOTUS will post audio recordings and transcripts the same day as the case on the court’s website, www.supremecourt.gov, it said. The Senate Judiciary Committee has been pushing to require cameras in the high court by law and approved such a bill (S-1945) in February (WID Feb 10 p8). Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., praised the court’s decision to expedite posting of audio recordings but said he'd rather the court permit cameras and have live audio streaming. “Decisions made at the Supreme Court impact the lives of millions of Americans,” Leahy said. “Just as Vermonters can follow the actions of their elected representatives in Washington on C-SPAN and through webcasts on the Internet, so, too, should they be able to follow the public proceedings of the highest court in the land.” Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, agreed: “Every American should have the opportunity to see and hear this landmark case as it plays out, not just the select few allowed in the courtroom.” C-SPAN will air the SCOTUS audio recordings as soon as they are released, it said Friday. But the cable network is “disappointed that the Court has rejected C-SPAN’s request for TV camera coverage of the oral arguments in this landmark case,” it said. “We continue to believe allowing video coverage of Supreme Court oral arguments is in the public’s best interest."
The PS Vita had another weak week in Japan as the 3DS, PS3 and PSP again outsold Sony’s new handheld system and Vita software again underperformed, according to the latest Media Create data, released Friday. The Vita again finished No. 4 among videogame hardware systems, with sales flat with the prior week (CED March 12 p7) at 10,000 units. Its Japan installed base inched up to 610,100. Once again, not a single Vita game reached the top 10 videogame software chart. All weekly sales estimates are rounded to the nearest 100. The 3DS easily remained Japan’s best-selling system, but sales dipped to 69,000 from 70,700. Cumulative 3DS hardware sales inched up to an estimated 5.22 million. The PS3 remained Japan’s No. 2 system, but sales tumbled to 34,800 from 65,100. The PSP repeated at No. 3 on the hardware chart, but sales grew to 16,200 from 15,700. The Wii was again No. 5, sales growing to 8,300 from 8,100. The PS2 remained No. 6, sales flat at 1,400. The Xbox 360 repeated at No. 7, sales creeping up to 1,300 from 1,200. The DSi LL was again No. 8, sales up to 900 from 800. The DSi remained in last place, sales falling to 500 from 600. Namco Bandai’s One Piece: Pirate Warriors for the PS3 remained the best-selling videogame in its second week available despite sales tumbling to 90,100 copies from 655,800. Sega’s Hatsune Miku and Future Stars: Project Mirai for the 3DS was No. 2 in its first week, moving 86,700 copies. Capcom’s Street Fighter X Tekken for the PS3 was No. 3 in its first week, with 58,500 sold. Namco Bandai’s Mobile Suit Gundam UC for the PS3 was No. 4 in its first week, with 51,700 sold. Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D for the 3DS was No. 5 in its first week, with 38,400 sold. Every other game in the top 10 was for the 3DS. Nintendo’s Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games fell four to No. 6 in its second week, sales falling to 23,600 from 43,200. Its Mario Kart 7 dipped one to No. 7, sales falling to 17,800 from 18,900, while its Super Mario 3D Land remained No. 8, sales growing to 17,300 from 16,100. Harvest Moon: The Land of Origin from Marvelous AQL fell six to No. 9 as sales fell to 16,400 from 27,400. Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3G dipped one to No. 10, sales falling to 14,300 from 15,800. Sony Computer Entertainment’s Unit 13 became the top-selling Vita game in its first week, but it came in at only No. 15 when factoring in all platforms, with 8,100 sold. There was only one other Vita title in the entire top 50: SCE’s Gravity Rush, the prior week’s top-selling Vita title. It fell 11 to No. 43 in its fifth week.
The “clock has stopped” on the FCC’s 45-day review period of Sandwich Isle Communications’ petition for waiver of certain universal service support rules while the Wireline Bureau waits for more detailed financial information, bureau Chief Sharon Gillett said in a letter Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bmx5gp). The Universal Service Fund/intercarrier compensation order implemented a prioritized 45-day review process of waiver petitions filed by providers serving tribal lands and insular areas. The Hawaiian telco in December filed a petition for waiver of section 54.302 of the commission’s rules, implemented as part of the USF/intercarrier comp order, establishing a total limit on high-cost universal service support of $250 per line per month beginning July 1. The bureau stopped the clock to request additional details on capital leases, payments and payables to affiliates, plant-specific expense, network operations expense, non-regulated income, and employee compensation. The bureau also seeks an explanation of Sandwich Isle’s past and expected growth, to determine whether the telco’s expected additional expenses are “reasonable.” Third parties will have an opportunity to comment on the new details, Gillett said.
The Justice Department announced on March 13, 2012 that Jean Rene Duperval, a former director of international relations for Telecommunications D’Haiti S.A.M. (Haiti Teleco), a Haitian state-owned telecommunications company, has been convicted for his role in a scheme to launder bribes paid to him by two Miami-based telecommunications companies in violation of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Hundreds of different types of receivers are in use today, with different characteristics, and developing receiver standards won’t be easy, Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, said at the start of a two-day FCC workshop Monday. NTIA Associate Administrator Karl Nebbia said receiver standards will become a critical issue if the U.S. wants to avoid the expected spectrum crunch.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Stereoscopic and autostereoscopic 3D is “cool technology,” but few developers have expressed much interest in 3D for their games, Meggan Scavio, general manager of the Game Developers Conference, told us Friday at GDC. “Does it really enhance the game play experience? Until that’s proven, then developers … don’t care” about it, she said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has updated its commodity classification webpage to include information received from an additional five companies (for a total of 58) that have requested that the information available on their companies’ websites, and/or their companies’ export control points of contact, be accessible via the BIS website.
Timeframes for implementation of the FCC Lifeline order are “unrealistic and could harm the very consumers the program is intended to benefit,” said a petition by USTelecom, the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance, NTCA, OPASTCO, Western Telecommunications Alliance and Eastern Rural Telecom Association (http://xrl.us/bmxmxs). They asked the commission to postpone until October the effective date for establishment of the interim flat-rate reimbursement amount of $9.25, for elimination of Link Up in non-tribal lands for eligible telecom carriers and for calculation of the Link Up discount for residents of tribal lands. “These tasks cannot realistically be completed within the relatively short time period (less than 60 days) contemplated under the Order,” the petition said. Petitioners sought clarification of several aspects of new certification requirements under Section 54.407(d) of the rules.
The 3DS, PS3 and PSP again outsold the PS Vita in Japan, according to the latest Media Create data, released Friday. The Vita had its weakest performance ever in the week ended March 4, again coming in No. 4 among videogame hardware systems. Vita sales fell to 10,000 from 11,200 the prior week, which had been its weakest showing (CED March 5 p7). Its Japan installed base inched up to 600,000. Once again, not a single Vita game reached the top 10 videogame software chart. All weekly sales estimates are rounded to the nearest 100. The 3DS easily remained Japan’s best-selling system, but sales fell to 70,700 from 76,300. Cumulative 3DS hardware sales inched up to an estimated 5.2 million. The PS3 remained Japan’s No. 2 system, but sales soared to 65,100 from 27,100, likely driven by strong demand for Namco Bandai’s One Piece: Pirate Warriors, which became the best-selling videogame its first week available, moving 655,800 copies. The PSP repeated at No. 3 on the hardware chart, but sales dipped to 15,700 from 15,900. The Wii was again No. 5, sales growing to 8,100 from 7,900. The PS2 inched up one to No. 6, sales growing to 1,400 from 1,300. Xbox 360 dipped to No. 7 as sales fell to 1,200 from 1,500. The DSi LL was again No. 8, sales falling to only 800 from 1,000. The DSi remained in last place, sales falling to 600 from 700. Sales of Namco Bandai’s latest One Piece game dwarfed those of every other game. Its Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave for the PSP, the prior week’s No. 1 videogame, fell to No. 10 in its second week, sales tumbling to 12,400 from 85,300. The publisher had two other games in the top 10: Great Battle Full Blast for the PSP, No. 4 in its first week with 24,300 sold, and Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation for the PS3, down four at No. 7 in its second week, sales falling to 17,900 from 65,800. Nintendo had three 3DS games in the top 10: Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, No. 2 in its first week with 43,200 sold; Mario Kart 7, up two at No. 6 despite sales falling to 18,900 from 20,700; and Super Mario 3D Land, down one, No. 8, sales falling to 16,100 from 21,400. Harvest Moon: The Land of Origin from Marvelous AQL for the 3DS dipped one to No. 3 in its second week, sales tumbling to 27,400 from 81,100. There were two other 3DS games in the top 10: Square Enix’s Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, up 10 at No. 5, sales growing to 21,500 from 10,800; and Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3G, No. 9 again despite sales falling to 15,800 from 17,800. The top-selling Vita game was again Sony Computer Entertainment’s Gravity Rush, but it fell eight to No. 32 in its fourth week. There were again only two other Vita games in the entire top 50: GungHo’s Ragnarok Odyssey, down five at No. 40 in its fifth week, and Tecmo Koei’s Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, down 14 at No. 41 in its second week.