Hasta La Gadget!

An effort to delay the impending switch to digital TV signals got a boost Thursday night after Senate Republicans agreed to a plan that would push the transition to June 12.

GOP members were initially hesitant to support the delay, blocking consideration of the legislation when it was introduced on January 16. After a little negotiation and some amendments to the bill, however, Republicans are now on board.

“I had serious concerns about shifting the digital television transition without a sound plan to inform consumers or address the converter box coupon shortage,” Sen. Hutchison, a Texas Republican and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “I am pleased that Chairman Rockefeller worked with me to address many of the concerns with the early proposals.”

Democratic senators Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota last week announced plans for a bill that would push the switch from analog to digital TV signals from February 17 to June 12.

Microsoft’s newly-announced layoffs and declining profits aren’t the only bad news in Redmond — according to the company’s quarterly statements, Zune platform revenue decreased $100 million, or 54 percent compared to the same quarter last year, due to falling device sales. Mega-ouch. Not all is doom and gloom for the Entertainment and Devices Division, which continues to be profitable with a $151 million haul: Xbox 360 and PC platform revenue increased six percent ($135 million) to $2.2 billion. Meanwhile, Apple saw a three percent increase in iPod sales over the same period, so we’re anxious to see what Microsoft has planned for reviving the social.

[Thanks, Jason Wong]

Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Microsoft reports $100M decline in Zune revenue originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Put your hands together for IMM Living‘s Hand-Sign USB Keys. The 2GB drives come in four “gestures”—East, West, Rock Out, and Change—that “pay respect to the remarkably expressive human hand.”

Raise your hand if you want one! The, er, handy little drives will be available at Sirtified in late March for $35 each.

If we had to name two essentials to any geek home, well, we couldn’t. But if we were jacked upside the wall and forced to, we’d likely pick sound and lighting. It goes without saying that designers Hoang M Nguyen, Poom Puttorngul and Anh Nguyen would agree, as they’ve dreamed up the conceptual Soundbulb that you see above. Essentially, what you’re looking at is a light bulb that includes a small driver along with an embedded wireless module that would enable it to receive streaming audio from a transmitter. Oh sure, you wouldn’t get any of that soul shaking bass from these guys, but just think of the convenience factor.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Household

Soundbulb serves two great purposes, at least in theory originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week we had the chance to see the latest offerings for 2009 from Sega Toys, a company that has gone from just making toys for kids to creating innovative lifestyle goods for the adult market. We’ll be covering several in a row here, the first of which is the continuation of a classic in this “Ippin Mono” (rare goods) series from Sega: The Homestar Pro Second Edition.

Picture via Impress

It’s been a long run for the Homestar Series of home planetariums, which has combined education with good design, and turned it into a truly modern home accessory. The new 2nd Edition, to be available from the summer, is combining multiple features (moon, 10,000 stars, earth) into one disc for wall and ceiling projection and changing the case design slightly, but still keeping the LED power, shooting stars, and other features that have made it famous.

From the original Homestar Homestar Pro to the bath time Homestar Spa and the latest high-end Homestar EXTRA, Sega has provided a steady stream of products around a popular theme (space & astronomy) for a generation of consumers that still loves its toys. A shrinking market for kids is a primary reason of course, but the approach from Sega has been steady and well-targeted.