TV

According to a forecast made by ABI Research soon femtocells will be able to improve home security, personal safety and help integrate smartphones with TVs, laptops and media players, in addition to improving cellular coverage in the home. The research agency foresees that in near future parents will trace when their children arrive home due to the femtocells that will register the presence of kids’ mobile phones and sends out SMS notifications to the parents.

Shares of Best Buy Co declined over 15% on Tuesday as the largest online retailer reported an unexpected decrease in fiscal third-quarter profit and cut its outlook. The No. 1 U.S. electronics retailer’s (BBY 35.52, -6.18, -14.82%) profit dropped as lower demand for televisions, notebook computers and videogames led to a sales shortfall in the U.S. While margin widened slightly, analysts said they were concerned that it came at the expense of sales.

The survey of Japanese consumers revealed that smartphones and Twitter were the the hottest products in Japan in 2010 while travel and leisure were back on the menu.

Dentsu's annual "Hit Product Recognition Survey" revealed that flat-screen TVs equipped for digital broadcasting were ranked fourth, and energy-saving appliances ranked eighth.

The poll shows that tablet information devices, such as Apple's iPad, came in at 19th, the survey showed, but rose to No.10 in a separate question that predicted hit products and services next year.

PayPal is partnering with a US cable TV consortium for a new T-commerce project that will allow consumers to pay for their purchases and services via television remote control. A prototype service is being underway at Canoe Ventures Innovation Lab, a 'test bed' environment created by the cable collective, whose members include Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable.

People are not in a hurry to decline their usual TV habits because of new developments related to the Internet television, revealed the new study. Nielsen conducted a research commissioned by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing that shows people who watch at least some content from the Web on their TV sets are "cord keepers" rather than "cord cutters."

Twitter is bringing a new social and community element to television, according to the company officials. Twitter says its service makes "community viewing" possible now-no assembly required. According to the new stats 60% of people routinely watch the tube while also surfing the web on their laptop. On the other hand, Nielsen figures also show that tweet traffic on the East Coast spikes every time an episode of Dancing with the Stars came on TV.

Motorola and Verizon Wireless are partnering for a digital tablet device which would allow users to watch television on it, as reported by the Financial Times. The tablet is expected to tie closely to Verizon's FiOS digital pay television service, the newspaper said, citing the sources familiar with the case.

 Spending on Internet advertising in Britain grew 4.6 percent in the first half of 2009, outperforming the wider ad sector, which slumped 17 percent, and making it the country's biggest ad medium ahead of TV.

According to the biannual report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), ad spend on the Internet grew to 1.75 billion pounds, with the medium accounting for 23.5 percent of all spend, ahead of television for the first time.