Episode 079

By Martin Vedris

SYDNEY: The top five contenders for the Best Imaging Supplier award for TV at the 2008 Electrical Retailing Awards (ERAs) have been announced with just under three weeks to go until the winner is revealed.

The best supplier categories in the ERAs are voted on by a judging panel representing all major retail groups from all over Australia including Retravision, Betta Electrical, The Good Guys, Harvey Norman and NARTA members.

This year these retailers will choose from the following five imaging finalists, listed alphabetically and selected on the basis of their total sales volume in the category (as measured by GfK): LG Electronics, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony.

New line features new touch-sensitive scroll bar, super-slim design and a selection of elegant body colours.

February, 2008 – JVC (Victor Company of Japan, Limited) is releasing their newest line of Everio Camcorders featuring a new, super-slim design that makes them the world’s smallest hard drive camcorders* on the market. The new Everio line also offers new functions that make operation simpler and more intuitive, and models available in three different colours.

For 2008, there will be Everio camcorders available in ruby red, diamond silver and onyx black, allowing consumers to choose a model based on features, budget and style. Also new is Laser Touch, a touch-sensitive scroll bar that simplifies operation, with 30GB, 40GB and 60GB models, and a new design that’s some 20 percent smaller than last year’s entry-level model. In  addition, higher-end models offer higher-resolution digital stills by virtue of their 7 Megapixel or 5 Megapixel CCDs, making it unnecessary for people to carry both a camcorder and a digital still camera.

These models are the first in the world to have an embedded 1.3” hard disk drive (30GB), which allowed JVC to integrate a large 1/2.5” CCD and its accompanying large optical lens section, without getting bulky — thereby providing the quality benefits of a large lens while maintaining a small body and offering large capacity.

 Creative Labs launches the tiny MuVo T200 4GB MP3 player

Sydney, Australia – 25 February 2008 – Creative Labs Pty Ltd, a local subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd and worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, today launched the colourful and lightweight MuVo T200 MP3 player.

With a 4GB capacity, the MuVo T200’s slim design allows you to travel light but still carry all of your important files and listen to up to 2000* of your favorite songs for the ultimate in convenience in a tiny package.

The MuVo T200 features a full colour LCD display screen enabling easy navigation and showing the player status and song titles at a glance. The screen can also be personalised with six different attractive colour schemes to suit your individual style.

The thumbdrive feature with a built-in USB connector means you can easily connect the MuVo T200 to a PC or laptop for quick file transfers without the need for a separate USB cable.

The MuVo T200 comes with an FM radio and enables you to switch quickly from your personal music collection to live FM radio and get traffic news and current affairs updates in an instant from up to 32 preset stations.

The MuVo T200 also features voice recording, handy for recording voice memos or meetings and users can enjoy up to 9 hours# of audio playback on a single charge with the rechargeable built-in battery which charges directly via the USB route.

Pricing and Availability
The MuVo T200 will be available in February 2008 from major retailers for a RRP $149.95 incl GST.

For more information, please visit www.au.creative.com.

By Chris Nicholls

SYDNEY: Nintendo has launched its latest Wii game – Wii Fit – in a push to create a fitter, slimmer gamer.

The game allows users to perform more than 40 exercises across four categories – yoga, muscle workouts, aerobic activities and balance games. Many of the activities use the new Wii Balance Board to help gamers use their muscles.

The Balance Board apparently allows the Wii to calculate an accurate Body Mass Index (BMI) and determine a person’s centre of gravity. The combined results become what Nintendo calls a person’s “Wii Fit Age”.

Muscle workouts include torso twists, arm and leg lifts, rowing squats and games such as a push-up challenge.

Aerobic activities include ‘super hula hoop’, advanced step, rhythm boxing and a basic running exercise.

Yoga activities work on deep breathing, and include poses such as tree, sun salutation and half moon (no jokes intended).

Finally, customers can use the Balance Board for games such ski jump, soccer heading, tightrope walk and bubble balance.

The Balance Board can also be used to play the included snowboarding games in a much more realistic manner than previously possible.

Players can unlock additional exercises as they progress through the game.

During exercises, the Balance Board gauges exactly where a player’s balance and body mass are placed, allowing the on-screen instructor to coach you correctly.  Customers can also monitor their progress, as up to eight people can store and compare their Wii Fit data. Wii Fit also comes with the Wii Fit Channel, which gives players quick access to their daily progress.

Wii Fit retails for $149.95. and is due for release May 8th 2008

By Martin Vedris

SYDNEY: Canon Australia’s website has been awarded a ‘number one’ ranking in the Hitwise Entertainment — Photography category for being the leading Australian website for visits in that category.

Hitwise is a leading Australian online measurement company that anonymously monitors consumer activity on over one million websites. Each quarter, Hitwise awards the 10 most popular websites across 160 categories.

According to Hitwise, its awards are based on popularity according to the percentage of user visits a website receives compared to other sites in their category during a specific period.

Hitwise announced that during the 2007, www.canon.com.au was ranked first by visits among all other Australian websites in the Hitwise Entertainment — Photography category.

By Martin Vedris

SYDNEY: GfK data has uncovered the leading five computer suppliers in 2007 who will now compete for the Electrical Retailing Awards (ERA) Best Computer Supplier title as voted by a panel of Australia’s leading retailers.

The five finalists for the ERA Best Computer Supplier, selected on the basis of their total sales volume in the category (as measured by GfK) and listed in alphabetical order are: Acer, Apple, Compaq, HP and Toshiba.

Toshiba is the defending category winner, having won the category at last year’s ERAs.

The criteria retailers are voting on are: Design/appearance and innovation; Profitability/margin; Promotional/advertising support; sales representation and service backup; and Sales growth to category.