On August 5, 2011, the Justice Department announced that Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez, former executives of Terra Telecommunications Corp., have been convicted for their roles in a scheme to pay bribes to Haitian government officials at a state-owned telecommunications company, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The U.S. GPS Industry Council used its reply comments in the broadband for native nations proceeding to take a swipe at LightSquared in docket 11-41 (http://xrl.us/bk5o48). “In its comments, LightSquared takes credit for the planned distribution of up to 2,000 MSS satellite phones to units of the Indian Health Service. … LightSquared then closes its comments with a request that the Commission consider extending waivers to cover LightSquared’s 4G LTE terrestrial mobile service base stations in order to facilitate deployment of satellite infrastructure on Tribal Lands,” the council said in its comments. “These two aspects of LightSquared’s comments are fundamentally at odds.”
Nielsen Research and Rovi have begun surveying a panel of Samsung and Sony connected TV owners. They're seeking customer feedback on the IP-based products they bought and their possible interest in Rovi’s interactive advertising platform, said Jeff Siegel, Rovi’s senior vice president of global media sales.
Nielsen Research and Rovi have begun surveying a panel of Samsung and Sony connected TV owners. They're seeking customer feedback on the IP-based products they bought and their possible interest in Rovi’s interactive advertising platform, said Jeff Siegel, Rovi’s senior vice president of global media sales.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is announcing that the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on August 18, 2011 in Long Beach, CA, and for the first time is offering a live webcast via the Internet of the meeting, as an alternative to attendance .
Bob Weissburg’s decision to depart as president of D&M sales and marketing for the Americas (CED Aug 1 p9) was his own and took several months to ponder, he told Consumer Electronics Daily in an interview Monday. Weissburg has no new job lined up and wants to take the rest of the summer off, then plans to attend next month’s CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis as a private citizen, he said. He looks forward to attending CEDIA without the “pressure,” he said.
Nintendo took its price markdown on the 3DS less than five months into its launch (CED July 29 p6) because the company decided “a drastic approach” was needed if the 3DS is to become the successor to the DS, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said. “Having strong momentum is very important for game platform businesses,” Iwata said Friday at a financial briefing in Japan. “Once momentum is lost, great power is needed to change that trend.”
Questions lingered Thursday after Nintendo of America said it’s slashing the price of the 3DS to $169.99 from $249.99 in the U.S., effective Aug. 12, shortly after parent Nintendo reported results for Q1 ended June 30 that were weaker than Q1 last year. It wasn’t clear why the price change won’t take effect for two weeks and how the change will impact sales of the $169.99 DSi XL and $149.99 DSi.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced the opening of two new land border ports of entry in Sherwood and Westhope, North Dakota. These new border facilities will replace outdated facilities, strengthen security and facilitate the flow of legal travel and trade through ports of entry along the Northern border. They feature cutting-edge inspection technologies to strengthen security and expedite inspections.
More video device manufacturers could introduce retail digital cable-ready products if the FCC crafts a broad waiver in response to TiVo’s petition to be let out of requirements to include an analog tuner in such devices, said comments filed in response to TiVo’s request. TiVo sought the waiver so it can sell a version of its TiVo Premiere Elite box at retail in addition to leasing it through MVPDs (CED June 9 p4).