Manufacturers and consumers alike better brace themselves: memory chip prices have hit a two-year high because of a major fire in a massive Chinese production plant.
Microsoft’s $100 Surface Pro price cut to stick around, accessory discounts incoming (update: worldwide)
Posted in: Today's ChiliIn a move that should surprise few, that August price cut for Microsoft’s Surface Pro — which now starts at $799 for the 64GB version — will remain in effect permanently. WPCentral has also revealed a $40 discount on Touch Covers, that now start at $79, and $50 off of the Surface RT tablet / touch cover bundle that starts at $399. The bundle pricing should kick in today although we’re not seeing it live on the Microsoft Store yet. According to a statement from Microsoft (included after the break) this is based on customer’s “exciting” response to the recent price drops. So, is this enough of a push for you to grab a slate (or two) right now, or would you rather wait for the sequel?
Update: While the original Surface Pro discount only applied in a few locales, we’re hearing that the price in several European and Asian countries is also dropping. Word on price cuts for the accessories has varied from place to place, so depending on your location you may want to keep an eye out.
Korean manufacturers Samsung and LG often match each other in product introductions, but today they were together in announcing cheaper options for some of their latest TV technology. Samsung is dropping the price on its new 55-inch curved OLED (above) and LG rolled out two lower priced versions of its 55- and 65-inch 4K TVs that sacrifice a few premium features. In Samsung’s case, the price is dropping by 34 percent, from 15 million won ($13,500) to 9.9 million ($8,910). While we’d heard the KN55S9 will arrive in the US mid-August for $15,000 there hasn’t been an official announcement yet, but Value Electronics is promising more details on the 14th.
For LG, the new LA9650 (pictured after the break) variant of its 65-inch UHDTV drops to 8.9 million won ($8,010) compared to 10.9 million ($9,810) for the original LA9700, while the 55-inch is 5.9 million won ($5,310) compared to 7.4 million ($6,660). In the US the original models sell for $7,999 and $5,999, respectively, while retailer B&H already has placeholders for the new models with US prices of $6,999 and $4,999. If the listing is accurate, we could see these versions ship in the US around October 23rd. These new models give up a few creature comforts like the bottom-mounted motorized 4.1 speaker and camera, but keep the pixel count along with fixed 2.1 speakers and 16GB of memory for DVR functions.
According to the Korea Times, Samsung’s price cut came as a result of improved manufacturing yield, and customers that already purchased one will be refunded the difference. Of course, these prices are hardly mass-market or challenging value priced entries from Chinese manufacturers Seiki or TCL, but is remarkable to see OLED technology dropping below $10,000 so quickly.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung, LG
The Mission RS isn’t notable because it’s electric or because it’s designed and made in America. Or even because it’s really, really fast. Why you’re going to sit down and read every single word of this world-first review is simply because it’s a superior performance motorcycle to any yet made. Period.
Sky site suggests TV subscription prices could increase by up to 10 percent on September 1st
Posted in: Today's ChiliIf you’ve been pondering a Sky TV subscription, then perhaps here’s something that’ll get you off the fence. The company’s online store has a new section saying that prices could increase “by up to 10 percent” on September 1st, which would push the cost of the basic bundle up to £23.65 ($37). The move comes a week after BT upped its line rental fee from £129 to £141 in order to cover its “free” sports bonanza. Still, compared to the £9.99 you’ll pay for 24 hours of Sky Sports on Now TV, even with a possible 10 percent price increase, it’s still pretty reasonable.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: The Inquirer
Source: Sky
Sony PlayStation 4 price: $399
Posted in: Today's ChiliSony has finally revealed release information about its PlayStation 4 console: that it plays used, lent or rented games with no restrictions and its price: $399. That translates to 399 euros, and £349 where applicable, or if you missed it, $100, 100 euros and £70 less than what Microsoft just announced for the Xbox One. There’s no specific release date or month yet, just “this holiday season” in the US and Europe. The official spec list confirms that for four bills, you get the system, a controller, USB, HDMI and power cables — but no PlayStation 4 Eye.
So tell us, has this made your decision any easier? Pre-orders are open now.
Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub.
Intel targets Bay Trail ‘2 in 1’ tablet / laptops for the holidays starting at $399
Posted in: Today's ChiliIntel is in the middle of its Computex 2013 presentation, and it’s already putting a target price for some of those tablet / laptops we’re expecting around the holidays: $399. While more premium experiences will be powered by Intel’s fourth generation Core “Haswell” CPU, the quad-core Atom “Bay Trail” are going in cheaper ultrathin and light notebooks with touchscreens with 2 in 1 editions swinging the keyboard out of the way for use as tablets. That puts them slightly above the $200 floor predicted by Intel execs for basic touchscreen laptops, we’ll see if any of the numerous OEMs on stage can bring out convertible devices worth the extra cash this holiday season.
Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Intel
Source: Intel (Twitter)
Seiki 50-inch 4K TV on sale for $1,299, offers Ultra HD for a regular HD price
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe entry price for Ultra HDTV plunged by more than $10,000 earlier this week thanks to Sony’s new 4K sets, but now it’s going even lower with this model from Seiki. The brand is new to the US market and as such unfamiliar to most, but with a $1,300 listing on TigerDirect it’s been lighting up AV enthusiast and deal-hunting forums alike. We haven’t yet had a chance to see this display, but hope to take a look shortly. In the meantime, there are plenty of reasons not to be an early adopter — the infamous eye charts suggest 4K’s impact at this size may be reduced, it’s an unknown company with unknown standards for quality and service, a new HDMI standard may be incoming and there’s no content until the $699 FMP-X1 player arrives this summer — but with a sub-$2K pricetag some would say you can’t afford not to have an Ultra HD set in your possession. Those same people would also suggest inviting us over to watch the game (sports, console, but most likely a super high-res PC title if you can manage) on it, and indicate we are willing to bring refreshments.
[Thanks, Eric Kotz]
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: TigerDirect
Panasonic reveals pricing for (most) 2013 HDTVs, puts plasma R&D on ice
Posted in: Today's ChiliPanasonic’s NYC press event had more than pricing for its media streamers and Blu-ray players, as the company also put tags on its 2013 HDTVs. While it wasn’t ready to announces MSRPs for its top of the line ZT60 plasmas that impressed us greatly at CES, it did put prices and shipping windows on its other models (check after the break for a complete list). The former flagship VT60 series will be available in 55-, 60- and 65-inch versions later this month for $2,600, $3,000 and $3,600, respectively. Cheaper plasma models include the ST60 and S60 series, available in sizes up to 60-inches. Its top of the line WT60 LCD LED-lit models will also ship later this month, topped by the 55-inch version with a sticker price of $2,999.
The bad news? While Panasonic’s plasma manufacturing will continue, The Verge reports VP Kiyoshi Okamoto confirmed at the event that development has ceased on its plasma models, although some engineers have been shifted to work on OLED displays. We’ll see if its recovery efforts and technological developments lead to new large-size OLEDs anytime soon, but for now it appears we’re seeing the last of its efforts to push plasma technology forward.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Panasonic