Consumer Trends


Can the USB go from computer dork to Hollywood player? CNN.com - May 15, 2008 Foreseeing the future is a tricky business. Why, for instance, should Hollywood moguls have paid much attention when the USB standard emerged in the mid-90's? It simply made hooking computers to keyboards, printers and joysticks easier. Nothing could seem further from their glitzy world. How times change. Now USB ports are to be found in $300 portable video players and $3,000 50-inch plasma HDT...
Disney to study viewer behavior; The planned research lab is part of the firm's efforts to update its ad sales strategy. Los Angeles Times - May 14, 2008 Walt Disney Co. is trying to get inside the minds of television viewers. The Burbank-based entertainment company, with its profitable ESPN and ABC entertainment networks, said Tuesday that it was developing an "emerging media and advertising research lab" to try to figure out why people watch the shows they do. ABC made the announcement as part of its "upfront" presentation to ...
Consumers ditching land-line phones; 1 in 6 homes have only wireless; cable gains, too USA TODAY - May 14, 2008 Traditional land-line phones, once the bedrock of communications in the USA, are quickly going the way of eight-track tapes as consumers go wireless or choose Internet-based phone calling. According to a report due to be released today by the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly one out of every six homes in the USA -- 15.8% -- had only wireless telephones during the second half of 2007,...
Study Finds Software Piracy Falling in Many Countries, but Challenge Shifting to Emerging, High-Growth Markets Targeted News Service - May 14, 2008 The Business Roundtable issued the following news release: Although piracy of software on personal computers (PC) declined in many countries in 2007, fast growing PC markets in some of the world's highest piracy nations caused overall numbers to worsen--a trend that is expected to continue. Moreover, dollar losses from piracy rose by $8 billion to nearly $48 billion. These are among the findings o...
RIM's "Bold' Assault On Upgraded iPhone Adds 3G, GPS, Tunes; Apple Woos Corporate Users; Newest BlackBerry model aims to keep businesses away from slick newcomer Investor's Business Daily - May 13, 2008 Shares of Research In Motion hit an all-time high on Monday as the company unveiled a new cell phone it hopes will dissuade business customers from buying Apple's upgraded iPhone. The new BlackBerry, called Bold, is the first from RIM to combine a global positioning system navigation, video camera, Wi-Fi wireless networking and third-generation broadband data features for faster Web browsing and d...

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