[26 Jan 2012 | No Comment | 18 views] | Posted in Gadgets, News]
Logitech officially out of Google TV game

Logitech has announced that it has succeeded in shifting its entire stockpile of Logitech Revue set-top boxes, officially ending its involvement with the Google TV platform.

The accessories manufacturer was Google's first hardware partner for its TV on-demand platform, but poor sales saw Logitech bail out amid losses of $100m late last year.

The initial $299 asking price was soon reduced to just $99 in an attempt to move the inventory and put the fiasco firmly in the past.

"A major factor in the 8 percent decline in the Americas sales compared to the prior year was Logitech Revue for Google TV," said the company regarding its most recent earnings call.

"Sales of Logitech Revue this year were down by $15M due to the combination of a significant price reduction in Q2 of this fiscal year and our previously announced intention to exit the category. We are now sold out of all new Logitech Revue units."

New Harmony remotes incoming

Now Logitech is out of the game, it plans to reinvigorate its Harmony universal remote line-up with a refresh and new models in 2012.

"As our recent results demonstrate, we are overdue for a meaningful refresh across much of the category. We plan to strengthen our Harmony line-up in the coming months," the company added.

Those still hoping to lay their hands on a cheap Google TV set-top box should look to Vizio which is preparing to launch its own version at the same $99 price point.



[26 Jan 2012 | No Comment | 6 views] | Posted in Gadgets, News]
Twitter and Facebook to get own media regulation?

Lord Justice Leveson has suggested that social networks like Twitter and Facebook could be treated differently to news organisations in any future media regulation reforms.

The judge is presiding over an investigation into the ethics, practices and culture of the media following the phone hacking scandal.

He says that online news organisations publishing news are different from people having conversations on Facebook regarding news and should be treated as such.

He said: "I think that I might see there is a distinction between Facebook, where one person is communicating with their friends, or Twitter, and organisations that are in the business of selling themselves with reference to news or information.

"That is the difference between the pub chatter, to take the analogy that was mentioned before, and that which the state – I don't mean government, I say immediately, but the broad corpus of all of us – has an interest in seeing as a level playing field."

New rules

The deliberations could eventually see a new set of rules introduced for the social networks differentiating them from online newspapers or news aggregators.

The debate has centred around complaints from well-known celebrities that they are powerless to stop the spread of often false information with no recourse.

JK Rowling complained to Justice Leveson last year that "a lie can spread around the world before the truth had got its boots on," after complaining about family photos appearing online.