Foxtel Telstra Content Monopoly Now In The Making COMMENT: When Foxtel wanted to announce their recent Olympics package they deliberately chose media partners like News Ltd and NineMSN along with key marketing media as opposed to technology and lifestyle media.

Revealed Sonys Spin Doctor Extraordinaire COMMENT: Sony Australia?s chief spin doctor Jenny Geddes, who is desperately trying to smother the outpouring of bad news about Sony has taken to promoting her own image in local consumer electronic trade sites while taking yet another stab at myself and ChannelNews.

Warner & Commercial Radio Slammed Earlier today, trade website Current tried to discredit 4Square Media and websites ChannelNews and SmartHouse by claiming that we had engaged in an alarmist reporting over Digital Radio in Australia.

NBN: Why Optus Is Wrong And Telstra Will Cut A Deal COMMENT: The recent comments by Optus CEO, Paul O'Sullivan raises serious questions about the intent of Optus and, more importantly, their understanding of basic telecommunication costs relating to the roll out of the proposed National Broadband Network.

Sony Tries To Rationalise Price Gouging COMMENT: In a move to try and rationalise why they are price gouging, Sony Australia today pumped out a press statement in an effort to justify why they are charging Australians consumers up to 125% more for the same products than what a US consumer pays.

Vindictive & Unfair Attacks Really Sony COMMENT: Yesterday Sony PR attempted to intimidate 4Square Media by deliberately issuing a statement to the Australian technology media that was false and misleading. It was pure bullying tactics by a large Corporation who accused 4Square Media of vindictive and unfair attacks on their credibility.

Why Cisco Is A Logical Choice To Buy Sony During the past five years, Cisco has invested significantly in consumer electronics technology. They are building out massive content engines that will allow Hollywood content providers to deliver vast amounts of movie and music content to global audiences.

Sony Is So Stupid Say Consumers During the past month as we have exposed Sony price gouging of TV?s and Playstation consoles, along with their seriously overpriced notebooks, readers have responded with hundreds of emails. Very few are complementary of the Japanese company, who later this month is set to announce billions in losses.

Tech PR Spin Doctors Itself Into A Hole COMMENT: Financial Review marketing writer Neil Shoebridge has today launched into a scathing attack on public relations executives describing the PR industry as awash with incompetent people.

Broadband White Elephant In The Making COMMENT: The Labour Federal Government?s idea of a $43 Billion dollar fibre optic broadband network is already running into problems with one Internet Service Provider AAPT claiming that it could cost householders who use it up to $200 a month.

Whinging AV Dealer Sends The Wrong Message COMMENT: There is nothing worse than a whinging specialist AV dealer and when Frank Di Bartolo from Pacific Hi-Fi recently let loose against the likes of Harvey Norman and the mass retailers recently he really opened up a can of worms.

Self Inflicted Wounds Hurting Sony COMMENT: For more than 20 years I have been writing about Sony and during that period I?ve developed a huge respect for this Japanese brand because one could always rely on the quality of the Sony product and the fact that by majority it was a made in Japan brand, which in the past really meant something.

Intel CE Boss Talks Up TV Strategy COMMENT: I cannot recall a more exciting time to be involved in the consumer electronics industry. We are entering an inflection point that will transform the way all of us experience the world?s most popular and pervasive medium ? television.

Sony Sack Staff To Protect Competitive Position COMMENT: Sony Australia whose parent Company is wallowing under a mountain of losses and product failures has now resorted to the mass sacking of staff in Australia in an effort to cut costs while also admitting that they are trying to protect their competitive position.

Telstra Set To Hurt Federal Government COMMENT: Telstra has created a giant headache for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Senator Stephen Conroy the Minister for Broadband and the Digital Economy by announcing that they will start delivering 100Mbs broadband to capital Cities by Xmas.

What Good Customer Service Really Is Finding new customers is much more expensive than retaining existing ones. Customer service is more than just keeping customers happy. It's about revenue, because a lost customer means lost revenue and an unhappy customer can damage your reputation.

Feds Do Nothing As Banks Hurt Small Business COMMENT: One has to seriously question whether the current Federal Government actually understands small medium business and that right now thousands of SMB organisations are starved of cash because of high interest rates and a refusal by banks to loan money to SMB organisations.

Who The Hell Wants Freeview? COMMENT: In October 2006 the Australian Federal Government gave the green light to the free to air TV broadcasters to launch several new high definition digital TV channels in Australia. 2 and half years later the networks have still not rolled out their full offering.

How Lousy Japanese Management Killed Pioneer Plasma COMMENT: The exit of Pioneer from the flat panel TV market is a massive loss for the entire flat panel TV industry as well as consumers. Their Kuro plasma TV offering has been praised worldwide by both the media and analysts as being simply the best flat panel TV in the world.

Lifestyle A Flop For Bose Management COMMENT: Bose is an incredible arrogant Company who will sue at the drop of a hat. In the past they threatened to sue SmartHouse for daring to use the word ?lifestyle? in a story. Now the lifestyle choice of Bose management is in question.

Why the Vodafone Deal Will Hurt Optus Comment: Only weeks out from Vodafone rolling out a new 3G network, the Company has cut a deal to form a 50/50 joint venture with the struggling 3 Network owned by Hutchison Telecommunication. The new network will now take on Optus who last week rolled out the new Google Android HTC phone in an effort to grow their 3G traffic.

Windows 7 Eliminates Vista Packaging Issues COMMENT: One of the annoyances that got Vista off to a rough start was Microsoft's decision to package the operating system in six different versions with assorted feature sets that ended up contributing to customer confusion.

Will Sony Be Acquired And Is Stringer The Right Leader? COMMENT: Serious questions are today being asked about the performance of Sir Howard Stringer the Welsh-born former TV journalist who as the CEO and Chairman of Sony has just announced that the Japanese consumer electronics Company will make losses this year of over A$3.8 Billion dollars.

Apple Slammed Credibility On The Line Technology media writers in the USA have raised serious questions about the credibility of Apple and their lack of disclosure over the current state of Steve Jobs health who last week stepped down from his job as CEO of the Company.

COMMENT: Will Jobs Ever Come Back To Apple? As the world speculates on the future of Apple and Steve Jobs health some analysts are asking: "Do we really know the state of Job's health and has Apple lost a lot of credibility in the way that this issue was handled."

Seduction Is The Key to 2009 2009 has been a big year for SmartHouse and ChannelNews. SmartHouse grew traffic online by 35% and at December the 8th we were the #1 technology and home lifestyle web site tracked by Nielsen Online.

TV Retailers Killing The Goose That Lays The Golden Eggs A leading consumer electronics industry researcher has said that mass market retailers run the risk of killing the goose that lays golden eggs by constantly driving down the price of flat panel TVs. He also says that in current market conditions "something has to give" for vendors and retailers to survive.

Logitech And That Damn Bloody Mouse COMMENT: Computer peripheral powerhouse Logitech is working to get some PR mileage out of a milestone event -- since letting the first one scamper into the retail market in 1985, the company has now shipped 1 billion computer mice.

COMMENT: Perth Retravision Dealer A Right Prat Recently, a Perth-based Retravision dealer spat the dummy over the marketing of his competitors and the attitude of the media who are educating consumers on how to shop for a good deal.

CEDIA Gets Its Wake Up Call With New Board The CEDIA board in Australia has been restructured with the custom install organisation admitting that they are set to target new markets in an effort to expand the organisation in Australia.

Why Toshiba Should Be Suing Castel COMMENT: The massive claim lodged by Melbourne-based distributor Castel Electronics against Toshiba has got to be a giant wind up as several former Castel staff, including the Company's former Marketing Director Randall Crocker, claim that they have no knowledge of what would have to be catastrophic failure of Toshiba consumer electronic gear to justify a $30 million dollar damages plus payout.

Why Clive Peeters Won't Make It COMMENT: There are retailers who get it and there are those like Clive Peeters who are hitting the wall because they simply don?t understand the fast turnaround world of consumer technology retailing. Unfortunately I don?t think this Company will last the economic downturn as it bleeds losses and market share.

Why Steve Jobs Hates Buttons Steve Jobs hates buttons whether it be on an iPod, MacBook or even the humble mouse. John Murrell of Silicon Valley online comments as to why.

What Silicon Valley Is Saying About Hollywood Vs Real Networks Anytime you even tiptoe near the turf of the entertainment industry, the alarms go off, the security lights go on, and the cry of "Release the hounds" goes up, so RealNetworks knew what it was in for today when it launched RealDVD, a program that lets users copy copy-protected movies to a PC hard drive.

How To Respond In A Technology Soft Market A leading retail expert who has worked with some of Australia's biggest consumer technology retailers claims that is a lot that retailers can do to lift sales despite a fall in consumer confidence and worsening economic conditions.

Gen Y Not Asking The Big Security Questions They may have a questioning nature and they may be tech-savvy, but Generation Y is creating a security nightmare for many companies out there.

Philips Dies From Self Inflicted Wounds COMMENT: The exit of Philips from the Australian AV market is not unexpected and in the words of a former Philips Vice Chairman "We are great at inventing products but lousy at marketing them". Philips Australia has joined the likes of Hitachi and Fujitsu in the Australian consumer electronics graveyard.

COMMENT: Should JB Hi Fi Sell Or Stick It Out? The 61% increase in revenue and the 70% increase in profits by JB Hi Fi bode well for the consumer electronic industry. It also sends a clear message that consumers are changing their buying habits with many of them prepared to spend money on games, new TV?s and notebooks than over fashion items or the occasional holiday.

CEDIA Australia Act Like Wallies COMMENT: CEDIA Australia who are not the brightest guys off the block when it comes to PR and marketing have chosen to ban media from doing interviews on the CEDIA Expo show floor prior to the 2008 CEDIA Expo on the Gold Coast that is opening. This is not the first time that organisers have banned media from having access to vendors and new product information.

Nokia Starts Platform War & Sparks Online Ad Rush According to various report, Nokia's recent purchase of the rest of Symbian pust it in a strong position against both proprietary vendors such as Apple and Microsoft and the open-source Android and LiMo offerings.

Embrace Online Or Sink Without A Trace Says Google According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, companies and even entire industries will have to shift their focus and embrace the new online reality in order not just to stay competitive, but just to survive.

Poor Ratings Tipped For New LG Scarlet TV Series COMMENT: The decision by LG to spend over $100 million dollars promoting an LCD TV called Scarlet is an interesting move. But to tease consumers into believing that there is a new TV series called Scarlet in an effort to sell a red backed LCD TV is a big risk that I doubt is going to work for the struggling Korean brand.

Comment: Is Online Content Working? Recently, the entertainment and technology media have been abuzz over the implications of the significant announcement by Apple that iTunes would now offer day and date releases of movie titles in conjunction with their regular release on DVD. The deal involves most of the major studios in Hollywood, and marks the first time that a single online or broadband-enabled source of paid movie content has had both broad studio support as well as day and date releases.

Are Vendors Engaging In Component Price Fixing? SPECIAL REPORT: Following a recent court case in the US, where a number of chip makers have been caught red-handed engaging in cartel-like activity and other unlawful collaborations, the question that immediately comes to mind is how much component price fixing really goes on?

Adobe Reputation On The Line As It Gets Big & Fat OPINION: One has to seriously question as to whether Adobe has caught the Microsoft disease with massive updates for their Creative Suite and Adobe Acrobat software. These updates which have been more than a gigabyte since the product was launched are loved by ISP?s as they get to charge business and consumers additional download fees.

AV Integrators High On Passion, Low On Business Skills According to Todd B. Adams, the CEO and founder of DIpartner, an international training and curriculum development company dedicated to educating residential integrators, custom integrators are brimming with passion but lacking in business acumen - a situation he says is retarding the future growth of the industry both here and in the US.

Why You Can Fail Occasionally COMMENT: How many of us remember our failures more than our successes? My own divorce, the time I didn't get a research grant, the last job that I was fired from (come to think of it, there were some other messy situations that I still recall), the I time I rear-ended someone on a slippery freeway. The list goes on and on. You could say that I have had a full life.

Retailers Who Ignore Online Will Perish Says Expert Retailers ignore new media and marketing channels at their peril, in an age where print and television advertising is failing to fully engage shoppers, said Alan Rutherford, CEO of Digitas Global at The World Retail Congress in Spain last week.

Visa Says Clicks And Bricks To Coexist According to new research commissioned by Visa Europe and announced at the World Retail Congress yesterday, clicks and bricks are likely to coexist and perform complementary roles for some time.

Online Sales Not Important Say AV Retailers When companies like JB HiFi start setting their sights online and Radio Rentals turns into clicks from bricks virtually overnight, one would think the era of electronic shopping has very much come of age in this country.