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LG pushes ahead despite backpedaling consumer economy

LAS VEGAS--Despite the troubled economy and an expected drop in consumer purchases, LG Electronics said it doesn't plan to reduce its marketing and research spending in 2009.

President and CEO of LG Electronics North America Michael Ahn said his company's North American sales increased to more than $14 billion during 2008, a 16-percent increase from the previous year. Five years ago, LG sales in the region were just $5.6 billion until the company began sharpening its focus on the consumer market with its TVs, mobile phones, and Blu-ray disc systems.

"We will not reduce marketing spending … Read more

Current Media: Nope, we're not closing an office

A rumor floated on the Twitter account known as The Media Is Dying--which, for obvious reasons, has been fairly active as of late--indicated on Wednesday morning that Current Media, the cable and Web media company co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, is closing its San Francisco office. The Twitter account, which has broken a handful of accurate layoff and shutdown stories as of late, claimed that it had "confirmed" the office closing.

But Current was quick to deny the rumor. Not that we have to remind you, but don't believe everything you read on Twitter.… Read more

Print news is fading, but the content lives on

It's been about 20 years since Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web on the back of the Internet. For more than a billion people on the planet, the Web today is an alternate, digital universe that is gradually overtaking the analog, physical world as a source of information and connections.

Earlier this month, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press conducted a survey that rendered two obvious conclusions: the Internet has overtaken newspapers as a source of national and international news, and television, led by CNN, continues to serve as the main source.

According to the Pew survey, … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: Dark forecast for LCD TV makers

Next year is shaping up to be a nightmare for LCD TV makers. CNET News consumer electronics reporter Erica Ogg drops in to talk about why. That, and the day's headlines, in Thursday's CNET News Daily Podcast.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Today's stories:

Mozilla patches highly critical security flaws

Gates Foundation donates to health, connectivity

iPhone app navigates Obama inauguration

LCD TV revenues to dip for first time ever

Battery exec: Europe ahead of U.S. on electric cars

Factory for Chevy Volt engine on hold

Baylis wind-up MP3 player is no joke

Viewsonic's 1080p TV for your kitchen

This certainly isn't the first time we've seen a monitor with identity issues, but Viewsonic at least gets current HDTV marketing strategies correct by making the VT2430 24-inch LCD monitor HDTV full HD with a 1080p resolution.

Along with the VT2430's 1,920x1,080 resolution you get a 1,000:1 contrast ratio (10,000:1 DCR) and 5ms response time as well as of course an integrated ATSC/QAM TV tuner and connectivity options including a single HDMI 1.3 input with high-definition content protection (HDCP), component, S-video, composite, and RGB analog inputs.

There are 3.… Read more

What's on TV?

i.TV is an incredibly useful free app for anyone who loves watching movies and TV shows. It has a very simple interface, divided up into TV, movies, a global search function, and "My Media" (basically, favorites and a set of listings for browsing genres, TV channels, and your Netflix queue). With a few taps, you can find out what's currently playing on a particular TV channel (you pick the broadcast or cable provider), watch previews and check showtimes at your local theaters, add movies to your Netflix queue (including your instant watching queue), and even read … Read more

TiVo, Domino's team up to make us all fat

Thanks to a new agreement with pizza giant Domino's, owners of TiVo set-top boxes can now order food from the chain directly through their televisions, and even track delivery time so they know just when the pizza guy will be showing up to bring them a nice, tasty treat.

Oh, boy.

Here's the deal: when a Domino's ad or product placement shows up, TiVo users can click through with their remote controls to order pizza, or can access an on-demand ordering screen through a TiVo menu. It's similar in theory to the deals that TiVo has… Read more

Layoffs hit Al Gore's Current Media

There have been layoffs at Current Media, the cable network co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

A statement from Current put the number of layoffs at about 60 positions, with 30 more to be refilled, the company said in a statement. That's less of a hard hit than the 20 percent cuts that a source close to Current hinted to CNET News on Tuesday. The statement read: "Approximately 60 positions have been eliminated in the company's three U.S. offices, and approximately 30 new positions created," the statement read. "Many of those … Read more

Philips Aurea 42PFL9903D: It's illuminating

If you love Christmas lights and don't see why they should be restricted to just one time of the year, the Philips Aurea II is the TV for you. It boasts enough colored illumination to put Oxford Street to shame. The only disappointment: it costs more than a 50-inch Pioneer Kuro.

Yes, that's right, the 42PFL9903D has a list price of ?2,500, or $4,300. So, as you can imagine, this is going to need to be one awe-inspiring TV to justify such a hefty price tag. To be fair, we did really like the original Aurea, … Read more