Boston Acoustics changed the name of its flagship Vista speakers to “VS”, based on input from CEDIA dealers, a spokeswoman said. The dealers felt the “Vision in great Sound (VS)” brand better represented the speakers’ attributes, she said. In introducing Vista in 2007, Boston Acoustics executives shrugged off media queries on whether using the name would land Boston Acoustics in legal hot water with Microsoft (CED Aug 13/07 p2). The four Boston Acoustics VS Series models include: VS 336 3-Way 6-1/2-inch floorstanding loudspeaker ($1,699); VS 325C 3-Way dual 5- 1/4-inch center channel ($899); VS 240 2-Way 4-1/4-inch bookshelf ($399); and VPS 210 10-inch, 500-watt subwoofer ($1,699).
The California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge who originally supported the geographic split the PUC adopted in April to relieve the depleted southern California 760 area code said she had reconsidered and now supports an all-service overlay. The PUC had agreed to reconsider the decision to split the populous northernmost part of San Diego County off from 760 into a new 442 area code. The PUC will vote Oct. 16 on whether to rescind the split and order an all-service overlay with 10-digit local dialing. ALJ Maribeth Bushey said she had originally recommended the split because it would preserve seven-digit local dialing across the sprawling remainder of the code, which comprises about 8 percent of the state’s total land area. Bushey said she changed her mind after reviewing the protests from the local Chambers of Commerce of the six San Diego suburbs to be split off, plus the commander of the U.S. Marine base at Camp Pendleton, and roughly 6,000 e-mails from residents and businesses in opposition to a split. She said the strident and voluminous opposition to a split that would force thousands upon thousands of residents and businesses to change their phone numbers indicated the split was the wrong decision.
Rex Stores sold a Cheyenne, Wyo., distribution center for $4.4 million cash and leased back about 64,000 square feet of the facility under an agreement that expires Aug. 31, 2011. The carrying value of the 145,000-square foot building is $2.1 million, the company said. Rex used $600,000 from the proceeds to pay debt tied to the property and will use the remaining money for “general corporate purposes,” the company said. The minium annual rents for the distribution center range from $100,000 for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2009 to $300,000 each in 2010 and 2011 and $200,000 in 2012, it said. Rex also sold vacant land next to the distribution center earlier this month for $848,000, the retailer said. The land had a $140,000 carrying value, it said. The sale comes as Rex weighs the fate of its 110 remaining stores with a report expected by mid-November. At its peak, Rex had 262 stores.
Nintendo plans an Oct. 2 news conference in Japan to unveil unspecified new products, a week before the Tokyo Game Show, according to published reports. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment by our deadline. Nintendo typically doesn’t exhibit at the Tokyo Game Show, but company executives and game developers often speak there. For weeks rumor has held that Nintendo plans to debut a new DS, possibly with two widescreen touch displays. Separately, Nintendo of America said it teamed with online handbag rental service From Bags to Riches to feature DS systems and games in some rentals through the end of 2008. From Bags to Riches subscribers will have the chance to borrow a DS and games for free with a 30-day rental of featured handbags by Prada, Tory Burch, Gucci, Juicy Couture and other designers, NOA said. Other terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. “Almost half the Nintendo DS systems sold in the United States last year belong to women,” said Cammie Dunaway, NOA executive vice president of sales and marketing. NOA also said it teamed with Six Flags in a deal allowing it to promote its coming Wii game Wario Land: Shake It! at 10 theme parks. The game, shipping Sept. 22, plays like a classic side-scroller, but has motion-controlled elements, NOA said. Players will shake the Wii Remote controller to help the character Wario “shake down enemies” for coins or tilt it to help him decide where to toss them, the company said. The promotion will include the title being featured at game stations in Wii Experience areas at the 10 Six Flags parks. On Sept. 27, Nintendo will host a game competition at Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles and Six Flags St. Louis. One player at each park with the best overall time will win a Wii system, the game, a DS, a gift certificate for Six Flags merchandise and other items, the companies said … The latest games added to Nintendo’s Wii Shop Channel for download to the console were new WiiWare titles Strong Bad Episode 2: Strong Badia the Free from Telltale Games at 1,000 Wii Points, $10, Potpourri from Abstraction Games at 800 Wii Points, $8, and legacy console game Mega Man 2 for the original Nintendo Entertainment System at 500 Wii Points, $5 … Sales of Nintendo game Wii Fit helped Toys “R” Us post a 6.4 percent rise in its U.S. Toys unit for Q2 ended Aug. 2, the retailer said in a 10-Q filing to the SEC. Sales in that segment grew to $1.1 billion, driven by a 5.1 percent jump in comparable store sales and a spike in online sales, it said. Driving the comparable store sales growth were gains in its entertainment and juvenile categories, helped by the Wii Fit launch, it said.
A bill to update the Federal Information Security Management Act, enacted in 2002, didn’t move Wednesday in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which lacked a quorum. But the six senators who showed up defeated an amendment by Tom Coburn, R-Okla., that would have stripped a provision creating a new council of agency chief information security officers. Sponsor Tom Carper, D-Del., said a string of breaches at U.S. agencies, hacking attempts by foreign states and even “pranksters who are trying to create some mischief” demand a FISMA update. “What we did then was frankly not successful and not sufficient,” since many agencies now can’t even say what data they hold, he said: “Those of us here in Congress have little idea whether our work [in 2002] has made agencies any more secure.” S- 3474, also titled FISMA, would require agencies to designate chief information security officers, or CISOs, barred from serving simultaneously as chief information officers. CIOs and CISOs would report jointly on network security in quarterly filings to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team at the Department of Homeland Security. The bill would authorize CISOs to deny network access to users not following security policies. The bill would create a CISO Council, similar to the existing CIO Council, also including representatives from OMB, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, each military branch, US-CERT, U.S. Strategic Command and other relevant agencies. The council would be led by the National Cyber Security Center and OMB. DHS would have to evaluate each agency’s network security, reporting yearly to Congress on their performance. OMB and the National Institute of Standards and Technology would have to issue network-security regulations applying to any entity contracting with federal agencies. The CISO council provision is duplicative, Coburn said: “Creating another council means that we're not going to hold the council we have now accountable.” Agencies already can create CISO positions or a new council, though OMB has said a CISO Council isn’t necessary, he added: “What we ought to be saying is ‘Do your job.'” Carper said CIOs’ duties, such as procurement and IT workforce improvement, differ dramatically from those of CISOs. Previously, as Delaware’s governor, he created councils for family services and land use that met with him monthly, so they would “stop working through stovepipes,” he said. Carper and Coburn disagreed whether a CISO Council would cost any money.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation asked the FCC to reject a CTIA petition asking the FCC to clarify federal authority over cell towers and wireless facility siting. The state division said the new rules, if adopted, could have a “negative and detrimental” effect on aviation safety. The state invests millions of dollars each year in its airports, it said. “Both the FAA and State of North Carolina require that these locally, publicly owned and operated airports protect this investment of public funds by enacting local zoning, ranging from a height ordinances up to and including land use,” the division said. “Cell towers if not properly sited can and have caused conflicts with these public airports both from a safety standpoint and from an ultimate utilization of the facility.” The division said the FCC does not have rules limiting tower construction: “The only way that the airport can be protected is by local zoning requirements.”
Rex Stores will complete a review of options for its stores by late November, CEO Stuart Rose told analysts in a conference call Tuesday. Rex hired Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. in June to weigh plans for its 111 stores, including a possible sale (CED June 26 p4). The firm also is helping Rex find ways to its real-estate holdings into cash while keeping investments in ethanol plants. In a step apparently stemming from the review, Rex sold land near its Cheyenne, Wyo., warehouse. The price wasn’t available at our deadline. Rex has put four closed stores up for sale, Chief Financial Officer Douglas Bruggeman said. It also may not reopen two Louisiana stores damaged by Hurricane Gustav this month. The roof collapsed on a Rex store in Alexandria, La., according to local news reports. Rex also shut an outlet in Trotwood, Ohio. Rex’s investments in ethanol have grown, but its retail business has slumped amid a sluggish U.S. economy. Rex’s Q1 retail net income slipped to $774,000 from $1.9 million on a 3.9 percent same-store sales decline as the chain struggled with a “tough retail environment,” Rose said. Excluding air conditioners, same-store sales fell 7 percent in August and early September, Bruggeman said. Q1 retail sales dropped to $42.5 million from $48 million a year ago. Gross margins in the retail division fell to 29.8 percent from 31.8 percent a year earlier, Bruggeman said. A downturn in sales of DVD players, camcorders, projection and analog TVs was offset by a 46 percent rise in sales of plasma and LCD sets, Bruggeman said. Rex’s total Q1 net income, which includes investments in ethanol plants, declined to $1.52 million, from $7.53 million a year ago when the chain posted a $2.9 million gain on the sale of discontinued operations. Total revenue rose to $67 million from $48 million, as Rex benefited from $24 million in revenue from a 56 percent-owned ethanol plant in Levelland, Texas, that started production in March. The Levelland facility was “slightly profitable” in Q1, but lower ethanol prices have meant it has run at a “slight loss” since, Rose said. Rex’s largest alternative fuels investment is its 74 percent stake in One Earth Energy, Gibson City, Ill., expected to start production in early 2009. - MS
CBP issued a CSMS message stating that the Food and Drug Administration's Import Systems were scheduled to experience downtimes for maintenance on September 6, 2008, between 12:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EDT. FDA's OASIS and Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI) systems will be down for this maintenance.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is seeking votes on more than a dozen media items, many dealing with individual license transfers, by the Sept. 25 agenda meeting, he told reporters Friday. He’s also seeking votes on two orders that he said could help AM broadcasters. Martin also said an early switch to DTV in Wilmington, N.C., remains on, as a storm with winds near hurricane force approaches the city.
The 700 MHz public safety D-block’s future remains in question entering what are likely the last five months of Kevin Martin’s chairmanship. Among the main problems facing advocates of a public-private partnership is seeming reluctance by some of the nation’s largest systems to take part, as seen at an FCC en banc hearing on the D-block (CD July 31 p1). Public safety sources say many first responders still don’t understand the benefits offered by a broadband wireless network, and may not until the network is built.