Competition -- Engadget

competition posts

Sony Optiarc garners unwanted attention from DOJ for possible Blu-ray or DVD price fixing

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 26th 2009 at 4:59AM

In a filing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange this morning, Sony has revealed a request for information from the US Department of Justice regarding its optical drive production arm, Sony Optiarc. While the same filing indicates the Japanese giant's belief that this information gathering is part of a wider investigation into competition in the optical drive market, we've yet to hear of any other companies facing the same request. If you were feeling disgruntled with the pace of Blu-ray price drops, this might just be your moment of vindication... or it could be a storm in a teacup. There's really not enough information to tell either way right now, but if we know anything about the DOJ, it's that it loves shaking down naughty corporations. We'll keep a careful eye on this as it develops.

CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LXII: Steve Ballmer publicly ridicules Microsoft employee with iPhone, threatens to smash it

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 11th 2009 at 6:08AM

Not every man was born with common sense. And anyone who's ever seen Steve Ballmer take a stage knows that you don't want to get in the way of the emotionally-charged big man when the curtain opens. So we're not terribly surprised to learn that Steve grabbed an iPhone he saw during his big entrance to a private Microsoft company meeting held at Seattle's Safeco Field. Apparently, the hapless employee (allegedly from the Windows group) was trying to snap a photo of his boss when Ballmer grabbed the device and made some "funny comments" met by boos and jeers from Microsoft's employees. Steve then set it on the ground and pretended to stomp on it before walking away -- later teasing the employee during his presentation by noting that he hadn't forgotten him. Good times, we're sure, and nothing rallies the troops like a common enemy... except perhaps the camaraderie that comes in knowing that you've created a game-changing device.

We even have a photograph from the actual iPhone supposedly snapped while Steve Ballmer was brandishing it overhead. We can't say for sure if it's real, in fact, that could be the guy from Lost. See it after the break.

Continue reading CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LXII: Steve Ballmer publicly ridicules Microsoft employee with iPhone, threatens to smash it

FCC formally launches inquiry into wireless competition

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Aug 27th 2009 at 3:28PM

Well, we can't say we didn't see this one coming. At today's meeting, the FCC has said that it will be launching a formal inquiry into the wireless industry and specifically into certain business practices of the big four: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA , and Verizon Wireless. The commission hasn't yet detailed exactly how they're going to go about this, but you can bet they'll be looking into exclusivity deals between handset manufacturers and carriers. And who knows? They might be interested in the whole iPhone / AT&T / Google Voice conundrum, especially if it turns out that AT&T had a hand in dissing the app. According to Reuters, the agency is looking into "how competition affects consumers," with an eye towards further investigations into other areas, including cable and broadband.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Video: Cornell's autonomous robot sub wins competition, our hearts

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Aug 3rd 2009 at 3:33PM

Cornell sure seems to be doing its part to usher in a world where robots call the shots and humans spend most of their time cowering in the corners of bomb-out buildings. Researchers at the school have variously applied their brain matter (and we're guessing the occasional government check) to such sticky problems as robot consciousness, distance walking, and complications related to using robotics in zero gravity. And now we've heard that the school has just won something called the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition. The vehicles entered in the 12th annual AUVC (which was held at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego) ran an underwater obstacle course that involved bombing things, firing torpedoes, and eventually recovering a suitcase with "secret documents" (or old issues of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, depending on who you believe). You can see the thing in action for yourself in the video after the break.

[Via GoRobotics.net]

Continue reading Video: Cornell's autonomous robot sub wins competition, our hearts

HTC sees revenue falling due to "delays in product launches"

by Darren Murph posted Aug 3rd 2009 at 2:28AM

HTC's been on somewhat of a hot streak here lately, but word on the street has it that the aforesaid outfit may not be able to ship all of its forthcoming handsets on time. A new Wall Street Journal report on falling revenue in the HTC camp notes that an undisclosed amount of delays, a larger-than-anticipated drop in contract orders and lower-than-expected sales in China could lead to drooping income in the short term, and some analysts are pointing out that the company's average selling price per phone is sliding due to looming Android competition from the likes of Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Aside from the Touch Pro2 that'll probably never, ever land on Sprint, HTC has about a gazillion other rumored handsets on the horizon, but it's hard to know for sure which "product launches" are expected to be stalled. So, is HTC secretly retooling a smattering of its handsets in order to stay one step ahead of SE and Moto? Or are old fashioned supply chain inefficiencies to blame?

Nintendo finally sees Wii demand slowing, calls iPhone a DS / DSi competitor

by Darren Murph posted Jul 30th 2009 at 4:39AM

While it seemed that all was going well for the Big N, it looks like those jovial times are finally coming to a (temporary) end. In an earnings report filed today, the company posted a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on "slowing demand for its Wii console and a stronger yen." It's not so much the profit slide that's surprising, but the sudden admission that Wii demand has finally (finally!) slowed from a raging boil to simply piping hot definitely caught us off guard. Still, Nintendo maintained that it would sell 26 million Wii consoles before the year was out alongside 30 million DS handhelds, the latter of which has seen momentum slow due to "increased competition in the handheld business from Apple's iPhone." Now, we've known for some time that the suits in Cupertino have always viewed the iPhone as a game console, but to hear it called out as such from an entity not named Apple is another matter entirely. Maybe it should reconsider that whole "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" thing? Nah.

[Image courtesy of QuiteCurious]

South Korea slaps Qualcomm with massive fine for anticompetitive behavior

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 23rd 2009 at 3:48PM

Qualcomm is no stranger to legal action, but at the end of the day, you've gotta hit 'em in the pocketbook if you want to get a company to change its ways. South Korea's antitrust authorities have decided that the wireless chipmaker is guilty of some nefarious deeds, imposing a 260 billion won fine -- that's 26 with ten zeroes after it -- or about $209 million, which is a new record for the agency. The company has a rather large operation in South Korea dealing with giants Samsung and LG, and that seems to be where the problem starts -- South Korea claims that they're offering better contracts to companies who deal exclusively with Qualcomm and shun its competitors, which the government is taking issue with. For its part, Qualcomm denies any wrongdoing and is vowing to "vigorously" defend itself as it works its way through the country's court system. Whatever, we just want cheaper phones, you know?

VIZIO files antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit against Funai

by Darren Murph posted Feb 14th 2009 at 12:02PM

Aw, snap! Just months after Funai took the reins from Philips in North America, along comes a lawsuit for its lawyers to deal with. VIZIO, still feeling proud after its all-business Super Bowl ad, has thrown a potent antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit in Funai's direction. The outfit alleges that Funai, "acting alone and in concert with others, unlawfully restrained trade and monopolized the market for the licensing of technology used to interpret and retrieve information from a digital television broadcast signal, as well as the market for digital television sets and receivers." Specifically, VIZIO seems perturbed that Funai inappropriately acquired the rights to one single US patent, and ever since it has "unfairly discriminated against VIZIO in the licensing and enforcement" of said patent to the "detriment of trade and commerce." There's no mention of how many bills VIZIO thinks will fix the problem, but Funai better not try filling stacks of hundies with Washingtons in between.

[Image courtesy of TooMuchNick / WireImage]

Orange's iPhone exclusive ruled illegal in France

by Thomas Ricker posted Dec 17th 2008 at 8:19AM

After 13 months into a five-year exclusivity deal in France, the French competition agency has ruled the Apple and Orange (the mobile subsidiary of France Telecom) cartel illegal. Something that could have a knock-on effect throughout Europe. The agency criticized the Orange/Apple pact for having "grave and immediate" effect on the overall French mobile marketplace and thus, the French consumer, by introducing "a new flavor of rigidity in a sector that already lacks competition." The injunction, while temporary, is enough to allow other French carriers to distribute the iPhone 3G in time for the holidays. Shrug.

[Thanks, Tieum and Nick]

British bots battle it out, Army-style

by Joshua Topolsky posted Aug 17th 2008 at 4:14PM

Robot designers are currently duking it out for the British army in hopes of nabbing the hearts (and pocketbooks) of the UK's fighting force. In a makeshift "wartime European village," scientists and researchers are putting their helper-droids to the test as Army officials look on and investigate how the automatons might serve alongside troops. Some of the robots being looked at include a "Moon buggy" which remotely patrols for enemies via thermal imaging and then sends the data back to a command center, a helicopter that can be maneuvered in tight urban spaces, and a RC car with what appears to be a pile of digicams mounted on top of it. The winners of the competition will be announced Monday, but you can hit the read link and see a video -- replete with annoying British television presenter -- of some contestants.

[Thanks, Jack]

Lack of competition sends Blu-ray player prices upward

by Darren Murph posted Mar 12th 2008 at 9:43PM

Late last month, we actually posed the question of buying a Blu-ray player now (being that the format war is over and all), or waiting things out until prices sink and Profile 2.0 players flood the market. Aside from the PlayStation 3 -- which is actually priced fairly reasonably if you were in the hunt for a new console anyway -- it seems as though HD DVD's exit has actually caused Blu-ray player prices to creep back upwards. Granted, this is about as far from surprising as it gets -- after all, it's nothing short of supply and demand working its magic. Still, it wasn't too long ago that we saw Toshiba actively putting pressure on the Blu camp to reduce prices in order to stay competitive, and now that said pressure has vanished, stickers on the whole have headed north. Ah well, it's not like the consumer didn't ask for this, um, right?

Hot or Not: Estonia laptop edition

by Darren Murph posted Feb 29th 2008 at 10:14AM

Get this: an Estonian newspaper has teamed up with HP to find the country's most unsightly laptop, and while the one pictured above hasn't been deemed the victor (yet), it definitely looks to have been on the wrong end of a Russian cyber attack. Apparently, the contestants have already been selected, and users can surf on over and place their vote for the single most repulsive machine in the mix. Thankfully, the two winners (audience "favorite" and editor's choice) will each receive a brand new HP Pavilion dv2699 Special Edition lappie, which we fully expect will be treated just as poorly as the rig it's replacing.

[Thanks, Flasher T.]

Sprint gearing up to offer $60 / month unlimited calling plan?

by Darren Murph posted Feb 20th 2008 at 12:42PM

After yesterday's barrage of unlimited calling plans left us all terribly underwhelmed, it seems as if Sprint is hoping to emerge as the knight in shining armor by undercutting the oh-so-popular $99 price point. According to unspecified "analysts," the carrier is gearing up to "offer flat-rate calling plans at up to a 40-percent discount to its rivals," meaning that yappers could talk 'til their batteries died (and then some) for around $60 a month. Of course, Sprint has yet to confirm nor deny the reports, but we're all for a price war in the cellular space, regardless.

Netflix Watch Instantly and iTunes movie rentals: aiming for two different markets

by Darren Murph posted Jan 17th 2008 at 7:55AM

Quite frankly, it was hard to take Netflix's sudden freeing of its Watch Instantly feature as anything but a response to Apple's forthcoming iTunes movie rentals, but according to a piece at The New York Times, the two are actually aiming at different markets. After speaking with Netflix's Reed Hastings, it was found that the vast majority of its streamable content was "older," and considering that users of this service can never look forward to brand new releases being available, the cost (i.e. free to most mail-in subscribers) makes sense. As for Apple, it's able to focus on crowds who are looking for a more robust, generally fresher selection, but of course, you'll pay the premium each time you indulge. Furthermore, Netflix has yet to make transferring video to any display / device other than your monitor easy, and while an LG STB is indeed on the horizon, the differences in content selection are still likely to lure separate eyes. For more on the how's and why's behind the battle that probably isn't, go on down and tag the read link.

Netflix to loosen restrictions on internet viewing option

by Darren Murph posted Jan 13th 2008 at 10:13PM

Granted, there are some out there who've been dodging the whole "limitation" aspect of Netflix's Watch Instantly feature for a good while, but for the honest, upstanding citizens abiding by the rules, things are (seemingly) about to change for the better. According to a recent report from the AP, Netflix is gearing up to banish the time limits for online streaming on all but its el cheapo $4.99 plan, meaning that subscribers to every other plan will be able to watch online content as much as they'd like. In case you haven't connected the dots quite yet, it's being suggested that the move will be made to fend off the looming competition from Cupertino, and while this would undoubtedly increase costs, it doesn't seem as if the firm plans on hiking rates (at least initially) to compensate. Now that's a change we can live with.